Kenora to Host Western Regional Midget Championship

The Kenora Triple "a" midget Thistles will be playing in the Telus Western Regional championships for a second straight year.

Hockey Northwest has announced that Kenora will be playing host to the four team tournament next April.

The top teams from Manitoba, Saskatchewan and northwestern Ontario, as well as the Thistles as host will take part in the regional championship April 4th to 7th.

The winner will advance to the Telus Cup National Midget Championship in Sault Ste. Marie.

The Thistles advanced to the regional championships for just the second time in team history this

past April.

CP employees hit the picket lines

Picket lines have gone up in front of the Canadian Pacific rail yard in Kenora.

About 150 members of the Teamsters walked off the job just after 1:00 this morning after contract talks with C.P. broke down.

Local Union rep, Art Lockhart is hoping they can negotiate a new contract with the company.

He says pensions, some work rules and fatigue management are the major points of contention.

Boat Accident sends one person to hospital

One person is in hospital in Winnipeg and three others were injured in a boat crash on Lake of the Woods.

Kenora Provincial Police were notifed of a vessel hitting the short near Copper Island around 5 o'clock Saturday morning.

Those on board were aged 21 to 29.

OPP have laid charges of operating a vessel in a careless manner.

Police are trying to determine what caused the boat to hit the shoreline.

Aamikkowiish Gets the Go Ahead for final housing project

The Aamikkowiish Non-Profit Housing Corporation has the green light to proceed with the final piece of its 2.8 million dollar social housing project in Kenora.

City council last night narrowly approved a re-zoning application for a piece of property in the 19th Street North area of town.

Collette Surovy is the executive director of Aamikkowiish and says they need to start construction as soon as possible.

Some of the residents in the area are concerned about the location of the two duplexes in their neighborhood.

Pam Cedarwall urged council not to approve the re-zoning request, raising a number of concerns, including the fact local residents were not notified by mail of the zoning meetings.

Surovy says they are willing to sit down with the local residents to talk about their concerns.

Man dies on Train Tracks in Sioux Lookout

A 33-year-old Cat Lake First Nations man has been found dead in Sioux Lookout.

The body of Edward Sakakeesic was found in the CN rail yard on Front Street on Saturday morning.

Provincial Police say foul play is not suspected in his death.

A post-mortem exam took place over the weekend at Lake of the Woods District Hospital, but

police are still awaiting the results. 

Northwest Fire Crews Help out in Kirkland Lake

Local help is on the way to Kirkland Lake to battle a large forest fire.

Ministry of Natural Resources Information Officer Debbie McLean says about 200 fire rangers from northwestern Ontario area heading to northeastern Ontario.

Nine fixed wing aircraft and 11 helicopters are also being dispatched to the fire fighting effort.

The Northwest Region has also supplied over 300,000 feet of hose, 140 pumps and two mobile values protection units with an additional 50 sprinklers kits.

McLean says the forest fire hazard is currently low to moderate across Northwestern Ontario.

Property Owners Mobilize over the Closure of the ELA

Lots of reaction to the closure of the Environmental Lakes Area east of Kenora, but none of it positive.

The Lake of the Woods District Property Owners Association is the latest to criticize the decision of the federal government.

Vice-president, Robert Bulman says the decision to shut the facility has international implications.

Bulman says phosphorous studies conducted at the Environmental Lakes have had a big impact on their understanding on blue/green algae blooms on Lake of the Woods.

Pioneer Awarded Municipal Paving Contract

The City of Kenora is going to spend about 900 thousand dollars on paving municipal streets and roads this year.

Council approved a tender with Pioneer Construction last night.

Pioneer had the lowest of two bids on the Municipal Road Works contract, at 876 thousand dollars.

Council has agreed to spend an extra 70 thousand dollars to pave a number of parking stalls at Kenora Public Library for its patrons.

Poor First Quarter Results for the KMTS Citizan's Trust

A disappointing start to 2012 for Kenora's Citizan's KMTS Trust Fund.

Figures released by the city show the trust earned just 0.12 percent in the first quarter of this year.

Chief Administrative Officer Karen Brown says they still expect to meet their target of five percent by the end of the year, but admits it was a disappointing start to the year.

Councillor Louis Roussin has suggested the city could lend some money from the trust to the Kenora District Services Board to help pay for the new land ambulence base on Barsky's Hill.

He says that would provide a better rate of return for the city.

Coney Houseboats Staying put this summer

A number of houseboats moored on the northeast side of Coney Island will be allowed to stay at least another summer.

Kenora City Council passed a resolution permitting houseboats to moor as long as they meet a number of conditions.

That includes regular pump outs.

Last year, council had indicated it wanted to remove the houseboats due to some complaints from Coney residents about noise and garbage.

Winnipeg Man Survives Bear Attack in NWO

Ontario provincial police say two Winnipeg men are OK following a bear attack in northwestern Ontario.

Police say the men were camping on Dunbar Lake, north of Sioux Lookout, when the attack occurred early Saturday.

Investigators say a 65-year-old man suffered bites and scratches when a black bear dragged him out of a structure at the camp.

A 63-year-old man heard the commotion and came to the rescue by shooting and killing the bear.

The victim was treated for non-life-threatening injuries at Meno-Ya-Win hospital and released.

Richards Heading to the Stanley Cup Finals Again

For the second time in three years, Mike Richards is heading back to the Stanley Cup Final.

This time with the Los Angeles Kings.

Dustin Penner scored 17:42 into overtime, to give the Kings a 4-3 victory over Phoenix, to capture the Western Conference final four-games-to-one.

L.A. is 8-and-0 on the road in the playoffs.

Richards also scored his fourth of the play-offs, giving the Kings a temporary 3-2 lead in

the second period.

Stanley Cup won't begin until May 30th at the home of the Eastern Conference winner.

Some Kenora Flavour at the Memorial Cup

A bit of a Kenora connection at the Memorial Cup tonight in Shawinigan.

Kevin Raine of the London Knights will be on the ice against Michael St. Croix of the Edmonton Oil Kings.

Raine is a former member of the Kenora Triple "a" Midget Thistles, while St. Croix is the youngest son of former Kenora Muskies goalie Rick St. Croix.

Both teams sit at 1-1 after two games at the Memorial Cup.

Two Fighters qualify for Canadian Karate Team

Two members of the Kenora Can-Te Karate Club have qualified to fight for Team Canada at the World Championships this fall.

Darcy Ilderton and Kaylin Sundin qualified at the WKC Canadian Championships this past weekend in Montreal.

Ilderton won silver in continous fighting, while Sundin took home a bronze medal in the same event.

Ilderton also finished 7th in point sparring, while Sundin was 5th.

The World Championships will take place in Montreal in October.

Announcement on Lake of the Woods Watershed expected June 30th

A new era for Lake of the Woods could begin this summer.

The federal government's of Canada and the United States are expected to announce their plans for the local watershed by June 30th.

Todd Sellars from the Lake of the Woods Water Sustainability Foundation says at this point they don't know what to expect.

Sellars says he was in Ottawa earlier this month to meet with federal officials about the IJC report on Lake of the Woods.

Manitoba Complains About the Closure of the Experimental Lakes Area

The Manitoba government is worried about federal cuts that will shut down a world-class water research project near Kenora.

Conservation Minister Gord Mackintosh says his staff have already begun to lobby Ottawa to reverse the decision to close the Experimental Lakes Area.

The research program being killed made important findings on hydro development, the banning of phosphorus in detergent, acid rain and mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants.

The Harper government says the provinces or universities could fund the research instead.

NAPS Seize Drugs in Nakina

Nishnawbe Aski Nation Police have made a significant drug bust in Nakina, 3-hundred Kilometres North of Thunder Bay.

Police raided a home and found more than 42-thousand dollars worth of marijuana and hashish.

Police Spokesperson Jackie George points out the location of the seizure as being key because Nakina is the jump off point for a number of northern Communities. 

A 46-year old Nakina man has been arrested and will appear next in court on June 14th.

Fight for Tourism Centers isn`t Over Yet

The fight to reopen tourist information centres in Fort Frances, Rainy River and Kenora is not over.

That according to Kenora-Rainy River MPP Sarah Campbell.

Campbell held a rally Saturday in front of the Fort Frances centre to say there's some encouraging news coming out of Queen's Park.

Campbell doesn't support handing the centres over to municipalities, something she sees as a form of downloading.

SIU Called in to Investigate Thunder Bay Fatal

The Special Investigations Unit has been called in to examine the circumstances surrounding the death of a 67-year-old man in Thunder Bay on Sunday.

Late that night, a police officer was about to pull over a reported stolen vehicle, but the vehicle didn't stop after the officer activated his cruiser's lights.

A short distance later, the vehicle crashed in a second vehicle.

The driver of that second vehicle, a 67-year-old man, died at the scene.

Police say 20-year-old Shane Kolody is charged with Criminal Negligence Causing Death and Possession of Stolen Property Over 5-thousand dollars.

Landmark Agreement for Wabigoon

A landmark settlement for Wabigoon Lake Ojibway First Nation.

Ontario is going to pay 27-million dollars in financial compensation for past and ongoing flooding on the shoreline of reserve lands.

Chief Ruben Cantin Senior says the agreement follows 20-years of negotiations.

Cantin Senior says the problem was rooted in the construction of a provincially-approved dam without the First Nations consent in 1897.