Thursday, July 7, 2011

OPP investigating two fatal accidents in the Kenora area

The OPP are investigating two fatal accidents this morning.

The first collision took place shortly after midnight on Highway 17 east of Kenora.

Police say a vehicle hit a rock cut about 10 kilometers east of the Highway 71 junction.

One man was killed in that collision.

The highway was closed overnight, but traffic is moving normally again in that area.

Meanwhile, one person is also dead in an accident that took place on Highway 71 in Sioux Narrows.

The OPP say they were called out around 6:30 this morning.

The collision took place near the intersection of Fickas Road, but so far no other details about that fatality have been released.

Highway 17 closed overnight

Traffic is moving normally again on Highway 17 east of Kenora.
The OPP closed the Trans-Canada overnight following a single vehicle accident just east of the Highway 71 intersection.

Police there was a rollover in the area around 1:00.

One lane of traffic was finally opened shortly before 5:00 and both lanes were re-opened around 7:30.

So far there has been no indication whether there were any injuries in the collision.

Young Pikangikum Joyrider arrested

A 12 year old girl faces a number of charges after going for a joy ride in the remote community of Pikangikum.

The OPP say they were notified about a pick up truck driving in an erratic manner around 5:00 Saturday morning.

Officers tried to pull the vehicle over, but the driver refused to stop.

Because the driver appeared to be quite young, the OPP gave up the chase.

A short time later, the vehicle ran into a hydro pole, knocking out power to the entire community.

Police say there were 14 passengers in the truck at the time, including three ten year olds, four 12 year olds, three 13 year olds and three 14 year old youths.

Only one person sustained minor injuries in the collision.

Big Trout Lake votes to ban industrial activity

The residents of the Big Trout Lake First Nation are saying with one voice they want their watershed protected from the results of industrial development.

Band spokesperson John Cutfeet says that was the result of this weeks referendum on the issue and says it should send a message to companies

The environmental watchdog group Earthroots is calling on the McGuinty government to respect the results of the vote.

Rafferty Talks Cross-Border Issues with US Senator

There was a brief discussion over the weekend on how to improve access across the Canada-U-S border.

Thunder Bay-Rainy River M-P John Rafferty says his talk with Minnesota U-S Senator Al Franken in International Falls set the stage for a much broader discussions in the near future.

Rafferty says Franken was well understanding of the issues, including the turn-back of American tourists with often decades old drunk driving charges.

Forest Fires Force Evacuation of Deer Lake

Nearly 500 residents of a remote community in northwestern Ontario are being evacuated because of an approaching forest fire.

Officials are working to evacuate Deer Lake residents as fires burning about 3.5 kilometres away send smoke into the area.

The province is coordinating with federal and military officials to evacuate residents whose health is most at risk.

It is expected that about 480 residents will be immediately airlifted by Canadian Forces aircraft to Greenstone.

Ministry of Natural Resources crews are fighting the fires with water bombers.

There are currently 78 forest fires burning in northwestern Ontario. 

Hydro One Crews Still Working to restore power to all customers

Still a smattering of homes southwest of Kenora without electricity this morning.

Hydro One made good progress yesterday, connecting most of its customers, who had been without power for more than a day, due to a violent thunderstorm.

There are about 100 homes still waiting to be re-connected.

Hydro One is hoping to have power restored to all its customers by around 4:00 this afternoon.

OPP investigate boating accident on Clearwater Bay

The OPP say they are continuing to investigate a boating accident on Clearwater Bay that sent a 15 year old girl to hospital.

Police say the girl fell out of a boat around 10:00 Sunday night.

Police say a 16 year old girl was operating the vessel at the time and lost control, throwing one of the passengers into the water.

The boat continued to circle around, until the operator was finally able to bring it under control.

The girl in the water was struck the propeller of the boat and sustained injuries to her head and neck.

Police and and ambulance arranged to meet the girls at Kendall Inlet, where the girl was transported to hospital.

She has been treated for her injuries and was later released.