Allan Cup Preview

It will be a battle of northwestern Ontario in the Allan Cup quarter-finals this evening at the Kenora Rec. Center.

The Kenora Thistles will meet up with the Fort Frances Thunderhawks at 8:00.

The winner will move onto tomorrow's semi-final round, while the loser will be eliminated from further play.

Thistles Head Coach Ryan Reynard says even though the Thunderhawks are winless so far, he expects a tough game.

The other game today will see the Southeast Prairie Thunder take on the Dundas Real McCoys.

That's a 2:00 start.

The Clarenville Caribous and the Bentley Generals have a bye into tomorrow's semi-finals.

Substance Abuse Task Force Set Up

Kenora's Substance Abuse and Mental Health Task Force has come out with its first ever Drug Strategy for the community.

The Task Force was set up about a year ago, with close to 30 local agencies represented at the table.

Constable Bob Bernie of the OPP says the Drug Strategy is about more than just enforcement.

Bernie says the goal of the task force is to reduce the harm caused by substance abuse.

The Task Force has set up a web-site and hopes to develop some billboards to help to deliver their messages.

NOMA Opposes Forest Tenure Act

The Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association is having its say about the Forest Tenure Act.

NOMA called for a minimum five year trial period for the proposed forest management corporations.

President Ron Nelson made his comments to the standing committee over video conference.

NOMA wants the bill amended before it returns to the Legislature for third reading.

City Seeks Funding Increase for Beds and Heads

The City of Kenora is seeking increased transfer payments from the provincial government.

Council is looking to pass a resolution calling for money for so-call heads and beds.

Currently the province provides the city about 75 dollars for every hospital, jail and college bed in the community.

That amounts to about 28 thousand dollars a year in revenue for the city.

That funding hasn't increased since 1987, and the city is seeking an increase to about 135 dollars per bed.

District Services Board has job vacancies

The Kenora District Services Board has a few key vacancies it has to fill.

The Services Board is currently looking for a Director of Emergency Services.

Peter Marshall has announced his resignation.

Councillor Louis Roussin also says the Board is looking for a new Human Resources Officer and is looking to enlarge the I.T. department.

The District Services Board has also hired a new Chief Administrative Officer.

Dan McNeil begins his new duties next month.

Thistles Lose to Bentley at Allan Cup

The Kenora Thistles have dropped their first game at the Allan Cup.

The Thistles lost a hard fought 3-2 decision against the Bentley Generals last night at the Kenora Rec. Center.

Sean Hughes and Kevin Chabbert scored power play goals for the Thistles, who are back in action tonight.

Kenora will take on Fort Frances in a quarter-final match-up at 8:00.

In yesterday's other game, the Clarenville Caribous got by the  Southeast Prairie Thunder 3-2 and earned a bye into Friday's semi-finals.

Southeast will face the Dundas Real McCoys in today's other quarter-final at 2:00. 

Council Still Grappling with Digital Billboard Decision

Kenora City Council is still split over the issue of what to do about a digital billboard along Lakeview Drive.

The Property and Planning Committee met for almost an hour this morning debating the issue.

Derrick Johnson is a representitive with Pattison Outdoor Advertising and tried once again to sell council on the idea of the digital billboard.

An ad-hoc committee set up by council to look at the issue had recommended that a variance to the sign  by-law not be given to allow the digital billboard, but the sign committee voted 3-1 against that recommendation.

Kenora Catholic District School Board Moving its Offices

The Kenora Catholic District School Board will be saying good bye to its old board offices on First Street North this week.

The Board is closing its old offices as of noon today as it begins moving to its new office space in the Old Thomas Aquinas Annex.

Director of Education, Phylis Eikre says they plan to spend the next few days moving.

Eikre says they plan to be in their new board offices by Monday, April 18th.

The new board offices cost about one million dollars to build.

Hampton Angry over Wood Allocation Decisions

A lot of words but not much action from the Liberal Government.

That's the message from Kenora-Rainy River MPP Howard Hampton after he questioned the McGuinty Liberals Monday on their wood allocation decisions.

Hampton says the Grits are out of touch with Northern Ontario and the forest industry.

Hampton says everyone he talks to in the forest sector is calling for a resumption of sawmilling in Ontario, something he says is lost with the Liberals.

Harborfront Tent Ready for Labor Day?

The City of Kenora still isn't exactly sure when the new Harborfront Tent will be installed.

Council has given the formal go ahead for the 1.4 million dollar tent, but it likely won't be ready for the summer festival season.

Chair of the Operations committee, Rod McKay says while they would like to see it up by the middle of August, he suggests September 1st is a more likely target.

That means all of the special events this summer will be held under the old tent on the south parking lot.

First All-Candidates Forum Tomorrow in Dryden

The candidates vying for a seat in Parliament as the Kenora representative will take part in their first debate this week.

An All-Candidates Debate is set for Thursday at 7 o'clock at the Royal Canadian Legion in Dryden.

Roger Valley, Tania Cameron, Greg Rickford and Kelvin Chicago-Boucher are all scheduled to participate.

Mike Schwindt of the Green Party is unable to attend.

The candidates will be taking questions from the floor and the media and will also have an opportunity to question their competitors.

Bentley and Claronville Win on Day Two of Allan Cup

The Fort Frances Thunderhawks and the Dundas Real McCoys are still searching for their first wins at the Allan Cup.

The Real McCoys were edged 4-3 by the Bentley Generals from Alberta last night at the Thistle Rink.

The loss ensures the Real McCoys will finish at the bottom of their pool.

The Thunderhawks are in a similar position after dropping a 3-1 decision to the Clarenville Caribous yesterday afternoon.

Tonight, the host Kenora Thistles will take on Bentley in a battle for first place in their pool.

Clarenville will face the Southeast Prairie Thunder this afternoon for first in the other pool.

Thistles win first game at Allan Cup

An impressive win for the Kenora Triple A Senior Thistles to start the Allan Cup.

The host team cruised to a 6-1 victory over the Dundas Real McCoys last night at the Kenora Rec. Center.

Tyler Gordon backstopped the Thistles to the victory with 36 saves, including a couple of key break-aways.

He says the team played solidly in front of him.

Sean Hughes was the player of the game with a pair of goals and two assists, while Jon Johnson had a pair of goals, and Jeff Richards scored once and added two assists.

The Thistles next game is tomorrow night against the Bentley Generals.

Meanwhile, the Fort Frances Thunderhawks squandered leads of 1-0 and 2-1, and eventually fell 6-3 to the Southeast Prairie Thunder from Steinbach in the early game.

Council Approves 1.61 percent budget increase

After months of review, Kenora City Council has finally put the 2011 municipal budget to bed.

Council yesterday agreed on a 1.61 percent increase in the mill rate.

Ron Lunny is chair of the finance committee and says they were able to trim the budget down a bit, but increasing the industrial tax rate for the first time in more than 10 years.

Lunny points out that some property owners could face a much higher tax increase than the 1.61 percent, because municipal property assessments went up an average of 2.4 percent.

Council is expected to formally approve the budget next Monday.

Nuclear Waste up for Discussion in Ignace

The Nuclear Waste Management Organization is hosting community sessions in Ignace today and tomorrow.

The group will present the results of initial screening held last year in the community.

Officials are trying to determine whether there are obvious reasons that would eliminate Ignace from continuing in the site selection process for a deep geological Nuclear repository.

If residents and Council are in favour of the findings, the community can then decide if it wants to request a feasibility study, which would take 2 to 3 years to complete.

Today's and Wednesday's sessions are from 1 to 4 and 6:30 until 8:30 at the Curling Club Gallery.

Black Bear Hotline Up and Running Again

The provincial bear reporting hotline is up and running.

The toll-free number is part of the Ministry of Natural Resources Bear Wise Program, to educate people on how to avoid attracting bears.

As black bears come out of hibernation, the ministry says people should be taking steps to prevent encounters with them.

MNR conservation officer Ross Johnston says people should be thinking about taking down bird feeders before they receive unwelcome visitors.

Summer Company Applications now available

The Northwest Business Centre is offering students a unique summer job opportunity.

Spokesperson Mike Greaves outlines the 'Summer Company' program.

The Centre will assist those interested in owning and operating their 8 to 12-week business over the Summer.

Over the past 5 years, the Kenora-Rainy River District has developed over 15-young entrepreneurs.

NOACC Makes presentation on Forest Tenure Legislation

The Northwestern Ontario Associated Chambers of Commerce is giving the provincial government a piece of his mind.

Chief Operating officer of NOACC, Harold Wilson was in Toronto yesterday to share his concerns about the forest tenure bill.

Wilson says the province isn't listening to their recommendations.

Bill 151 would create a number of crown corporations to manage area forests.

OPP nab a pair of impaired drivers

An 18 year old man faces drunk driving charges following a single vehicle accident early Saturday morning.

The OPP say they responded to a vehicle roll-over on the Airport Road around 12:30 Saturday morning.

The driver was was taken to Lake of the Woods District Hospital for treatment of minor injuries.

In another incident, Police were conducting a RIDE Check Stop early Sunday morning on Darlinton Drive when a vehicle approached and tried to avoid officers.

The OPP managed to stop the vehicle and charged the driver with impaired operation of a motor vehicle.

City Council Ready to Take the Wraps off the 2011 Budget

Kenora City Council will be taking the wraps on the 2011 municipal budget.

A public meeting is being held this afternoon to go over the fine print in this year's fiscal document.

Council has been meeting over the past few months to try and whittle down both the operating and capital budgets.

The budget meeting will take place at 2:30 this afternoon prior to the committee of the whole meeting.

The actual budget won't officially be passed until next week.

Hospital Hoping for Funding increase in 2011

Lake of the Woods District Hospital says it still isn't sure exactly how much money it will have to work with in the 2011 fiscal year.

The provincial government promised a 1.5 percent increase in health care spending this year.

But CEO of the Hospital, Marc Belcaen says there are indications that the funding will be tied to performance related data.

Last year, the hospital had a budget of about 45 million dollars.

Allan Cup Ready to Roll

Two years of planning comes to fruition this week with the Allan Cup tournament taking center stage in town.

The week long event gets underway this afternoon with the first game at the Thistle Rink.

Judy Bain is chair of the Allan Cup Committee and says they are pleased with ticket sales so far.

Bain says their goal is to basically even, but expects they should be able to post a small surplus.

LOWBIC Lending up in 2010

The Lake of the Woods Business Incentive Corporation has a profitable year in terms of small business loans.

LOWBIC held its annual general meeting on Friday and its balance sheet showed about 1.2 million dollars lent out to 12 businesses in 2010.

Ryan Reynard is the Executive Director of LOWBIC and says there is some optimism in the tourism sector, despite a downturn in that industry in recent years.

LOWBIC says it also offered one on one, in-depth business councilling to 167 clients last year.

Hospital Bed Shortage Continues

Lake of the Woods District Hospital is seeking another two week extension to its 1-A crisis status.

The status gives patients in alternate level of care the first shot at a long term care bed when one opens up at either Pinecrest or Birchwood.

Director of Patient Care Leslie Brown says they currently have 16 patients waiting for long term care beds, which is the same, when the 1-A status was approved by the Northwest Local Health Integratin Network one month ago.

She says the 1-A status is due to expire on April 11th, but they are hoping to extend it beyond the Easter Long weekend.

Hospital CEO Marc Belcaen adds that they still haven't heard any word as to if or when Pinecrest will be able to open up 10 interim long term care beds.

Canadian Military Plans Forest Fire Training Exercise

The Ministry of Natural Resources is working with the Canadian Military in a 7-day firefighting training excercise.

About 100-military personnel and helicopters will be participating with MNR waterbombers, helicopters and firefighters.

Lieutenant-Colonel Steve Hill says the Military needs to fine-tune their policies in the event of an emergency.

'Trillium Response' will take place in Bon Echo Park near Trenton the first week of May.

Hill was one of the keynote speakers at the Northwest Response Forum in Dryden.

Teams gearing up for Allan Cup

All the teams in this weeks Allan Cup have arrive in town and are getting ready to start play today.

The round-robin begins this afternoon, with Fort Frances taking  on the South East Prairie Thunder from Steinbach.

Tonight's feature game has the host Kenora Thistles taking on the Ontario champs, the Dundas Real McCoys.

Thistles Fordward, Jeff Richards says even though they don't know much about these teams, their game plan is pretty straight forward.

The Opening Ceremonies take place at 7:30 this evening, with the puck drop in the Thistle Game at 8:00.

The other game between Fort and Southeast will start at 2:00.

OCN wins 22nd Annual NAFN Tournament

The OCN Penguins proved to be the team to beat at the 22nd annual North American First Nations tournament of Champions.

The Penguins cruised to the A-Side final and easily dispatched Norway House 8-2 in last night last in the championship game.

OCN also claimed the first prize money of 20 thousand dollars.

In the B-Side final, Shoal Lake edged the Whitedog Falcons 3-2.

In the old timers tournament, Rat Portage reclaimed the title with an easy 11-3 victory over Whitedog.

Hospital moving towards a year-end surplus

Lake of the Woods District Hospital is still in the black with just one month left in its fiscal year.

The hospital was running a surplus of 204 thousand dollars through the first 11 months of the 2010/2011 fiscal year.

Chief Executive Officer Marc Belcaen says they still expect to have a very small surplus

once all their bills are paid this year.

He adds that a freeze on travel and education for the hospital staff this year, helped keep

them in the black.

Common Ground Story Sharing this weekend

The 6th annual Common Ground Story Sharing Celebration will take place this weekend.

A number of new stories about the Lake of the Woods area will be presented during the day long event.

Barb Manson is one of the organizers and says they never seem to have a shortage of stories to share.

Manson says there are still a few tickets left for Common Ground, which will run from 9:00 to 3:30 tomorrow at the Best Western Lakeside Inn.

Grassy Narrows and Province sign Memorandum

Ontario continues to work with the Grassy Narrows First Nation towards a logging agreement in the Whiskey Jack forest north of  Kenora.

Minister of Natural Resources Linda Jeffrey signed an agreement with Chief Simon Fobister in Thunder Bay yesterday.

Jeffrey says they'll work on creating sustainable forest practices with the first nation.

Chief Simon Fobister says the agreement is a step in the right direction but notes they will not dismantle their blockade.

Children`s Aid Merger in Kenora and Rainy River ready to proceed

Kenora Patricia Child and Family Services says it has received assurances from the provincial government that it will cover the costs of the merger with Family and Children's Services of Rainy River.

Bill Leonard is the executive director of the new child care agency and says they were supposed to join forces last week, but they were waiting for word from the Ministry of Children and Youth Services that it would cover the costs of the amalgamation.

Leonard says transition costs were about 180 thousand dollars.

The merger of the two child care agencies is expected to take another six to eight weeks to complete.

Hospital Board Chair resigns

The chair of the Lake of the Woods Hospital Board is calling it quits.

Debbie Baldwin is moving out of the community and tendered her resignation to the board last night.

Marc Belcaen is the hospital's chief executive officer and says they will have to shuffle their board duties, with

vice-chair, Fred Richardson taking over as chair on an interim basis. 

Richardson says the board will have to decide whether to fill the vice-chair's job for the next two months, or leave the position vacant until the annual general meeting in June.

Envirothon takes place today at Blue Lake

High School students from Kenora and Dryden are putting their environmental smarts to the test today for the first ever Envirothon Regional Competition.

Environmental Curriculum coordinator for the Keewatin-Patricia District School Board, Kathy Boone says teams of 5 will take part in various challenges.

Boone says the 15-participating teams will have to be experts in forestry, aquatics, wildlife, soils and salt water.

10 of the teams will be from Beaver Brae, the other from Dryden High School.

Envirothon is being held at Blue Lake Provincial Park in Vermilion Bay.

More calls for the Far North Act Hearings to be moved out of Toronto

The McGuinty government is being called out of touch, arrogant and uncaring about the north.

NDP leader Andrea Horwath is still hounding the government over it's refusal to hold forest tenure committee hearings outside of Toronto.

Horwath predicts however, the government won't change it's mind about the issue

The Real McCoys the final team to Qualify for the Allan Cup

The Dundas Real McCoys will be making their four straight appearance at the Allan Cup this year.

Dundas won the Ontario men's senior championship last night with a 8-5 victory

over the Norwood Vipers in the seventh and deciding game of their series last night.

The Real McCoys are the last of the six teams to qualify for next week's national championships.

Dominion Curling Club Playdowns start today

Lori Hoppe's Kenora Foursome will be in action today at the Dominion Curling Club Playdowns in Sault Ste. Marie.

The Kenora rink is one of six competing at the Northern Championships.

The Kenora foursome will take on Kakebecka Falls at 1:30 this afternoon in their first game.

Grassy Narrows to meet with Minister of MNR on forestry issues

After years of negotiations, it looks as if an end in the impasse between the Grassy Narrows First Nation and the provincial government over forest activity in their Traditional Land Use Area could be coming to an end.

A press conference is scheduled this morning in Thunder Bay with Natural Resources Minister Linda Jeffray and Grassy Narrows Chief Simon Fobister.

A press release issued by the MNR only says the two sides will discuss plans to move forward on forestry talks.

Former Supreme Court Justice, Frank Iacabucci will also be on hand.

He was hired by the province to help find a resolution to the impasse over

harvesting rights in the Grassy Traditional Land Use Area.

Police Use Spike Belt to Stop Pick-Up

A 33 year old Calgary man faces dangerous driving charges after a short police chase.

The OPP say officers tried to pull over a vehicle last night around 7:00 for speeding, but the driver refused to pull over.

A spike belt was deployed on Highway 17 east near Transmitter Road and a pick-up truck was finally forced off the road.

Police say the driver was taken to hospital for treatment of minor abrasions and was released a short time later.

Robert Reid remains in custody while the OPP continue to investigate the incident.

Voter Cards for May 2nd Election in the Mail

Voting cards for the May 2nd federal election should start showing up in local mail boxes over the next couple of days.

The returning office in Kenora began mailing out the cards last night.

Gerry Oulette is the returning officer and says while the vote is still four weeks away, local residents will be able to cast their ballot at three advance polls.

Oulette says local residents can also drop by the returning offices in Kenora and Dryden at any time to vote using a special ballot.

OPP Start Positive Ticketing Campaign Next Week

Who says it doesn't pay to be nice.

The OPP in conjunction with the Northwestern Health Unit are launching a positive ticketing program for local youth starting next week.

Constable Dave Cain says they want to reward kids who perform random acts of kindness.

Cain says the Health Unit managed to secure funding for the campaign, which will be carried out over the next couple of months in the Kenora area.

Police Board Concerned about Wild Dogs in the Community

Kenora's Police Services Board has raised concerns about a number of wild

dogs that have been roaming freely across the city.

Three dogs have been seen hunting down and killing deer all winter long.

Board member Glenda McMillan suggests as many as 18 deer have been killed by the dogs.

However, animal control officers haven't been able to get close enough to them to capture them.

She says the dogs are a real concern and wants to get an update from police next month about what's being done to deal with them.

Nurses Recommend Health Care Solutions for Northern Ontario

The Ontario Nurses' Association is urging the Provincial Government to act on a list of 13-recommendations on improving Health Care in Northern Ontario.

First Vice-President Vicki McKenna says a new ONA report on health services can't sit on the shelf and collect dust.

The ONA is demanding that socio-economic and environmental issues in Northern Ontario be examined in order to address the root causes of lower life expectancy.

NAFN Tournament Begins Tonight

A busy weekend at the Kenora Rec. Center.

The annual North American First Nation Tournament of Champions

gets underway this evening.

Jason Stevens is one of the organizers and says some big money is being offered up to the winners, 20 thousand dollars for the Open Division Champs and five thousand for the Oldtimer winners.

The old timers tournament begins this evening at the Thistle Rink, while the open tournament starts tomorrow morning.

The finals will take place Sunday evening.

Health Unit Moves Clinical Services Downtown

The Northwestern Health Unit is shuffling some of its services around in the community.

As of Monday, all of its clinical services have been centralized into office space in Market Square.

Mark Perreault is the Chief Executive Officer of the Health Unit and says the move just made strategic sense.

The news services available in Market Square include the needle exchange, sexual health clinics, travel information, infectious disease control and the tuberculosis program.

Council Members won`t get a raise in 2011

Members of Kenora City council won't be getting a pay raise this year,

but they will begin to look at the issue of their remuneration.

The city's finance committee is expected to hold discussions about

whether to raise councillor wages starting in 2012.

Kenora mayor Dave Canfield says there hasn't been any increases in

more than a decade.

He adds that it will become increasingly difficult to get people to run

for office if they don't address the issue.

Council has at least decided to increase the travel budget of councillors this year.

It previously had been capped at 500 dollars per council member.

Forest Tenure Bill Draws Ire of Northern Groups

The Provincial Government is getting an earful for its decision to not hold committee hearings on its new Forest Tenure Legislation in Northern Ontario.

Ontario Forest Industries Association spokesperson Scott Jackson says the McGuinty Liberals don't seem interested in the opinions of Northerners.

Minister of Northern Development Michael Gravelle says they still want to hear from area residents.

Hearings will be held in Toronto on April 11th and 13th.

Con College to Offer new Course in Kenora

Confederation College has received funding to offer a new pre-apprenticeship program in automotive and heavy equipment mechanics at its campuses in Fort Frances and Kenora this spring.

Don Bernosky, executive director of Innovation and Skills Development says it addresses a local demand.

The 275-thousand dollars in government money allows the College to begin offering the 40-week program this May.

Final Team for Allan Cup to be Determined Thursday

We are going to have to wait a couple of more days before we find out the 6th and final team competing at the Allan Cup finals here in Kenora.

The Norwood Vipers and forced a seventh and deciding game in the Major League Hockey senior AAA final last night with a 5-2 win over the Dundas Real McCoys.

The best-of-seven series, now tied 3-3, will be decided Thursday in Dundas.

The Allan Cup starts next Monday in Kenora.

JM Judo Club Collects five Medals in Edmonton

The JM Judo Club took five fighters to Edmonton for the International Judo Tournament at the West Edmonton Mall this past weekend and brought home five medals.

Ben and Kaitie Dennis won their respective divisions, while Thomas Hertz and Taylor Tom also won gold.

Daniel Gordon took home a bronze medal in the 46 kilo division.

This weekend, the club is heading to Steinbach for the Eastern Manitoba Championships.

More Traffic Tickets Issued in Kenora

Traffic tickets have been a big area of growth for the City of Kenora.

In the past year there has been a 65 percent increase in the number of

traffic tickets written in the city.

In 2010, police and by-law control officers generated about 85 hundred

tickets, compared to just 55 hundred the year before.

Due to the increase in fines, the city says it can afford to hire a part time

worker for the provincial offenses offices, to help with extra paperwork.