Youth Arrested in Evergreen Break-In

The OPP say they have arrested seven male youth in connection to a break-in at Evergreen School.

Police say the school was broken into Friday evening.

The culprits made off with a safe containing an undisclosed amount of money.

The OPP say the suspects are between the ages of 13 and 17 and will appear in

Kenora Court on June 11th.

They will face charges of break, enter and theft and possession of stolen property.

Police say a portion of the stolen cash has also been recovered.

Youth Charged with Arson in Beaver Brae Blaze

The OPP say they have charged a 14 year old youth in connection to a fire up at Beaver Brae Secondary School last week.

Police say fires had been set in two bathrooms, and the school had to be evacuated as a result.

Classes were also cancelled for the day to allow the smoke to be  properly ventilated and to allow officers to investigate the incident.

A male suspect is due to appear in Kenora Court next month on arson charges.

Hampton Attacks government over Missing Youth

The NDP is attacking the Liberal Governments inaction over the disappearance of 7-First Nation High School students in Thunder Bay.

Kenora-Rainy River MPP Howard Hampton brought the issue up in Monday's Question Period.

Hampton is pushing for increased attention to the conditions of First Nations youth living off-reserve.

Fraser Institute Rates Local High Schools

Not a great report card for local secondary schools from the Fraser Institute.

Its released annual survey of high schools across the province, and only two from northwestern Ontario finished in the top 200.

Thomas Aquinas placed 181 out of 727 schools rated.

It had a rating of 7.2 out of ten, which was up from 6.8 last year.

The other top scoring school in this region was Atikokan at 161 overall.

Beaver Brae finished in that lower end of the scale with a score of 3.8 out of ten.

It was rated 655th, down from 588 last year.

Vermont Hunters Fined

Two men from Vermont have been fined a total of 1-thousand dollars for shooting a deer on private land near Kenora.

Court heard that in November of 2009, conservation officers investigated a deer that had been shot on private property and dragged onto Crown Land off Highway 596.

The following year, officers came in contact with 2-hunters in the same area.

While questioning the men, the officers learned they were involved in the 2009 incident.

Peter Flood had shot the deer and Ronald Comette helped move the animal onto Crown Land.

Police Investigate Shoal Lake #40 Fatality

The Treaty Three Police and the OPP are continuing their investigation into the death of a  21 year old Shoal Lake #40 man.

Daniel Green was found lying on a road in the island community the morning of April 30th.

He was airlifted to Lake of the Woods District Hospital but succumbed to his injuries there.

A post-mortem exam was conducted last week, but the cause of death has still not been released.

Anyone with information about the fatality is asked to contact the Kenora's Criminal Investigations Unit,

or the Treaty Three Police.

PC's Critical of Forest Tenure Amendments

The Progressive Critic for Northern Development is condeming the McGuinty Liberals for voting against crucial amendments to the Forest Tenure Reform Bill.

Randy Hillier says the PC and NDP amendments were turned down after 45-minutes of discussion on Wednesday.

Hillier says if Northerners want to have a voice with this Government, they had better join Greenpeace or the World Wildlife Fund.

He notes Bill 151 could come for third and final reading at any time now.

MNR releases new on-line database

It may not make catching fish any easier, but the Ministry of Natural Resources is putting all its resources at the finger tips of local anglers.

A vast data base of fishing information in Ontario has been posted on-line.

Matt Garvin says its a pretty extensive data-base.

Garvin says the Ontario Fishing data-base also includes, maps, directions to lakes, the guide to eating sports

fish in Ontario and fishing regulations.

LHIN's Announces a new Board of Directors

The Northwestern Local Health Integration Unit has a new board of directors.

Joy Warkentin of Thunder Bay is the new chair of the LHIN's.

She takes over from Jan Beasley of Fort Frances, who has been chair of the LHIN's board since its inception.

A familiar name has been appointed as vice-chair of the board.

Anne Krassilowsky says she's looking forward to taking on the challenge.

JM Judo Club win 12 medals at their own Tournament

The Jaffrey Melick Judo Club earned an even dozen medals at its annual Lake of the Woods Judo Tournament at Beaver Brae.

Over 100 fighters, representing 14 judo clubs across northwestern Ontario and Manitoba took part in the
day long event up at Beaver Brae on Saturday.

The local club won five gold, five silver and two bronze medals, with Lyndon Hensrud leading the way with a pair of medals, a gold and a silver.

Three members of the JM Judo Club will continue to train for the National Junior Judo, which will be held
in July in Sept-Iles, Quebec.

Northern Groups still upset with Forest Tenure Legislation

Groups across northwestern Ontario are speaking out against the provincial government's decision to move forward with its Forest Tenure Reform legislation.

The Standing Committee on General Government met Wednesday to make its final amendments to Bill-151.

The Ontario Forest Industries Association says the act is still flawed and will create uncertainty in the forest sector.

Despite recent assurances from the Minster of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry, the OFIA says the government hasn't really addressed its concerns.

The Northwestern Associated Chambers of Commerce and the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association have expressed similar concerns. 

Sioux Narrows to get a new municipal building

The Town of Sioux Narrows/Nestor Falls is expected to begin work soon on a new municipal building.

The federal and provincial governments promised 165 thousand dollars towards construction of the half million dollar building.

Bill Thompson is mayor of the community and says it will really be a multi-purpose facility.

The federal government has extended the deadline for completion of all infrastructure projects until October of this year.

Bronco Soccer Teams Struggle in the Fort

Not a good start to the season for Beaver Brae's soccer teams.

Both the Bronco Boys and girls teams were in Fort Frances yesterday.

Beaver Brae's boys lost 3-1 decisions to both the Muskies and the Dryden Eagles.

The Bronco girls were upended 2-0 by the Eagles.

Their next action is in Kenora next Wednesday at the Tom Nabb Soccer Complex.

Council agrees to more money for Harborfront Tent

Its going to cost 100 thousand dollars more than expected to put up a new tent on the Kenora Harborfront.

Council held a special meeting yesterday to decide whether to spend the extra money to install permanant, retractable sidewalls on the tent, rather that the seasonal, removable ones, which had been proposed in the original tender.

Councillor Ron Lunny says in the end, it made sense to spend the extra money.

The extra 100 thousand dollars will be taken from the city's contingency reserve fund.

Only councillor Louis Roussin voted against the decision to install the permanent sidewalls.

Firearms Seizure on Kasabonika Lake

The Northwest Regional Guns and Gangs Unit has charged a 45-year-old man in Kasabonika Lake First Nation.

Police executed a search warrant last Friday and seized 10-firearms and 4-prohibited devices.

Officers found semi-automatic rifles, shotguns and 4 high-capacity rifle magazines.

Police say John Winter faces 3-charges including weapons trafficking and careless storage.

Winter will appear in court on June 16th.

OFAH Happy with Majority Consevative Government

The Vice-President of the  Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters sees a Majority Conservative Government as a good thing for the future of the long gun registry.

Glenn Rivard says the PM has promised them he'll scrap it and the OFAH will hold him to that

promise.

Rivard notes the Harper Government has also promised to form a National Advisory Panel on Fish and Wildlife Management.

NAN Chief Weigh In on Federal Election Results

The Grand Chief of Nishanawbie-Aski Nation is congratulating the Conservative and NDP parties for their successes in the Federal election.

However, Stan Beardy is concerned that NAN issues may get lost in the shuffle.

Beardy is hoping that between the two parties; NAN will have some of their issues adressed.

Like most Canadians, Beardy says he was surprised at the final results from Monday's vote.

Council to hold special meeting on Harborfront Tent

The Harborfront Tent is still posing some financial challenges for Kenora City Council.

A special meeting is being held this morning to approve an increase in the budget for the project.

Initially, council approved 1.4 million dollars for the festival site covering.

Now, its looks like the price tag is going to slightly higher.

Council is being asked to approve 1.6 million dollars in funding for the tent, so that side panels can be included on the structure.

Council is scheduled to meet at 10:00 this morning.

Health Unit Launches a mobile dental clinic

The Northwestern Health Unit has a new vehicle at its disposal.

Yesterday, a mobile dental clinic was unveiled.

Dawn Sauve is the Health Unit's manager of Dental Health and says they will be doing a pilot project with the van, which will allow them to help out residents in underserviced communities across the region.

The van has the logo, Miles of Smiles etched on the side.

Funding for the van was made available through the Ministry of Health.

Classes set to Resume at Beaver Brae following Fire

It will be classes as usual at Beaver Brae Secondary School this morning.

Yesterday students were sent home early, after fires were reported in two of the school's washrooms.

The blazes were quickly extinguished and damage was minimal, but students were given the rest of the day off to allow the building to be properly ventillated of the smoke.

Its believed the fires were deliberately set.

Valley Sad to See Iggy Leave

The Liberal candidate in the Kenora Riding is backing the work done by Leader Michael Ignatieff.

Ignatieff announced yesterday he is stepping down following his party's rout at the polls on Monday night.

Roger Valley, who finished third in this Riding, says Ignatieff can leave with his head held high.

Valley believes the leadership will be between Bob Rae and Ralph Goodale.

Hampton reacts to federal election results

This week's federal election results should be a warning for the Liberals in Ontario.

That's the feeling of Kenora-Rainy River M.P.P. Howard Hampton.

The NDP member of the Ontario Legislature says its clear voters are trying to send a message.

Hampton believes the Liberals will be hard-pressed to win any seats in northern Ontario in the upcoming provincial election.

Health Unit Opens New Offices in Market Square

The Northwestern Health Unit has opened its new offices in Market Square.

A ribbon cutting ceremony took place yesterday morning on the second floor of the building.

Dr. Jim Arthurs says one of the programs they have located in the new office space is a dental program for children.

Health Unit Holds All-Staff Conference in Kenora

About 150 employees of the Northwestern Health Unit are in Kenora today for a two day retreat.

The All-Staff Conference brings together staff from all the Health Unit offices in the region.

Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Jim Arthurs says they try to bring everyone together at least every 18 months.

The conference is being held today and tomorrow at the Best Western Lakeside Inn.

Bronco Soccer Teams begin season in Fort

The High School Soccer season begins today for the Beaver Brae Broncos.

The Boys and Girls teams will make the trip to Fort Frances for the first round of League play with the Muskies and the Dryden Eagles.

In NORWOSSA Single A play, the Sioux Lookout Warriors are hosting a Tournament at Queen Elizabeth High School.

Beaver Brae Evacuated due to a small fire

A fire drill at Beaver Brae Secondary School proved to be the real deal.

Staff and students were evacuated this morning due to a small blaze at the high school this morning.

The Keewatin-Patricia District School Board says the fire was quickly extinguished  and damage is said to be minimal.

Classes have been cancelled for the rest of the day to allow the smoke to be fully ventilated from the school.

The public school board says it has sent a number of buses to the school to take students home.

The Board says all other school bus transportation will operate as usual this afternoon.

Census Forms Being Distributed this Week

Local residents should begin receiving their census forms this week.

Statistics Canada has begun the census process and has enumerators going door to door in the Kenora area.

Gary Dillion is the regional co-ordinator for Stats Can and says its important for all households to fill out the census form.

While every household is required to fill out the 10 question mandatory short form census, only one in three households will be given a long form survey.

Good Turn-Out for the Federal Election

It may have been the fourth federal election in seven years, but that didn't stop local residents from coming out in pretty good numbers.

With 154 out of 155 polls reporting, the voter turn-out for yesterday's federal election was just over 60 percent.

That means almost 25 thousand people came out to cast their ballots.

Incumbant Conservative M.P. Greg Rickford held onto the riding, increasing his margin of victory, by over two thousand votes.

Rickford re-elected easily in the Kenora Riding

Its wasn't a landslide, but it was a convincing win for the Conservatives in the Kenora Riding.

Incumbant M.P. Greg Rickford easily held onto the riding with a 45 hundred vote margin of victory over Tania Cameron of the NDP.

Rickford says while he's pleased there will be a Conservative majority government in the House of Commons, he won't speculate on what his role might be.

Roger Valley slipped to third place in the polls yesterday and says the party is going to have to take a close hard look at the results not only in this riding but nationally as well.

The other two candidates finished well back, with the Green Party Candidate, Mike Schwindt garnering just 2.6 percent of the vote, while Independant candidate collected just 146 of the almost 25 thousand votes cast.

Ministry of Labor Investigates Fatality in Stratton

The Ministry of Labour is looking into the death of a man at a garage in Stratton what OPP describe as a workplace accident.

Emergency personnel were called to Stratton Service Thursday afternoon where they found 42-year-old Shawn McDonald inside unresponsive.

He was later pronounced dead at the scene.

A post-mortem exam was conducted on Friday at Lake of the Woods District Hospital.

Canfield back as Vice-President of NOMA

No major announcements for Kenora at the annual Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association Conference in Thunder Bay.

The convention wrapped up on Saturday and Kenora mayor Dave Canfield was acclaimed again as vice-president of NOMA.

Canfield also hosted a forum on the forest industry and says they did get some clarification on what's  going on with the Forest Tenure Act.

Canfield adds that both the resolutions submitted by the City of Kenora, one dealing with funding for roads and bridges and the other dealing with the twinning of the Trans-Canada Highway from Kenora to the Manitoba Border, were unanimously approved by the delegates.

Training Funding Announced by the Province

83 sites in Northern Ontario will be offering literacy training thanks to the Provincial Government.

Minister of Training and Colleges John Milloy says they'll be offering basic skills training.

Two million dollars will go towards local programs.

Milloy made the announcement at the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association Conference.

Rickford back as MP for the Kenora Riding

Conservative Greg Rickford is back as MP of the Kenora Riding.

Rickford finished the election in first with about 45 percent of the vote, while NDP  candidate Tania Cameron second and Liberal Roger Valley third.

Despite some mud slinging in the campaign, Rickford says he decided to take the high road.

Like his party, Liberal Roger Valley finished in third place, and he admits they are going to have to take a hard look at what went wrong this election.

Green Party Candidate Mike Schwindt was a distant fourth place with just over
two percent of the vote, while Kelvin Chicago-Boucher collected less than 200 votes.

To the east, John Rafferty of the NDP was re-elected in Thunder Bay-Rainy River.

Bruce Hyer of the NDP is also back in the riding of Thunder Bay-Superior North.

LOWDPOA Holds Annual General Meeting Today

It may be election day across Canada, but the Lake of the Woods District Property Owners Association is also taking time to meet with its members.

The Property Owners Association is holding its 49th annual general meeting in Winnipeg.

In addition to the AGM, their annual cottage show is being held at the Victoria Inn.

A number of businesses and agencies from Kenora area attending the afternoon and evening event.

It runs from 2:30 to 8:30 this evening.

Polls open today

It should be a good day, weather wise to go out and cast your ballot.

Today is election day across Canada, with the polls opening at 8:30 this morning right across the Kenora Riding.

Gerry Oulette is the returning officer and says polling stations will be open right across the region.

The polls will close at 8:30 this evening, and CJRL will be providing live election coverage starting at 9:00 this evening.

Another OPP Drug Bust

Two Kenora residents face charges following a bust by the OPP.

Last Thursday, members of the OPP Organized Crime Enforcement Bureau, the Drug Enforcement Unit, assisted by Kenora Detachment Street Crimes Unit  executed a search warrant on a 12 Street north residence.

Police seized about 50 grams of marijuana.

42 year old Darren Coughlin and 42 year old Lori Powell have been charged with possession of narcotic for the purpose of trafficking.

They are scheduled to make an appearance in Kenora Court in June.

Atikokan Approves 2011 budget

Atikokan town councillors have finalized a budget that will include a 2-point-four per cent tax increase.

Mayor Dennis Brown says it amounts to about a 30 dollar increase to the average homeowner's tax bill.

The township will spend just over 8-million dollars over the next year.

Two more wood agreements accepted

Two more companies in northwestern Ontario have accepted wood supply offers from the provincial government.

Domtar will use its wood supply for full-time softwood pulp production at its mill in Dryden.

Wagner Forest Management Limited has indicated that it will use its wood fiber to build a pellet manufacturing plant in Ignace.

The business is expected to be up and running by October of 2013 and employ 20 new jobs.

Future of Biomass Research in Limbo

There's no committment from Michael Gravelle for future funding for a biomass research centre in northwestern Ontario.

The centre received 25 million dollars three years ago, but the forestry minister is reluctant to talk about additional dollars.

To this point the centre's website lists only one publicly approved project but is promising to announce 5 more.

Evergreen Closing Delayed for one year

The Keewatin-Patricia District School Board says its still plans to close Evergreen School, they are just going to take a bit longer to do it.

Trustees held a special board meeting last week and agreed to extend the life of the elementary school by one year.

Evergreen is now scheduled to shut its doors for good at the end of the 2012 school year, instead of this year.

The public school board says it made the decision after conducting a survey of parents at the school.

Students at Evergreen will be transferred over to Lakewood in the fall of 20102.

New Report Raises Questions about FedNOR

A report says FedNor, the federal development agency for northern Ontario, is slow to approve projects and fails to measure its long-term effectiveness.

The study by an independent consultant in Winnipeg says it takes an average of six months to get a green light on a project.

The Industry Canada program has spent at least 150 million dollars in the region since 2006.

Prairie Research Associates found that every job created or maintained under the program cost taxpayers about 52-hundred dollars.

The analysis also shows the administration of the program eats up more than one of every five dollars spent.

OFIA Continues to Lobby Against Bill 151

The Ontario Forest Industries Association is once again expressing disappointment with the McGuinty Government and its handling of the Forest Tenure Reform Bill.

Spokesperson Scott Jackson says they've attended all of the hearings and have gone through all written submissions and no one is happy with Bill 151 in its current state.

The Government has filed a time allocation motion that would fast track Bill 151 through the Standing Committee and eliminate debate during Committee meetings.

Kenora Rockets win Four Gold at year end tournament

A good way to wrap up the season for the Kenora Rockets badminton team.

They held a wind up tournament up at Beaver Brae on Saturday and claimed 16 of the 21 medals up for grabs.

Andrew Neil was the only double gold medalist, teaming up with Logan Ginn to

win the boys doubles event, and then took top honors in the Singles "B" division.

Boe and Rhianna Rodgers won the mixed doubles competition, while Tanner

Olson was first in the Singles E division.

Scribilo Sworn in as NOACC President

The Northwestern Ontario Associated Chambers of Commerce has a new president.

Andy Scribilo, president of the Kenora and District Chamber of Commerce was sworn in last night.

Scribilo says he's looking forward to the challenge.

Barry Streib is the outgoing president of NOACC.

NOACC Drafts Five Resolutions

A total of five resolutions were approved by the Northwestern Ontario Associated Chambers of Commerce during yesterday's afternoon session.

The resolutions dealt with a wide range of issues, including Bill 151, the Forest Tenure Act, to urging the provincial government to move ahead with the twinning of the section of the Trans-Canada Highway from Thunder Bay to Nipigon.

The resolutions will now be forwarded to the Ontario Chambers of Commerce for debate later this year.

Infrastructure plan for the North Planned

Ontario's Infrastructure Minister says the north has special needs.

That's why Bob Chiarelli says his 10 year infrastructure plan will take that into account, telling NOMA delegates in Thunder Bay, the north is different.

Chiarellit says his plan will include the infrastructure needs of the Ring of Fire mining development

Fire Season starts to heat up in NWO

With the snow pack almost all melted in northwestern Ontario, more and more wild fires are starting to pop up across the region.

The Ministry of Natural Resources has had to deal with four new blazes this week, one north of Dryden, two near Sioux Lookout and one near Thunder Bay.

All the fires were less than 0.3 hectares in size.

Rain is in the forecast for this week, and is expected to put a damper on an increasing fire hazard.

Sally Ann says goodbye to the Gosse's

The Salvation Army in Kenora has said farewell to Captain Debbie and Tony Gosse.

A farewell lunch was held to the two church leaders earlier this week.

The Gosse's had headed up the Lake of the Woods chapter of the Salvation Army for the past five years.

Yesterday, it was announced that Majors Al and Karen Hoeft will take over the local church on an interim basis starting in early May.

Chicago-Boucher on Talkback

The countdown to the federal election begins this weekend.

Just three days remain in the campaign.

This morning, CJRL news wraps up its series of five talk shows with the candidates as independant, Kelvin Chicago-Boucher is scheduled to be in our studios.

Talkback can be heard righ after the 9:00 news.

Con College Expected to Hire A new President Soon

Confederation College is expected to announce a new president to replace Pat Lang next month.

Board of Governor's chair Marilyn Gouthro says they have a short list of six candidates who meet the qualifications they were looking for.

Gouthro says interviews are taking place over the next week.

Observant Neighbor Helps OPP Arrest Suspect

The OPP in Kenora are crediting an observant neighbor for helping arrest a suspect in a break and enter in the Pinecrest area of town.

Around 7:30 Monday night, police were contacted by a resident in the Heenan Place area about a youth acting suspiciously.

Officers were able to locate the youth a short time later, and questioned him about his activities earlier that evening.

As a result, the suspect was arrested on charges of break, enter and theft.