IJC Task Force in Town tonight

A task force set up to help governments address water quality and related issues in the Lake of the Woods and Rainy River watersheds will hold a series of public meetings this week.

The International Lake of the Woods and Rainy River Watershed Task Force was in International

Falls last night and travels up to Kenora tonight.

The session will take place at the Best Western Lakeside Inn starting at 7:00.

The Task Force is to submit its recommendations to the International Joint Commission by July 15.

Wicked weather wanes

The Kenora area has so far been relatively unscathed by a huge storm system that is moving over central Canada.

Rain, high winds and even some snow has been attached to the system.

Geoff Coulson is a severe weather specialist for Environment Canada and says things should start to improve later today.

The storm system has caused a number of power outages in and around Thunder Bay, and even forced the closure of the Trans-Canada Highway between Nipigon and

Schreiber for a short time last night.

No power outages have been reported in the Kenora area so far.

Great Lakes Cyclone Heading Our Way

Windy and wet.

Those are the two key words for the next couple of days.

Environment Canada has issued a weather advisory for Kenora and much of northwestern Ontario.

Severe Weather Specialiist Geoff Coulson says the system is described as a Great Lake Cyclone.

Coulson adds that we could also see winds gusting anywhere from 60 to 70 kilometers per hour

during the next day or so.

Final results in for City Council

Everything old is new again at Kenora City Hall.

Former mayor Dave Canfield was re-elected after a four year hiatus.

Canfield collected 4,178 hundred votes, compared to 1,754 for Andrew Poirier and 715 for Jim Parson.

In the council race, former councillor Ron Lunny topped all vote-getters with 4,021, followed by Sharon Smith at 3,746, Rory McMillan at 3,456 and Rod McKay with 3,037 votes.

Rounding out council are Louis Roussin at 2,838 and Charito Drinkwalter with 2,743.

In the vote for the District of Kenora Unicorporated Ratepayer Association representitive on

the Kenora District Services Board, Barry Baltesson beat out Ingrid Parkes.

There will be a couple of new trustees from Kenora on the Keewatin-Patricia District School Board.

Cecile Marcino garnered the most votes and will be joined by new comers Bob Onysko and

Michelle Ott.

Kahoot elected mayor in Ear Falls

A surprise in Ear Falls where political rookie Kevin Kahoot as defeated Councilor's Tracey Simon and Rob Doyle for Mayor.

Former Mayor Jim Demarais will sit on Council along with Vic Robinson, Rob Eady and Fred Melanson.

Kahoot  is a former Kenora resident and says he's got a great team.

Political veteran Rob Bergman and incumbent Councilor David Wilson finished 5th and 6th respectively.

Nuttall elected mayor in Dryden

A lot of new faces will sit at the Council table across Northwestern Ontario following yesterday's Municipal Election.

In Dryden, Craig Nutall defeated incumbent Mayor Anne Krassilowsky by about 300 votes.

Nuttal says he could sense victory.

Mary Trist, in her first election, was the top vote getter for Council, followed by Mike Wood, Ken Moss, Brian Collins, Martin MacKinnon and Mel Fisher.

Voter turn-out in Dryden was an impressive 61.15-percent.

Sioux Narrows/Nestor Falls council vote

Some familiar faces are back in town council in Sioux Narrows Nestor Falls.

Former Mayor Gerry O'Leary topped all vote getters with 376 and was elected as

a councillor at large along with Norbert Dufresne.

They beat out former councillors Chan Motlong and Lou Kabel.

In ward one, Gail Black was returned as a councillor and in ward two

Wayne Helliar edged out Randy Hanson 103 votes to 91.

Mayor Bill Thompson was acclaimed.

Machin elects a brand new mayor and council

Sweeping changes in Machin as voters decided to elect a brand new Council.

Incumbent Mayor Garry Parkes was unseated by Gord Dingman.

Gordon Griffiths, Ronald Kujansuu, Joseph Ruete and Dennis Peterson were elected to Council.

Incumbent's Laurie Huffman and Paul Kelly finished well behind.

Long time mayors re-elected in Rainy River District

Two long-time municipal leaders retained their seats in municipal elections across the Rainy River District last night.

Dennis Brown captured 80 per cent of the vote to beat out Bob Davidson in a successful defence of his mayor's seat in Atikokan.

Valerie Pizey outdistanced challenger Gerald Fisk to hold on to her mayor's seat in Lake of the Woods township.

Vince Sheppard is the new Mayor of Emo, defeating incumbent Ed Carlson by about 80 votes.

Canfield returns as Kenora mayor

Former Kenora Mayor Dave Canfield is heading back to city hall.

Canfield won last night's mayoralty election in convincing fashion.

He garnered over 41 hundred votes compared to 17 hundred for runner up Andrew Poirier.

Jim Parson was a distant third with 715 votes.

In the council race, Ron Lunny was the top vote getter followed by community activist, Sharon Smith.

Rory McMillan placed third, followed by Rod McKay in fourth, Louis Roussin in fifth and Charito Drinkwalter in sixth.

In the race for public school board trustee, Cecil Marcino was the top vote getter, followed by Bob Onysko and Michele Ott.

Around the region, its a changing landscape in the mayor's chair.

Craig Nuttall upset Anne Krassilowski for mayor in the City of Dryden, and

former Kenora resident Kevin Kahoot is in as mayor of Ear Falls.

Highway 596 Closed between Darlington Bay and Highway 17-A

Residents living on Highway 596 between the Darlingon Bridge and the Kenora by-pass could find it a little more difficult to get home today.

The City of Kenora is doing some emergency road work on the section of the road, about one kilometer south of Highway 17-A.

A culvert is being replaced, and the work isn't expected to be complete until about 4:30 tomorrow afternoon.

Traffic will be stopped at the Darlington Bay Bridge, and only people living south of the dig site will be allowed through.

No-one will be able to cross the dig site until the work is complete.

Traffic is also being stopped at the by-pass for vehicles trying to head south on Highway 596.

Greenpeace Caribou Caravan hits NWO

Greenpeace is touring northwestern Ontario with its "caribou caravan"

The environmental group is pressuring Minister of Northern Development Michael Gravelle and the Ontario Government to save woodland caribou.

Spokesperson Catherine Grant says the government can balance both the environment and forest industry.

Greenpeace started the caravan out last week at Queen's Park in Toronto.

DOKURA Votes for DSAB reps today

There is another vote taking place today as well.

The District of Kenora Unincorporated Rate Payers association is

set to elect a couple of representitives to the Kenora District Services Board.

In the Lake of the Woods North area, Ingrid Parkes and Barry Baltesson are vying for one position.

Polling stations will be set up in a variety of community halls and fire stations throughout the area.

Municipal Election Campaign wraps up today

The 45 day long municipal election campaign wraps up today.

While about 50 percent of the mail-in ballots have already been received at

city hall, people can still do some last minute voting today.

Returning officer, Joanne McMillin says they have two polling stations set up

for anyone who didn't get a voting kit in the mail.

The polls will close at 8:00 and CJRL news will be providing live coverage of the

results this evening right after Radio Bingo.

Busy weekend for High School Sports

 

A good weekend for Thomas Aquinas sports teams.

T.A. entered two teams into the annual Dryden Pumpkin Smash Junior Boys Volleyball tournament.

Both team red and team black finished second in their pools.

While team red lost in the quarter finals to Red Lake, team black advanced to the finals and beat the host Dryden Gold squad two games to one.

In Fort Frances, the Saints girls hockey team won all three of its round robin games, knocking off Beaver Brae, Dryden and Red Lake.

T.A. advanced to the final, but lost a close decision to the defending tournament champions, the Pembina Valley Tigers.

The Beaver Brae junior girls volleyball team also had a strong tournament in Fort Frances.

The Broncos finshed with a 3-1 record including victories over St. Pat's,

Westgate and St. Ignatius, all Thunder Bay high school teams.

Thistle lose twice on the road

A tough weekend for the Kenora Triple "a" midget Thistles.

The local midget squad played two of the toughest teams in the

league and lost both game played over the weekend.

Saturday, the Thistles dropped a 7-1 decision to the Winnipeg

Thrashers.

On Friday, the Eastman Selects overcame an early 2-0 deficit

to beat the Thistles 6-2.

Health Unit starts up flu shot clinics

The Northwestern Health Unit is putting out a call for residents to get their flu shot this fall.

It began it's flu shot clinics last week.

Director of Infectious Diseases Donna Stanley says H-1-N-1 is still cause for concern, but unlike last year, the health unit won't be administering a different shot to help combat that flu strain.

Stanley says priorities groups this year includes those with chronic disease, seniors and young children under five.

Broncos lose final regular season game

Beaver Brae's football team is heading into the play-offs on a down note.

The Broncos were spanked 35-11 by the Kildonan West Wolverines on

Friday in their final game of the regular season.

Beaver Brae's will now face Murdoch McKay in the quarter-finals on Friday

in Winnipeg.

Head Coach Chris Penner says they actually played well against the Clansmen

a couple of weeks ago, even though they lost that game.

The Broncos will play Murdoch McKay at the Eastside Stadium at 5:15 on Friday

afternoon.

Broncos finish regular season today at Home

Beaver Brae's football team is gearing up for the play-offs.

The Broncos play their final regular season game today, knowing they'll finish either third or fourth place in their division.

Broncos quarterback, Colt German says while they had a lot of success with their passing attack last week, he expects they be running the ball a lot more today.

The 4-2 Broncos take on the 3-3 West Kildonan Wolverines, who need a win to make it into the play-offs.

Kick-off is 3:00 this afternoon at Pete Fair Memorial Field.

New Hospital ready to open in Sioux Lookout

Its big, beautful and is equipped with the latest technology.

Its the new 140-thousand-square foot Sioux Lookout Meno-Ya-Win Health Centre and its set to open its doors on November 7th.

Barb Linkewich is the Vice-President of Health Services and she outlines some of the highlights.

The Hospital was designed by Douglas Cardinal and incorprates First Nation culture and traditions.

Compton wants new double lane highway named after Turner

He may be nearing the end of his term in office, but Kenora Mayor Len Compton

is trying to call-in some last minute favours.

Compton has written a letter to Premier Dalton McGuinty regarding the naming

rights for Highway 17 west, when its finally twinned.

The mayor has suggested the double-lane highway should be named in honor

of Canada's 17th prime minister, John Turner.

Turner is a long time summer resident of Coney Island.

Old Fire Hall Declared Surplus

The fate of the old fire hall on Second Street South is still up in the air.

Last week, Kenora City Council declared the property surplus to the needs of the city.

That now paves the way for the city to sell off the Heritage Building.

A request for proposals has been developed and the city is now looking for potential buyers to come forward with their ideas on what they want to do with the building.

The RFP's have to be submitted by the middle of November.

Election Day nears

The municipal election campaign is staggering into its final days.

Votes will be counted on Monday night.

As of Monday, only 43 hundred mail-in ballots had been received at

City Hall, which is less than 40 percent.

Despite the low numbers, former Kenora Mayor Dave Canfield still expects the voter turn-out this election to be over 50 percent.

Canfield is being challenged in the mayoralty race by former Councillor Andrew Poirier and councillor Jim Parson.

Heritage Kenora Opposes move of two fire hall items

The Kenora Heritage Committee is sticking to its guns.

The committee met with fire chief Warren Brinkman last week

to talk about whether two of the identified heritage assets in the

old fire hall on Second Street South could be moved to the new

fire hall on Barsky's Hill.

The Heritage Committee wants the call box and the alarm bell to

remain in the old fire hall.

There is a process that can change the Heritage designation of those two items, but it requires a by-law change by city council.

Brinkman has indicated he still will follow the process through to get the call box and bell moved up to the new fire hall.

Rainy River Resources continues drilling program

Rainy River Resources continues to be pleased with the results from its drilling program south of Kenora.

The information gathered will help better determine the future of an actual gold mine.

President Ray Threlkeld says the results will help determine whether they want to build

and open pit or underground mine.

The company hopes to begin underground exploration early next year.

Metis Wellness Committee makes Donations to OPP

The Kenora Detachment of the OPP has received a some warm gifts.

The Metis Wellness Committee of Kenora has presented the OPP

a number of knitted items officers can carry in their cruisers.

Handmade scarves, mittens and hats have been donated by the

wellness group.

The OPP say they will use the items to comfort people experiencing difficult times.

The clothing was presented to the OPP this week.

211 Network now up and running in Kenora and Rainy River

A telephone help-line that residents can call to access information on a variety of services and programs is now available in both the Kenora and Rainy River districts.

Marie Klassen, executive director of 211 North, says the service, first set up Thunder Bay, expects it to be widely used.

The Northwest Community Legal Clinic helped set up the data base for the 211 service in the region.

Hampton to Run Again for the NDP

Kenora-Rainy River M.P.P. Howard Hampton confirms that he will be running

again in the next provinical election.

The election date has already been fixed by legislation for October 6th, 2011.

Hampton says he has no intention of retiring yet from provinical politics.

Hampton has been an M.P.P. in the Ontario legislature since 1987.

He stepped down as party leader of the NDP last year.

Two charged for possession of explosives

Two Winnipeg men have been arrested for possessing explosives.

Yesterday, the OPP's Organize Crime and Drug Units executed a search warrant on a Mascott area home.

The Northwest Explosives Disposal Unit, a canine unit, a Tactics and Rescue Squad and the Emergency Response Team were also called in to assist.

Police say a search of the property uncovered a quantitiy of explosives,

some pills and drug paraphenalia.

35 year old Mike Decoste and 23 year old Jeremy McPherson were

arrested and charged with unlawful possession of explosives.

They are due in court later today.

Report Critical of Northwest LHIN's use of Consultants

The Northwest Local Health Integration Network has been singled out in a report by the  province's Auditor General.

The report looks at health agencies that paid money for consultants.

NDP Leader Andrea Horvath says the public is paying for these expensive lobbyists.

The Auditor General says the three LHINs studied spent anywhere from 224 thousand dollars to 1.4 million per year on consultants.

Bronco Court Teams lose on the Road

Beaver Brae's court sport teams continue to struggle in NorWOSSA league play.

The Broncos were in Dryden yesterday and were swept by the Eagles.

The senior boys volleyball team lost three sets to one, while the Beaver Brae

junior boys were beaten in three straight games.

In hoops action, it wasn't any better, as Dryden beat the Bronco Senior Girls

39-13, while the junior girls lost 37-23.

Former Kenora Resident Runs for Mayor of Ear Falls

A former Kenora resident is hoping to follow in the footsteps of his father.

Kevin Kahoot is one of three people running for the mayoralty of Ear Falls

this Monday.

Kahoot says one things he's been focussing on this campaign is making municipal council more accountable to local taxpayers.

Kahoot is the son of former Keewatin Mayor Bob Kahoot.

He's being challenged by Tracey Simon and Rob Doyle.

Small Business Week Seminars Offered

The Northwest Business Center and the Lake of the Woods Business Incentive Corporation are teaming up to celebrate Small Business Week in Kenora.

A couple of seminars will be presented tomorrow.

Mike Greaves from the Business Center says they will be bringing in a couple of
well-known Manitoba businessmen as their keynote speakers.

The seminars will take place at the Super 8 Minis Hall tomorrow.

The first session starts at 10:30, followed by lunch and then the presentation
by Chris and Larry.

Wincrief planning to build pole peeling plant

Wincrief Industries says its still planning to open up a pole peeling plant in the

Kenora area this fall.

The company announced plans to make hydro poles this past summer.

Wincrief spokesperson, Greg Moncrief says they are still looking for the

best location for the plant.

Moncrief says once the pole peeling plant is up and running, it should employ another

dozen or so people.

The facility would be also be a co-operative venture with the Wabaseemung First Nation.

German Offensive Player of the Week in WHSFL

Another honor for Beaver Brae's football team.

Colt German has been named the offensive player of the week in the East Division of the Kas Vidruk Division in the Winnipeg High School Football League.

The Broncos quarterback was 11 of 14 in passing for 211 yards in a 33-8 win over Steinbach last week.

Beaver Brae closes out the regular season at home against the West Kildonan Wolverines on Friday.

Three running for mayor in Machin

The clock is starting to wind down on municipal election campaigns across the region.

In the township of Machin there are three people running for the top job.

Linda Anderson says job creation is one of her main priorities.

Incumbent Mayor Garry Parkes says he wants to continue working on recreation and tourism.

Gordon Dingman says expanding the local taxbase is his main focus.

Votes will be counted up on October 25th.

Drug Bust behind Beaver Brae

An 18 year old Sioux Narrows man has been arrested after being busted

for dealing drugs behind Beaver Brae Secondary School.

The OPP say last Friday afternoon, officers were patrolling the bush behind the

high school and came across a couple of male suspects involved in a drug transaction.

Jason Paypompee was arrested and charged with possession for the purpose

of trafficking.

He is due to appear in Kenora Court on November 15th on the charge.

Holiday Train Schedule released

The 'Holiday Train' is making a return trip to Northwestern Ontario.

The festive locomotive will stop Thunder Bay on December 3rd and in Ignace, Dryden, Vermilion Bay and Kenora on December 4th.

CPR Spokesperson Mike LoVecchio announces the headliner for this year's event.

Last year, CPR raised 743 thousand dollars and 237 thousand pounds of food for Canadian Food Banks.

Ignatieff makes a return trip to the Kenora Riding

Federal Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff is paying a visit to the Kenora Riding next week.

Ignatieff will meet with residents in Sioux Lookout and Dryden next Friday.

Roger Valley is the Kenora Riding Liberal candidate and says the state of the economy will be just one issue that he will address.

Ignatieff was supposed to stop in the Riding over the Summer, but the death of one of his aids derailed those plans.

OPP nab young impaired driver

Impaired drivers seem to be getting younger and younger.

Over the weekend, the OPP say they arrested a 15 year old youth who was behind the wheel of a car.

Police say they came across a vehicle which was blocking a section

of Carlton Road around 1:30 Saturday morning.

After speaking with the driver, they determined the youth had been
drinking.

He was taken to the Kenora Detachment for a breath test and charged.

The youth will appear in Kenora Court on November 23rd.

Contact North sees big increase in usage

Contact North is reporting a 50-per cent increase in the number of people using its services to access college and university courses.

Vice-president of regional service Debby Sefton says the over 23-thousand registrants is a record for the the distance education network.

Sefton says Contact North sites across the region have seen increases in usage this year.

Mitigoog looks towards expansion

The president of the Mitigoog Limited Partnership says he'd like to see the forest management company expand to include other areas of northwestern Ontario.

Eric Fisher says Mitigoog has been charged with the management of the Kenora Forest, but says in order to be successful, they are going to have to expand their operations.

Minister of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry Michael Gravelle the provincial government would allow and even encourage the expansion of Mitigoog to take on other sustainable forest licences in the region in the future.

Weyerhaeuser sees bright future for ILevel Plant in Kenora

The president of Weyerhaeuser is bullish on the future of the I-Level Timberstrand mill on the Jones Road, despite discouraging news from the U.S. housing market.

Anne Giardini was in Kenora last week and had a chance to visit the timberstrand mill.

She says they aren't panicking because American markets haven't turned around yet.

The timberstrand mill has experienced some downtime and lay-offs in recent months due to poor markets in the U.S.

New Strategic Plan released for the City of Kenora

The next edition of city council will have a brand new strategic plan to help guide them.

The current city council has approved Kenora Vision 2015, which is a stragic plan to guide the city over the next five years.

Chief Administrative Officer, Karen Brown helped draft the strat plan and says a lot has changed in the city over the last five years and the new plan addresses the changing economic landscape

in Kenora.

The corporate strategic plan identifies priorities for the city and sets targets and goals for

adminstration and council alike.

Parson Breaks silence in Mayoralty Race

One of the candidates for the mayor's chair in the City of Kenora has made his

first public comments since the campaign began.

Jim Parson spoke to CJRL news about his decision to stay in the

mayoralty race, despite the death of his wife Patti a month ago.

Parson says its been a difficult time for him personally.

The municipal election will be held one week from today.

Votes will be tallied just after 8:00 on October 25th.