Go Electric Biker

A Southern Ontario man is travelling across Canada on an electric bike.


Art Burns left Dundas, Ontario at the end of May, and hopes to be in Langley, B.C. by June 22nd.

Burns is scheduled to ride through Kenora today and says he's promoting green transportation.

Burns is driving a bike which is equipped with a small generator to charge its lithium batteries.

Free Fishing for Military weekend

A big thank-you is going out to Canada's armed forces this weekend in Kenora.


About 30 members of the Canadian Military will be in town for a day of fishing
on Lake of the Woods tomorrow.

Woody Linton is one of the organizers of the fishing weekend and says it was
really the idea of a local guiding service.

Linton says most of the soldiers who have signed up for the day of fishing are
veterans of the Afghan mission.

They will be spending the night at the Kenora Armories before going back to
their home bases.

New Gateway Signage for Kenora

The City of Kenora is planning to spend about 100 thousand dollars for new
signs at the east and west boundaries of the municipality.

The funding for the gateway project is being included in the money earmarked for
the Highway 17 east and west rehabilitation projects.

The city's economic development officer, Jennifer Findlay says a request for
proposals for the new signs will be going out shortly.

The city is budgeting about 50 thousand dollars for each sign.

Relay for Life tonight

The 10th Relay for Life gets going this evening at Lakewood School.

Relay volunteer Ralph Page says they are looking forward to holding the event
at a new location this year.

Page says there is going to be lots of activities to keep people going all night long.

There are 25 teams registered for this year's event.

Electronic Waste Recycling Coming soon

The City of Kenora will soon have the only waste electronics recycling depot in
northwestern Ontario outside of Thunder Bay.

The city has reached an agreement with the Ontario Electronics Stewardship to
collect old computers, televisions, monitors, printers and cellphones.

Operations manager Rick Perchuck says local residents will have to pay to
dispose of their old electronic equipment.

Perchuck says the recent electronic waste disposal day was quite successful
with two and a half semi loads collected in one day.

Action Plan on Policing Demanded by Treaty Three

Grand Council Treaty #3 is demanding an action plan to deal with
policing relations in the City of Kenora.

The aboriginal group says there have been several regretful incidents
involving use of force by police and First Nation residents over the years.
The most recent event took place on Monday when a 39 year old Grassy Narrows
woman was shot twice in downtown Kenora after brandishing a knife at police.

Grand Chief Diane Kelly says she wants the OPP to take steps to assure
Treaty Three leadership that aboriginal citizans are safe to walk the streets
of Kenora.

Services Board to discuss Kenora Land Ambulence base

The Kenora District Services Board will be meeting later this month to decide what to
do about a new land ambulence base in the city.

Last month, city council rejected a re-zoning request on Railway Street for the base.

Chief Administrative Officer Sten Lif says the issue will be on their agenda for discussion at their
June 24th meeting, but at this point there is no back-up plan.

The Services Board has spent several years and thousands of dollars try to find a suitable
location for a new land ambulence base in Kenora, so far without any success.

Drug arrests in Kenora

Two Kenora men have been charged following a drug bust in the Rideout area of town.


The OPP say that last week the Organized Crime Enforcement Bureau and the
Drug Unit conducted a search of a Mascott Avenue home.

Officers located about a kilo of marijuana, two grams of cocaine, and seven thousand
dollars in cash.

The value of the property seized is estimated at over 29 thousand dollars.

33 year old Trevor Triskle and 31 year old Travis Triskle have been charged with possession
for the purpose of trafficking and possession of property obtained by crime.

Evergreen Parents Lobby to Save School

The Evergreen Parents Council has made a pitch to the Keewatin-Patricia

District School Board to keep their school open.

A deputation was made at this week's open board meeting.

Patti Letourneau was one of the presenters and says even though no schools are
scheduled to close in the next five years, they want the board to know that
Evergreen School is valuable to the local community.

The board isn't expected to make any decisions on a report on the Kenora Accommodation
Review Committee until the fall, but Letourneau says they wanted to make a
presentation on behalf of Evergreen before the summer break.

Bill to scrap long gun registry stalled

A private member's bill to scrap the Federal long-gun registry has hit a snag.


A Common's Committee is recommending that it not move forward.

Another vote in the House of Commons could come this week and Thunder Bay-Rainy River MP John Rafferty says its hard to say how that will go.

Rafferty is among a dozen NDP MP's who have joined the Conservatives to support the bill.

More Nominations for Municipal Election

A couple of familiar names will be on the ballot in the municipal elections this

fall.

Both councillor's Dave McCann and Wendy Cuthbert have filed their nomination
papers for the council race.

They will join Jim Parson and Chuck Cadger on the ballot in the October 25th
elections.

The final day to submit nomination papers is September 10th.

Treaty Three responds to Shooting

Grand Council Treaty Three is questioning the use of excessive force
by the OPP in a shooting incident in downtown Kenora this past Monday.

39 year old Helen Proulx from Grassy Narrows was shot twice outside an apartment building
after brandishing a knife.
Treaty Three says the city is infamous for its poor relations between
aboriginal residents and the police.

A candle light vigil is scheduled to take place this evening on 1st Street South
in support of her family.

The investigation is now in the hands of the SIU and Treaty Three says it
wants the investigation into the shooting incident to be transparent and
procedurally fair.

New Sign By-Law ready for Council

The finishing touches are being put on the new Sign By-Law in the City of Kenora.

The by-law was initially drafted over a year ago, but was sent back for
revisions to make it more user friendly.

The city's special events co-ordinator, Buck Matiowski says he still has concerns with the by-law and how it will affect groups putting on events.

Chief Administrative Officer, Bill Presentanz also questioned the wisdom of
having an annual 25 dollar licence fee.

He says it creates unnecessary red tape and its also hard to enforce.

SIU takes over Shooting investigation

An investigation into a shooting incident in downtown Kenora is now in the hands of the
Ontario Special Investigations Unit.

On Monday night, a 39 year old woman was shot after police responded to a domestic
dispute on 1st Street South.

Monica Hudon is a spokesperson for the SIU and says it could take a month or more to
complete their investigation.

The woman is currently at the Winnipeg Health Sciences Center where her condition
has stabilized.

Human remains found in Sioux Lookout

Human remains have been found in Sioux Lookout.


OPP were notified yesterday morning that a body was found in a wooded area in the community.

Police attended and located human remains.

A post-mortem examination is scheduled for today but foul play is not suspected.

The identity of the victim is being withheld until next of kin are notified.

New location sought for Land Ambulence Base

The ball is back in the court of the Kenora District Services Board in its attempt

to find a suitable location for a land ambulence base in the city.

Last month, council rejected the re-zoning application for property on Railway Street,
and the 30 appeal period has expired.

Council asked fire chief Warren Brinkman this week whether its too late to build
a land ambulence base beside the new fire hall on Barsky's Hill.
Brinkman adds that work on the new fire hall is currently progressing ahead of
schedule and on budget.

Progress on HST talks with aboriginal leaders

Nishnawbe Aski Grand Chief Stan Beardy says he's encouraged a solution may be reached in the HST point of sale controversy.

Beardy's comment comes in the wake of a meeting Monday between Ontario First Nations and the federal and provincial governments.


Beardy says both levesl of government have come a long way and is confident the point of sale exemption will continue for Natives when the HST comes into effect July first.

City Buys new Boat

The City of Kenora will soon have a new boat for its fleet.


Council has aproved the purchase of a 24 foot vessel with a
drop bow.

Councillor Dave McCann says the boat will allow them to take
over bear traps and other equipment needed to do work on the
island.

In the past, the city had to wait until the winter and use the ice
road to bring over material.

The boat will cost just over 42 thousand dollars.

Show Us Your Colors raises $$$

Organizers of the first ever Show Us Your Colors fundraiser for local cancer

patients proved to be a success.

Despite some wet weather, organizers says they managed to raise about
12 thousand dollars.
The dinner at Norman Community Club was sold out, and funds were also
generated through the sale of solar lights and a penny auction.

This weekend there will be another fundraiser for cancer.

The annual Relay for Life is scheduled to take place Friday night.

SIU to investigating downtown shooting

The Ontario Special Investigations Unit has been called in to look into
a shooting incident in downtown Kenora.
Last night just after 8:00, the OPP say they responded to a domestic
dispute on 1st Street South.

An officer responding to the incident was confronted by a woman who was
wielding a knife outside of an apartment block.

The OPP say shots were fired and both on and off-duty officers provided
first aid to the injured woman at the scene.

She was then transported by ambulence to Lake of the Woods District Hospital
for treatment and then airlifted to the Winnpeg Health Sciences Center.

The name of the 39 year old woman has not been released by police.