Thursday, October 25, 2012

Breakfast Program Needs Support

A breakfast program at a Fort Frances elementary school is looking for financial and volunteer support.

Parent John Homer says the program at Robert Moore School is intended to provide students a healthy breakfast no matter their families financial status.

Homer says with costs running nearly $18-thousand dollars a year, the group is pursuing all avenues of raising funds which includes a spaghetti dinner at the school tonight.

The dinner goes at 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

NOMA Wants Cuts To Parks Reversed

An area municipal lobby group wants the province to reverse cuts its making to some provincial parks in northern Ontario.

President of the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association Ron Nelson says the move impacts both visitors and local residents.

Caliper Lake at Nestor Falls is among parks effected by a reduction in services and staff announced last month.

Police Officers Need Help With Stress

The province's ombudsman says badly needed changes that would help traumatized provincial police officers are getting the "bureaucratic brush-off.''

Andre Marin says failure to act by the OPP and the government is leading to tragic results.
Since 1989, Marin says 23 active and retired OPP members have killed themselves -- two more than were killed in the line of duty.

Marin says cop culture tells them to "suck it up'' as they battle with depression, anxiety, nightmares, addictions and post-traumatic stress disorder.

OPP Commissioner Chris Lewis says he'll look into the recommendations, but cautions changes can't be made overnight.

Unit Unvieled To Public Today

Riverside Health Care Facilities will officially cut the ribbon on its new digital mammography unit later today.

The official opening, scheduled for 2 p.m. this afternoon at LaVerendrye Hospital, will also recognize those involved in the fundraising campaign Together We Can which raised $650-thousand in six months.

Labor Assembly Endorses Candidates

The Koochiching County Labor Assembly is out with its list of local candidates it's backing in the upcoming November 6th election.

It's giving endorsements to Paul Eklund for Mayor of International Falls and Pete Kalar for the city council at large seat.

In Rainer, the Assembly supports Ron Wilcox as Mayor and Tony Cole for city council.

Chili Cook Off Winners

Eleven teams put their best chili recipes to the test at the annual Great Canadian Chili Cook Off.

The judges selected the Kiwanis Club "Lo Local Chili" as their favourite.

Rainy Lake Tribal Contracting "R.L.T. Chili" was the judges second choice, but got the nod as the best in a vote by people who taste tested the dishes at the Fort Frances Royal Canadian Legion.

Seven Generations' "Sweaty Moose Chili" earned third spot honours from the judges.

English Dominate Language In Rainy River District

The Rainy River district remains overwhelmingly a unilingual one.

New census data shows English being the language of choice for well over 90 per cent of residents in most areas of the district.

It's 94 per cent in Fort Frances, 91 per cent in Atikokan and a whopping 97 per cent in LaVallee township.

German ranks second in many areas of the west end of the district where between 8 and 10 per cent residents in Emo, Morley and Dawson township say its mainly spoken in their homes.

Fewer Speaking Native Languages

While it may be the fastest growing population, many of Canada's aboriginal languages are struggling to survive.

Nearly 212-thousand people reported speaking an aboriginal language last year.

That's a decline of 1.7 seven per cent from 2006.

Fewer than in one in four aboriginals under the age of 25 can have a conversation in a native language.

Premier Blames Opposition For Shutdown

Premier Dalton McGuinty is throwing blame back on the opposition for the shut down at Queen's Park.

Speaking to reporters in Toronto for the first time since announcing his resignation nine days ago, the Premier says the opposition's contempt motion against his government is one of the reason he prorogued the legislature.

McGuinty rejected suggestions prorogation was a "cowardly'' way to avoid hearings scheduled into the Liberals' decisions to scrap two gas plants in southern Ontario.

Duncan Not Running

Finance Minister Dwight Duncan has decided against running for the leadership of the Ontario Liberal party.

Duncan says he will support his friend, former cabinet minister Sandra Pupatello, if she decides to throw her hat in the ring.

Others said to be considering a bid include Municipal Affairs Minister Kathleen Wynne and former MP Gerrard Kennedy.

Natural Resources Minister Michael Gravelle is also toying with the idea of running.

Warnings On Food Suggested

The province's doctors want sugary soft drinks, french fries and even fruit juices to have graphic health warnings similar to those on cigarettes
.
The doctors say the obesity epidemic should be fought using the same tools that have made major inroads in the battle against smoking.

They're also calling for higher taxes on sugary or fatty foods, lower taxes on healthy foods, and restrictions on sales of junk foods.

Union Advice on Report Card Comments Stays

Ontario's largest teachers' union isn't backing down on asking instructors to keep their report card comments to a minimum.

Education Minister Laurel Broten says she asked the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario to rescind that advice when she met with its president Sam Hammond Tuesday.

Hammond has said it's advice that conforms with ministry policy, which tells teachers to use their "professional judgment'' when completing progress reports.

Unemployment Drops in Koochiching County

The unemployment rate in Koochiching County has dropped.

Figures released by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development indicate last months figure hit 6.6 per cent from 7.1 in August.

Former Teacher Honoured

The name of a long-time educator in Fort Frances is now a permanent part of a school he play a key role in building its physical education department.

A ceremony was held at Robert Moore School for the official naming of its gymnasium after the late Jim Oster.

His son Brad says it means a lot to the family and his father.

Oster taught for over 30 years and has been cited as being responsible for helping foster the school's physical education department and the building of a gymnasium at the former school.

School Review Underway

The Rainy River District School Board has started its review of Sturgeon Creek School in Barwick.

Education Director Heather Campbell says a public meeting last night was the first of four a committee will hold to gather public comment.

The review, and one later of Crossroads School in Devlin, are being done to help the board determine the size of a new recommended school to replace Donald Young in Emo.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Mining Company Welcomes Federal Assessment

Rainy River Resources is not worried about the need to go through a federal environmental assessment for its proposed gold mines north of Barwick.

The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency made the ruling last week and is currently seeking comment on the scope of that assessment.

Company vice-president Kyle Stanfield says it wasn't unexpected.

Stanfield expects the process to take at least a year and won't impact on their timetable to have an open pit mine open by 2016 and an underground operation soon after.

Blowdown Wood Up For Auction

Koochiching County intends to put up for auction nearly 25-thousand cords of timber damaged in a windstorm this past July.

A total of 26 tracts of land will be sold off next month.

Loggers and officials with Boise say they would have preferred the auction a month ago.

County Land Commissioner Dennis Hummitzsch says delays in trying to identify the exact size of the damaged areas prohibited them from having the auction earlier.

Duncan Expected Not To Seek Liberal Leadership

Ontario Finance Minister has apparently decided against running for the leadership of the Ontario Liberal party.

Dwight Duncan is expected to make an annoucement this afternoon in Toronto.

Several other potential leadership candidates are said to be waiting to see if Duncan enters the race before making their decisions.

More Calls To Recall Queen's Park

Progressive Conservatives are calling on Premier McGuinty to immediately recall the legislature.

Tory house leader Jim Wilson is also urging Liberal MPP's to break ranks with McGuinty by publicly endorsing a return to business at Queen's Park.

Chili Cook Off Today

It's the Great Canadian Chili Cook Off.

Some of the best chili recipes found in the Rainy River district will be seeking the support of residents' pallets at the Royal Canadian Legion in Fort Frances today.

The Fort Frances Chamber of Commerce sponsored event goes from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. with everyone invited.

The Cake Roulette will also take place with proceeds to Robert Moore School's Breakfast program.

New Discoveries Good News For Project

Rainy River Resources says the recent discovery of new gold and silver deposits will help extend the life of its proposed mining operations north of Barwick.

The company identified the discovery just a kilometre from where an open-pit mine is planned.

Kyle Stanfield, a company vice-president, says it's not unusual to find new bodies periodically.

Stanfield says right now they have enough resources to keep a mine in operation going for at least sixteen years.

Woman Arrested In Police Pursuit

A 29-year-old woman from Lac La Croix First Nation will appear in court next month on several charges, including impaired driving, in connection to a police pursuit on the weekend.

OPP were first called about an impaired driver in the drive-thru of a Fort Frances restaurant early Saturday morning.

With help from Treaty Three Police, officers attempted the stop the vehicle on several occasions as it made it way through town and Couchiching First Nations before officers ended the pursuit for safety reasons.

The driver was later arrested after stopping on Highway 11 near highway 502 for another Treaty Three Officer who was not involved in the initial pursuit.

New Mammography Unit Unveiling

Riverside Health Care Facilities will officially cut the ribbon on its new digital mammography unit later this week.

An aggressive fundraising campaign by the Riverside Foundation For Health Care over the past six months helped get the unit in place at the start of this month.

The official opening, scheduled for this Thursday at 2 p.m. at LaVerendrye Hospital, will also recognize those involved in the Together We Can campaign.

Polar Plunge Registration

Early registration for this year's Polar Plunge goes this weekend.

Members of the Voyageur Lions Club will be at the Clover Valley Farmer Market in Fort Frances this Saturday to sign up potential jumpers for the January 1 event.

Pledge forms and information packages will also be availble.

Sixty-five participants raised $12-thousand for local charities in last January's event on Rainy Lake.

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Teachers Request Conciliator

The union representing elementary teachers in the Rainy River district is requesting conciliation to help negotiate a contract with their employeer.

Trevor Bowles, local president of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation, says the legislation forcing teachers to accept a wage freeze and benefit cuts is leaving them no choice but to take this route in its talks with the Rainy River District School Board.

Bowles says they've had one meeting with the local board to exchange proposals with more talks planned for next week.

Portage Avenue Underpass Floods

Motorist may want to use caution when using the Portage Avenue underpass this morning.

A quanity of water has pooled in the area.

Water can also been seen bubbling up from a storm drain.

The road is not closed.

Crews with the town of Fort Frances public works department are on the scene.

User Fees Going Up In Fort Frances

The cost to access a variety of programs and services offered by the town of Fort Frances will go up next year.

Mayor Roy Avis believes the one per cent hike across the board, including for fees at the Memorial Sports Centre, is fair.

The increase does not impact charges to sewer and water rates.

That will be discussed by town councillors at a later date.

No Federal Plans For McGuinty

Dalton McGuinty isn't going to run for the federal Liberal leadership after all.

Instead, the Ontario premier wants to look for challenges outside of politics altogether.

McGuinty says he decided not to run after talking to family and other supporters.

Area Liberals Not Concerned With Timing of Leadership Convention

Northwestern Ontario Liberals don't seem too concerned a leadership convention to select a replacement for outgoing Premier Dalton McGuinty is just three months away.

The party's regional vice-president Anthony Leek says the January 25th date allows business at Queens Park to resume quickly.

Natural Resources Minister Michael Gravelle, who's giving some consideration to running, says the short time frame may favour high profile candidates.

Thunder Bay-Atikokan MPP Bill Mauro says the short turnaround will help to get uncertainties about the party's leadership out of the way.

Riding Liberals Meet

Kenora-Rainy River provincial liberals will sit down today in Kenora.

The association is holding its annual general meeting.

Executive elections and discussion on the upcoming leadership convention are among the highlights of the gathering.

Limited Flood Damage At Fort High

Only minimal damage is being reported following a waterline break on the weekend at Fort Frances High School.

School board officials says a coupling let go causing water to spill into a crawl space.

No other parts of the school were effected.

Crews had repairs completed in time for Monday's school opening.

New Panel Examines Health Care

A Fort Frances woman is giving our area a voice in seeking change to Ontario's health care system.

Cathy Emes is one of 32 people selected to an advisory panel created by the not-for-profit group The Change Foundation.

Emes says the group is trying to bring a variety of interests together in trying to redesign the Health Care plan for Ontario that works for both the patient and all of the providers.

The group met for the first time last month where they had a chance to express their concerns to the province's Associate Health Minister.

Resolute Confirms Shutdown

Resolute Forest Products says 345 employees will be impacted when it takes production down at its kraft and paper mills in Fort Frances later this month.

Both mills will be temporarily halted for two weeks beginning October 28th

Resolute cites market conditions as the main reason.

The company says the halting of a contract for pulp with Boise's mill in International Falls is also seen as having an impact.

Fundraiser A Success

Another huge fundraiser for the Rainy River Health Care Committee for the construction of the locum house in that community.

Over $6,500 was raised at an harvest dinner on the weekend held at the Rainy River Evangelical Covenant Church.

The event included a dessert auction.

Monday, October 22, 2012

Resolute Forest Products Halting Production

It appears Resolute Forest Products operations in Fort Frances will be temporarily curtailed.

The Communication, Energy and Paperworkers Union says workers were advised Friday that both the kraft and paper mill operations will be shutdown for two weeks beginning October 28.

A lack of orders is being cited as a reason.

More Gold Found

Rainy River Resources says it's made a significant discovery of new gold and silver deposits at its project north of Barwick.

The company says the deposits were found during drilling of an area it's calling the Intrepid Zone, located about one kilometre east of where it proposes an open pit mine.

The company plans to focus much of its exploration efforts the remainder of the year in that area.

NDP Opposing Budget Bill

New Democrats won't be supporting the massive federal budget bill introduced last week.

Thunder Bay-Rainy River's John Rafferty says the Harper government is once again contradicting itself by introducing a bill that includes changes to several act that should be dealt separately.

Rafferty expects limited debate on the bill as the Conservatives push for implementation as quickly as possible.

Leadership Convention Set

The Ontario Liberal party has set a date for its leadership convention to replace outgoing Premier Dalton McGuinty.

It will be January 25th.

McGuinty has said his successor will decide when to recall the legislature, which he prorogued when he announced his resignation last Monday.

The opposition accuses McGuinty of trying to avoid more bad publicity.

Former Lieutenant-Governor Lies In State

Former Ontario lieutenant-governor Lincoln Alexander's body is now lying in state at Queen's Park.

Tonight, Alexander's body will be returned to Hamilton, where he'll lie in repose at city hall until a state funeral on Friday.

Alexander was Canada's first black member of Parliament, first black cabinet minister, and he served as Ontario's lieutenant governor from 1985 to 1991.

Help Line Available To Aboriginal Women

The Ontario Native Women's Association is helping remote first nation communities feel more connected to large urban centres.

Coordinator Robin Haliuk says they've opened a new help line called Talk 4 Healing.

It's will be a 24-hour, 7-day a week service to assist aboriginal women in access services through referrals, telephone counselling or just having a friendly voice at the other end of the line.

Haliuk says often first nation women can feel isolated and the help line can offer assistance.

Flu Shots Offered This Week

The Northwestern Health Unit will begin offering flu shots to area residents later this week.

Health Unit's Donna Stanley encourages everyone to attend one of their clinics.

Clinics in Atikokan, Rainy River and Fort Frances begin Thursday.

Times and dates of all clinics can be found by click this link to the Northwestern Health Unit's website.

Walks Earns Dollars for Alzheimers Society

More than 28-hundred dollars was raised in the annual Alzheimer's Walk for Memories held Saturday in Fort Frances.

A total of 21 people took part.

Local Anti-Bullying Efforts Hit National Stage

Local efforts to combat bullying are reaching a national stage.

A video segment, featuring Fort Frances High School student Dexter Fichuk shot back in September, was played before 20-thousand young people attending We Day festivities in Vancouver last Thursday.

Australian pop singer Cody Simpson introduced the feature.

The feature will be played at upcoming We Day events elsewhere in Canada and show on MuchMusic and CTV next month.

Friday, October 19, 2012

Baudette Incident Identified In Boy Scout Documents

Details of an alleged incident in Baudette involving a scout leader from International Falls is among thousands of pages of documents released by the Boy Scouts of America.

They show that for decades, scoutmasters and others accused of molesting children were shielded from prosecution -- by authorities who said they wanted to protect the image of Scouting.

The documents were ordered released by the Oregon Supreme Court.

The incident in Baudette occurred in 1978.

Kraft Mill Shutdown?

Resolute Forest Products isn't commenting on whether there will be a pending shut down of the kraft mill in Fort Frances.

A number of callers to CFOB-News claim the mill will be closed for an undetermined length of time later this month.

Boise in International Falls confirms a contract for pulp it's had with the Fort Frances mill has been stopped and is now receiving material from one of its mills in Washington State.

In a statement to CFOB-News, a Resolute spokesperson says they won't respond to speculation about the Fort mill.

More Causeway Work Announced

Details of the next section of work on the Noden Causeway, east of Fort Frances, has been announced.

The province has awarded contacts to George Armstrong Limited of Fort Frances and Toronto Zenith Contracting.

The work includes the installation of new concrete deck components at the east low level and west low level structures.

Construction will be done by 2014.

Business Women's Network Makes Changes

Some changes for the Fort Frances Business Women's Network.

Chair Inga Friesen says they're reaching out to other sectors as a way of expanding their membership.

Friesen says after being focused on business owners, they're now inviting women who operate a home-based business and professional women to the group.

Friesen says they're also considering a name change, becoming the Professional Women's Network.

MINNDOT Looking At Rumble Strips

The Minnesota Department of Transportation is giving some consideration to International Falls request for rumble strips down sections of some highways in their area.

Councillor Paul Eklund says MinnDOT has informed the city it's actually looking at where such safety features can be placed.

The city says the strips may help keep drivers alert and reduce head-on car crashes.

It made the request after two local residents were killed in a head on collision south of International Falls on Highway 53 last month.

Teachers Asked To Limit Report Card Comments

Parents shouldn't expect to see lots of feedback in the next batch of report cards for their children.

Ontario's Elementary Teacher Federation is telling its members to keep their report card comments short.

It's the latest move in the union's protest over the controversial law that freezes teachers wages, cuts benefits and stop strikes.

A source says elementary teachers have been advised to write only the bare minimum on upcoming report cards, such as a single sentence rather than a paragraph.

Crash Victims Identified

Four men aboard a plane that crashed Tuesday night near Pickle Lake have been identified as being from Quebec.

Provincial Police say 57-year-old Michel Nadeau, 54-year-old Bernard Mailloux and 27-year-old Yanick Fournier were killed after their Lake 250 aircraft went down in a wooded area while trying to land.

A fourth passenger remains in a Winnipeg hospital in stable condition.