Ontario Scotties ready to Rock the Kenora Curling Club

A bit of an economic boost for the City of Kenora.

The 2012 Ontario Scotties Tournament of Hearts comes to town next week.

Sue Loewen is co-chair of the event and says while their reserved seating is sold out, there are still lots of good seats available.

Curling will begin on Monday night, with the finals set for the following Sunday at the Kenora Curling Club.

Snow Sculpture Competition set for the Greenbelt

The Kenora Harborfront is going to be transformed over the next few weeks.

A number of large boxes have been installed on the greenbelt and will become snow sculptures.

Heather Paterson from Tousism Kenora says the wood boxes will be filled with snow this weekend.

Paterson says they are now accepting applications for the snow sculpture competition.

February 7th is the final day to enter.

Doors Open to Return in 2012

Doors Open is coming back to Kenora.

The two day event allows local residents and visitors to tour local heritage landmarks.

This years Doors Open will be held in conjuction with Trails Open.

The Kenora Urban Trails Association will be showcasing the Mink Bay

Wetlands and the new and improved Rabbit Lake Trails.

Doors Open will be taking place the last weekend of September.

OPP Investigate Train Collision in Upsala

The OPP is investigating a collision involving a train and motor vehicle in Upsala.

Police say the accident took place just before 11:00 this morning at a CP rail crossing.

The Upsala Ambulence and Fire Department responded to the accident.

The lone occupant of the vehicle was airlifted by helicopter to hospital in Thunder Bay for treatment.

The extent of his injuries have not been released.

Thistles Host Central Plains this weekend

The Kenora Triple "a" Midget Thistles will try to snap a four game losing skid tonight.

The Thistles are hosting the Central Plains Capitals for a pair of games.

The Capitals have 27 points on the season, one more than the Thistles.

Game time tonight is 7:30 at the Thistle Rink.

The same two teams will match up again tomorrow night at the Rec. Center.

Pikangikum First Nation School

It's back to school time for kids in the Pikangikum First Nation.


A number of elementary and secondary classes were cancelled earlier this month because of mould problems in the teacher's living quarter.

Chief Jonah Strang says the band was able to co-operate with the Federal Government to bring in some new trailers and clean up the mould in some of the existing homes.

He says students from kindergarten to Grade 8 are already back at school, and secondary school pupils will be back next week.

Strang says a cold snap should make the ice road solid enough to bring the trailers in over the next few days

Sioux Lookout Departments Merge

Restructuring in Sioux Lookout.


Council has agreed to combine the Public Works and Development Services Departments.

A second Public Works management position within the Public Works Department has been eliminated.

The restructuring is expected to save the Municipality roughly 100-thousand dollars annually.

Peter Moyer will become the Director.

ScotiaBank Commercial

For the second time in less than a year, a local hockey team is getting some national

exposure.

The Kenora AA PeeWee Thistles are being featured this weekend in a commercial for ScotiaBank.

The Thistles were included in the intro to a Hockey Night in Canada game last spring.

Portions of that video are now being included in a new TV ad for Scotiabank.

The ads will begin airing this Saturday on CBC and also at Cineplex Theatres across
the country on February 3rd.

Cancer Care Northwest

The cancer situation in northwestern Ontario is a good news/bad news story.


The bad news is that cancer rates are on the rise across the region.

Vice-president of Cancer Care Northwest, Michael Power says the disease seems to cut across all age groups.

Power says more people are getting cancer because people are living longer.

Sioux Lookout Drug Bust

Four Sioux Lookout residents face possession for the purpose of trafficking charges following a drug bust in the community.


OPP searched a Meadwell Crescent home and located 13-hundred dollars worth of pot, a quantity of cash and 3-firearms.

45-year-old Sharon Bunting has also been charged with careless storage of a firearm and unauthorized possession of a firearm.

OPP say 29-year-old Ricky Machimity and 18-year-old Ryan Sapay face charges of possession of property obtained by crime.

Police say 22-year Ryan Machimity faces the one count of possession charge.

Cliff Natural Resources

Cliff Natural Resources has released its 2012 Capital investment plan and it includes some major numbers for the Ring of Fire. 

The document pegged mine development at 150 million, 800 million for the concentrating plant and 1.8 billion for the processing plant. 

The company says it anticipates early work to start in 2014 with most of the development happening later that year and into 2015. 

Resolute Forest Products

Resolute Forest Products is seeking  reduced manning numbers at the Fort Frances mill.

This comes as the company is making preparations to return to pulp production later next week and resume paper production on one machine beginning the first week of February. 

CEP National Rep Steve Boon said they are still trying to determine the impact for CEP Local 92 and 306.

Resolute Company spokeperson  Pierre Choquette would neither confirm nor deny the report, saying only that the company is facing  market uncertainty but  is looking forward to getting one machine back into production.

Fire Destroys a transport near McMunn

Fire has destroyed a semi-tractor trailor unit on Highway 1 in Manitoba near McMunn.

The RCMP in Falcon Lake were contacted about the blaze around 8:00 this morning.

Police say the driver of the rig noticed a mechanical problem and pulled over in a parking lot and discovered the fire.

He tried to put it out, without any success.

Local fire crews were finally able to bring the blaze under control.

The Mounties say the rig is a total loss, but both the driver and a passenger from Ontario managed to escape unharmed.

The Trans-Canada remained open while emergency crews dealt with the fire.

Vaudeville in Kenora

Until February 25th, The Lake of the Woods Museum is home to a traveling exhibit.


Vaudeville comes to us from the Peterborough Museum and features a few staples in Canadian history like archive pictures from the Ballsillie collection,

Braden Murray of the Lake of the Woods Museum says “You don’t want to miss tomorrow’s grand opening at the First Baptist Church”

Fan favorites like the Kenora Circus Kids will be on hand to entertain as well as Olivia Wynne and Wayne Kelso.

Performances start at 7:30 tomorrow night at the First Baptist Church. Doors open at 6:30. Tickets to the show can be purchased at the museum or at the door for $10 a piece.

Lake of the Woods District Hospital Expenses

Lake of the Woods District Hospital says new reports show they are running a tight ship.

The hospital is now required to post the expenses of its management staff on-line.

Chief Executive Officer Marc Belcaen says they are very careful with how they spend hospital money.

Belcaen had the highest expenses of hospital employees at just over 31 hundred dollars last year, including travel and accommodations while attending out-of-town conferences.

Winter Road Network

The Provincial Government is spending 4.7-million dollars on the winter road network in the Far North this year.


Minister of Northern Development and Mines Rick Bartolucci says over 3-thousand kilometres of road will connect 29-First Nation communities.

Individuals and businesses will be able to use the roads until the Spring thaw, usually in mid-March.

The McGuinty Government has invested a total of 30.7-million dollars in the winter roads program since 2003.

Plan Nord

There are some envious leaders in Northwestern Ontario after they heard a presentation on Plan Nord, an economic blueprint for Northern Quebec.


Harold Wilson is with the Northwestern Ontario Associated Chambers of Commerce and says it shows we have some catching up to do

Plan Nord is a 25 year program designed to get 80 million dollars invested in Northern Quebec.

Annual Business Awards

The Kenora and District Chamber of Commerce is getting ready for its annual business awards.


The Chamber has released the nominees for this years awards.

A total of 48 businesses and individuals have been nominated in 12 different categories.

Ray-solar was the most nominated business and is up for Environmental Business of the Year,
the Best Home Based Business, and best new business.

Three people are up for this year's Mayor's award, including Pat Brett, Mort Goss and Collette Surovy.

The Business Awards will be handed out on February 15th at the Best Western Lakeside Inn.

OPP on Local Highways

The OPP is concerned with the number of fatal accidents reported across northwestern Ontario so far in 2012.

Through the first two weeks, 17 people have been killed, including two here on Highway 17 between Kenora and Dryden.

Sergeant Shelley Garr admits poor weather conditions are partly to blame for the increase in accidents.


The OPP say at the same time last year there were eight fatal motor vehicle collisions, which is
less than half the number reported for far in 2012.

Provincial Police across Northwestern Ontario are set to increase enforcement on local Highways.

UNESCO

A United Nations group will soon consider whether to grant special status to the boreal forest along the
Ontario-Manitoba boundary.

The two provinces, along with the Pikangikum First Nation, want the region northwest of Kenora, declared a world heritage site. Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger says the recognition would be a big boost.

The provinces and First Nations are now submitting their bid for recognition, which would be considered as early as this spring.

Quit Smoking

Smokers and other addicts who want to quit will get help from the provincial government.

The government will spend 4.5 million dollars over the next three years through the public drug benefit program.

It will help nearly 23-thousand people.

Health Minister Deb Matthews says addicts undergoing treatment will get free over-the-counter nicotine gum and patches, as well as counselling.

Health Canada Website

OPP investigating Keewatin Mischief complaints

The OPP are investigating a number of mischief complaints received over the past few days.

Police says over the weekend, they received a number of vandalism complaints in Keewatin.

A number of windows were smashed and property damaged on Ottawa Street.

Anyone with information about the mischief is asked to contact the Kenora OPP or Crimestoppers.

SIU looking into Dorion fatality

A man is in hospital in Thunder Bayafter he shot himself on Tuesday.

OPP were called to the Dorion cutoff area to speak with a man who had barricaded himself in his truck with a gun.

Sergeant Shelley Garr says the S.I.U. has taken over the investigation.

During the interaction with the police he shot himself.

Plane Crash Survivor improving

The sole survivor of a recent fatal plane crash that killed four people in northwestern Ontario has undergone surgery on his left ankle and foot.

Thirty-six-year-old Brian Shead of Winnipeg was the lone survivor of the January 10th crash of a Keystone Air Service twin-engine plane into North Spirit Lake.

Irene Shead says all things considered, her son's foot injuries and broken nose are minor and she's grateful that he will heal.

Killed were the plane's pilot and three employees of a Winnipeg-based First Nations office.

Its A Dogs Life Seeking Homes

Wanted: new homes for dogs in Kenora.

It's a Dogs Life says its in desparate need of homes for over 19 dogs.

Bobbi Derksen is a spokesperson for the pet rescue agency and says the situation is critical.

It's a Dogs Life says there are dogs at the pound in need of a home, or you can check their website for animals in need of adoption at  http://www.adogslife.cc/

Thistles look to get back into the Win Column

The Kenora Triple "a" midget Thistles will be trying to put some distance between themselves and the Eastman Selects.

The Thistles host the Selects at the Kenora Rec. Center this evening in a mid-week tilt.

The Kenora Midgets lead Eastman by four points in the standings, but the Selects have one game in hand.

Game time is 7:30 tonight.

Kenora's Operations Department

The lack of snow this winter has been bad news for snowmobilers, but good news for the City of Kenora's snow removal budget.

The city maxed out its budget last year due to higher than average snowfall.

Kenora mayor Dave Canfield the lack of snow is double-edged sword for the city.

Cold weather means less snow, but it also means more water line breaks.

The city budgets about 800 thousand dollars a year for snow removal services.

Mount Evergreen Ski Club Theft

Some good news for a couple of local skiiers.

The OPP say that a pair of snow boards and two pairs of skis have been returned to their rightful owners.

The ski equipment was stolen from Mount Evergreen Ski Club on January 4th.

Nine days later, the OPP say they received an anonymous tip about where the items could be located.

Officers recovered the property and have returned it to the owners.

16th Annual Bell Business Awards

You can now pick up your nomination forms for this year's Rainy River District 16th Annual Bell Business Awards.


The awards will be held in Fort Frances February 23th.

The awards are open to individuals, organizations and business across most of the Rainy River district, excluding Atikokan.

Nomination forms must be returned to the Fort Frances Chamber of Commerce by February 10th.

Kenora Man arrested in Dryden

A Kenora man is in Dryden Police custody.

City Police were alerted to an abandoned dump truck on Highway 17 just east of the cemetery around 2 o'clock this morning.

Police contacted the registered owner and found out that the vehicle was stolen from Thunder Bay.

Officers and the OPP K-9 unit followed footprints into the cemetery and to a local business.

The accused was found hiding in a storage building.

Police say 39 year old David Wayne Sandberg faces a charge of possesion of property obtained by crime.

Blood Donor Clinic Wraps up today

A good turn-out for the first day of the Blood Donor Clinic in Kenora.

Yesterday, 162 people showed up at Thomas Aquinas to give the gift of life.

Canadian Blood Services says it collected 137 units of blood on day one.

That was three higher than their original goal.

Today there are still 30 appointment times available.

The Blood Donor Clinic runs until 12:30 this afternoon.

Field set for 2012 Ontario Scotties in Kenora

The final teams have qualified for the 2012 Ontario Scotties Tournament of Hearts taking place in Kenora next week.

Former provincial champion, Sherry Middaugh qualitied for the Scotties over the weekend in a last chance tournament.

She's joined by another former Ontario champion, Jenn Hanna from Ottawa, who also qualified through the last chance bonspiel.

A total of ten rinks have been confirmed for next week's draw, including four from northern Ontario.

The Scotties will begin Monday evening at the Kenora Curling Club.

Northwestern Ontario Health Survey Results

The Northwestern Health Unit is painting a poor portrait of the lifestyles of local residents.

The Health Unit has just released a number of reports that looks at some of the overall issues affecting the health of people living in this region.

Dr. James Arthurs says on a per capita basis we're one of the poorest areas of the province.

Arthurs says the good news is the Health Unit can use these reports to develop programs or put more money into existing programs to improve the health of local residents.

Illegal Deer Hunting in Kenora

Two Kenora men are 22 hundred dollars poorer after illegally killing a deer.

David Adams and Victor Longe were stopped MNR conservation officers on the English River Road, north of town back in October.

The officers found evidence that Adams had killed a deer, which he denied at the time.

The conservation officers discovered that Adams had killed an antler less deer three days before and didn't have a tag for the animal.

The harvested deer and parts of another deer were located at Longe's home.

Illegal Hunting in Vermilion Bay

A Vermillion Bay man is going to have to cough up a thousand dollars for illegally killing a wolf.
Trevor Robinson pleaded guilty to hunting and killing a wolf without a license.

The MNR says they received information that Robinson had shot a wolf on Little Clay Road near Vermilion Bay back in November of 2008.

Robinson was not licensed to hunt wolves, but he affixed a seal on the dead animal from another hunter.

Kenora's 2012 budget

Progress is being made on Kenora's 2012 budget.

A draft of the operating and capital budgets has been completed.

Councillor Ron Lunny says councillors will get a chance to view the proposed budget over the next couple of weeks.

Last week the City of Dryden approved a 10 percent increase, but Lunny says Kenora's increase won't be anywhere near that high.

WestJet

WestJet developing a regional jet service could mean big opportunity for Confederation College students.  Dean of Aviation Joe Vieira says it will benefit both pilots and mechanics.

WestJet could add 40 turboprop jets to compete head to head against Air Canada.

Vieira says he hopes this'll lead to more people enrolling in the the avaition mechanics program.

Special Olympian:David Ducasse

A Special Olympian from the Fort Frances district is being adopted by the Ontario Provincial Police.


Officers and staff across the district will help raise money for David Ducasse to attend the Ontario Provincial games at the end of May.

David Ducasse will compete in bowling in his third trip to the provincials.

Area residents can also help out by visiting the detachments or going online to specialolympics2012games-dot-com.

Health Unit Offices Still Recovering from "flood"

Things still aren't quite back to normal at the Northwestern Health Unit offices in Kenora.

A broken toilet flooded parts of the Health Unit's Wolsley Street location on Tunnel Island last weekend.

Medical officer of health, Dr. James Arthurs says they've had to rip up carpet and tear down drywall damaged by water.

Some files also sustained some water damage.

He adds that the front desk was hit hardest and calls are still be re-routed through their Market Square offices today.

Broncos Boys lose two over the weekend

Beaver Brae's boys hockey team is heading into the exam break on a two game losing skid.

The Broncos dropped a 4-3 decision to the Dryden Eagles last night at the Kenora Rec. Center and were beaten 5-1 Friday night in Fort Frances by the Muskies.

Beaver Brae doesn't play again until January 27th, when they travel to Dryden to face the Eagles.

The Broncos just have four games left in the regular season.

Fort Frances Wins Kenora Bantam Tournament

Fort Frances took top honors at the Kenora Double "a" Bantam Hockey tournament over the weekend.

The Canadians upended the Dryden Paper Kings in the A-Side final Sunday afternoon 5-3.

The host Kenora Double "a" Bantam Thistles earned the bronze medal.

Blood Donor Clinic Starts today

Canadian Blood Services is asking for your help

Adrienne Silver, Communications Specialist for Northwestern Ontario says the need blood is constant.

In the new year alone they'll be looking for atleast one hundred thousand new donors just to keep up with the high demand.

They're at St. Thomas Aquinas today and tomorrrow and looking to book over 140 appointments

The Blood Donor Clinic starts this evening at 4:30 and runs till 9:00, and then again tomorrow from

9:30 to 12:30.

Give the gift of life in 2012 - book your appointment - call 1888-2-donate

OFIA Complains about Environmental Commissioner

The Ontario Forest Industries Association continues to be engaged in war of words with the province's Environmental Commissioner.

Last week Gordon Miller complained about a lack of a plan to protect natural spaces and species at risk in Ontario.

Jamie Lim is the president of the OFIA and questions Miller's science.

Lim says Ontario has already recognized the importance of forestry to its Climate Change solution.

Dryden Youth Killed near Oxdrift

A 14 year old Dryden teen has been identified as the victim of an accident near Oxdrift over the weekend.

Tristen Wise was hit by a transport around 3:00 Saturday afternoon.

The OPP say the highway was closed for about four hours while Technical Traffic Investigators looked into the cause of the fatal collision.

The Driver of the semi was not injured and police say no charges are pending at this time.

Kenora Arena's

The City's Recreation Department has completed a facility review of its arenas.

The Jaffray Melick Arena had to be closed down this winter due to deficiencies, but the Keewatin Memorial Arena has passed with flying colours.

Recreation Services Manager, Colleen Neil says no major problems were uncovered
with the actual building.

Neil says one issue that needs to be addressed is a crack in the arena floor, but they
can include that in any future capital planning for the facility.

Kenora City Council 2012 Meeting

Kenora City Council holds its first open meeting of 2012 tonight.


One of the items that could to generate some debate is a resoultion on paving the shoulders of provincial highways.

The resolution comes from the Township of Carling and says paving the shoulders would create safer traffic conditions cyclists, pedestrians and motorists alike.

Operations manager Rick Perchuck says the only highway in the City of Kenora that would be affected is the Redditt Road, because all the other provincial highways in the city have paved shoulders.

Chair of the Operations Committee Rod McKay says while he's not opposed to the idea, he questions whether the provincial government should be pursuing such initiatives, especially when its facing a 16 billion dollar deficit this year.

Adult Education Center

The viability of a new adult education center in Kenora should be a little clearer by the end of this month.

The Lake of the Woods Economic Development Commission is expecting to receive a final business.

Geordie McEwan is the vice-chair of the commission and says they'll be presenting the
findings to all their partners.

McEwan says regardless of whether the public school board approves the use of Lakewood
or not, he believes an adult education center is going to be a viable project.

North Spirit Lake Plane Crash Update

The Transportation Safety Board has released some initial findings into a plane crash that killed four people in North Spirit Lake.

 Investigators have determined the landing gear of the Piper Navajo was down and the flaps partially extended at the time of the crash in Northwestern Ontario.

Investigators also found heavy fire damage in the fuselage and the right-wing area.

The team is planning to take a further look at the engines and propellers.

The pilot and three passengers died in the crash last Tuesday.

One man survived and is recovering in hospital.

Terrace Bay Pulp Mill

It's bad news for the Town of Terrace Bay.


After 3-months of downtime was announced just before Christmas; Buchanan has decided to sell the mill.

Mayor Mike King says he doesn't think the mill will be able to meet it's downtime deadline.

King is still hopeful they'll be able to find a buyer and the mill will continue to operate in the future.

Highway 17 Weekend Closure

OPP are expected to release the name of the young pedestrian killed in Saturday's collision on Highway 17.


Police say a pedestrian was struck by a transport near Glengoland Road around 3 o'clock.

The pedestrian was transported to Dryden Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The driver of the semi was not injured and no charges are expected to be laid.

The victim is said to be a young teen.