Province working on a 10 year infrastructure plan

The McGuinty government is getting input on a new 10 year plan for funding road, sewer and building projects.

Infrastructure Minister Bob Chiarelli believes such a plan would be very valuable for local communities and agencies.

Chiarelli met with representitives from school boards, municipalities and first nation

communities from northwestern Ontario yesterday.

NOSM Board ratifies contract with support staff

Finally, some labor peace at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine.

The strike by support staff is now over after the school's board of directors voted to ratify a new contract with OPSEU Local 677.

Dean Dr. Roger Strasser is happy business can get back to normal.

The contract is for 3 years, but a back to work date still has to be worked out.

Fort Hope Crisis gets national exposure

The crisis on the Fort Hope First Nation is starting to get some national exposure.

The wives of the Governor General and Ontario's Lieutenant General toured the community that recently declared a state of emergency last week.

Former National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations Phil Fontaine says the arsons and murders in the community all stem from poverty.

Fontaine says he feels for the community and understands that it's a huge challenge.

New Fire Hall getting ready to open

Work continues to get the new fire hall on Barsky's Hill ready for occupancy.

The opening ceremonies for the fire hall will take place in just under three weeks, on Monday, November 29th.

However, members of Kenora City Council will get a sneak preview of the six million dollar construction project.

A special meeting of the outgoing council has been scheduled for November 18th.

Fire chief Warren Brinkman says he wanted to give the council that approved the funding for the project a chance to see the building first hand, before they leave office.

Brinkman adds that they are still waiting for furnishings to be delivered to the new fire hall and for final inspections to be completed.

Local hockey teams struggle on the road

A tough weekend for the Thomas Aquinas boys hockey team.

The Saints were in Red Lake for a pair of exhibition game, but lost both.

On Friday night, T.A. arrived late at the Cochenor Arena and their game never really got on track, sustaining a 12-4 loss.

Saturday, the Saints played a little better but still were doubled up 8-4.

Jared Snyder and Colt Manson led the offense with three points each in the

weekend series.

Meanwhile, the Kenora Triple "a" midget Thistles didn't fare much better.

They were on the road for a pair of games and suffered two one goal losses.

Saturday, the Thistles were edged 3-2 by the Central Plains Capitals.

On Friday, a similar result, as the Kenora Midgets were beaten 4-3 by the Pembina

Valley Hawks in a shootout.

Fire on the Redditt Road

Fire has caused extensive damage to a building on the Redditt Road.

The blaze broke out just before 7:00 last night in a workshop/studio about a
kilometer north of the Kenora By-Pass intersection.

Kenora's Fire and Emergency Services department was called out and a

number of pumper trucks were dispatched to shuttle water from a hydrant
about two kilometers away on Veteran's Drive.

The building was unoccupied at the time of the fire and no one was injured.

Fire Chief Warren Brinkman says at this time is looks as though the fire may

have been caused by an electrical malfunction in the workshop area.

Warm Weather Records Set

The unseasonably warm weather is expected to continue for at least three more days.

Yesterday, Kenora hit a record high for November 7th, topping out at 13.5 degrees, which was just a shade warmer than the previous record of 13.3 in 1969.

Bill Laidlaw from Signal Weather Services says there is the possibility of more records this week.

Laidlaw says both Ear Falls and Atikokan also set temperature records yesterday.

Atikokan was the hot spot in the region at 14 degrees.

Crime Prevention Week

The Kenora OPP have a busy schedule for Crime Prevention Week.

There will be a community presentation tomorrow night.

Constable Dave Cain Says that it is going to be called "Women Traveling Alone."

Cain also says that there will be a Community Awareness open house on Wednesday at the Lakewood School Cafeteria, as well as a variety of school programs all week long.

Medical School Strike nearing an end

Administrative, clerical and technical staff at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine have ratified a tentative contract agreement.

Their union says 78 per cent of members of OPSEU Local 677 who voted approved the deal.

The tentative contract now goes to the medical school's board of directors tomorrow.

If approved by the board it will bring to an end a strike that began August 16 at the school's campuses at Laurentian University in Sudbury and Lakehead University in Thunder Bay.

Details of the agreement will be released pending approval by the medical school's board.

Rosehart comments on Northern Growth Plan

Bob Rosehart says he's pleased to see the provincial government taking action on

some of his recommendations aimed at improving the economy of the region.

The former Lakehead University president was hired by the McGuinty government to advise what could be done for the Northwestern Ontario economy.

Rosehart says he's pleased with the progress with his recommendations

Rosehart says he'd still like to see action on getting improvements made to elementary education in the far north.

Hospital looking for a new facilities

Lake of the Woods District Hospital is trying to keep alive its dream of creating a new health care campus in Kenora.

The Hospital Board says it has applied for funding from the Ministry of Health for a Pre-Capital Health Service Improvement Proposal.

Board Chair, Debbie Baldwin says they would like to hire a consultant to get the ball rolling.

She adds that they are in this for the long haul and the project isn't going to happen overnight.

No injuries in Hospital Bridge Accident

The OPP say no-one was injured in a single vehicle accident this morning on the Hospital Bridge.

A pick-up truck lost control shortly after 9:00 and ended up on its side.

The OPP and Kenora's Fire and emergency services department were called out.

Traffic was closed to one lane for over an hour while emergency crews worked to clear the wreckage.

Hospital says "no" to Lobbyists

Administration at Lake of the Woods District Hospital says its never employed lobbyists

and never intends to do so in the future.

A recent report suggests that as many as 14 Ontario Hospitals have used lobbyists to gain

access to the McGuinty Government.

Chief Executive Officer of the local hospital, Marc Belcaen says if they need to get a message

to the provincial government or the Ministry of Health, they have a board chair and vice-chair

to do the job.

Belcaen says the Ontario Hospital Association is now encouraging hospitals to avoid using

lobbyist altogether.

Opposition parties are concerned that money is being diverted from front-line health services

to pay lobbyists.

Support shown for Fort Hope First Nation

Leaders of a northwestern Ontario first Nation in crisis say they're now confident their calls for help aren't falling on deaf ears.

Sharon Johnston, wife of Governor Gen. David Johnston, and Ruth Ann Onley, wife of Ontario Lieutentant-Governor David Onley, visited Fort Hope First Nation yesterday.

Johnston and Onley toured the fly-in community, that recently declared a state of emergency due to increasing murders, gang fights, arsons and animal cruelty.

Band leaders have put out repeated calls for help from all levels of government as they attempt to deal with the problems.

Stan Beardy, grand chief of Nishnawbe Aski Nation, also visited yesterday and said it was important that the First Nation has attracted the attention of the Governor General and Lieutenant-Governor.

New President for Lakehead

The new era for Lakehead University officially todaqy.  

Brian Stevenson officially gets installed as university president. 

Stevenson says the day is about celebrating a new phase in the university's history and a new direction they'll be taking with the rest of the community.

Hospital in the Black

Even though Lake of the Woods District Hospital has a surplus half-way through this fiscal year, its been a struggle to balance their books.

The hospital is 264 thousand dollars in the black after six months of the the 2010/2011 fiscal year.

Despite the black in, Chief Executive Officer Marc Belcaen says its been tough making ends meet.

Belcaen says they cut the volunteer co-ordinator position as a cost-saving measure and will also

not be replacing two managers, who will be retiring later this year.

Vote to End Strike at NOSM today

It's voting day for employees of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine in Thunder Bay and Sudbury.

They'll be voting on whether to accept their first contract with the school.

Dean Roger Strasser says, if accepted, the process begins to get the workers back on the job.

The workers went on strike August 16th.

Funding Sought for Orpheus Project

The OPP and a number of other community partners have applied for funding for a new program to help out local youth.

The Orpheus Project is being supported by the Kenora Metis Council and Making Kenora Home.

The groups have applied for 20 thousand dollar grant from the Safer and Vital Communities Fund.

The money would be used to set up a music resource room equipped with instruments for a music drop-in center.

The goal of the project is to use music to create and safe environment for youth.

The groups are still waiting to hear if their application is successful.

Doer Weighs in on Cross Border Issues

Canadian officials are working to ease problems encountered by American hunters and fishermen as they try to cross into our country.

Northern Ontario tourism operators say they're losing money because the Americans are being turned away over previous convictions like driving under the influence, but our Ambassador to the U-S Gary Doer says first we have to educate U-S visitors about the seriousness of drinking and driving convictions:

Doer made the comments during a stop in Saint John, New Brunswick where he was addressing an economic development conference.

Tobacco-Free Video Contest launched

The Northwestern Health Unit is looking for youth to 'Play, Live and be Tobacco-Free.'

Youth Coordinator Roberta Lappage says they are accepting video submissions until November 15th from anyone aged 14-to-24.

The contest runs until November 15th and entrants have a chance to win an IPad prize package.

Police to crack down on drug smuggling on airplanes

Police and airline officials are concerned about the amount of illicit drugs being transported on small airplanes heading to isolated First Nations.

The OPP say they are determined to fix the problem by heightening security at smaller airports.

OPP Detective Sergeant Chris Lawrence says over 50 people have been charged and thousands of dollars worth of prescription drugs have been confiscated at regional airports.

The most common drug being smuggled is the heavily addictive Oxycodone.

Kenora-Rainy River MPP Howard Hampton says the provincial or federal government should be taking action, and funding more small airport security.

Airline officials are trying to develop methods of tracking illegal drugs to First Nations.

Minaki on the River and Wincrief sign construction deal

Wincrief Forest Products has reached a construction agreement with the project known as

Minaki on the River.

Wincrief would build ready-to-move units for the development which is being planned for the former Minaki Lodge property.

Bob Banman is one of the investors in the project and says the units would be placed on what are being called lands in common.

The ready-to-move units would be in addition to the condos which are being proposed

for the former hotel facility.

Development is expected to begin in the next year.

Another Quiet Fire Season in NWO

The forest fire season is officially over.

The Ministry of Natural Resources says there were 370 fires in Northwestern Ontario this year compared to just under 200 last year.

However, there were over 3 thousand fewer hectares that were burned this year .

NDP demand HST be taken off hydro bills

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath insists her party won't give up the fight to help Northern Ontario families deal with skyrocketing hydro bills.

Horwath Tuesday brought up the concerns of Dryden resident Eliana Wittwer and Kenora resident Jim Irish.

She says they want to hear from more Northerners.

Horwath stresses that instead of making life more affordable for people, the McGuinty Liberals are making everything more expensive.

NOHFC re-focuses

The new Executive Director of the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation is targeting the tourism sector.

Bruce Strapp says that he's looking to get the word out on what kind of grants are available to local tourist outfitters and other tourist based businesses.

Strapp hopes to put some efficiency into the process of getting the corporation's goals known.

Drug Bust on Scramble Avenue

The OPP say they have seized over 123 thousand dollars worth of marijuana and marijuana plants during a bust over the weekend.

Police raided a home on Scramble Avenue this past Friday and seized about nine pounds of pot, 43 marijuana plants and over 16 thousand dollars in cash.

The OPP's Organized Crime Enforcement Bureau and members of the Street Crime Unit arrested five male suspects and three women in the residence and a garage located on the property.

45 year old Lorraine Allin, 56 year old Martin Allin, 21 year old Trish Allin, 24 year old Dave Baker, 24 year old Steven Beckworth, and 20 year old Robert Hay have been each charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking and possession of property obtained by crime.

A 17 year old was also arrested, though his name cannot be released under the Youth Criminal

Justice Act.

20 year old Martin Allin Junior also faces an additional charge of production of a controlled substance.

All the people charged have been released and are due to appear in Kenora Court on December 13th.

Copperfin talks Credit Union Merger with Northern Lights

Copperfin Credit Union is considering merging with Northern Lights Credit Union.

The two businesses are in talks with a joint Board of Directors meeting scheduled for the New Year.

Copperfin C.E.O. Dennis Alvestad says they are in the preliminary stages.

Alvestad says if they merge credit union users would have access to their accounts from sites across Northwestern Ontario.

NOSM contract vote on Friday

There's hope the strike at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine may soon be over.

It follows a tentative agreement reached after some overnight bargaining.

OPSEU local president, Tyler England says they'll recommend their membership accept the offer.

The voting takes place Friday

Health Unit Starts up Kenora Flu Clinics Today

The Northwestern Health Unit will be starting up it's flu shot clinics in Kenora today.

Ella Goodman, a doctor-in- training at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine and also has an infant son.

She understands there are still skeptics who don't like the flu vaccine.

The Kenora Clinic is by appointment and will take place from 9:00 to 4:00 at the Health Unit Office

on Tunnel Island.

A flu shot clinic will also take place at the Metis Council office from nine til noon tomorrow.

Houston Lake Mining continues Exploration near Sioux Narrows

Houston Lake Mining says it continues to be impressed with the results of its drilling

program on the West Cedertree property southeast of Kenora.

The company recently completed another four hole drilling program in a recently discovered

gold zone.

The company says the results of the drill program show that further exploration is warranted.

Trevor Walker is president of the company and says they are pleased with the results on the

Robertson Gold Zone, which is part of the West Cedartree property.

Crime Stats drop in September

The Kenora Detachment of the OPP say there was a big drop-off in crime in the month of September from August.

Inspector Dave Lucas released the latest statistics to the Kenora Police Service Board last week.

There were about 120 fewer calls for service from the last month of summer to the first month of fall.

While most crime stats were down in September, there was a noticible increase in thefts.

Officers investigated 14 break-ins in September compared to just seven in August.

A Winnipeg man was arrested in connection to a number of those break-ins.

NorWOSSA court sport regular season wraps up

The NorWOSSA regular season is over for both Beaver Brae and Thomas Aquinas boys volleyball and girls basketball teams.

The Saints boys volleyball teams finished on a winning note, sweeping Ignace three sets to one.

T.A. wrapped up the regular season with perfect 14-0 records.

Thomas Aquinas girls teams also finished with victories. The Saints senior girls upended the

Falcons 62-37, while the T.A. junior girls beat Ignace 43-28.

Beaver Brae's court sports teams managed just one win over Fort Frances.

The Broncos junior boys prevailed three sets to two over the Muskies, while

the Beaver Brae senior boys had their two game winning streak end with a five set

loss to Fort.

The Bronco senior girls lost their final regular season game 47-14, while the junior team

dropped a 2-12 decision.

The Norwossa single and double "a" play-offs begin next week.

Helen Lake Man Identified, and charges laid in incident.

A Winnipeg man has been charged in the fatal hit and run near Nipigon.

The incident occured on or around 6:30 am on October 31st. The OPP were called out to a report that there was a man lying in the middle of Highway 11,17.

The Highway was closed for nearly nine hours while police conducted an investigation.

The 21 year old male has been identified as Miles Fawcett, of Lake Helen, Ontario. Fawcett was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Investigation has resulted in 44 year old Peter Angelkowski from Winnipeg being charged with Failure to Stop at the scene of an accident. He will appear in Kenora Court on November 3rd.

Tentative deal for NOSM employees

A tentative deal has been reached between the Northern Ontario School of Medicine and OPSEU.

The agreement was reached early this morning following nearly 24-hours of Provincially-mediated talks in Thunder Bay.

The deal, which is being recommended by the Union bargaining team, still must be ratified by both parties.

Some 150-support workers have been on strike since mid-August.

NOMA seeking a new president

The Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association is searching for a new President.

The position will become vacant in December, when Anne Krassilowsky officially leaves office.

The outgoing Dryden Mayor has been President of NOMA since 2007.

Executive Director Charla Robinson says it will be up to the organization's membership to fill the vacancy.

Robinson says they will look within for an interim President until their Annual General Meeting in April.

Thunder Bay Councilor Iain Angus is a Vice-President on NOMA's Board of Directors.

African Children's Choir tours NWO

The sounds of Africa resonated through the Knox United Church last week.

Members of the African Children's Choir performed as part of a cross-Canada tour.

Chimera Victor, a team leader, says they're also raising awareness of Africa's orphaned and abandoned children.

It's the sixth year the choir has visited Kenora as part of a tour of northwestern Ontario.

OPP investigate hit and run on Nipigon River Bridge

Police aren't releasing any new information about the death on the Nipigon River Bridge Sunday.

A 21 year old Lake Helen man was pronounced dead there after what police believe to be a hit and run.

OPP Sergeant Ken Mantey won't say if there are any witnesses.

A post mortem has taken place at the Regional Health Sciences Center in Thunder Bay, but the

cause of death has not been released. 

Human Remains Identified

Dryden and Ignace OPP have wrapped up their investigation into human remains found on Highway 17, about 25-kilometres east of Ignace.

The remains were found August 17th by a group of blueberry pickers.

A post-mortem was conducted in Toronto and the individual was identified through the use of medical records.

The remains are that of 55-year-old Steven Raycroft.

Raycroft was a transient who frequently travelled across Canada.

Foul play is not suspected in the case.

Near record temperatures for October

Its been a remarkably warm fall so far in the Kenora area.

The month of October was one of the warmest on record.

Bill Laidlaw from Signal Weather Services says temperatures last

month were well above normal.

Laidlaw adds the precipitation was just below normal, with

48.5 millimeters of rain and snow last month.

The normal is 53 millimeters.

Infrastructure projects face deadline

With winter getting ready to set in, there has been some concern about the status of some of the infrastructure projects funded by the federal and provincial government's.

A recent report by the federal auditor questioned whether all the projects would be complete

by the March 31st deadline imposed by the Harper government.

Kenora M.P. Greg Rickford says so far, the projects in his riding seem to be on schedule for

completion.

A couple of projects in the Kenora area are still underway, including the Discovery Center in

Norman and the new water treatment facility in Redditt.

Both are scheduled to be complete sometime during the winter months.

LHIN's Announces funding for aboriginal elders

The Kenora Chiefs Advisory is getting funding from the Northwest Local Health Integration Network to help aboriginal elders stay in their homes.

The local group is one of seven across the region to get funding.

Just over 140 thousand dollars will go towards a new project that provide home maintenance service and home visits.

The money will also give safety and support services training to 100 elders in four communities near Kenora.

The Northwest LHIN's has doled out over 500 thousand dollars for aborigianal community

support services.

Soldi Ventures to begin Drill Program in Cameron Lake Area

Yet another mining company is planning an exploration program in the Cameron Lake area

in the Township of Sioux Narrows/Nestor Falls.

Soldi Ventures is going to embark on a winter drilling project of its recently acquired property.

The Vancouver-based company recently obtained about 76-hectares of land within the emerging gold

zone.

The company says it will be drilling in areas based on a historical and current review of data of the five separate claim holdings.

Jump Start Program helps out northern Communities

Attawapiskat youth will be getting involved in sports thanks to Canadian Tire and the Provincial Government.

The two are sending a youth wellness worker to the community who will help create sports programs.

Canadian Tire Jumpstart President Dan Thompson says they'll also have activity kit.

As part of the program, Olympic Athlete Sami Jo Small will speak to youth in Kashechewan, Attawapiskat and Fort Albany.

Funding available for tourism projects

The Ministry of Tourism is currently reviewing eight projects that could boost tourism in Northwestern Ontario.

Paul Pepe is part of the transition team for the new Northern Ontario Tourism Zone and says the projects include a big-game hunting proposal, motorcycle tours and marketing strategies into Manitoba and the Northern U.S.

Pepe notes other projects are on the go.

A total of 1.54-million dollars is available for tourism related projects in this Region.

Ignatieff tackles border crossing issues

Problems at the border was one of the hot button issues discussed Friday at a Town Hall meeting with Michael Ignatieff.

The Federal Liberal Leader addressed about 80-party faithful at the Dryden Centre.

Ignatieff says he's the only leader that believes this is a major issue.

Ignatieff notes Americans with minor convictions who want to spend a week fishing in the North shouldn't be turned away at the border.

Snow Storms cause weekend accidents

Snow squalls over the weekend resulted in a couple of road closures in northwestern Ontario.

The Kenora By-Pass was closed for about three hours early Saturday morning due to a collision involving a semi tractor trailor unit just west of the Jones Road.

Highway 17 between Kenora and Vermillion Bay was also closed down a short time on Saturday due to another single vehicle accident.

Meanwhile Highway 17 near Nipigon was closed down for about nine hours yesterday morning.

The OPP say the body of a 21 year old man was found lying in the middle of the road near the Nipigon River Bridge.

The highway was closed while the Technical Traffic unit carried out its

investigation.

Bronco Boys place second in Dryden Hockey Tournament

Beaver Brae's boys hockey team had a good showing at the annual Dryden Invitational Tournament.

The Broncos got by the host Eagles 5-3 in the semi-finals and met up with Fort Frances in the Tournament Final on Saturday.

The game was tied 1-1 after two periods, but the Muskies turned it on in the third period and downed the Broncos 4-1.

Broncos lose in WSFL Quarter-Finals

Beaver Brae's football team will start packing up its gear for another year today.

The Broncos post-season hopes were dashed on Friday in Winnipeg with a 15-14 loss to Murdoch McKay in a thrilling game at the Eastside Stadium.

Despite the loss, Beaver Brae head coach Chris Penner says he was proud of the way his team played.

Scott Morgan scored a 51 yard touchdown in the third quarter for the Broncos and Cody Jones had a four yard touchdown reception for the other major.

The Broncos held a 14-8 lead in midway through the fourth quarter before giving up their only touchdown of the day to Murdoch McKay.