Local Schools Achieve "Eco" Certification

Another environmental pat on the back for the Keewatin-Patricia District School Board.

Five schools in the District have received Ontario EcoSchools certification for environmental practices.

Board Spokesperson Kathy Boone feels they have become an environmental leader.

Beaver Brae, Lakewood, Dryden High School and the Golden Learning Centre received the EcoSchool certification.

Ornge Funerals Held

Funeral services were held in Kapuskasing over the weekend for an Ornge paramedic killed a week ago in an air ambulance crash in northeastern Ontario.
   
Dustin Dagenais was one of two paramedics and two pilots who died when the helicopter went down minutes after taking off from Moosonee.
 
The other paramedic, Chris Snowball,was remembered Friday
at funeral services in Burlington.
   
A memorial service for all four victims will be held in Toronto on June 18th.

Hard Rock Medical Debuts

A television series based on the Northern Ontario Medical School has debuted on TV Ontario.

The premiere episode of Hard Rock Medical was broadcast last night.

Actress Tamara Duarte, who play Gina Russo, a first year med student, feels its a good portrayal of the medical challenges facing the north.

Hard Rock Medical is the first ever scripted drama produced by TV Ontario.

Local High School Soccer Teams Return from OFSAA

Local high school soccer teams had one their best showing at the All-Ontario Championshiops, but still came home empty handed.

The Thomas Aquinas boys lost in the quarter-finals 1-0 to Ridley College of St. Catherines.

Ridley was the eventual silver medalist at the OFSAA single A championships.

Meanwhile, the T.A. girls were beaten 6-0 by the top team in the OFSAA Girls finals in the quarter-finals.

Villanova went on to win gold.

Beaver Brae's girls fells just short of the play-offs, finishing the round-robin in a two way tie for
second in their pool.

But because of goal differential, they were eliminated from the medal round.

Missing Minnesota Man Found in Quetico

Provincial Police have found the body of a missing Minnesota man in Basswood Lake within Quetico Provincial Park.

The remains of 78-year-old Richard Barber were found yesterday by OPP and the Ministry of Natural Resources.

Richard and his wife Elaine were in the boundary of the park for a canoe trip when their canoe capsized.

Rescue crews were able to locate Elaine and return her safely to Atikokan.

Hospital Reports Small Deficit

Red ink for Lake of the Woods District Hospital.

The hospitals financial year end financial statements were released last
night at the Annual General Meeting and its shows a deficit in 2012-2013 of 135 thousand dollars.

Cindy Gasparini is the hospital's chief financial officer and says that's
actually good news because initially they had projected a deficit of over
half a million dollars.

Gasparini their their budget was actually flat-lined by the province last
year, and revenues shrunk by 0.3 percent compared to the year before.

Richardson Returns as Hospital Chair

No change at the top at the Lake of the Woods Hospital Board.

Fred Richardson was acclaimed as chair of the board for the third
year in a row at last night's annual general meeting.

Richardson says under the hospital board's new by-laws, this will be
his final term.

He is only allowed to serve three consecutive years as chairman.

Dorothy Monteith has also been returned at vice-chair.

She was also acclaimed to the position.

Council Members Return from FCM

Two members of Kenora City council are back in town after a road trip to the west coast.

Mayor Dave Canfield and councilor Ron Lunny attended the annual Federation of Canadian Municipalities conference in Vancouver.

Canfield says its important to attend these conventions because often
important policy decision are being made.

Canfield says they were able to bring back good information that may be
valuable for the city in the months and years ahead.

Bus Drivers Busy this PD Day

Today might be a PD day for students, but school bus drivers will be on duty anyway.

The Northwest Student Services Consortium is getting ready for the fall.

General Manager Judi Green says because Lakewood School is closing they have to test out new bus routes.

Green says the tests are to solve any problems relating to routing, timings, bus numbers.

High School Soccer Teams Still In Contention at OFSAA

The Round robin portion of the schedule at the All-Ontario Soccer Championships wraps up today.

All three Kenora High school teams have a shot at making the play-offs,
although only Beaver Brae's girls team managed a win yesterday.

The Broncos shutout Jean Vanier from Collingwood 1-0.

This morning Beaver Brae is back in action at 8:30 against a team from
Ottawa.

Meanwhile, the Thomas Aquinas girls have managed two points after tying
both their games yesterday.

The Saints play their next game at 8:00 against Stayner Collegiate.

The Thomas Aquinas boys will need to win both their games today to have
any chance of moving onto the play-offs.

T.A. managed just one tie yesterday.

This morning the Saints Boys play their third round robin game at 8:30 against
Waterford High School.

Kenora OPP Honor Veterans

Retired OPP officers in Kenora were given some special access today as part of OPP Veterans Day.

The detachment invited the 45 veterans in the city to tour the new forensic identification unit.

The President of the OPP Veterans Association Bob Arbour was also in town for the tour and offered his praise saying officers and the community will benefit greatly with in now in operation.

Arbour added it was a great experience for retired officers to see how policing has changed.

3rd Annual Street Fest A Huge Success

The Thomas Aquinas Arts Council has ended the school year in style.

The 3rd annual Street Fest held earlier today had a great turnout with almost every student in the school board attending at some point throughout the day.

Director of Music Darcy Ura says the day couldn't have gone better due to the beautiful weather.

Street Fest is one of the 3 big events held every year by the Arts Council.

Three Local High School Soccer Teams At OFSAA

A busy day for local high school soccer teams.

The provincial championships begin on three fronts.

The Thomas Aquinas boys squad is in Timmins for the OFSAA Single
A championships, and will play two round robin games today.

Meanwhile, the Saints girls team is in Hamner, near Sudbury for
the All-Ontario Single A championships.

The Thomas Aquinas girls will also play a pair of games today.

Beaver Brae's girls team is in Tecumseh near Windsor and will hit the field
this morning at 11:00 against St. Martin High School from Mississauga in
the OFSAA Double A championships.

The Broncos will also be back on the field at 2:00 this afternoon.

RN Program Being Brought Back

Back by popular demand.

Lakehead University and Confederation College will be again joining forces to offer LU's Bachelor of Science Nursing Program through the College's regional campuses.

An information session June 13 from 3:30 to 5 at the College's Lake of the Woods Campus in Kenora.

You can call the campus to register or for more information.

Recycling Services in Minaki Expanding

The residents of Minaki are going to have more time to recycle this year.

Doug Johnston from Minaki on the River says they started a recycling program last year that was quite successful.

Johnston says they are hoping to make it even better this year by extending recycling hours beyond just the weekends.

The recycling bin will available every second week for seven days at a time.

He says the two main goals are to promote recycling and take some pressure off the local landfill.

Liver Cancer Rates on the Rise

There's some positive findings in the Canadian Cancer Society's latest statistics.

Over the past 30 years, the death rate for all main cancers has declined.

However, Senior Manager of Research Luba Slatskova says they are seeing an increase in one of the most deadly forms of cancer, which is liver cancer.

She says rates have doubled for women and tripled for men.

Slatskova says the survival rate is only 20 percent, compared with 63 percent in other cancers.

OFIA Applauds Changes in Endangered Species Act

Another step in the process for forestry companies in the province.

Last week changes were made to the Endangered Species Act which eliminate duplicated rules that affect forestry companies.

Ontario Forest Industries President Jamie Lim says it's a victory for companies who constantly working on their forest management plans.

Lim says it's now easier for companies to ensure their management plans are working.

The changes come after 6 years of lobbying the government.

Health Unit Warns Against Lyme Disease

As the deer come into city limits, they also bring another health hazard.

The Northwestern Health Unit is advising the public to protect themselves from Lyme Disease, which is transmitted through deer ticks.

Public Health Inspector Kurt Casey says the tick must be on the person for 24-hours for the bacteria to enter the body.

Casey recommends picking up a Tick Kit at any one of the health units.

Airplane Passenger Arrested for Trafficking

A 25 year old woman is facing charges for trying to smuggle painkillers into Northwestern Ontario.

Canada Border Services says that she was nabbed at the Thunder Bay International Airport after returning from a trip to the United States.  

They say she had over 140 hydrocodone pills which she did not have a prescription for.

Early Morning Fire Damages Boat

An early morning fire has caused extensive damage to a boat moored at the Harborfront docks.

The fire was discovered just after 4:30 this morning in front of the Whitecap Pavilion.

Kenora's Fire and Emergency Services Department was on the scene shortly afterwards, but the blaze had already caused extensive damage to the
interior of the aluminum boat by then.

Its unclear what caused the fire.