Men's Soccer and Ball Hockey Seasons winding down

The finals are set in the Hap's Men's soccer league.

The Gunners will meet up with the Centuries tomorrow night in the Challeng Cup Final at the Tom Nabb Soccer Complex.

The Gunners got by the Playaz 1-0 in the second Semi-final Friday night.

The Challenge Cup will be up for grabs starting at 6:00 tomorrow night.

Meanwhile, the Aces drew first blood in the finals of the Casey's men's ball hockey

league.

The Aces got by the Jets last night in game one.

Game two goes tonight at 8:00 at the Kenora Rec. Center.

More hot weather on the way

Summer isn't ready to leave northwestern Ontario just yet.

Hot, humid conditions are expected to prevail in the Kenora area early this week.

Bill Laidlaw from Signal Weather Services says we may even see some record-setting temperatures.

Things are expected cool off Wednesday, before warming back up for the last couple of days of the week.

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.