Aboriginal access to education needs to improve

A call is being made to improve access to education for Aboriginal students.

Pat Smoke is the Aboriginal Students Commissioner and says the next Premier needs to do something to improve the system.

Smoke notes it's harder for remote aboriginal students to make ends meet since they also have to deal with the cost of travel.

Missing Hunter Found

A successful end to a search for a missing hunter east of Fort Frances.

Police says 53-year-old Patrick O'Connell of Fort Frances was found safe around the noon hour today in the Turtle River area.

He had gone hunting in the bush yesterday afternoon, but failed to return home.

Deer remain a road hazard

Collisions between deer and motor vehicles continue to be a real road-side hazard in the Kenora area.

The most recent statistics show there have been more than 53 accidents involving deer so far on local highways in 2011.

Last year, there were a total of 83 collisions.

Its estimated that the average accident involving deer results in about six thousand dollars in repairs.

College Support Staff Ratify Contract

Support workers at Ontario's 24 community colleges have endorsed a tentative contract settlement reached last month.

The eight-thousand workers, represented by the OP-SEU, voted 87 per cent in favour of the tentative deal.

The pact was reached September 18th following an 18-day strike.

Fire Season Isn't over yet

The Ministry of Natural Resources is concerned with the number of human caused fires that have sparked in recent days.

Information Officer Debbie MacLean says day burning is prohibited and all campfires must be completly extinguished.

MacLean says the fire hazard is expected to hit extreme by the end of the week.

MacLean is also asking hunters to watch for firefighters when out in the bush.

Habitat For Humanity meeting next week

The Kenora Chapter of Habitat for Humanity is going ahead and building their first home on Main Street North in the spring of 2012.

Kenora's Habitat for Humanity's family selection committee is hosting an information session on October 12th.

Any applicants interested in owning the new home is invited to attend.

The meeting will take place at Kenora Métis Centre, 70 Park St.

Good Turn Out for Advance Polls

About 8 per cent of eligible voters in the Kenora-Rainy River riding have cast their ballots in the provincial election.

Elections Ontario says over 36-hundred people took advantage of ten days of advance polls that ended last Friday.

There are just over 45-thousand eligible voters in the riding.

Meantime, about 43-hundred of the 56-thousand plus voters took part in advance polls in Thunder Bay-Atikokan cast their ballots.

Lakehead President Promises to reach out

After years of neglect, Lakehead University is beginning to reach out to communities across northwestern Ontario.

Brian Stevenson was in Kenora yesterdat and says while their finances are limited, they are willing to work with community partners to expand there programs beyond Thunder Bay.

Stevenson says there is some cutting edge technology that could soon bring students from communities across northwestern Ontario into Lakehead's classrooms.

Operation Impact

Ontario Provincial Police all over the country including those in Kenora will be out in full force this weekend targeting impaired drivers, those who drive aggressively or while distracted as well as those who are not compliant with seat belt and child restraint laws over the long weekend. It's all part of a campaign they call Operation Impact, an annual nation-wide traffic enforcement and education campaign aimed at saving lives and reducing injuries on roads throughout the country.

Nurses at CCCAC reach contract agreement

The union representing some three thousand of Ontario's nurses and health care-workers has voted to ratify a new three-year contract.

Ontario Nurses' Association members working in 10 of the province's Community Care Access Centres, including the Northwest CCAC, voted Friday on the terms of the deal.

Details will be available after the ratification process is complete.

The new agreement expires on March 31, 2014.

Lakehead president visits Kenora

The president of Lakehead University in Thunder Bay is making a tour of northwestern Onatario.

Brian Stevenson is holding a breakfast meeting this morning in Kenora with members of city council and the Lake of the Woods Economic Development Commission.

The commission's Training and Education Committee is making a presentation of some its plans to improve educational opportunities in the community.

Record temperature in store

It could be another record breaking day in Kenora.

Yesterday, the thermometer topped out at 24.2 degrees breaking a record set back in 1976, when the temperature hit 23.3.

The forecast calls for temperatures to remain in the mid-20's for highs for the next couple of days.

Shoal Lake #39 seeks big money for its water

124 million dollars.

That's the price tag the Shoal Lake #39 First Nation has put on the water Winnipeg draws from their lake each year.

Yesterday band members embarked on a four day march to the

Manitoba Legislature and chief Eli Mandamin says they could step up their protest if they don't get any action.

About 30 members of Shoal Lake are resuming the walk to Winnipeg today.

They are scheduled to arrive on Thursday.

KACL Employees hold rally for a new Contract

Employees with the Kenora Association For Community Living could be in a legal strike position as early as next month.

Members of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union held a rally outside the KACL administrative offices yesterday.

The union is seeking, among other things, more full-time jobs for its membership, who have been without a contract for 17 months.

Contract talks are scheduled to resume at the end of October.

OPP release details on Vermillion Bay plane Crash

The OPP have released more information about a plane crash near Vermillion Bay.

A single engine Cessna tried to land on MacIntosh Road, about 8 kilometers north of Vermillion Bay.

Police say the aircraft had filled up in Sioux Lookout and eyewitnesses say the plane seemed to lose power, but then was fine.

A while later, the pilot decided to try and land at Vermillion Bay, but was unable to make it.

The planes wings clipped some trees while trying to land on the road, but the pilot did not sustain any injuries.

Big Trout Demands Action Province

The KI first nation is calling on the provincial government to honour its commitment of creating a joint panel to resolve its outstanding disputes.

Spokesperson John Cutfeet says the government promised this panel would be created 3 years ago.

The latest dispute came to a head Friday when KI issued an eviction notice to God's Lake Resources.

Kenora District Services Board Logo gets a makeover

A new look and image for the Kenora District Services Board.

The Board has approved a new tag-line and logo in the first phase of what could be an extensive public relations overhaul.

REACH Marketing Owner Dianne Schwartz-Williams says the new tag-line is simply 'Caring/People/Community/Support.'

The logo shows 4-people of diferent sizes and ages standing next to the KDSB letterhead, with the name and tag-line underneath.

Two Winnipeg Men fined for catching too many Walleye

A fishing trip on Lake of the Woods has cost two Manitoba anglers.

Philp Waldner and Henry Dueck have been fined a total of 35-hundred dollars for an over-limit of oversized walleye.

The Steinbach men were caught back in July on Clearwater Bay.

Conservation officers found 7-walleye over the allowable length.

Waldner was also fined for providing false information.

Both men are banned from fishing in Ontario for a year.

Plane Crashes near Vermillion Bay

A scare for a young pilot near Vermilion Bay yesterday.

The pilot was able to land his small plane on McIntosh Road, near Canyon Lake around 1 o'clock.

The pilot was reportedly flying from Montreal to Whitehorse, when an engine problem forced him to land on the road.

Shoal Lake Residents get ready for Trek to Winnipeg

Members of the Shoal Lake #39 First Nation are getting ready to embark on a walk to the Manitoba capital.

The march gets underway at 9:00 this morning and make its way to Winnipeg.

Shoal Lake is continuing its campaign against Winnipeg's plan to take water from the lake and sell it to other communities in southern Manitoba.

Ontario Regional Chief Angus Toulouse and grand chief of Treaty Three will be addressing the issue this afternoon.