Rickford Opens new Office in Kenora

Just in time for the holiday season, Kenora M.P. Greg Rickford is opening up a new office in Kenora.

Rickford has moved over into the Optomistist Building on Main Street South.

He's holding his official opening today and says he likes his new digs.

Rickford held an open house this afternoon for his constituents.

Union Gas Rates to Drop in the New Year

A nice gift of savings for Union Gas customers in Northwestern Ontario.

The Ontario Energy Board has approved changes to the price Union Gas charges its customers for natural gas.

Local residential consumers who use 26-hundred cubic meters a year will pay about 28-dollars less per year.

The changes go into effect January 1st.

Lower natural gas prices in North America are credited for the drop in price.

28 Year old man killed in Fort Frances

A 28-year-old man is dead after he was struck by a freight train in Fort Frances on the weekend.

OPP say the man was hit near the Canadian National Railway main yard just after 2 o'clock Sunday morning.

Police say the westbound locomotive was leaving the rail yard when it hit Justin Degagne.

OPP and CN Rail Police are looking into the circumstances surrounding the death.

Foul play is not suspected.

Skead Re-elected Chief of Rat Portage

A couple of familiar names are back on the Rat Portage Band Council.

Mid-term elections were held on Friday, and chief Ken Skead fended off five other challengers and has been returned for another two year term.

Former chief George Kakeway is back on the band council, after being elected to one of three council positions.

Newcomers include Nathan Landon and Chris Skead.

A total of 13 people ran for the three seats on the Rat Portage Band Council.

Federal Government provides funding to local agencies

The federal government is giving a helping hand to a couple of regional agencies that deal with small business.

The Northwestern Ontario Innovation Centre has been promised 320 thousand dollars.

Centre Manager Judy Sander says the money will be used to provide 5 thousand dollar grants to help get business projects off the ground

As part of the same FedNor announcement, the Northern Ontario Enterprise Gateway get 450 thousand dollars

Better Ambulance Service Demanded for Machin

An initial surge is on to place a land ambulance base in the Vermilion Bay area.

The push is being made by the District of Kenora Unincorporated Area Ratepayers Association.

President Bill Blower says they are concerned that the closest ambulance is in Dryden and the response times to the Machin area is at best over half an hour.

Blower says first responders do a great job, but stress they are unable to transport a patient for medical care.

The group is asking Machin Council and the Kenora District Services Board to approve the move.

KDSB CAO Dan McNeill says a comprehensive reivew of land ambulance services is taking place next year and the recommendation will be included in that review.

Northwest EMS passes review

Rave reviews for the Emergency Management Services team in the Kenora District.

Services Board CAO Dan McNeill says they have been certified for another 3-years after passing an extensive Ministry of Health review.

Northwest EMS had 14-findings against them, down from 24 in 2008.

The Inspectors also described the patient care as professional, courteous and well managed.

OFIA questions Caribou Protection Plans

The Ontario Forest Industry Association is asking the Provincial environmental commissioner where he's getting his information from.

Gord Miller has stated that caribou protection measures won't hurt forestry in Northern Ontario.

OFIA Spoksperson Scott Jackson says current forest management plans already report an impact.

The areas outlined as caribou management zones supply wood fibre to mills in Dryden, Fort Frances, Kenora, Thunder Bay, Terrace Bay and Timmins.

Business Plan for new Education Center to be released this week

The Lake of the Woods Economic Development Commission is hoping for an early Christmas present this year.

The Commission is holding a special meeting on Wednesday to go over a business plan for a proposed Education Facility at Lakewood School.

Members of the Training and Education Committee got their first look at the report on Friday.

The building would involve a number of education partners who provide post-secondary education opportunities in Kenora.

The facility would also include a performing arts center.

The business plan is expected to show whether the project is feasible, and how much it would cost to transform the elementary school into a post-secondary institution.

The Keewatin-Patricia District School Board has not indicated whether its interested in selling off Lakewood School, though members of the commission will be making a special presentation to the school board in early January.

Highway 17 near Ignace Re-Opened

Highway 17 near Ignace is open again to both lanes of traffic after it was closed for some time yesterday.

Sections of the Trans Canada were closed on and off again due to a transport going into a ditch.

The road was closed while crews cleared the area and removed the wreckage.

Junior Saints see silver lining at Dryden Tournament

The St. Thomas Aquinas HS junior girls volleyball team continue to show improvement in their play and lost a close 25-20, 25-22 semi-final match to the Dryden Eagles in the Santa Claus Classic held in Dryden this weekend.

The junior Saints sent a split squad to the final tournament until the new year.

TA #1 finished 3rd in their pool winning 7 out 12 sets.

This meant a quarter-final match with the Dryden HS junior girls #2 team.

The Saints won a 2-1 decision in the quarter-finals despite giving up a 23-20 lead in the 2nd set of the match.

Strong defence lead the Saints to a 15-13 win in the 3rd and deciding match.

The Saints then played Dryden's other team, but the Eagles eked out a close 2-0 decision over the Saints
in the gold medal game.


The other TA split squad lost a close quarter-final match 2-0 after finishing 4th in their pool play.

Saints win gold in Thunder Bay

Another golden weekend for the Thomas Aquinas Senior Girls volleyball team.

The Saints travelled to Thunder Bay this past weekend where they went on to win the 2011 Spike Off tournament.

T.A. came first in their pool going 5-0, defeating: St. Ignatius, Atikokan, West Gate, Hammarskjold Collegiate and Churchill.

In Championship play they defeated Laverandraye in the quarter finals, West Gate in the Semis; and lastly defeated Dryden in the Finals 25-13 and 25-20.

The girls went 8-0 on the weekend, not losing a set nor letting any team get over 10 points until the finals.

Bekki Elliott was named tournament the tournament All-Star.

The Saints Girls volleyball will join the rest of the court sport teams at St. Thomas Aquinas at home for league play Tuesday.