Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Draft Forest Management Plan up for Review

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is seeking public comment on a 10-year forest resources management plan for a group of ecological subsections in northern Minnesota.

Referred to as the North 4 subsections, the areas include the St. Louis Moraines, Tamarack Lowlands, Nashwauk Uplands, and Littlefork-Vermilion Uplands.

The draft plan covers strategies for about 1.17 million acres.

The plan also calls for field examination of about 13,000 acres of DNR forest lands per year to identify treatment needs.

The public comment period continues until August 24th.

Lightning Strike in Dryden

Four Dryden men are recovering after their golf game was unexpectedly disrupted yesterday by a lightning strike.

Lightning struck an area near a steel fence, knocking the four men to the ground.

All are currently recovering from burns and various other injuries.

Limerick Retires

A long time employee with the Northwestern Health Unit is retiring.

Bill Limerick has worked in the public health field for the past 38 years, most recently as the health unit's director of Environmental Health.

He doesn't officially retire until the end of this year, but with holidays factored in, his last day on the job was July 15th.

L.U. Orientation Offered for New Students

Lakehead University is giving students enrolling in classes at its Thunder Bay campus an opportunity to get familiar with the surroundings well before the start of classes.

Every Friday until the end of August, students can visit the university to register for their student identification and tour the facilities.

Student Orientation officer Brendan Hughes says they can also help students with questions about courses.

"During the summer, some people have questions regarding registration or what courses they should be in," says Hughes. "or maybe they thought they wanted to go into one program but they're mulling over a different choice. We do have academic advisers on hand to able to see new students and give that guidance."

Hughes says students can also receive tours of residence, but won't be allowed to move in until later in August.

Man Charged for Skipping on Cab Fare

A refusal to pay for a cab ride in Fort Frances led to a man being taken into police custody.

Provincial police say the man took a cab early Saturday morning, but left the car without paying when it reached his destination.

The taxi driver followed the passenger into a Fort Frances establishment where an altercation took place between the two over the outstanding cab fare.

Police arrived to take the passenger into custody and charge him with being intoxicated in a public place.

Deer Strikes Motorcyclist

A Fort Frances man escaped serious injury after a motorcycle was struck by a deer.

The accident happened on Mill Road last Friday afternoon.

The man was transported by ambulance to LaVerendrye Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Fire Tower Faces Probable Paint Job

Difficulties in removing the paint from the former fire tower at Pither's Point Park could lead to the tower being repainted.

Original plans called for the tower only to be pressure-washed before its relocated to the Fort Frances waterfront.

Community Services Manager George Bell told council last night that's proving more tougher than expected.

"We continue to have an issue with the paint removal on the tower," said Bell. "We're struggling getting it off with the water pressure. We're going to be looking at a bio-degradable paint stripper this week."

Bell says it may come down to the tower being painted.

He says expected saving from having fewer banners and post may help cover the cost.

"We've dramatically reduced the number of new posts that we will require," said Bell. "We're just going to do them along Scott Street, Mowat and the way-finding area. The original plan identified 49. I think we're looking at 29 and their $3,000 each."

The repainting of the tower had initially been identified at about $40,000.

Underpass to Shutdown

There will be another closure of the Portage Avenue underpass next week.

This time, the underpass will be completely shutdown for two to three days beginning next Wednesday so crews can replace sanitary sewer lines under the road bed.

Operations and Facilities Manager Doug Brown says emergency vehicles to access the north end through a rail crossing at Victoria Avenue.

Pedestrian traffic will still be permitted.

Portage and Scott Closing Next Tuesday

There will be some disruption to a traffic along Scott Street next week.

The closure of the intersection of Scott at Portage Avenue is to facilitate the continuance of road work in that area.

As a result, trucks will go through town using Mowat Avenue, Church Street, Veteran's Drive, a portion of Sinclair Street now owned by Abitibi-Bowater and Front Street.

When the intersection is closed next Tuesday, access along Scott between Mowat and Portage and Victoria and Portage will still be permitted.

Donation to Flight Group Accepted

A group of airplanes returning from a cross country flight celebrating the 100th anniversary of the first powered flight in Canada will get a financial contribution from the town of Fort Frances.

In a 4-to-3 vote, council narrowly approved last night to give the group 8 cents for every litre of gasoline the planes take on when they land at the airport next week.

Mayor Roy Avis says about 30 planes are expected and feels the contribution is good p.r.

"I know that we said no the first time," says Avis, "but I think there is some impact for us. We can maybe get some mileage out of it."

The group organizing the flight had asked council for a reduced charge on fuel costs.

Avis noted the flight was being documented for a future television program.

But councillor Rick Wiedenhoeft says he's doesn't see how giving them a break in fuel prices would benefit the town.

"I question whether or not the bang for our buck will be worth it," says Wiedenhoeft. "Call me a skeptic, but this is probably going to be a money making issue when he sells the rights of the trip to CBC, CTV or the Discovery Channel. I don't know if the bang for the buck is going to be worth it if we give him a slight discount."

About 30 were to land in Fort Frances are part of the flight to Nova Scotia last week, but poor weather led to just five planes showing up.