One more All-Candidates Forum this evening

Candidates in Kenora-Rainy River will get another chance to debate the issues tonight in the third all-candidates forum of the election campaign.

The Rainy River Federation of Agriculture hosts the event tonight in Stratton.

Last night, candidates attempted to sell themselves to Fort Frances voters at a mix and mingle hosted by the Fort Frances Chamber of Commerce.

OPP Commish to Visit Kenora Today

The Commissioner of the OPP will be paying a special visit to Kenora today.

Chris Lewis will be in town to help name a couple of bridges on the Kenora by-pass.

The bridges will be named after officers who have died in the line of duty in the Kenora area.

The ceremony will take place at the Discovery Center starting at 5:00 this afternoon.

Another drug bust in Kenora

Another day, another drug bust.

A 36 year old Kenora man has been arrested after police executed a search warrant on a home on 2nd Avenue South.

The OPP's Organized Crime and Enforcement Unit as well as its

drug squad seized seized 40 grams of cocaine, 20 grams of marihuana, 436 Ecstacy pills, 45 hundred dollars in cash and other drug related paraphernalia.

Dino Papaioannou has been charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking and possession of property obtained by crime.

He's due to appear in Kenora court in December.

2-1-1 Network Launched in the Kenora District

Information on thousands of services is now available across the Kenora District by simply dialing 2-1-1.

The 2-1-1 Northern Region launched the program at a Press Conference in Dryden Wednesday.

Executive Director Marie Klassen says the initiative was first launched in the Thunder Bay District in 2008.

Information on volunteer groups, food banks, homeless shelters, health care agencies and homework programs for teens is just an example of what is available by calling the free, confidential hotline.

NDP hoping for Gains in Northern Ontario

The NDP is hoping to not only hold the seats it has in northern Ontario, but win a couple of more next week.

Party Leader Andrea Horwath is doing her final push for votes and says they expect a good showing on October 6th.

Horwath is hoping to not only hold onto the Kenora-Rainy River Riding, but make gains in Thunder Bay as well.

Province to appeal Ruling in favour of Grassy Narrows

An Ontario Superior Court ruling on treaty rights for Grassy Narrows First Nation is being challenged.

The Federal and Provincial Governments and Abitibi-Consolidated are appealing that Grassy Narrows called a victory for their way of life.

The Kenora-area band had challenged the province's right to permit industrial logging on its traditional lands, saying it would interfere with its rights under a treaty signed with Ottawa.

It celebrated the court ruling, saying it set the stage for recognition and protection of Treaty 3 rights and, more importantly, would help protect the Anishinaabe way of life in Northwestern

Ontario.

Mediation Continues today in CCAC dispute

The Ontario Nursing Association continues to negotiate leading up to it's October 3rd strike deadline.

President Linda Haslam Stroud says her union represents employees of the Northwest Community Care Access Centre.

Today is the last day scheduled for mediated talks.

Police arrest Kenora man for Grow-Op

A 50 year old Kenora man faces drug charges after the OPP uncovered a grow-op just off Highway 71.

The Kenora Drug Unit teamed up with the OPP's Organized Crime Enforcement Bureau, and ERT team and the Rural Agricultural Crime team on Monday.

They executed a search warrant on a piece of property located in Kirkup Township.

Police say they seized 26 marijuana plants, 870 grams of dried marijuana, 800 grams of marijuana shake and other drug paraphenalia.

The drugs have a street value of about 44 thousand dollars.

Stan Denkiewicz has been charged with production of a controlled substance.

Health Units tracking bed bugs

Don't let the bed bugs bite!

That's what the Northwestern Health Unit is trying to prevent has it has received Provincial funds to study the rate of bed bug infestations in our area.

Health Promoter Valdine McEwen says they need the public's assistance.

A questionnaire on bed bugs can be found on the Health Unit's web site.

Candidates in Kenora-Rainy River get thumbs up from health group

The Heart and Stroke Foundation says health needs to become a bigger election issue.

The Foundation has talked to all the candidates in northwestern Ontario and says the main party's support their proposals to create a healthier population.

Wendy Savoy says there are serious health concerns in this region that need to be  addressed.

Savoy says their proposals include more food education, and more funding for physical education in the schools.

Big Trout Lake complains of more mining activity

Its like deja-vu all over again for the Big Trout Lake First Nation.

The band is upset that the mining company God's Lake Resources has started some exploration work in K.I.'s traditional land use area.

John Cutfeet is a spokesperson for the band and says the provincial government continues to ignore concerns.

Cutfeet says to add insult to injury, the exploration work is being done on an old burial site.

Nurses at the Northwest CCAC could hit the picket line next week

There could be pickets in front of Northwest Community Care Access Centre sites across northwestern Ontario next week.

The 88 members of the Ontario Nurses Association have joined with their counterparts at nine other CCAC's to support strike action October 3 to back contract demands.

The workers provide health and home care services to the seniors in their own home.

Mediated talks are planned for today and tomorrow.

Bronco Court teams lose on the road

Beaver Brae's court sport teams are still searching for their first wins of the year.

Yesterday the Broncos were in Fort Frances, but the Muskies were not good hosts, winning all four of the games played.

The closest contest was the senior girls basketball game, where Beaver Brae was edged 11-10.

In junior girls action, the Muskies prevailed 38-23 over the Broncos.

It was the same story in boys volleyball action, with Fort beating Beaver Brae's senior boys three sets to one, and then blanking the junior squad three games to none.

Tomorrow, the Broncos host Dryden.

Treaty Three Economic Conference Begins tonight

Municipal, first nation and business leaders are gathering in Kenora for a three day conference on the local economy.

Grand Council Treaty #3 is hosting the Area Economic Opportunities Conference starting tonight.

Issues such as tourism, mining, forestry and arts and culture are some of the topics up for discussion.

The conference is taking place at the Minis Hall at the Super 8.

OPP Investigate a Rash of Thefts

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

In one incident, police say a couple of Yamaha scooters were stolen from a garage on 5th Avenue South.

One of the vehicles has since been recovered, but the OPP say they are still on the lookout for the other one, which is black and grey in color.

Other incidents under investigation include the theft of items from unlocked vehicles, damage to vehicles and also damage to election signs.

Beware of Concussions

Canada's Leading Expert in Concussions is hoping he leaves medical personal with more knowledge on the issue.

Brain Injury Services of Northern Ontario invited Dr. Charles Tator to speak at their conference.

Tator feels the general public need to learn more about the signs of a concussion.

Support Shown for Cross-Town Snowmobile Corridor

There seems to be considerable support for a cross-town snowmobile corridor through the City of Kenora.

About 50 people attended a public meeting last night on the proposed route.

Shawn Clifford is a spokesperson for the Sunset Trail Riders and says most of the comments they received back were positive.

The final day for comment on the Cross-town corridor is October 11th.

City council is expected to move the proposal forward at its next open meeting.

Fire season winding down in the Northwest

The fire season is slowly starting to wind down in northwestern Ontario.

There are still 38 blazes listed as active today.

Five are under control and two other are being held.

The other 31 are being observed, with no active fire activity noted.

In the meantime, fire crews are starting to pack up their gear, including hose lines and bring it back to their respective fire bases in the region.

With the recent warm weather, the fire hazard has climbed into the moderate range across the region.

Three Grassy and Wabaseemung Residents return from Japan

Three members of the Grassy Narrows and Wabaseemung First Nation have returned from a once in a lifetime trip to Japan.

Grassy Chief Simon Fobister was joined by two other people to visit Minnimata, which is a community devastated by mercury poisoning.

Fobister says there are a number of parallels between the the Japanese city and area first nations affected by mercury poisoning.

He says the big difference is that the Japanese have received much better compensation and are getting better medical treatment.

CCAC Strike Vote

Unionized employees with the Northwest Community Care Access Centre are taking a strike vote this week

The 88-members of the Ontario Nurse's Assocation are among those at ten C-C-A-C's across Ontario that could be in a strike position October 3.

Mediated talks are planned for this week.

Workload and wages are among the issues.