Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Fatal Accident Update

A 47 year old man from eastern Ontario is dead following a single
vehicle accident on the Kenora By-Pass.

The OPP says an eastbound tractor-trailor unit left the highway
and came to rest down an embankment around 3:00 this morning.

After leaving the road, the semi caught fire and was totally destroyed.

The Longbow Lake Volunteer Fire Department helped extinguish the
blaze.

Police say the driver of the rig was not able to get out of the cab.

The driver was from Cardinal, Ontario, but his name has not been
released.

OPP investigate fata accident

Still not a lot of details about a fatal accident on the Kenora By-Pass this
morning.

The OPP say a semi tractor trailor unit drove off Highway 17-A just west of the
junction of Highway 17 early this morning.

The east bound rig came to rest off the road and caught fire.

The OPP's Technical Traffic Unit has been called in to help
investigate the cause of the crash.

SIU releases name of deceased

The province's Special Investigations Unit has
released the name of a man who was killed in a weekend incident
involving police in northwestern Ontario.

The agency says 39-year-old Brian Gray was fatally shot Sunday
during an ``interaction'' with provincial police officers in
Whitefish Bay.

Gray later died of his injuries in hospital.

Police, meanwhile, continue to investigate a separate but related
death at the same residence in the community north of Dryden.

The circumstances behind the death of the second person have not
been released, nor have that person's name or age.

OPP Hiring Youth

Kenora OPP are looking to hire some young people this summer.

The local detachment recently received funding from the Ministry of Children and Youth Services to hire three youth for the Youth in Policing Initiative.

An information session for interested persons will be held Tuesday May 18th at 7pm at the OPP detachement on the by pass.

Wage Freeze Kenora

Managers and non-unionized staff at City Hall can expect to see their salaries
frozen this year.

Following the directive from the provincial government, there will be no increases
in 2010 from the 2009 salary grid.

However, based on performance, non-union staff can still move up in the grid this
year.

The freeze in salaries will affect about 24 employees of the City of Kenora.

Council says its also prepared to conduct a review of the salary grid for non-unionized staff sometime this year.

City Of Kenora Positions Changed

Some minor staffing changes are being made at City Hill in the wake of
the appointment of Karen Brown as the new Chief Administrative Officer.

Brown is the Chief Financial Officer, but instead of finding a replacement
for her, she says they decided to shuffle some of the duties within the
department.

Charlotte Edie is going to be appointed as Municipal Treasurer.

She had been the deputy treasurer and the city's tax collector.

Bill Ranger will take over from Edie to become the Deputy Treasurer.
and Pat Geisel will assume the duties as the municipal tax collector.

City of Kenora Bridge Inspection

The City of Kenora can expect to get some money from the provincial
government this year to help inspect municipal bridges.

Municipal Engineer, Marco Vogrig says the Ontario Good Roads Association
had lobbied for the funding and the city is eligible for up to 5 thousan dollars.

He says that will help offset some of the costs incurred by the city this year
for its annual inspection program.

Big Green Clean

It's the third year for the Big Green Clean in Kenora.

This year's event is going to be bigger and better with a free pancake breakfast and a flea market.

City of Kenora Operations Chair Dave McCann explains what areas of the City will be spruced up.

The Big Green Clean starts at 8am on Sunday at the Recreation Centre.

Forest Fire Update

The forest fire hazard in northwestern Ontario is edging up but still remains low.

The Ministry of Natural Resources reports that three new fires were reported in the region on the weekend.

Portions of Thunder Bay and Nipigon districts are under a moderate hazard.