NorWOSSA Finals

The Thomas Aquinas boys volleyball teams are the king of the court in northwestern Ontario.

The Saints won both gold medals up for grabs at the NorWOSSA single "a" championships this morning.

The T.A. senior boys had an easy time with Atikokan, sweeping the Voyageurs in three

straight sets.

Thomas Aquinas has won two consecutive OFSAA championships and now has an automatic berth into the All-Ontario finals later this month in Hamilton.

Meanwhile, the Saints junior boys also won gold, beating Atikokan in three straight sets.

In Fort Frances at the NorWOSSA Double "a" championships, just one Beaver Brae team has advanced

to the finals.

The Bronco senior boys volleyball team swept Fort Frances in three straight sets in the semi-final

this morning and now face Dryden tonight in the gold medal game.

The three other Beaver Brae Teams in action lost in the semi-finals.

School Board votes to Close Evergreen

Trustees with the Keewatin-Patricia District School Board have voted unanimously to close Evergreen School at the end of this school year.

The recommendation was made by school board administration after receiving and reviewing the Kenora Acccommodation Review Committee's final report.

The committee recommended the closure of Evergreen in four years, but superintendant of Business Dean Carrie says administration felt they had to move a little more quickly to deal with their population decline at the elementary school level.

The public school board estimates it will be able to save about 80 thousand dollars a year by closing Evergreen.

Carrie adds they will begin the process of seeking funding for a new school at Valleyview as soon as possible.

Temperature Records Continue to Fall

The temperature records continue to fall across northwestern Ontario.

A number of communities across the region enjoyed record high temperatures

yesterday.

Kenora hit 14.6 degrees, shattering the previous record of 11.1 back in 1969.

Atikokan was the hot spot in the area once again topping out at 15.6 degrees, breaking the previous record of 13.3.

Dryden, Fort Frances and Red Lake all broke records yesterday as well.

Circus Kids Fundraiser

Get ready to send in the clowns.

The Circus Kids are holding a fundraising dinner tonight to help support its

on-going operations.

Jack Martin is one of the people behind the Circus Kids program and says they will have a couple of special guests performing after supper.

The dinner will take place at 5:30 tonight at Knox United Church, followed immediately after by the magic show.

NorWOSSA Play-offs Continue Today

There will be no gold or even a silver lining for the Thomas Aquinas junior girls basketball team.

The Saints lost their semi-final game against Sioux Lookout yesterday 40-36.

The Warriors now move onto the NorWOSSA Single "a" final against Rainy River this afternoon.

Three Thomas Aquinas teams have byes into today's gold medal games.

The T.A. junior boys volleyball team take on Atikokan at 9:00 this morning, while the Saints Senior boys face the Voyageurs at 11:00.

The Thomas Aquinas Senior Girls basketball team faces Rainy River in NorWossa final at 1:00 at the T.A. gym.

Hospital still experiencing bed shortage

Lake of the Woods District Hospital is still experiencing high patient volumes.

Chief Executive Officer of the Hospital, Marc Belcaen says there are still a number of patients waiting for a long term care bed in the community.

Belcaen didn't want to comment too much on the situation, but did say hopefully something will soon be done to ease the bed shortage locally.

He says ultimately he would like to see some interim long term care beds in Kenora to
help deal with the bed shortage at the hospital.

NOMA Calls for New Infrastructure Program

Ontario Infrastructure Minister Bob Chirralli is being asked to change the infrastructure funding formula.

Outgoing president of the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association Anne Krassilowsky made the call during a meeting with the Minister this week.

Krassilowsky stresses the current formula is putting area communities in a bind.

She stresses that you can only raise the taxes so high before it becomes unaffordable to fund essential projects.

Local Legions prepare for Remembrance Day

Local legions are getting ready for their annual Remembrance Day Ceremonies.

Part of the annual rite includes the sale of poppies.

Jim Day is the sergeant-at-arms for the Kenora Legion and says while donations
for the poppies are welcome, its not mandatory.

Remembrance day ceremonies will take place at the Kenora Legion, the Keewatin
Legion and the Redditt Legion starting at 10:30 tomorrow morning.