Health Unit Posts more Beach Signage

Its a sign of the times.

The Northwestern Health Unit has posted signage at every beach in the region warning of the potential of high bacterial levels following thunderstorms.

Jennifer McKibbon is the Manager of Enforcement and says they also have special signage for beach closures.

McKibbon says even though they regularly test the water at the beaches, it can days days to get the results back, so they don't always know if the water is safe to swim in or not.

Plane Crash Closes Trans-Canada near Marathon

Only minor injuries after a plane crash in Marathon. 

OPP say a pilot ran out of runway and clipped a poll yesterday afternoon and crashed in the ditch on highway 17. 

The man was taken to hospital and released but the crash forced the closure of the highway for several hours. 

SIU Investigates incident in Longlac

S-I-U investigators are expected in Greenstone after a

20-year-old woman suffered a minor injury during an ``altercation'' with police.

Police say two provincial police officers went to a Longlac home after someone called 911 and hung up.

At the home, police found a 21-year-old man and a 20-year-old female who, according to the police, became combative.

Men's Soccer Play-offs Winding down

The Sure Thing Centuries have booked their ticket into the championship game of the Hap's men's soccer league.

The Centuries earned a 2-1 win over the Stingers last night in the first of two semi-finals.

They will play the winner of the other semi tonight between the Playaz and the Gunners.

The final is set for next week on Tuesday night.

In Casey's Men's Ball Hockey action last night the finals are set as the Aces beat High Havarti to advance and the Jets got by the Gold Diggers

OPP locate body of missing swimmer

The body of a missing 28 year old Winnipeg man has been found in Shoal Lake.

Lucas Janz was last seen swimming on Sunday and failed to return to the camp he was staying at.

OPP say Janz's body was found not far from the camp on Galt Island Wednesday afternoon.

A post-mortem took place yesterday at Lake of the Woods District Hospital but the cause of death hasn't been released.

NAN rejects National Educational Review

The Nishnawbe-Aski Nation is joining a growing movement by announcing it will not participate in a national education review process by the Harper Government.

Deputy Grand Chief Terry Waboose says they plan to conduct their own educational review process

for communities in northern Ontario. 

Waboose says the national panel was established without input from NAN and other First Nations.

Environment Canada Confirms Dryden Tornado

Environment Canada has released more details on Tuesday's tornado that touched down Tuesday afternoon.

Officials say the tornado tracked roughly 80-kilometres from Oxdrift, north of the Dryden Airport and northeast between Lac Seul and Sioux Lookout.

The tornado is being rated as a Fujita scale zero event, which is the weakest on the scale.

Environment Canada says peak winds likely reached 110-kilometres an hour.

Both Environment Canada and the Ministry of Natural Resources are reporting no significant damage.

Council Rejects Zero Based Budgeting

Zero-based budgeting isn't coming to Kenora City hall any time soon.

Councillor Louis Roussin made a motion this week to go to the zero based approach.

Kenora mayor Dave Canfield says while council voted the idea down, he feels it still has merit.

The Kenora District Services Board has gone to a zero-based budgeting system, and council says it want to see how that works before jumping on the bandwagon.

Boy dies in ATV accident near Rainy River

A 10 year old youth is dead following an accident involving an all-terrain vehicle near Rainy River.

The OPP say the incident took place Tuesday night on Worthington Road in Dawson Township.

Police say the boy lost control of the ATV and then struck a barbed wired fence.

He was taken to the Rainy River Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Technical Traffic Collision Investigators Kenora and Dryden are helping out with the investigation.

Ball Hockey Play-Offs begin

In Casey’s men’s ball hockey action last night the Aces beat  High Havarti 4-3 in a shoot out in game one of their play-off series.

 In the other game last night, the Jets tied their series with a win over the Sangold Digger.

Grassy Narrows Claims Court Victory

The Grassy Narrows First Nation is claiming victory in a court case involving clear cut logging activity on its traditional land-use terrritory north of Kenora.

Justice Mary-Anne Sanderson released a 300 page decision yesterday which finds that the Government of Ontario does not have the power to take away the rights in Treaty 3 by authorizing development including logging and mining.

The decision effectively ends a decade long battle against logging on Grassy.

Grassy Narrows Chief and band council held a press conference this morning in Toronto and say they welcome the decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, as it protects their treaty rights.

Treaty Three Hosts Youth Conference

Grand Council Treaty #3 is hosting a two day youth forum.

The Conference gets underway today on Pow Wow Island on the Rat Portage First Nation and features a number of guest speakers.

Actor/dancer Waawaate Fobister, olympic athlete Waneek Horn-Miller and health activist, Jessica Lee will be addressing youth between the ages of 15 and 29.

Youth leadership is the theme of the conference.

STR to Get a New Trail Groomer

Kenora City Council says its willing to help the Sunset Trailriders get a new groomer on the trails this winter.

STR says someone is willing to donate a Bombi Groomer, and it wants the city to issue a donation reciept based on the cost of the vehicle.

Council has agreed to issue the reciept, but says it wants STR to submit a propsal, which includes a plan on how the groomer would be used to enhance snowmobiling and ultimately enhance snow machine related tourism in the Kenora area.

STR needs a new groomer after one of their machines was destroyed by fire last winter.

Councillors Panned for Running for Tories

A couple of members of city council are being taken to task for their decision to run for higher office.

Both Rod McKay and Louis Roussin are seeking the Conservative Nomination in the Kenora-Rainy River Riding.

Gregory Potvin ran unsuccessfully in the last municipal election for council and doesn't think its appropriate for members of council to continue to sit at the council table, while running for provincial politics.

Potvin believes they should take a leave of absence until the election is over.

The Conservatives will nominate their candidate this weekend.

Kenora District Services Board Worried About State of Housing

The Kenora District Services Board has been warned that it needs to come up with nearly 490-thousand dollars to fund non-profit public housing units.

The Board's Housing Director says capital reserves are running dry and notes 2-providers may have nothing in the bank as early as next year.

CAO Dan McNeill says this has been a problem for some time now.

The KDSB services 8 non-profit providers for a total of 560-units.

West Nile Confirmed in the region

For the first time in a couple of years, a mosquito in this region has tested positive for the West Nile Virus.

The Northwestern Health Unit says a number of mosquitoes were identified in a trap in the Fort Frances area.

West Nile can be spread to humans through the bite of mosquito.

The Health Unit ceased its west nile bird collection program last year, but continues to trap mosquitoes in several areas of the Kenora and Rainy River Districts to monitor for the presence of the virus.

Horwath Promises Northern Platform soon

The NDP plan to unveil a northern Ontario-specific platform in the next two weeks.

Leader Andrea Horwath, in Fort Frances for Monday night's nomination meeting, says it will include policies that will make a real difference for the region.

It's to includes previously announced plans to scrap the current wood allocation process and forcing mining companies to process their raw materials in Ontario.

A day of Severe Weather in Northwestern Ontario

(Tornado at Dryden Airport)

It was a day of severe weather in northwestern Ontario.

While there was a tornado warning issued for the Kenora area, none materialized.

We did get just over 41 millimeters of rain which was a record for August 16th.

The previous record rainfall was 26.6 back in 2006.

Meanwhile, there are no reports of damage after a large funnel cloud swept through the Dryden area.

The funnel cloud materialized near Oxdrift and swept past the Dryden Airport yesterday afternoon.

It appears to have made it all the way to Sioux Lookout before finally running out of steam.

OPP Dive Team Brought in to Search for Missing Man

OPP divers are being brought in to help search Shoal Lake for a missing Winnipeg man.

28 year old Lucas Janz was reported missing Sunday afternoon after he had gone for a swim near a camp on Galt Island.

An Emergency Response Team began searching the island and the immediate area yesterday, without any success.

Today an Underwater Search and Recovery Unit will help out with the search.

Prostate Cancer Run through Kenora

Dr. Riley Senft is back on the road again.

Senft brought his Step into Action run to Kenora yesterday.

Senft is on a cross-Canada tour to raise awareness for Prostate Cancer.

He arrived at the Kenora Jail yesterday afternoon and ran with local supporters to Husky the Musky.

Senft began his 36 hundred kilometer journey on May 7th and has raised 189 thousand dollars so far for Prostate Cancer Research.

NDP Select their Candidate in Kenora-Rainy River

NDP in Kenora-Rainy River have selected MPP Howard Hampton's constituency assistant in Dryden as their candidicate in the October 6th provincial election.

Sarah Campbell of Oxdrift beat out Kenora lawyer Robert Sinding following a series of nomination meetings that concluded last night in Fort Frances.

Campbell says the campaign for her is now underway.

No results were given, but a total of 137 people cast ballots.

Conservatives to Hold Nomination Meetings this Saturday

All the major parties should have their candidates in place by the end of this weekend.

The Conservatives are planning to send a travelling ballot box around the riding on Saturday.

Stops are scheduled in Fort Frances, Dryden and Kenora.

Two members of Kenora City Council are seeking the Tory nomination, with Louis Roussin challenging Rod McKay.

Houseboat Owners Speak out Against City's Threat to Move Them

Kenora city council is getting an earful about its decision to remove a number of houseboats moored off Coney Island.

A couple of houseboat owners made deputations to council last night.

Brian Finck says they don't have a lot of options as to where they can moor their boats.

Council was going to ask the houseboat owners to remove their vessels from the area by the end of September, but has decided to defer any decision on the matter until they can look at all the legalities first.

More Forest Fire Activity in NWO

New forest fires continue to rage across northwestern Ontario.

Ministry of Natural Resources fire information officer Gabby Rivard says of  the 53 new fires, 26 erupted on Sunday through yesterday.

Dry, sunny conditions returned to the region on the weekend, resulting in a number of new fires.

Firefighters hope for a break with rain forecast for the next two days.

More than two-thousand firefighters are battling 102 fires in the region.

NDP Accuse Clement of Covering Up G-8 Slush Fund

Thunder Bay NDP MP Bruce Hyer calls it a very smelly coverup.

Hyer says his party has discovered that FedNor Minister Tony Clement controlled a G-8 FedNor slush fund and kept it away from the eyes of the Auditor General.

Hyer says the so called slush fund had almost 50 million dollars in it.

Another Drug Bust on By-Pass

A 23 year old Winnipeg man faces drug charges after being pulled over the by OPP on the Kenora By-Pass over the weekend.

Around 11:30 Saturday night, officers stopped a vehicle on Highway 17-A for a traffic violation.

Police say they noticed the odor of alcohol and marijuana in the vehicle, and a search turned up five grams of pot and a qunatity of alcohol.

John Mullan has been charged with possession of a narcotic and operating a motor vehicle with alcohol readily available.

He's due to appear in Kenora Court next month.

IJC Begins Hearings on Task Force Report on Lake of the Woods

International Joint Commission held the first of a series of meetings last night in Fort Frances to gather input on a task's forces report regarding the management of the Lake of the Woods and Rainy Lake basins.

Nick Heisler, a senior advisor, says the input will help the IJC makes its decision on the recommendations.

There will be a meeting this Saturday morning in Kenora at 9:00 at the Best Western Lakeside Inn.

NDP to select their Candidate tonight

The last of four nomination meetings for the NDP in Kenora-Rainy River goes tonight in Fort Frances.

Sarah Campbell of Oxdrift and Robert Sinding of Kenora are vying to be the riding's candidate in this October's provincial election.

Tonight meeting at the Adventure Inn begins at 6 p-m.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath is expected to be in attendance.

OPP Search For Missing Man on Shoal Lake

A search is continuing today for a missing 28 year old man on Shoal Lake.

The OPP's Emergency Rescue Team was called in after the Winnipeg man decided to go for a swim near Galt Island.

He had been staying with friends at a camp on the island.

When he failed to return later in the morning, a search of the island  and the shoreline was carried out.

The OPP were finally contacted around 2:00 yesterday afternoon, but officer were unable to locate the missing man.

City Invests in Solar Recycling Units

The City of Kenora is rolling out a new recycling device.

Solar Recycling units will soon start showing up in downtown Kenora.

Operations manager Rick Perchuck says they will be placing 16 units in the downtown area.

Perchuck says the units will cost about 100 thousand dollars, with the province picking up about half the cost.

District Services Board Warns of Budget Increases

Increased costs continues to haunt area Municipalities.

The Kenora District Services Board is out with its first draft of the 2012 budget, which shows an 800-thousand hike in the Municipal share.

CEO Dan McNeill says they are trying to find cost savings.

The first version calls for no increase in funding for repair and mainenance in the public housing and non-profit housing budget.

Busy weekend for fires in NWO

It was another busy weekend for firefighters in Northwestern Ontario.

There were 28-new confirmed fires Saturday and Sunday, with more expected.

There are over 2-thousand fire personnel dedicated to the fire fighting effort, with 454 people from Alberta, B.C., Nova Scotia, the Northwest Territories, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, the Yukon, Minnesota, Michigan and Parks Canada.

The Ministry of Natural Resources is also getting air support from Quebec and Minnesota.

The MNR says there is no end in site, with sunny skies and dry conditions forecast for this week.

Energy could become fall election issue

The Provincial Government's Renewable Energy program could be an election issue this fall.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath says the government went down the wrong track.

Meanwhile, the Progressive Conservatives have promised if they're elected they will cancel the green energy feed in tariff program.

NAN Conference Starts Tomorrow

Ontario's Lieutenant Governor will be speaking at the Nishnawbe Aski Nation's chiefs conference this week.
It kicks off in Summer Beaver tomorrow, with housing, mining, and education being discussed.

David Onley will speak about his work with aboriginal youth literacy.

Bombardier Workers Return to Work

Its back to work for seven hundred Bombardier employees in Thunder Bay.

Union members voted in favour of the new 3 year contract Saturday. Local union president Dominic Pasqualino says the deal is a good compromise.

The contract includes improvements to wages and pensions along with a change in the work schedule from a 5 day week to 7 days.

Hovi Leads Rifles to First Victory of Season

A former member of Beaver Brae's football program is powering the offense of the Winnipeg Rifles Junior football team.

Martin Hovi rushed for 122 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns to lead the Rifles to a 41-34 victory over the Edmonton Huskies in their first game of the season yesterday.

Three former Broncos are suiting up for the Rifles this season, including Hovi, Aaron Koch and Ryan Van Bellingham.

MNR Making Progress on Forest Fires

Fire crews continue to make good progress on wildfires burning across northwestern Ontario.

There are currently 83 blazes burning in the region, down from 96 yesterday.

Five new fires were sparked yesterday, and the Ministry of Natural Resources is worried that all the lightning we've had over the past couple of days will result in even more fire activity.

A total of 200 fire crews will be returning back to British Columbia and other provinces because their tour of duty is winding down.

Another 160 will start arriving later today.

Province promises to fix up By-Pass Bridges

A couple of bridges along the Kenora By-Pass are in for a makeover this year.

Reconstruction work on the Middle Lake and Winnipeg River Bridges are two of the projects included in this year's Northern Highways program.

The province will be spending 618 million dollars on roads in northern Ontario this summer.

The twinning of the Trans-Canada Highway east from the Manitoba Border is also included in the Highway programs budget this year.

NDP send Travelling Ballot Box Around the Riding this Weekend

The NDP will be taking a travelling ballot box around the Kenora-Rainy River Ridng to select a candidate for the upcoming provincial election.

The New Democrats are trying to hold onto a riding held for the past couple of decades by Howard Hampton.

Kenora Lawyer Robert Sinding is challenging Hampton's constituent assistant Sarah Campbell for the nomination.

Sinding believes the party's platform will resonate with local residents.

The travelling ballot box will start the day in Sioux Lookout and be in Kenora on Sunday afternoon, before ending up in Fort Frances Monday night.

Clement Announces Funding for Aboriginal Businesses

There's almost 2-million of Federal dollars going to help Aboriginal business development in the Northwest.

FedNor Minister Tony Clement says the support is needed because raising money to start a business in First Nation communities is totally different that in larger centres.

Clement made the announcement in yesterday while touring the region.

Household Hazardous Waste Disposal Day this Sunday

Waste Diversion Ontario is helping out the City of Kenora this year with its household hazardous waste disposal day.

Usually the city has to foot the entire bill for the waste collection day, but Operations Manager Rick Perchuck says they are eligible for some additional funding.

Perchuck says the city usually has to pay 35 thousand dollars every year to hold the Hazardous Waste Disposal Day.

You can drop of hazardous materials this Sunday at the Waste Transfer Station from 8:00 to 4:00.

Health Unit Re-Opens Keewatin and Round Lake Beaches

Good news for people who want to cool off this weekend.

The Northwest Health Unit has lifted the swimming bans at Keewatin Beach and Round Lake.

The most recent round of testing shows that bacterial levels have returned to acceptible levels.

The two swimming holes had been closed for the past week due to high levels of e-coli.

Province to Review lack of Aboriginal Representation on Juries

A former Supreme Court of Canada justice is going to look at why aboriginals are being shut out from juries in Ontario.

First Nations who live on reserves in the province say they have been excluded from juries for years.

Now the province has asked former Supreme Court justice Frank Iacobucci to look at the issue and come up with ways to fix the problem.

Bombardier Strike in Thunder Bay over

Striking Canadian Auto Workers members at Bombardier's Thunder Bay plant have reached a tentative agreement after just one day on the picket line.

Both sides reached an agreement last night.

The 700 union members, who assemble rail cars at the plant, are expected to vote on the offer on Saturday.

Staff walked off the job Tuesday but both sides returned to negotiations yesterday morning.

Bike Trails coming to City

The City of Kenora hopes to become more cycler friendly in the next few months.

Work is underway to develop a bicycle route through town.

Councillor Sharon Smith says that will include a marked route along Lakeview Drive, once that section is re-paved in the fall.

The route will include "share the road" signage, as well as bicycle stencils on the shoulder of the road.

OPP Arrest Two people in Rideout area

The OPP have arrested two people as a result of a drug bust in the Rideout area of town.

The Organized Crime Enforcement Bureau and the Drug Unit executed a search warrant on a home on Mascott Avenue earlier this week.

Police say 3.5 grams of marijuana, six oxycodone pills and other drug paraphenalia were seized.

50 year old Leo Delorme and 22 year old Harley McLeod from Kenora have been charged with possession of a narcotic.

They are scheduled to make a court appearance in September.

Economic Development Commission Present Q2 report

All the city's investment in infrastructure over the past couple of years is starting to pay off.

That's the message of the chair of the Lake of the Woods Economic Development Commission.

Dennis Wallace presented the second quarter report to council this week and says there is a lot of interest in the former Abitibi property.

Wallace admits it could take a couple of years for the interest to translate into actual jobs, but says the foundation is there for growth.

City Council Turns Down Funding for Fellowship Center

Kenora City council has turned down a request from the Fellowship Center for a 12 thousand dollar grant.

The emergency shelter had requested the funding to help cover utility costs and recycling.

Councillor Sharon Smith says while the City doesn't have the funds to give the shelter money,

she suggested that Fellowship Center work with the Kenora Assembly of Resources to see if they can share some services.

The Kenora Assembly of Resources operates a couple of programs on the Kenora Harborfront

including the Green Team and Buck's Brigade.

Slight Improvement in Forest Fire Situation

The Ministry of Natural Resources continues to gain the upper hand on several wildfires in Northwestern Ontario.

There are now 95-active fires, down from 110-fires last night.

Information Officer Gabby Rivard says they are also getting fresh blood to help in suppression efforts.

There were just two new forest fires reported in northwestern Ontario yesterday.

US Economic Woes Good News for Local Housing Market?

Economic troubles south of the border could help out the housing market in Kenora.

Lakehead University Economics Professor Livio Di Matteo says the turmoil will likely mean interest rates will stay low which will make it easier for people to get a mortgage.

Di Matteo says the Federal Reserce Bank vowing to keep interest rates low will likely cause the Bank of Canada to do the same or even lower its rate.