PeeWee Thistles Win Own Tournament

The KMTS Double "A" PeeWee Thistles have northwestern Ontario bragging rights.

The Thistles went through their tournament at the Rec. Center with a perfect
5-0 record.

That included a 4-3 overtime win over the Dryden Paper Kings in the tournament final yesterday afternoon.

Mason Barclay scored the game winner in extra time for the Kenora Peewees.

Thistles Split Against Norman

The Kenora Triple "a" Midget Thistles continue to play .500 hockey.

The Thistles split a pair of games in Thompson, Manitoba this weekend.

Yesterday, the Kenora Midgets were edged 4-3 by the Norman North Stars in a shootout.

Josh Brunton scored a pair of goals in the loss.

On Saturday, the Thistles escaped with a 2-1 win over the North Stars, also in a
shootout.

Lake of the Woods Girls Hockey Teams in Grand Forks

A couple of medals for local girls hockey teams at a tournament in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

The Atom Canucks went undefeated in the round robin of the Angels tournament, but ended up losing to the Seven Oaks Raiders from Winnipeg in the gold medal game 6-3.

The PeeWee Canucks placed third in their division after getting by the Northeast Predators from
Winnipeg 2-1 in double overtime.

The Lake of the Woods Bantam Canucks were the third team entered in the tournament, and they
finished fifth after compiling a 2-2 record.

Hospital Takes Home Another Award

The Lake of the Woods District Hospital will soon need a bigger trophy case.

The hospital has won it's first ever Silver Designation Quality Healthcare Workplace Award.

Kathy Dawe is the VP of Patient Care and says the award recognizes their employee wellness program that's been in place since 2009.

Dawe says it's the first time the hospital has applied for the award.

Last month the board of directors received the Leading Governance Excellence award.

Three Days Grace and Sheepdogs Signed for Harborfest

Winter may be closing in on Kenora, but the Harborfest committee is only
thinking summer thoughts.

The first two acts for the August Long weekend festival have been booked.

Director of Entertainment Dave Blake says they have confirmed the Sheepdogs
and Three Days Grace will perform Saturday night.

Blake says the tickets will go on sale today at noon at Harborfest.ca or a
Donny B's.

Canfield Attends Norther Growth Forum

The Northern Growth Plan is going to be the focus of attention at a
meeting this morning in Timmins.

The Northern Leaders Forum will bring together cabinet ministers, municipal, business and aboriginal leaders.

Kenora mayor Dave Canfield says they are curious to see what the government has to say about the Growth Plan.

Canfield says he'd like to see more focus on forestry, because he sees that
as the big growth industry in the next year or two.

Legal Aid Lawyers Look to Organize

Legal Aid lawyers across Ontario are pressing for the right to collectively bargain with Legal Aid Ontario.

The effort start almost two years ago.

Legal aid lawyer Jillian Rogin says since then, 80 per cent of lawyers across the province has signed a petition asking the agency to voluntarily accept its wishes.

Legal Aid Ontario says there's no precedent for lawyers to be represented by what they call a trade-union, a claim disputed by Rogin.

Montreal Massacre Vigil Today

It will be a somber and chilly memorial today.

An outdoor vigil will take place at noon today to remember the 14 women killed in the Montreal Massacre 24 years ago.

Collette Surovy from Women's Place says they will be gathering near the corner of Matheson and Second Streets South.

Surovy says afterwards they will be moving over the the satellite office of the Kenora Area Health Access Center for a bite to eat and another presentation.

OSSTF targets Catholic Education System

Catholic Education would become a thing of the past if the Ontario Secondary School Teachers have their way.

The OSSTF made the suggestion in it latest public Education position paper.

President Paul Elliot says streamlining services will create more funding.

Elliot says there are studies showing that up to 2 billion dollars can be saved.

The new platform calls for an English and a French system.

Rae Speaks Out on Ring of Fire

The First Nations negotiator in the Ring of Fire mining development says it's important that the infrastructure is in place before work actually begins on the giant project.  

Speaking in Thunder Bay,  Bob Rae believes it's critical to get the system up and running to guarantee that First nations aren't led down the garden path.

Rae adds it's also important to make sure that environmental mistakes of the past aren't repeated.

Winter Farmer's Market Returns Tomorrow

Just in time for Christmas.

The Matiowski's Farmer's Market is at the Discovery Center
tomorrow.

Special Event's Coordinator Crystal Stokes says they have sold out all their
booths with a total of 30 vendors.

The Winter Market will run from 10 until 2:30.

PeeWee Thistles Host Weekend Tournament

The KMTS Peewee double A hockey tournament takes over the Rec Centre this weekend.

Kenora Thistles Captain Carter Tresoor says you have 3 round robin match ups.

Weekend passes for the tournament are 10 dollars or 5 dollars per day.

Their first game is this morning at 11:00 against Fort Frances

Broncos lose at home

A perfect road trip to Kenora for Red Lake's girls hockey team.

The Rams won both their games this week against Beaver Brae and Thomas
Aquinas.

The Broncos dropped a 7-4 decision to Red Lake yesterday at the Kenora
Rec. Center.

The Rams also be the Saints 3-0 on Wednesday.

Dryden Man Arrested in Robbery

A 26-year-old Dryden man has been arrested following a robbery at the Royal Bank around 11 o'clock this morning.

City Police say an elderly woman had withdrawn a significant amount of cash from an ATM.

The accused attempted to grab the money from her hands but the woman put up a fight.

Police say the man assaulted her and ran off with the money.

With help from witnesses, officers were able to locate the man, and place him under arrest.

Robert Chrest faces robbery charges and he will appear in court tomorrow.

Highways in Northwestern Ontario Remain Open Despite Snow

Despite all of the snow, there are no road closures in our area.

Roads are still snow packed and motorists are asked to allow for more time when travelling.

Motorists may also encounter poor visibility with blowing snow.

If you are headed east, be prepared for several highway closures.

Highway 11 between Kapuskasing and Longlac is closed as is Highway 17 east of Wawa and Highway 101 between Wawa and Chapleau.

Colorado Low Passes Through Northwestern Ontario

The worst of the Colorado Low has passed through the Kenora area.

Yoseph Mengsha is a meteorologist for Environment Canada and says
we have received about 12 centimeters of snow in the last 24 hours.

Areas to the east of Kenora like Ignace and Raith were hit by more than
20 centimeters of snow.

The Sprague area of eastern Manitoba was one of the worst hit areas with about 25 centimeters of snowfall.

Energy Minister Refuses Special Electricity Rate for the North

The province's long term energy plan continues to make waves in northwestern Ontario.

Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli is deflecting criticism over the high cost of electricity in the North.

Chiarelli was asked yesterday during a call with media if the Province would entertain a separate electricity rate for Northerners since generating electricity in the region is done fairly cheaply.

We face a 33-percent hike in our electricity rates over the next 3-years according to the new plan.

Harper and Wynne To Discuss Ring of Fire Today

After weeks of playing the blame game Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Premier Kathleen Wynne are scheduled to sit down this afternoon to discuss the Ring of Fire.

The two sides are at an impasse over who is responsible for the massive mining development.

Wynne stated last week that she was surprised to hear the prime minister dismiss the development of the Ring of Fire as a provincial issue.

Bob Rae, the chief negotiator and counsel for the Matawa First Nations, has called on both levels of government to stop squabbling over provincial jurisdiction and create some level of certainty for businesses and First Nations.

School Buses Canceled This Morning

Almost business as normal in the Kenora area.

While there are no highway closures to report this morning,
all school buses in the region have been cancelled, including
all Kenora buses, and the bus to Sioux Narrows.

The Northwest Student Services Consortium says it has also cancelled buses in the Vermillion Bay, Dryden, Red Lake and Sioux Lookout areas this morning.

The Rat Portage School Bus has also been canceled this morning.

Even though buses are not running this morning, all schools in the Kenora area will remain open.

OPP Nab Impaired Drivers in Festive RIDE Program

The first week of the OPP's festive RIDE program has netted impaired driving charges against eight drivers, including one in the Kenora area.

Four other drivers, had their license's suspended for either 3, 7 or 30 days for registered in the warning range.

The Festive RIDE enforcement program continues until January 2.


Impaired charges by districts:

Rainy River 1
Kenora 1
Marathon 1
Nipigon 2
Thunder Bay 2
Sioux Lookout 1

Another Blast of Winter Heading Our Way

A snowfall warning is in effect today for areas to the west of Kenora.

We could see about 10 centimeters by the time the system moves through by tomorrow.

Meteorologist Dayshanelle Matthews with Environment Canada says the storm is a large low pressure system coming up from Colorado.

A snowfall warning has also been issued for the Whiteshell, Lac Du Bonnet, Pinewa and the City of Winnipeg.

Areas to the east of Kenora towards Thunder Bay are also expected to get between 15 and 20 centimeters of snow in the next 24 to 36 hours.

OPP Release Name of People Killed in Crash Near Fort Frances

Provincial Police have released the names of the two people killed in a collision on Highway 11 Monday afternoon.

Police say a westbound PT Cruiser struck an unloaded logging truck around 4:40, roughly 15-kilometers east of Fort Frances.

The driver of the car has been identified as 82-year-old David Chambers and the passenger has been identified as 75-year-old Louise Chambers.

Both of the victims were from Fort Frances.

The driver of the logging truck wasn't injured.

Police continue to investigate.

Murray Defends Winter Road Maintenance in the North

Ontario's Transportation Minister is defending winter road maintenance service in northern Ontario.

Glen Murray was asked about a recent spate of fatalities across northern Ontario on Highway 17.

Murray says they have increased the number of plows on the road and believes that will make a difference.

In the past week, there have been three fatalities on highways in the Sudbury area, one just east of Kenora on Trans-Canada and two yesterday east of Fort Frances.

Province's New Energy Plan Gets Mixed Reviews

Some good programs are coming out of the provinces new long term energy plan.

Northwest Energy Task Force Co-chair Ian Angus says the northwest will see upgrades.

Angus also points out the creation of an aboriginal transmission fund starting next year.

He feels the plan will go a long way in allowing communities to receive new transmission.

Angus adds that all the conservation programs announced in the plan likely won't have much
of an impact here compared to southern Ontario, because we just don't have the population
base to make much of a difference in our overall electricity consumption.

Women Being Encouraged to Enter Politics

Women politicians from across the region are showing support for future female community leaders.

The new organization "Women In Politics" is holding a forum on on January 22nd to promote women getting involved in all levels of government.

Thunder Bay City Councillor Rebecca Johnson is behind the initiative and says they'll be teaching women hands on what it takes to run for office.

The forum will welcome former Ontario Liberal Party Leader Lyn McLeod as the guest speaker.

Broncos, Saints Boys Hockey Teams Post Wins

A good night for Kenora's boys high school hockey teams.

Noah Witzke was the first star of the game in Beaver Brae's 5-0 win
over Fort Frances.

Jed Rattai led the short-handed Broncos in scoring with a pair of goals.

Beaver Braae was minus seven regulars due to suspension or injury.

It was the Muskies first loss of the season.

Meanwhile, Thomas Aquinas is now tied with Beaver Brae, Dryden and Fort Frances for first in the
NorWOSSA league standings after a 4-1 win over Red Lake last night.

The Broncos, Saints, Eagles and Muskies are now 3-1 on the season.

Saints Take Two of Three from Ignace

The NorWOSSA court sport season is back in action.

Thomas Aquinas played its first road games of the year yesterday
taking two of three games from Ignace.

The T.A. senior boys basketball team romped to a 52-20 win over the
Falcons.

In girls basketball, the Saints senior squad won in straight sets, while the
Thomas Aquinas junior girls lost to Ignace three sets to two.

Large Maijuana Seizure in Kenora

The Kenora OPP have seized over 180 pounds of Marijuana.

Police say they stopped a tractor trailer unit on Highway 17 yesterday afternoon for a violation.

Upon investigating the trailer police found the marijuana, valued at $450,000.

Also seized was $1,000 in cash.

As a result 43 year old Nicusor Cioanca of Mission, B.C has been charged with Trafficking Marijuana, Possession for the Purpose of Trafficking, and Possession of Property Obtained by Crime.

The accused answered to the charges in court today.

The investigation is continuing.

Suspicious Death in Machin Township

Police in Dryden are investigating a suspicious death in the municipality of Machin.

Yesterday afternoon Dryden Provincial Police responded to calls of a body in the Mutrie Township.

Police identified the body as 44 year old Randal Lichty from Machin.

A postmortem will take place at the Lake of the Woods District Hospital.

Anyone with information are asked to call the OPP at 1-888-310-1122

Rally For Safer Roads This Weekend

Local residents are going to take to the street to protest the state
of winter road conditions in northwestern Ontario.

A rally is being planned for this weekend in Vermillion Bay.

A Facebook page has also been set up to encourage people to
attend the Rally for Safer Roads.

Already this month, the Trans-Canada Highway between Kenora and
Vermillion Bay has been shut down three times because of multiple-vehicle
accidents.

The rally is scheduled to take place this Saturday from 10 till noon at the intersection of Highway 105 and Highway 17.

OPP Investigate Fatal Accident Near Fort Frances

The OPP are continuing its investigation into the death of two people in
an accident near Fort Frances.

Police say a westbound vehicle collided with a transport about 15 kilometers
east of the border community on Highway 11 yesterday afternoon around 4:40.

Both the people in the Chrysler, a man and a woman were killed, while the
driver of the semi was not injured.

Highway 11 was closed for about three years hours due to the accident.

The names of the released have not yet been released.

Rickford Responds to Auditor's Report

The federal government is taking steps to address emergency preparedness on first nation communities.

That according to Kenora M.P. Greg Rickford.

He was responding to the auditor general's report, which suggested the
department of Indian Affairs hasn't set aside adequate resources to
deal with emergencies in aboriginal communities.

Rickford says the federal government is also working out a clearer response plan in the case of emergencies, for departments at both the federal and provincial level.

North Spirit Lake Crash Results in Aviation Changes

It may be hard to fathom but some good has come out of a tragic plane crash in northwestern Ontario.

Four people died when a Keystone Air Service plane went down near the North Spirit Lake airport.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has completed its investigation and Peter Hildebrand notes the airport made a big change following the 2012 crash.

Hildebrand says Keystone Air has revised its operational manuals, implemented new icing policies and amended its flight training record-keeping procedures.

Energy Minister Releases Long Term Plan for Ontario

Ontario Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli is out with the new long term energy plan.

Chiarelli says the plan forecasts 70 billion dollars in savings by 2030.

He says all rate payers can expect a decrease.

Chiarelli says the plans will save 15 billion dollars by deferring the construction of two nuclear reactors.

CP Holiday Train Makes Whistle Stop in Kenora

The Salvation Army has capped off a busy weekend of donations with a stop by the CP Holiday Train.

CP presented the Army with a cheque for 6 thousand dollars.

Mayor Dave Canfield says it's another key step in ending hunger.

Salvation Army Business Manager Sandra Poole took the opportunity to again thank the community for their generosity.

Kenora Figure Skaters Excel in Winnipeg

A good weekend for Kenora Figure skaters.

A dozen members of the Kenora Figure skating club were in Winnipeg
for the Superskate competition.

Local skaters claimed six gold medals, four silver and five bronze.

All of the Kenora skaters also finished in the top seven in each of their
events.

It was the first competition of the season for the local figure skaters.

November Unusually Cold

It's not winter yet, but it sure felt like it last month.

This past November was the coldest in more than 15 years.

Bill Laidlaw from Signal Weather Services says the average
temperature was -6.7 degrees.

The coldest November on record was in 1995.

Laidlaw says the normal average daily temperature in November in Kenora
is -4.9 celcius.

MTO Boasting About Summer Road Works

The Ontario government is boasting about its work on northern Ontario roads this year.

The government says 55-hundred construction jobs were created and several projects were completed.

Some of the major work included the resurfacing of Highway 72 and 516 in Sioux Lookout.

The government also replaced several bridges between Kenora and Ignace, including the Little Wabigoon River bridge, Melgund River bridge and the Nugget Creek bridge.

Parachutist Rescued in Thunder Bay

A daring rescue in Thunder Bay over the weekend.

City Fire crews spent more than 8-hours attempting to rescue a 24-year-old man after he got stuck on Mt. McKay.

Officials say the man was attempting a speed-wing parachute jump when something went wrong and he crashed into rugged terrain.

The rescue effort was hindered by dark and slippery conditions.

The man is now in hospital with multiple injuries.

Festival of Trees A Big Hit

Kenora residents were in a giving mood this weekend.

The 10th Annual Festival of Trees had 30 trees up for auction.

Darlene McGillivray from the Kenora and Lake of the Woods Regional
Community Foundation says they managed to raise a lot of money during
the three day festival.

She says they raised almost 30 thousand dollars during their 10th annual
event.

McGillivray says they also benefited from a five thousand dollar contribution
from proceeds from this summer's Air Show.

New Child Care Agreement for Off-Reserve Aboriginals

30 years in the making.

The Kenora and Rainy River District Child and Family Services are signing an agreement with the Weechi-it-te-win Family Services to serve off reserve aboriginals.

KRRDCFS Executive Director Bill Leonard says this move has been a long time coming and is actually encouraged by provincial legislation.

The WFS will begin serving off reserve members once the agreement is signed on Friday.

Public School Board Launches Safe Welcome Initiative

School administrators can now reject visitors from accessing schools before they ever enter the building.

The Safe Welcome program is being launched this morning
at all Elementary Schools in the Keewatin Patricia District School Board.

Shelley St. Hilaire is the Safe and Supportive Schools principal and says certain factors are keeping it out of high schools.

The program includes visitors buzzing a video intercom to speak with administrators before entering the school.

Stand Off Ends Peacefully On Lac Seul

A 28-year-old man has been arrested following a 14-hour standoff at a home in Frenchman's Head on the Lac Seul First Nation.

Lac Seul Police were notified of a domestic dispute shortly after midnight Sunday and Provincial Police in Sioux Lookout provided support.

OPP say the man barricaded himself inside his home and wasn't responding to police requests to exit the residence.
Police say there were also fears that the man had firearms in the residence.

Roadblocks were set up within the community and nine area homes were evacuated as a precautionary measure.

Crisis negotiators were brought in and the man was arrested around 3:20 Sunday afternoon without incident.

The unidentified man is in custody and the investigation is ongoing.

Residents that were evacuated were allowed back in their homes and the roadblocks have been taken down.

Province Launches Open Government Consultations

The term "open government" may seem like a contradiction in terms to some, but the province's government services minister wants to change that.

John Milloy says his open government team is stopping in Thunder Bay this evening to get your views on what  can be done to make the government more open.

Tonght's forum is one of several taking place this month across the province.

CP Holiday Train Crosses Northwestern Ontario Today

It's a sight to behold.

The C.P. Holiday train will be crossing northwestern Ontario today with
several stops.

Salem Woodrow is the trains Spokesperson and says they have a photo contest to go along with the festivities.

The train collects donations for local food banks, and includes a visit by Santa and live music.

The Kenora stop is scheduled for 3:45 this afternoon behind the Real Canadian Wholesale Club.

Thistles Split Against the Capitols at Home

The Kenora Triple "a" Midgets continue to play .500 hockey.

The Thistles split a pair of games over the weekend at home against the
Central Plains Capitals.

Ben Hendrickson scored a pair of goals in a 4-3 loss yesterday at the
Kenora Rec. Center.

Hendrickson also notched a hat trick Saturday night in a 5-1 win over
the Capitols.

The Thistles now have a record of 10 wins and 10 losses this season.

Sharks Enjoy Weekend Meet in Winnipeg

A strong weekend for a number of members of the Kenora Sharks Swim Club in
Winnipeg at the Prairie Winter International Meet at the Pan Am pool.

Gabe Mastromateo led the medal parade with five gold medals and a bronze.

Mastromateo also was a member of the Sharks gold medal winning 12 and under boys medley relay team.

Other gold medalists over the weekend included Alex Illman and Natalie Peterson

Local Girls Hockey Teams Excel in Weekend Tournament

Kenora girls teams took won a lot of hardware at the 19th annual
Lake of the Woods Novice, Atom and PeeWee tournament.

The Purple Polar Puppies won silver in the Novice Division, losing a
2-1 decision to Dakota in the gold medal game yesterday.

In the Atom Division, The Atom Bomb's high powered offense struck
gold in an 8-1 win over the Silver Bullets in an all-Kenora match-up.

Two Kenora teams also faced off in the PeeWee final, with the Turbo prevailing with a 2-1 win over the Black Widows.

Saints Girls Lose to Dryden

In girls high school hockey action last night, Dryden fired a lot of rubber
at Thomas Aquinas in a 7-1 win.

The Eagles peppered Saints goalie Gilly Derouard with 70 shots.

T.A. is still looking for its first win of the season.

Miracle Marathon a Huge Success

(Midget Thistles Held Load Trailer)

The Salvation Army in Kenora has received a huge boost to it's Christmas Cheer campaign.

The 23rd Annual CJRL Miracle Marathon in support of the Salvation Army was a resounding success.

Over the last 2 days the marathon has raised over 4500 pounds in food, toys, and other items for the Salvation Army.

Business Manager Sandra Poole says the cash donations have been outstanding as well.

She says they collected more than 23 thousand dollars during the 19 hour radio marathon.

Poole says all the donations will be distributed within the community.