Grassy Man charged in connection to MVA on Highway 671

A 37 year old Grassy Narrows man faces a number of charges in connection to a single vehicle accident on Highway 671.

The OPP say they came across a single vehicle accident on the road to Grassy Narrows on Tuesday.

Three men were standing outside of a van.

A 41 year old woman had walked away from the accident scene, but was located a short time later and taken to Lake of the Woods District Hospital for treatment.

Charles Assin has been charged with impaired driving causing bodily harm, driving while disqualified and failing to provide a breath sample.

Essex Road Home target of a Drug Bust

A 54 year old Kenora man faces drug charges following an investigation by the Kenora Joint Forces

Drug Unit.

Members of the OPP's Organized Crime Enforcement Bureau helped out with a search warrant to a home on Essex Road on Tuesday.

Police seized 750 grams of marihuana, 600 grams marihuana being used to produce oil, 450 dollars in cash, surveillance equipment and other drug paraphernalia.

Kim Henley has been charged with possession of a narcotic for the purpose of trafficking and production of marijuana.

He's due to appear in Kenora Court on January 12th to face the charges.

Rickford Supports Third Party Management in Attawapiskat

A Federal Government move to impose third party management in Attawapiskat First Nation is being supported by Kenora MP Greg Rickford.

The Parliamentary Assistant for Aboriginal Affairs says the move will help them determine the immediate housing needs.

However, Rickford stresses they have already taken action.

Rickford adds the Government also gave the remote First Nation money to build a new subdivision and notes the third party manager will look into why that project hasn't moved forward.

Former Con College President given a Premier's Award

Confederation College was well represented at the Premier's Awards.

Past President Pat Lang was given the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Four Confederation College Alumni's were also nominated at the recent Premier's Awards.

Festival of Trees beings tonight

Lake of the Woods Museum has the unmistakeable smell of pine today.

The annual Festival of Trees is taking place over the next three days with 25 trees on display.

Darlene McGilvary from the Kenora and Lake of the Wood Regional Community Foundation says the festivities wrap up on the weekend.

Tonight is seniors night, followed by the Gala and auction of the trees tomorrow night.

Proceeds will go toward the Community Foundation.

CJBN Drops CTV signal

CJBN-TV is going global.

Changes are in store starting today for the local TV outlet.

After years of being affiliated with CTV, CJBN is going to be carrying programs from the Global TV network instead.

CJBN will also be moving down the TV dial.

It will be located on Channel 12, while CTV Winnipeg is being added to Channel 4.

Broncos and Saints Square Off Again

Its the second battle of Kenora this week in high school hockey.

The Thomas Aquinas girls will be facing off against Beaver Brae this afternoon at the Kenora Rec. Center.

The game wasn't on the original schedule, but the contest was added after Sioux Lookout dropped out of the league last month.

Game time is scheduled for 4:30 at the Thistle Rink, with a teddy bear toss for the Salvation Army's Christmas Cheer Fund.

Portraits of Honour Arrives in Kenora

A touching scene at the Kenora Fire Hall this morning.

The families of two soldiers who died in Afghanistan were the first in line to check out the Portraits of Honor.

Dave Sopha is the artist responsible for painting the faces of the 158 officers who died in the Afghan mission.

He says his work has been a labor of love.

The tour of the large truck-size mural is winding down and will visit Shilo, Manitoba tomorrow before returning back to souther Ontario later this month.

The Portraits will be on display until 5:00 this evening.

Osisko Mining

One of the companies poised to open a gold mine in the Atikokan area will outline its project to members of the Fort Frances business community today.


Officials with Osisko Mining are the guest speakers at the Fort Frances Chamber of Commerce's annual meeting.

Chamber Manager Anthony Mason says the Chamber wants to keep people informed about what going on in mining.

The meeting at the La Place Rendez-Vous begins at 4 this afternoon.

Resolute Forest Products

The first meeting of what could be a lengthy process has been held in Abitibi-Bowater's appeal of the assessed value of its Fort Frances mill property.


The province's Assessment Review Board held a teleconference this week and set dates for future meeting for next spring.

The company, now known as Resolute Forest Products, feels the value of its properties for last three years was assess too high.

The town has said it stands to lose as much as 800-thousand dollars in taxes if the company wins its case.

NDP talk about conditions in Attawapiskat

Interim N.D.P. leader Nycole Turmel says she isn't going to play with figures after seeing for herself the impoverished conditions on the Attawapiskat First Nation.

She emerged from this morning's caucus meeting to say the prime minister and Aboriginal Affairs minister wouldn't be so quick to blame the band if they witnessed what kind of conditions residents of the northern Ontario community live in. 

The government says it has poured more than 90-million dollars into the reserve since taking office.

Senior Thistles back in Action this weekend

The Kenora Senior Thistles will be back in action this week.

But there is a bit of a change to their schedule.

Initially, the Thistles were supposed to play the Fort Frances Thunder Hawks, but the team indicated its wouldn't be able to dress a full squad for the Sunday game.

Instead, the Fisher River Terriers from Manitoba's interlake will be travelling to Kenora for a home and away series.

The game this Sunday will start at 3:00 at the Kenora Rec. Center.

The same two teams will meet up the following weekend in Fisher River.

Portaits of Honour in Town tomorrow

A national tour remembering soldiers who have died in the war in Afghanistan makes its way to Kenora this week.

Portraits of Honour will here on December 1st.

George Storm is one of the local organizers and is hoping for a good turn-out.

Portaits of Honour will at the new Kenora Fire Hall on Barsky's Hill  from 11 to 5 tomorrow.

A welcoming ceremony will take place at noon.

Ignace Jumps on Nuclear Waste Band Wagon

Ignace Council has decided to take the next step in becoming a host community for a nuclear waste repository.

Council has voted in favour of entering into a preliminary assessment feasibility study.

The study will determine if Ignace has the potential to meet the detailed requirements for the project.

Mayor Lee Kennard says any decision on becoming a host site won't be made for several years and it will involve the entire community.

The study will begin early next year and it could take up to a year to be completed.

OFL Supports Big Trout Lake

Canada's largest labour federation is demanding that the Ontario Government respect the K.I. First Nation in Northern Ontario.

Ontario Federation of Labour Vice-President Irwin Nanda says the Province continues to allow exploration work to continue on burial grounds.

Negotiations between Big Trout Lake First Nation and Ontario broke off on November 14th

Drug Use Among local Teens Declining

Northern Ontario students are doing more drugs and drinking more alcohol than their colleagues in the south.

That's the findings of a new provincial survey.

Patty Hajdu says it shows the lines of communication need to stay open between parent and child.

She says the good news is that drug use in general is going down, except for cannabis

Stuff-A-Cruiser this weekend

How much can you stuff into an OPP cruiser?

That's what we'll find out Saturday.

It's the 11th annual Stuff-A-Cruiser event here in Kenora.

Constable Dave Cain says the need, as always, is great this time of year

OPP cruisers will be stationed at The Kenora Shoppers Mall, Safeway, Wal Mart and Canadian tire between 10 AM and 4 PM this Saturday.

Anti-Bullying Legislation

Premier Dalton McGuinty is said to be revealing a new anti-bullying legislation today during a visit to a Toronto school.

The sources tell The Canadian Press that the new legislation is aimed at making Ontario schools safer and more accepting.

The bill proposes tougher consequences for bullying and hate-motivated actions.

It would also require all schools to support students who want to lead activities that promote understanding, acceptance and respect for all.

McGuinty's video entitled ``It Gets Better'' encourages students, teachers, parents and community members to do their part to help end bullying

Driving in Northern Ontario

Northern Ontario is the safest place to drive in the Province according to a new survey.


All-State Insurance says there are 3.55 crashes for every 100 cars on the road.

Spokesperson Tony Irwin says unfortunately our ranking won't impact on our insurance rates.

The survey also shows that the crash rate in Northern Ontario dropped by over 9-percent in the past year.

Local Lawyers Lobby Against Criminal Code Changes

A group of Kenora lawyers is speaking out against proposed changes to the Criminal Code of Canada.

The Kenora Lawyers Sentencing Group is worried that the federal government's amendments could result in more aboriginal people being sent to jail.

The group says there are already too first nation residents represented in the Kenora Jail.

A recent survey found that 85 percent of the male inmates were of aboriginal descent and 100 percent of the women were from local first nations.

The Kenora lawyers says amendments to the Criminal Code will only make a bad situation worse.