Friday, July 17, 2009

Portage Avenue Underpass Closed Next Week

The Portage Avenue underpass will be closed to traffic for a second week beginning Sunday.

The week-long shutdown of the road is from 9 in the morning to 7 in the evening through to Thursday and next Friday from 9 to 4.

Town officials say its to allow for the construction of the new walkway on the west side of the underpass.

While motorists travelling to and from the north end will have to use McIrvine Road, the underpass will still be open to pedestrians.

Access will be through a temporary walkway being set up on the east lane of the road.

Folk Festival Set for Tomorrow

More than 10 hours of music will be flowing from Little Beaver Snow Park this week.

The first ever Fort Frances Folk Festival kicks off tomorrow afternoon.

Organizer Alex Marusyk says there are more than 25 acts set to play.

"There's a fellow by the name of J.P. Hoe, he will headline it," says Marusyk. "Opening for him will be the Auditor General from Thunder Bay. We also have a band from Kenora called the Me Monster and most several local performers."

Gates will open at 12 noon with opening ceremonies happening at around 12:30 p.m.

Camper Numbers Down

Ontario Parks is reporting a decline in the number of people visiting area parks this summer.

May and June were pretty quite months.

Zone Manager Tim Sullivan says the cool weather impacted day visits.

"Camping is down in the northwest by about 16-per cent," says Sullivan, "and day use is down by about the same amount. Provincially it's not so pretty either. Day use is holding its own, but campaign is down by about 6-per cent."

Sullivan expects reservations in the coming weeks to pick up.

Conservatives Focused on Native Issues

Kenora MP Greg Rickford says the Federal Government is doing its part to help First Nation communities in northern Ontario.

The Conservative MP joined with Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl this week to meet with aboriginal leaders in the Sioux Lookout area.

Rickford says providing education and training opportunities is the focus right now.

"We're looking to increase and improve their changes of going on and participate in a skills marketing place," says Rickford. "There's some exciting things happening here in northwestern Ontario that involve first nations communities as equal and integral parts of specific kinds of businesses. The first nations leadership has been asking for this and the Conservative government is delivering."

He stresses there is always more work to be done but feels the Conservatives are on the right track.

Calls for Residential Commission Hearings in NWO

Grand Council Treaty #3 says it would like to see the Indian Residential School Truth and Reconciliation Commission hold at least one hearing in northwestern Ontario.

The new co-chairs of the commission were officially sworn in yesterday.

Grand Chief of Treaty Three, Diane Kelly says residential school survivors in the region want to put their experiences on the public record.

She adds that there were 11 residential schools in the Treaty Three area and at least one hearing should take place in the territory.

OPP Patroling Local Waters

OPP have been busy on the area's waterways.

Police in the Rainy River District have logged more than 58-hours of marine patrol since the beginning of May, charging more than 20 people and issuing 30 warnings for a variety of provincial offences.

Constable Anne McCoy says one of their big focuses is looking for people who are drinking while operating their boats.

"We just want to remind people drinking alcohol and operating a vessel is very dangerous," says McCoy, "and can have dangerous consequences. Just like we run RIDE programs on the highway, we do check vessel to make sure the operators are no drinking and operating their vessels."

Police have also checked to ensure boaters are complying with federal boating regulations. Officers have been distributing Safe Boating Guides and educational materials to encourage compliance. McCoy says most boaters are complying with the rules, but they are finding some operators failing to have the basic safety equipment required.

OPP are also patrolling the waters with members of the Canada Border Services and the Ministry of Natural Resources.