Education Week

Education Week is coming to a close for the Keewatin Patricia District School Board.

Director of Education Jack McMaster says they met with Southern Ontario School Board professionals and told them about their oral language program.

McMaster says he is also taking time during Education Week to thank school board staff.

Fort Frances Escapee back in Custody

The 7-day search for a wanted Emo man has ended.

OPP arrested Matthew Meyers yesterday without any difficulties.

The man was located in the Clearwater Lake area, about 30-kilometres north of Emo.

Police had been looking for Meyers since April 29th when he escaped from the Fort Frances OPP Detachment during a criminal investigation.

He remains in custody and faces possession of stolen property, breach of probation, assault, uttering threats and escaping custody.

More Presciption Drugs Seized

A 29 year old resident of the New Osnaburgh First Nation has been arrested on drug charges.

The Combined Forces Drug Unit arrested a man in Hillcrest Park in Thunder Bay early Thursday morning.

Police say they seized about 100 oxycodone pills, almost 300 percocets, and about 65 hundred dollars in cash.

The street value of the drugs is estimated at about 16 thousand dollars.

During their search of the vehicle, officers also located a 30-30 rifle, amunition and a machete.

SIU Officer Cleared

The Ontario Special Investigations Unit has cleared an OPP officer
of any wrong-doing in an injury sustained by a person who was in custody
at the Kenora Detachment.

SIU director Ian Scott says there are no reasonable grounds to
believe the local officer committed any criminal offense after
34 year old Tony Kakegamic injured his index finger while being
place in the cell.

The report says Kakegamic tried to open the cell door several times
while officers attempted to lock the cell.

In the process, Kakegamic's left index finger was caught between
the door and the frame, causing the tip to be severed.

Scott concludes that the cause of the injury was the result of an accident
in which the officer had no intention of hurting the complainant.

Abitibi Land Sale

A Kenora-area developer is hoping to finalize the sale of Abitibi lands in the city by the end of June.

John Gale has been negotiating with AbitibiBowater for months to purchase all their property within city limits.

The original deadline to complete the deal was March 31st, but Gale says both sides agreed to extend the purchase date to June 30th.

He says its been a very complicated deal involving many different parcels land scattered throughout the city.

Gale adds that there are companies that are eager to get on the old mill property to set up shop.

Truth and Reconciliation

The Head of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is making an appearance in Sioux Lookout to hear stories from former students of the Indian Residential School system.

Justice Murray Sinclair will stop in the community May 12th and 13th.

Garnet Angeconeb is the Co-Chair of the Sioux Lookout Coalition for Healing and Reconciliation and notes this region is fortunate to have Sinclair visit.

He notes it will give families, staff and survivers a chance to open up dialouge in order to move on.

Northern Ontario Energy Credit

Not all northerners will get energy credit cheques from the McGuinty government in the fall.

The money is strictly for low and middle income people.

Speaking in Thunder Bay Dwight Duncan says the credit is to make up for higher energy costs

Expect those cheques to roll out in November.

Abitibi land sale still pending

A Kenora-area developer is hoping to finalize the sale of Abitibi lands in the city by the end of June.

John Gale has been negotiating with AbitibiBowater for months to purchase all their property within city limits.

The original deadline to complete the deal was March 31st, but Gale both sides agreed to extend the purchase date to June 30th.

He says its been a very complicated deal involving many different parcels of land scattered throughout the city.

Gale adds that there are companies that are eager to get on the old mill property to set up shop.

Axe intruder injured

A 40-year-old man in northern Ontario --armed with an axe -- came out worse for wear, after going up against-- a vacuum cleaner.

Police say a man in White River was trying to break down a door with the axe.

As the door gave way, a man in the home hurled a vacuum cleaner through the broken door.

The vacuum hit the assailant in the face -- breaking his nose.

The assailant is now in jail.

Four Kenora Girls at National Aboriginal Hockey Championships

Four Kenora hockey players have helped Team Ontario North to a perfect 3-0 record at the National Aboriginal Hockey Championships.

Melissa White, Robin Houle, Sam Smith and Deborah Kakeway are members of the squad, which finished first in their pool.

The Semi-Finals start tonight with Team Ontario North taking on NorthwestTerritories.

Concern about FedNor Funding

A number of concerns are being raised about the FedNor program.

A recent study shows the number of approvals for funding have dropped, while the number of applications have increased.

Claude Gravelle is a Sudbury area M.P. and says he's also worriedFedNor funding may be jeopardized by Treasury Board President Stockwell Day.

Gravelle is calling on the federal government to make FedNor an agency of the crown so applications for funding can be processed much faster.

More broadband promised for the North

A Liberal government would bring high speed internet to all of Northern Ontario and the rest of Rural Canada within three years.

Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff made the announcement during a tour of the region today.

Ignatieff says high speed internet is vital in increasing national unity.

Ignatieff also says the plan is aimed at improving public services for people in remote areas, allowing them to tap into the digital economy, distance learning and electronic health initiatives, among other things.

Another Warm Month

This past winter was both warmer and drier than normal in the Kenora area.

Environment Canada has tallied the snowfall figures for the past eight months and meteorologist Chantal Cerney says we got off pretty easy in terms of snowfall.

Cerny adds that the warm weather trend continued in April.

The average daily mean temperature last month was 8.1 degrees, which is about 4.5 degrees warmer than normal.

MP Nicki Ashton visits Kenora

New Democrats in the House of Commons are calling on the federal government to restore funding for the Aboriginal Healing Foundation.

Nicki Ashton is the M.P. for the Churchill Riding in Manitoba and says a total of 134 programs across the country have closed their doors, including a number in northwestern Ontario.

Ashton says the Aboriginal Healing Foundation provided three million dollars a year for programs in the Kenora Riding.

Forest Tenure

The McGuinty government is proposing sweeping changes to the way wood cutting licences are awarded.

Effectively the big forestry giants would have their current licences scrapped and they'd have to start over.

Northern Development Minister Michael Gravelle admits the changes are bold.

Public hearings on the proposed changes start in Thunder Bay May the 18th.

Hampton on HST

The harmonized sales tax is getting close to implementation.

Any item that is purchased before the harmonized sales tax comes into effect, but will be used after July 1st will be subject to the extra tax.

Kenora Rainy River MPP Howard Hampton says its going to surprise a number of people who thought they dodged the tax by buying before the start date.

Hampton says people are so upset about the tax they are pre planning their funerals just to dodge the extra tax.

Truck Fire on Valley Drive

Fire has destroyed a truck cab in the north end of town.

Kenora's Fire and Emergency Services Department was called outs hortly after 11:00 this morning after a truck driver noticed flames coming from his vehicle while he was driving
along Valley Drive.

He managed to get out without being injuried, but the truck was completely destroyed by the fire.

The cause of the blaze is still under investigation.

Lake of the Woods Hospital Beds

The Lake of the Woods District Hospital has seen some relief for patients awaiting spots in long term care homes.

All the acute care beds at the hospital were being used last month, and many patients were needing long term care beds.

Chief Executive Officer Marc Balcaen says they've seen a decrease in the number of inpatients waiting for beds.

The hospital was given special status that will give them priority for any long term care bed that becomes available.

Water Temperatures

You may notice red, rectangular devices when boating on area lakes this Spring.

The Province is conducting a study on how changes in water temperature impact
walleye, lake trout and other fish.

Mark Sobchuck is a spokesperson for the MNR and says they have the monitors
in 22 lakes across northwestern Ontario this year.

The red devices report the lake temperatures ever hour.

They will be collected before the water freezes this Fall.

LODPOA Cottage Show

It's the 48th year for the Lake of the Woods District Property Owners Association.

Over 2 thousand people are expected to attend, and check out over 100 exhibits.

Executive Director Susan McLeod says they will also have guest speakers.

The show starts in Winnipeg at 2:30 and runs until 9.