NOACC Holds Annual Spring Meeting in Kenora

The Northwestern Ontario Associated Chambers of Commerce will be holding its annual spring meeting in Kenora this week.

Chamber representitives from across the region will begin arriving in town tonight.

Andy Scribilo is the president-elect of NOACC and says they have decided to hold the conference Wednesday, Thursday and Friday this year.

Scribilo says chamber members from across the region will be voting on a number of resolutions this week to pass to the Ontario Chamber of Commerce later this year.

Advance Polls Busy in Kenora Riding

The Easter Holiday didn't seem to deter people from casting ballots during the advance polls.

The advance polls were held Good Friday, Saturday and Easter Monday, and over 28 hundred people took advantage in the Kenora Riding.

Returning Officer Gerry Oulette says that was 268 more than the last federal election.

He adds that Monday was the busiest day at the advance polls, with 13 hundred people showing up.

Artrepreneur conference takes place tomorrow

Networking, funding advice and marketing expertise will be the main topics of conversation at the Artpreneur Conference in Dryden.

The event is being held tomorrow and is sponsored by the Northwest Business Centre.

Spokesperson Mike Greaves says the first Artrepreneur conference two years ago in Kenora was a big success with more than 90 participants.

He says the goal is to provide artists an inside look into what it takes to create and grow a successful art business.

Conservatives on the Defensive over FedNOR

Opposition parties keep saying FedNor will be gutted if the Harper Conservatives are back in government.

Speaking in Thunder Bay, the minister responsible, Tony Clement repeated that the program is safe and says it's the local NDP members who seem to be sending mixed messages.

Clement was in Thunder Bay campaigning with the two Conservative candidates in the Lakehead

Police Investigate Fire on Kasabonika

The Ontario Fire Marshall is expected to arrive in the remote Northern community of Kasabonika this week.

The Fire Marshall was called in after a large fire at the Northern Store last Friday afternoon.

The blaze gutted the building and left only 2-walls standing.

No injuries or deaths have been reported.

The cause of the fire is unknown.

Small Quake confirmed in NWO last Month

Natural Resource Canada is confirming that a minor earthquake struck near Devlin last month.

The 1-point-9 magnitude quake happened around 2 in the morning on March 25th.

Seismic activity is not uncommon to northwestern Ontario, although most of the minor quakes over the past year have been around the Atikokan area.

Richards and Flyers move onto Round Two of NHL Play-Offs

The Philadelphia Flyers are off to the second round of the play-offs after a 5-2 victory over Buffalo last night.

Flyers captain Mike Richards had five assists in the series, including two last night, but says he just couldn't seem to score on Sabres goalie Ryan Miller.

The Flyers won the series 4-3 and will find out who they play in round two later today. 

Standing Room Only At All-Candidates Forum

It was a standing room only crowd for the final all-candidates forum in the Kenora Riding prior to the May 2nd federal election.

About 100 people crammed into the Days Inn last night to hear from the five candidates.

Most of the main party candidates stayed close to the message of their parties.

Conservative Greg Rickford touted the intiatives of the Harper Government over the past two and a half years.

Meanwhile, NDP Candidate Tania Cameron suggested its time for a change in Ottawa.

Independant Candidate Kelvin Chicago-Boucher added a touch of humour to the proceedings when asked about what he would do about the inflation rate.

Green Party Candidate Mike Schwindt and Liberal Roger Valley also took part in the all-candidates forum.

American Man charged with importing illegal Baitfish

An Iowa man has been fined for importing live baitfish into Ontario for a second time in less than a year.

This time Thaddeus Strecker was stopped on Lake of the Woods back in February.

Conservation officers found that the man also failed to maintain a clear and unobstructed view of a fishing line and hid several dozen live minows in a container in the snow.

He has been fined a total of 11-hundred dollars.

Tories looking for a breakthrough in NWO in Provincial Election

Tim Hudak appears confident about his party's chances in the upcoming Provincial Election.

The Progressive Conservative leader says getting solid candidates in the region will certainly help in getting Tories elected in Northwestern Ontario.

Hudak has his work cut out for him as the PC's haven't elected a member from northwestern Ontario since 1987, when Leo Bernier
represented the Kenora Riding.

Green Party Candidate Campaigns in Kenora

The Green Party Candidate in the Kenora Riding doesn't think remote communities in the far north will benefit from the construction of a new high voltage electrical line.

Mike Schwindt says even though most remote aboriginal communities in the riding rely on Diesel generators, it probably doesn't make a lot of sense to expand the transmission line into those reserves.

Schwindt feels a better solution is developing hydro, wind or solar power projects in remote communities to wean them off of costly diesel generators.

Kenora To Fly Fort Frances Town Flag

The Fort Frances' town flag will soon be flying high over the city of Kenora.

Mayor Roy Avis says its the outcome of a bet he made with Kenora Mayor Dave Canfield during the recent Allan Cup tournament.

Canfield bet Avis that the Thistles would be Fort Frances in the Quarter-finals of the Allan Cup earlier this month.

The Thunderhawks eliminated Kenora from the tournament with a 5-3 victory.

Fort Frances Man Remains in Jail

The man involved in a lengthy stand-off with O.P.P. in Fort Frances last November will be spending a little more time in custody.

Richard Edward Kabatay was sentenced to eight months in jail after being convicted last week on a charge of assault with a weapon.

An initial charge of attempted murder was dropped.

Another man was stabbed during the November 27th incident

Kabatay has been in Fort Frances jail since.

Sioux Narrows/Nestor Falls passes Municipal Budget

The average property owner in Sioux Narrows/ Nestor Falls can expect to pay almost 10 percent more in taxes this year than last year.

The town council passed the budget last week and it contained a minor increase of 0.6 percent in the mill rate.

Mayor Bill Thompson says while they have tried to hold the line on spending, the cost for social services and policing continues to go up.

Thompson says he's also concerns in the 8.9 percent increase in the town's overall property assessment, which is making it more difficult for people on a fixed income to make ends meet.

OFIA says Little Support has been Shown for Bill 151

The Ontario Forest Industries Association says the McGuinty Government doesn't have a lot of support for its Forest Tenure Legislation.

The OFIA attended hearings last week in Toronto on Bill 151 and says a majority of presenters expressed concern with the Act.

Scott Jackson is a spokesperson for the OFIA and says the legislation doesn't address the concerns of the forest industry.

Jackson says the legislation should not just create new employment opportunities, but needs to protect the existing forestry operations.

Police Costs lower in Kenora lower in 2010 than expected

The OPP managed to patrol the City of Kenora last year for less than expected.

The final audited policing figures for 2010 have been sent to the Kenora Police Board, and it shows cost were almost 600 thousand dollars less than expected.

Inspector Dave Lucas says there are a couple of reasons for the lower costs in 2010.

Lucas says their initial budget was set at 6.4 million dollars, but their actual cost was around 5.8 million dollars.

Ignatieff Visits Northwestern Ontario Today

Northwestern Ontario will see its third national leader in a week.

Liberal leader Micheal Ignatieff is to stop by Thunder Bay later today.

Local Liberal officials say the final details of the visit are still being confirmed.

Man fined for Illegal Gravel Pit

A Vermilion Bay man has been fined 1-thousand dollars for illegally operating an aggregate pit on Crown Land.

Court heard that during the summer of 2010, Daniel Desmarais removed roughly 100-yards of gravel from a pit on Slush Road without the proper permit.

In Ontario, operators require licences and permits that regulate the amount of material removed and how it can be used.

Final Day for Advance Polls

Today is the final day for the advance polls in the Kenora Riding.

Advance polls were held on Friday and Saturday, and will be open again at noon today and will run until 8:00 this evening.

Election day is one week from today, and the candidates in the Kenora Riding will have one final chance to reach out to a bigger audience tonight.

The final all-candidates forum is scheduled for this evening at the Days Inn.

The event is sponsored by the Kenora and District Chamber of Commerce and gets underway at 7:00 this evening.

MNR Levies Huge Fines for Illegal Hunting

A group of seven hunters from Southern Ontario have been ordered to pay nearly 46-thousand dollars for 30-offences relating to illegal hunting in northwestern Ontario.

Six men and one woman pleaded guilty to numerous offences for the poaching of three adult moose and a deer in the Schreiber area. 

Charges include hunting during the closed season, possessing and abandoning illegally killed animals, unlawfully using another person's licence and obstructing a conservation officer.

One of the men has been banned from hunting for 10-years.