Hospital ready to comply with new legislation

Lake of the Woods District Hospital says its nearly 70 percent compliant with new patient care legislation drafted by the provincial government.

The Excellence in Care for All Act goes into effect as of April 1st.

Under the act, the Hospital has to create a Quality Control Committee that will report directly to the board of directors.

The Hospital also have to have a Quality Improvement plan in place by April 1st.

Chief Executive Officer Marc Belcaen says they have tight timelines, but should
be able to meet them.

Just over 50 percent of hospital workers have flu shot

Concern has been raised about the number of employees at Lake of the Woods District

Hospital who have received a flu shot this year.

Chief Executive Officer Marc Belcaen estimates that only 55 percent of staff at the hospital have had their flu shot this year.

He adds that administration and medical staff try to lead by example, and almost 100 percent

of doctors have had their vaccinations.

He adds that they can't force employees to get a flu shot, but they make it as convenient

as possible.

So far this year, the hospital has held 20 clinics for staff, including some during evening shifts.

Gas Prices Up

Higher oil prices have pushed up the price at the pump.


Over the weekend, the price of a liter of unleaded gas went up four cents to
116.9 at most outlets across the city.

The average price in Ontario is 112 a liter.

Kenora is by no means the most expensive place in northern Ontario to fill up.

In Thunder Bay, gas is selling for 1.24 cents a liter at many service stations.

Thistles lose two on the road

The Kenora Triple "a" midget Thistles managed to pick up two points on a western road trip over the weekend, despite a pair of losses.

The Thistles were edged 5-4 by the Yellowhead Chiefs yesterday in a shootout.

It was the same scenario Saturday night in Brandon as the Kenora Midgets were shaded 7-6 by the Wheat Kings, also in a shootout.

Kenora Hydro Expansion

Kenora Hydro will be expanding its workforce this year.

The municipal utility will be hiring a conservation expert.

Hydro president and CEO Dave Sinclair says the position is mandated by the provincial government.

Kenora Hydro is just finishing a 350 thousand dollar renovation to its building on Mellick Avenue to increase office space.

Saints win gold in weekend tournament

 The Thomas Aquinas Saints senior Girls volleyball team capped a perfect weekend with a gold medal.

The Saints were the co-hosts of the Winter Smash tournament, and didn't drop a set in the
round robin or the play-offs.

T.A. faced their NorWOSSA rivals from Dryden in the A-side final, and beat the Eagles two sets to none.

In Winkler, Manitoba Beaver Brae's boys hockey team had to settle for a silver medal.

The Broncos were blanked by the Dryden Eagles 1-0 in a shootout in the tournament final.

Beaver Brae was unbeaten in the round-robin.

Meanwhile, in Winnipeg, the Beaver Brae Girls hockey team skated away with a silver medal from the Piper Classic.

The Broncos faced the St. Mary's Flames in the final, and dropped a 2-1 decision.

Hospital still in the black

Lake of the Woods District Hospital still expects to break even on its operations this year.

After the first eight months of this fiscal year, the hospital is running a surplus of about 388 thousand dollars.

Finance Manager, Cindy Gasparini points out the surplus will likely shrink during the winter months, because they have higher utility costs.

She adds there will also be some added expenditures, including equipment maintainance contracts.

She says they are still in good shape financially and barring any unforseen expenses they should be in the black once again this year.

Visitor Restrictions Lifted at Hospital

Some good news for anyone with a loved one at Lake of the Woods District Hospital.

Administration has lifted visitor restrictions that have been in place since before Christmas.

Leslie Brown is the head of patient care and says they decided to lift the visitor ban yesterday
afternoon because they've seen a decrease in the number of people with the flu.

Brown says anyone who has a cough, a runny nose, has a fever or any symptoms of vomiting or
diarrhea should avoid visiting patients at the hospital.

Quiet year for RIDE Campaign

The message of not drinking and driving seems to finally be sinking in.

The OPP wrapped up its seasonal RIDE program over the weekend and just two people were pulled off the road for impaired driving.

In all, officers stopped over 63 hundred vehicles during the five week seasonal campaign.

Two license suspensions were also issued along with 21 other criminal code and liquor license violations.

NOHFC funds three new local businesses

Six local entrepreneurs are getting funding from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund to

start up new businesses in the region.

Taiga Property Services of Kenora has been promised just over 35 thousand dollars to
purchase a back-hoe loader to provide earth-moving services to local cottagers.

Comfort Table Bakery of Vermillion Bay is also getting over 92 thousand dollars to purchase a

building so it can produce fresh baked goods, such as bread, cinnamon buns and pastries.

Another Kenora business, North West Doors, will get 25 thousand dollars under the Young

Entrepreur Program to purchase a trailor, a scissor lift and other tools to repair and install

garage doors.

NDP promise to take HST off Home Heating Bills

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath continues to attack the McGuinty Government's failure to remove the HST from hydro, and home heating bills.

Horwath says Northerners are struggling and need a break.

Horvath says if her party is elected she would remove the HST from home heating oil and natural gas.

New Fishing Regs available

There are no major changes to the fishing regulations in the 2011 Ontario Recreational Fishing Summary for lakes in the Kenora and Rainy River Districts.

The booklets are now available and MNR Biologist Amy Godwin says some clarifications were made to the northern pike season at Eagle Lake near Dryden.

Godwin says the MNR is currently reviewing fisheries management plans for this area which could lead to regulation changes in the future.

Saints win on the Court, lose on the Ice

Thomas Aquinas court sport teams haven't missed a beat after being idle for the Christmas Holidays.

The Saints won all three games played yesterday in Ignace against the Falcons.

The T.A. junior boys basketball team cruised to a 59-33 victory.

Jarrod Sundmark led all scorers with 19 points.

In girls volleyball action, both the Saints junior and senior girls won in three straight sets.

Both girls teams will be back in action today as Thomas Aquinas and Beaver Brae are hosting the 30 team Winter Smash tournament.

Action begins at noon at both gyms.

Meanwhile, the Thomas Aquinas boys hockey team lost its first game of the NorWOSSA Single "a"

season.

The Saints were in Sioux Lookout last night and lost 6-5 in a shootout to the Warriors.

STR getting local snowmobile trails ready

The Sunset Trail Riders Snowmobile Club is hoping to have more of its trails in the Kenora area open soon.

So far, just two trails are officially listed as open.

Shaun Clifford is a spokesperson for STR and says they are working hard to get lake trails ready.

Clifford says crews will be out again this weekend signing trails and hopes they will be able to open a few more once that work is complete.

Mike Richards Charity Golf Tournament back in 2011

The Mike Richards Charity Golf Tournament will be back for another year in 2011.

Organizers announced that the second annual fundraiser will take place on July 14th

at the Kenora Golf and Country Club.

Last year, the Charity Golf tournament attracted 180 golfers, guests and sponsors and raised over 11 thousand dollars, which was shared evenly between the Cancer Society and the Kenora and Lake of the Woods Regional Community Foundation.

In a news release, Richards says he's looking forward on building on last year's success and making this year even better.

Last years event sold out quickly.

Ring of Fire Office to open in 2011

An office for the Ring of Fire should be open by February or March.

Minister of Northern Development and Mines Michael Gravelle says they are moving forward on the initiative and will have an office in Thunder Bay. 

He adds that the government will also be creating an advisory council.

The aboriginial consultation stakeholder director will be announced in February or March as well.

Alzheimer Society Targets Baby Boomers

A new survey shows that almost a quarter of baby boomer's can't name any of the early sign's of Alzheimer's Disease.

The Alzheimer's Society of Kenora and Rainy River is trying to raise awareness of the disease this month.

Lynn Moffatt is the executive director of the local Alzheimer's chapter and says the risk of getting the disease increases the older you get.

Moffatt says they have a couple of events planned this month, including a virtual dementia tour, which will take place in Kenora at the end of January.

New Years Baby born

Kenora's new years baby waited just six hours to be born in 2011.

Christine Wiebe was born early Saturday morning at Lake of the Woods

District Hospital to Lyndsay Wiebe and Brendan Orosi.

The baby girl was born at 6:07 A.M. on January 1st.

New Fire Hall almost ready to move into

The count down has begun for Kenora's Fire and Emergency Services Department.

Fire fighters are expected to move into the new fire hall on Barsky's Hill by the middle of this month.

Fire Chief Warren Brinkman says they are just putting the finishing touches on the building.

Brinkman says one of the issues that delayed their move was the need to re-paint the floor of the garage.

2010 wetter and milder than normal

2010 will go into the books as a wet and mild year.

Figures compiled by Environment Canada show that the average temperature in Kenora last  year was 4.6 degrees, which was almost two degrees warmer than normal.

Bill Laidlaw from Signal Weather Services says overall it was much warmer than usual.

Last year was also wetter than normal with 909.1 millimeters of precipitation.

That's about 250 millimeters more than normal.