Health Unit Campaign Targets Hypodermic Needles

Communities in northwestern Ontario are sitting on a ticking time bomb when it comes to intervenous drug use.

That's the message from the Northwestern Health Unit.

Spokesperson, Gillian Lunny says they are doing what they can to tackle the problem and have launched a couple of public safety poster campaigns.

Lunny says the campaign tackles the sensitive subject of how to safely dispose of needles that might be found in public places.

FedNor Cuts Raised in House of Commons

Federal government is being accused of cutting money used for economic development in northern Ontario.

Thunder Bay-Rainy River MP John Rafferty says government has taken out a billion dollars from the forestry sector and millions more in tourism and marketing grants that went to small towns.

Industry Minister Tony Clement says government remains committed to economic development in the north, noting FEDNOR had provided over 263-million dollars to hundreds of projects over the past five years.

NOACC Sends Resolutions to St. Catharines

The provincial Mining Act, Katimavik, building with wood, and the Endangered Species Act.

Those are just some of the topics covered off in the Northwestern Ontario Associated Chamber of Commerce's resolutions adopted at their annual spring meeting in Sioux Lookout.

The Chambers are also urging the federal and provincial levels of government ensure there are always at least ten ridings in northern Ontario represented at Queen's Park and the House of Commons.

NOACC will be taking all the resolutions to the Ontario Chamber of Commerce annual meeting starting today in St. Catharines. 

Local Schools prepare for Flash Mob

Expect some traffic delays in downtown Kenora Friday at around noon.

A large flash mob is being planned for Main Street South between the Library and 1st Street South.

Valleyview teacher Kelly Olgilvie says the students are looking forward to their performance.

Some 600 pink-clad students will stage the flash mob at noon on Friday on Main Street, and then again about an hour later at the Canadian Tire Parking lot.

Veteran's Affairs office in NWO set to close

First its was immigration, now the only Veteran's Affairs office in northwestern Ontario is slated for

closure.

Veteran's advocate, Moe Nelson says if that happens it will be missed terribly because so many local vets rely on the services provided.

The office is slated for closure in the next couple of years.

Border Crossings increase

Some positive news on the tourism front in northwestern Ontario.

Statistics released by the Canada Border Services Agency show almost 54-thousand travellers crossed in March.

That's about 25-hundred more than in February and a 7-and-a-half per cent increase over March 2011.

Just over 29-thousand vehicles were processed at the border, a slight increase over February numbers, but a one per cent drop from one year ago.

Northern Ontario Shut out of Worst Roads

Northern Ontario has been shut out of the top 10 worst roads in the province.

CAA has just wrapped up its annual Worst Roads contest, and all of the top nominated roads were either in Toronto or southern Ontario.

Spokesperson for the contest, Kory Kennedy says regardless of where the roads are, they are hoping the upper levels of government are listening when it comes to road maintenance.

Dufferin Street in Toronto topped the list this year.

Scribilo Vows to Take NOACC to Queen's Park

The local president of the Kenora and District Chamber of Commerce is back at the helm of the Northwestern Ontario Associated Chambers of Commerce.

Andy Scribilo was re-elected this past weekend at the spring meeting of NOACC in Sioux Lookout.

Scribilo says one of his main goals is to get a delegation together next year to take to Queen's Park.

Scribilo says they will try to set up as many meetings as they can with provincial cabinet ministers next year.

FedNor Trying to Streamline Application Process

Its now easier and more convenient to get a loan from FedNor.

That's according to Director General Aime DiMatteo.

He says they've spent the past year streamlining the application process.

DiMatteo says staff at FedNor are also trying to get confirmation letters out to potential applicants much quicker than in the past.

OPP Stepping up Enforcement of Bar Bouncers

A warning to bar owners across Northwestern Ontario.

The Ontario Provincial Police is promising to step up enforcement on new rules concerning bouncers and security personnel.

Rick LePage says most establishments aren't abiding by the regulations.

LePage says bouncers and security personnel at licensed establishments must be certified and registered.

NorWOSSA Single A Season Resumes today

The NorWOSSA Single "a" soccer season resumes today.

Thomas Aquinas boys and girls teams are also bussing to Sioux Lookout for a couple of league games. 

These games will help seed the teams for the NorWOSSA finals, scheduled for the end of the month.

The NorWOSSA Double "a" season officially gets underway next Wednesday in Fort Frances, with
Beaver Brae's boys and girls teams both in action.

Miisun continues to Grow

A local first nations owned resource company is slowly starting to grow.

Miisun Integrated Resource Management has the Sustainable Forest Licence for the Kenora Forest, which includes harvesting, seeding and planning.

Shannon Rawn is the general manager of Miisun and says they have also started to branch out into other areas of resource management.

Rawn says they started off with just two employees three years ago, but now they are up to nine.

Hope in the City a big financial success

Another big payday for the Canadian Cancer Society.

Hope in the City raised almost 23 thousand dollars this past week.

The red carpet event is into its second year and organizers says they are already starting to think about next year.

The next major fundraiser for the Cancer Society is the Relay for Life on June 8th at Lakewood School.

Richards Scores Early to Lead Kings to Victory

The Los Angeles Kings made it five straight playoff wins on the road.

The Kings overwhelmed St. Louis in the opening period in a 5-2 victory, to take a two-games-to-nothing lead in the Western

Conference semifinal. Mike Richards set the tone scoring 31 seconds in.

Richards says the eighth-seeded Kings are making the most of their playoff opportunities.

The Kenora hockey product finished the night with one goal and an assist.

Drug Abuse Task Force Celebrates One Year of Service

Kenora's Substance Abuse and Mental Health Task Force is celebrating its first year as a committee.

The Task Force has put together information for its first annual report.

Michelle Ott is one of the members and says one of the things they were able to accomplish this year was a survey of local parents.

She says they asked them what their biggest concerns were for their children.

Ott says they also asked the parents what they would like for their top three supports to deal with these issues

and that included a list of list of community resources, workshops and a website they could turn to for more information.

Plans for Northern Policy Institute appear to be on Hold

Plans to establish a Northern Policy Institute in Ontario are still on track.

The presidents of Lakehead University and Laurentian presented their proposal for the Institute to the government nine months ago.

Parliamentary Assistant for Northern Development and Mines, Bill Mauro says the actual implementation of the Institute is still being worked out.

The provincial government announced five million dollars to fund the Northern Policy Institute two years ago, and municipal policiticians are wondering where it is.

OPP Investigate Theft of Snowmachine

Someone must be thinking ahead to next winter.

The OPP are investigating the theft of a snowmobile from a garage on the Oldford Road in Pellatt Township.

Police say someone kicked in a door to the garage and stole a a white 2009 Artic Cat 800 "Crossfire".

The theft took place sometime in the past two weeks.

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

Changes made to proposal for Regional Development Agency

Some concern is being raised about a new Regional Economic Development agency for Northwestern Ontario.

The Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association says its not prepared to increase its levy to municipalities to support the REDA.

Ian Angus has been championing the cause and says they have decided to scale back their proposed budget for the agency.

Angus says they are also proposing just a 11 member board for the Economic Development Agency, comprised of four aboriginal reprentitives, four from each of the municipal organizations in the region, and three board members selected at large.

Parents Consults on Changes at Beaver Brae

The Keewatin-Patricia District School Board is starting to consult local parents about what they think about the idea of adding grades seven and eight to Beaver Brae Secondary School.

The first of two public consultations took place last night at Beaver Brae.

Parents were also given a chance to tour the school prior to the meeting.

The next chance for input into the proposed changes is on May 14th.

Future of Winston Motel up in the Air

The mayor of Pickle Lake is hoping the Winston Motel is re-built.

Last month, a large section of the motel burned down.

Roy Hoffman says they still don't know what's going to happen, but he's optimistic.

While several of the motel rooms were undamaged, the water supply to the building was destroyed in the fire, which started in the kitchen area.

The blaze also gutted the bar and caused extensive water and smoke damage to some connecting rooms.

The Winston was one of just two motels in the community.