Federal Liberal Leadership Candidate Visits Kenora

The federal Liberal leadership campaign is unofficially underway.

One of the candidates Alex Burton is on a cross-Canada tour to get his name out, and he'll be in Kenora this morning.

Burton plans to do some Main-streeting today and meet with local business owners and party faithful.

While the leadership race doesn't begin officially until next month, at least four people have already thrown their hats into the ring, including Montreal M.P. Justin Trudeau.

A new Liberal Leader will be selected in April.

Dalles Youth Charged in Stabbing Incident

A 16 year old Dalles First Nation youth faces assault charges following  a stabbing incident in downtown Kenora.

The OPP say they were contacted around 7:30 last night about a stabbing on Main Street.

Police say a 28 year old man had been stabbed in the back and was taken to Lake of the Woods District Hospital, where he's recovering from his injuries.

Officers patrolled the Minto area and later located and took the suspect into  custody.

The youth has been charged with Assault with a weapon and is due to appear in Kenora Court later today.

MP's Fight for ELA

The fight to keep the Experimental Lakes Area open has reached the House of Commons again.

Liberal MP Lawrence MacAulay is on the Fisheries and Oceans committee and has been try to put a motion through the house of Commons to keep the ELA open.

He says the closing costs outweigh the annual operating cost.

The government is facing public and political pressure to continue funding the ELA.

TSB Investigating Pickle Lake Plane Crash

Two investigators from the Transportation Safety Board are looking into the cause of a small plane crash that killed three people Tuesday night near Pickle Lake.

OPP say the aircraft crashed just before 7:30 in the woods as it was approaching the Pickle Lake Airport.

Peter Hildebrand, a transportation safety official, says weather doesn't appear to have been a problem.

One survivor was airlifted to hospital in Winnipeg for treatment of minor injuries.

The names of the deceased won't be released until the family is notified.

Hildebrand says it was a private plane, a Laker LA-250 that went down. 

Gravelle Keeps Leadership Door Open

Thunder Bay-Superior North MPP Michael Gravelle is keeping his options open.

The province's Natural Resources Minister says he might consider a run for the Liberal Party leadership if he finds that potential candidates to replace Dalton McGuinty don't show enough passion for the north.

Gravelle believes the person who succeeds McGuinty should be a strong advocate for the north.

Terrace Bay Pulp Faces Charges

Terrace Bay Pulp is facing charges in connection with a fatal incident at the mill in October of last year.

The Ministry of Labour also says that Venture Mechanical and three other individuals face charges in connection with the incident.

They are all due in court next month.

An employee from Schreiber died when a tank used to cook wood chips exploded.

Soccer Association Seeks Funding

Still a couple of significant hurdles to cross before a soccer complex in Kenora can become a reality.

The Lake of the Woods Soccer Association is seeking funding from the Trillium Foundation to help purchase the artificial turf needed for the JM Arena.

Colleen Neil is the recreational services manager and says they've had to re-work their contract and extend it to five years with the soccer association to meet the requirements of the Trillium Foundation.

The city had originally proposed a three year contract.

The cost of the artificial turf is expected to be about 125 thousand dolllars.