Hospital to lose V.P. of Patient Care

Lake of the Woods District Hospital will be losing one of its senior administrative staff later this year.

Vice-president of Patient Care Leslie Brown says she'll be retiring in June.

Brown has been a nurse for 40 years and has spent the past 30 years at Lake of the Woods District Hospital.

Muskies Dominate KIT

It was a sweep for NorWOSSA teams at the annual Kenora Invitation Basketball Tournament.

Fort Frances took top honors beating Transcona 64-58 in the A-Side final.

Thomas Aquinas took the Consolation title with a relatively easy 68-29 victory over Sioux Lookout.

Dryden placed third overall beating Red Lake 60-37 in the bronze medal game.

The tournament co-hosts, the Beaver Brae Broncos, went winless losing out to Portage la Prairie in the 7th place game 51-30.

Sharks take a bite out of the Competition in Thunder Bay

The Kenora Sharks Swim Club was as good as its word.

The Sharks claimed the team champions banner from the Northwestern

Ontario Regional Championships in Thunder Bay over the weekend.

In addition, five members of the team collected high point awards.

Rheanna Price was tops in the 10 years and under girls division, while

Gabe Mastromateo led the 11 years and under boys.

Winnie Boucha was the top point getter for 11 & 12 year old girls, while

Kira Kuzemchuk led the pack in the 13 & 14 year old girls division.

Bryce Jones had the high point total for 14 & 15 year old boys.

Highway 17 Open after an Early Morning Fire

A fire in a semi tractor trailor closed the Trans-Canada Highway between Kenora and Vermillion Bay for almost an hour early this morning.

The OPP say the incident took place about 30 kilometers west of Vermillion Bay around 3:00.

Fire crews were called to the scene and were able to put out the blaze.

Police say no one was injured in the fire and they were able to re-open Highway 17 shortly before 4:00 this morning.

Councillor Threatens Legal Action over Aging Bridges

Legal action is being recommended if the City of Kenora can't the provinicial government to come up with funding to fix up our aging and crumbling bridges.

Councillor Ron Lunny says they've talked abou the issue long enough, and its time to take action.

Its estimated that it could take up to 40 million dollars fix up our bridges and Lunny says that's money the city simply doesn't have.

Council looks at Operating Budget this week

Kenora city council will be putting the finishing touches on the 2012 budget this week.

Council is scheduled to sit down on Tuesday to go over the Operating budget.

That will dictate how much of a tax increase local residents will be looking at.

Councillor Ron Lunny says the goal is still to pass the budget by their

February 13th open meeting.

Hospital offers Pre-Dialysis Clinics

Lake of the Woods District Hospital has launched a new program to help patients with kidney disease.

The hospital has started up a pre-dialysis clinic.

Vice-president of patient care, Leslie Brown says the clinic is something that could help save the health care system thousands of dollars.

Its estimated the pre-dialysis clinic could save between 70 thousand to 110 thousand dollars a year for each patient enrolled.

NAPS Police looking for new Recruits

The Nishnawbe Aski Police is looking to hire from within.

The Police Agency is launching a two-day recruitment drive in May.

Police are targeting individuals from the Nishnawbe-Aski Nation who may or may not have thought of a policing career.

NAPS serves 35 of the 49 NAN communities.

Officials stress they need to fill the growing need for police officers in the North.

Hospital still in the Black

Lake of the Woods District Hospital is still running a slight surplus with just three months left in the fiscal year.

Vice President of finance, Cindy Gasparini says they are 125 thousand dollars in the black.

She adds that the surplus is a little lower than at the same time last year, but is still hopeful they will be able to finish the year at or above the break-even point.

Council says no to Dog Park

Kenora isn't going to the dogs.

Kenora City council met this week to go over its 2012 capital budget, but turned down a request to create a dog park.

Councillor Sharon Smith a small dedicated group has been meeting to make the dog park a reality and is disappointed council won't approve the relatively small expenditure.

She says they have a 900 name petition in favour of the dog park and suggests it would be good for the community.

Councillor Louis Roussin argues the city faces a number of financial challenges and doesn't think spending money on a dog park is a good use of taxpayers money.

Senior Thistles Win at Home

The Kenora Senior Thistles haven't played a lot of games this year, but they have been impressive when they have been on the ice.

The Thistles downed the Southeast Prairie Thunder 5-1 Saturday at the Kenora Rec. Center.

Jeff Richards had a goal and two assists, while newcomer Tony Ilijow had a hat trick for the Thistles.

The Kenora Seniors are scheduled to take on Southeast again on February 25th.

Midget Thistles Win their Final Home Game of 2012

The Kenora Triple "a" Midget Thistles got a monkey off their back.

The Thistles won their final regular season home game yesterday at the Kenora Rec. Center with a 7-2 thumping of the Eastman Selects.

The win snapped a 10 game losing skid.

Grant Valiquette had two goals and two assists to lead the offense.

The Thistles now head out on the road to Thompson, Manitoba this week to wrap up the regular season with a pair of games against the Norman North Stars.