Jack Layton Remembered

Tributes are rolling in for Jack Layton today.

Layton, the NDP leader passed away early this morning, losing his battle with cancer.

NDP candidate in the Kenora Riding last election, Tania Cameron says she was shocked to learn of his death.

Layton made numerous trips to the Kenora Riding as leader.

He was 61 years old.

McKay ready to hit the Campaign Trail

All the major parties now have their candidates in place for the October 6th provincial election.

The Conservatives are the latest party to select their candidate.

Kenora City Councillor Rod McKay beat out Louis Roussin for the Tory nomination.

McKay says his biggest job now is getting his name out in the Kenora-Rainy River Riding.

The party did not release the final results of the nomination vote, but did say over 200 people cast ballots in Kenora, Dryden and Fort Frances on Saturday.

Broncos open another football training camp

Another football season is about to begin for the Beaver Brae Broncos.

Their two week training camp began bright and early this morning at Pete Fair Memorial Field.

Head Coach Chris Penner says even though this will be a young squad, he believes they will be well prepared for the upcoming season.

The Broncos play their first and only exhibition game on September 1st in Dryden.

They open the season against the Steinbach Sabres on September 9th.

More Forest Fires in Northwestern Ontario

Despite rain and cooler conditions, forest fires continue to pop up across northwestern Ontario.

The Ministry of Natural Resources says there were a dozen new blazes reported over the weekend including three in the Kenora District.

There are currently 78 active wild fires in the region.

A total of 433 fire crews and support staff from out of province are continuing to lend a hand in the fire fighting effort.

Good Turn out for IJC Hearings in Kenora

A lot of people seem to care about the future health of Lake of the Woods.

About 200 people turned out on Saturday morning for the final meeting by the Internation Joint Commission on the final task force Report on the Lake of the Woods and Rainy Lake Watersheds.

Todd Sellars is the Executive Director of the Lake of the Woods Water Sustainability Foundation and feels the final recommendations of the Task Force were well received.

A total of six hearings were held in northwestern Ontario and Northern Minnesota this past week, and the feedback will be used by the IJC to come up with a plan for the two lakes.

Mining Company Fined for Building on Crown land

Premier Gold Mines has been fined 25-thousand dollars for constructing water crossings on Crown land without a permit.

Court heard that last October a company representative spoke with the Ministry of Natural Resources about a planned project in the Fly Lake area, northeast of Ear Falls.

The MNR advised the company that it would need a permit before conducting the work, however officials soon discovered that work had started prior to the permit being issued.

The Company voluntarily conducted remediation work in the areas where the stream crossings were built.

Canfield Attends AMO Conference

The Association of Municipalities of Ontario annual conference begins today in London and the City of Kenora will be well-represented.

Three members of council are in attendance, including mayor Dave Canfield.

Canfield says they have a package they will be presenting to all the cabinet ministers they meet with, and their biggest issue will be funding to fix up our aging bridges.

Canfield says they have meetings confirmed with four cabinet ministers this week, including the minister of Finance and the minister of Infrastructure.

Man Fined for Illegally Killing Moose

A Southern Ontario man has been fined 7-thousand dollars for illegal hunting.

Raffaele Franconeri of Woodbridge pleaded guilty to moose hunting without a licence west of Ignace.

The man was with 6-others and the party had a licence to harvest one adult bull and 1 adult cow moose.

The group killed 2-moose but Franconeri shot and killed another bull moose and left it behind.

The incident occurred last October.

McKay wins Conservative Nomination

The Conservatives finally have their man in the Kenora-Rainy River Riding.

Manager of the Kenora Forest Products Mill, Rod McKay beat out Louie Roussin for the nomination.

McKay says he's not a big fan of the Liberal government of Dalton McGuinty and feels its time for change.

The party did not release the final tally, but did say that over 200 people

cast ballots in Fort Frances, Dryden and Kenora on Saturday.

Hampton weighs in on Grassy Narrows Court ruling

The provincial government doesn't have a good track record when it comes to aboriginal affairs.

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

He was responding to a decision by the Ontario Superior Court this week in favour of Grassy Narrows in its battle against clear cut logging.

Hampton says the Far North Act and the decision to jail the leaders of Big Trout Lake two more examples ofthe McGuinty government failing to listen to the concerns of aboriginal communities.

Impaired Driver has vehicle impounded

An impaired driver is going to lose more than his license.

The OPP they stopped a vehicle on the Kenora By-Pass yesterday afternoon around 1:30 travelling at more than 50 kilometers faster than the posted speed limit.

After talking to the driver, officers noticed he had been drinking.

A 39 year old Steinbach man was arrested and taken to the Kenora Detachment.

Isaak Buehler-Buerkert has been charged with impaired driving and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle.

His vehicle has also been impounded for seven days under the provisions of the province's stunt driving legislation.

Conservatives in Kenora-Rainy River to select candidate

A big weekend for the Conservatives in the Kenora-Rainy River Riding.

A travelling ballot box will visit Fort Frances, Dryden and Kenora tomorrow to select a candidate for the upcoming provincial election.

Kenora City Councillor Rod McKay says he's been energized by the whole process.

McKay's seatmate on council, Louis Roussin is the only other candidate.

He says he likes what he sees in the Conservative platform.

The ballots will be counted just after 8:00 tomorrow night.

New VP for PJP

Another school year is less than two weeks away and local school boards are finalizing their staffing.

Over at the Kenora Catholic District School board, they have filled a vacancy for vice-principal at Pope John Paul School.

Jaqueline Robinson has been appointed the new vice-principal.

She takes over from Michelle Sawa, who has moved back to Red Lake to take a similar position there.

Robinson was the acting vice-principal at King George last year.

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.