Rickford Applauds Ring of Fire Agreement

The federal minister responsible for the Ring of Fire says he's pleased to see the province making progress.

Greg Rickford says he is encourgaged by this week's signing agreement between the Mattawa First Nations and the Minister of Northern Development and Mines.

Rickford calls it important progress to help advance the incredible potential of the Ring of Fire.

He adds that the federal government is also committed to the development, which will create jobs and prosperity for Northern Ontario.

Kenora School Boards Hosts Mental Health Symposium

Creating Mentally Healthy Schools...that's the theme of a forum taking place in Kenora today.

School board officials from across the region are taking part in the day-long session.

Superintendant of Education with the Keewatin-Patricia District School Board, Joan Kantola says they hope to make it an annual event.

Kantola says all eight mental health leads employed by school boards in northwestern Ontario are getting a chance to meet together to share resources and some of their best practices.

Missing Girl Located

Some good news on the missing person front.

The OPP say they have located a 17 year old girl who had been missing for the past five days.

Police put out a missing person notice earlier this week after Chantel Cameron failed to return to work in the early morning hours of March 22nd.

The OPP say she was finally located last night.

City Brings In Extra Help To Thaw Water Lines

City Crews are continuing to work on thawing frozen water lines in the city.

Operations manager Rick Perchuck says they are making up some ground.

He notes there are still around 80 homes waiting to be thawed.

Perchuk says local contractors have been called in to help speed up the process.

NOMA Supports Energy East Pipeline

The Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association is supporting the TransCanada Pipelines Energy East project.

Vice President of NOMA, Iain Angus says it's the best way to go.

He believes shipping oil via pipeline is a safer option than using rail.

NOMA's comments come after a public consultation sessions in bot Kenora and Thunder Bay this week.

Kenora Figure Skating Club Wraps Up Season Tonight

A chance to see our figure skating stars of the future.

The Kenora Figure Skating Club is holding it's final performance of the season tonight.

Coach Roxanne Daignault says the show is called Dancing through the Decades and feature
dozens of local skaters.

The show begins tonight at 6:30 at the Kenora Rec. Center.

Fiecek Chases Canadian Wheelchair Curling Berth

The Wayne Fiecek Foursome from Kenora will try to advance to the Canadian Wheelchair curling championships this weekend.

Fiecek is in Thunder Bay for the Northern Ontario playdowns.

Three teams are in the competition including rinks from the host club from Fort William and Sudbury.

Opening ceremonies will take place at 4:45 this afternoon.

Boil Water Advisory Ends

The city wide boil water advisory is over.

The advisory was lifted this afternoon after water tests came back clear of any bacteria.

It has been 4 weeks since the city took the precaution due to the rash of water main breaks in the city.

Operations Manager says the action was needed as breaks caused a disruption to the entire system.

Meanwhile, the water trucks being provided daily at the Rec Centre and Keewatin Arena have been cancelled.

One Person Killed in Dryden Accident

Dryden OPP have confirmed one person has died following a two vehicle accident on the Trans-Canada Highway 17 east of Dryden.

Police says 24 year old Taylor Gardiner of Dryden died as a result.

The crash, that involved a transport and a passenger vehicle, occurred just East of Aaron Park and the Twin Towers around 8 o'clock this morning.

The highway is open to one lane of traffic.

The investigation is continuing.

Three People Arrested In Fort Drug Bust

Three people are facing charges following a drug bust at a Fort Frances home this week.

Members of the Combined Forces Organized Crime Enforcement Bureau, along with the OPP executed a search warrant at an Armit Street home Tuesday to find 555 grams of marijuana, street valued at 11 thousand dollars, and over 18 hundred dollars in cash.

Two Winnipeg residents, ages 20 and 42, and a 47-year-old Fort Frances man were arrested and are awaiting court appearances.

Canfield Applauds Appointment of New Municipal Affairs Minister

No complaints from Dave Canfield on the appointment of Bill Mauro to the Ontario cabinet.   Mauro is now the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.  

The president of the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association says it can only be good for our region.

Canfield hopes it may move some NOMA concerns through a little faster at Queen's Park.

He adds it's also nice to see two cabinet ministers from northwestern Ontario at the cabinet table now, with Mauro joining his Thunder Bay counterpart Michael Gravelle.

City Already Planning for 2017 Summer Games

The deadline is still three years away, but the City of Kenora is already planning
for the arrival of the rowing events for the Canada Summer Games in 2017.

Rabbit Lake will be the venue for the rowing competition.

Kenora's Economic Development Officer Jennifer Findlay says there's lots of work to do.

Findlay says the summer games will effect a number of departments from planning, parks, tourism, and special events.

More Reaction to Energy East Project

Pushing against oil pipelines.

That was the general feeling at an Ontario Energy Board consultation in Kenora this week regarding the Energy East Project.

Tania Cameron was at the meeting and disputed that pipelines are not the only means moving oil.

Cameron disputed the safety of the project by using an example of a pipeline in the United States that saw 17 leaks occur within it's first year of operation.

Road Conditions Raised at Queen's Park

The provincial government is still refusing to say how much contractors have been fined for failing to
meet winter road maintenance standards.

In the Ontario Legislature, NDP critic Joh Vantof asked the Transportation Minister who is at fault for the
state of roads in the north this winter.

Vanto says contractors are blaming the government for a lack of funding.

Transportation Minister Glen Murray did says the government spent 10 million dollars more this year
to put 50 additional snow plows on the road.

Province Signs Ring of Fire Agreement

Step by step the government is attempting to move the negotiating process forward for the Ring of Fire.

The latest announcement is a signed deal between the province and the Mattawa First Nations which formalizes how the talks will move on a community based regional approach.

The two sides will discuss various issues relating to the giant mining process.

NDP Want Cap on ATM Fees

The federal NDP wants to put a limit on the fees we pay to use our debit cards at ATM or cash machines other than your financial institutions.

Thunder Bay-Rainy River MP John Rafferty says limited regulation has prompted some of those fees to climb to as much as three and four dollars a transaction.

The New Democrats are proposing a cap of 50 cents per transaction.

The NDP is also seeking limit to the interest charges on credit cards.

OPP Searching For Missing Girl

The OPP are looking for a missing person.

17 year old Chantel Cameron was reported missing back on March 22nd, when she didn't return to her place of employment.

She was last seen in downtown Kenora and is still believed to be in the city.

Cameron is of aboriginal descent, about five feet, three inches tall, brown eyes and brown hair won in a bun.

At the time of her disappearance she was wearing a black coat, blue jeans and black running shoes with leopard print.

Anyone who might know of her where-abouts is asked to contact the Kenora Detachment of the OPP.

Another Colorado Low Heading Our Way

A bit more snow is heading our way.

Environment Canada Meterologist Mark Schuster says much of northwestern Ontario will be
blanketed by this time tomorrow.

He says a Colorado Low is churning our way.

While the Kenora area will only get brushed by the system with two to four centimeters, other areas to the east like Thunder Bay could see anywhere from 5 to 10 centimeters.

Pharmacy Flu Shots Increase in Popularity

It appears getting a flu shot at the local pharmacy is catching in Ontario.

More than 750-thousand people opted to get the free flu shot at a pharmacy this past season.

That's triple the number over last season when pharmacies were given approval to administer the shot.

City Hopes To Lift Boil Water Advisory Soon

It may soon be safe to drink the water.

Rick Perchuk is the city's operations manager and says crews are working to lift the over 3 week old boil water advisory.

Perchuk notes it takes about 2 days to perform the tests and get the results.

If all goes well the advisory could be lifted on Friday.