Some changes to the Rainy River District School Board's busing policy could be forth coming.
The board's transportation committee conducted a review of the existing policy prior to the Christmas.
It's looking at, among other things, changes that addresses the busing needs of students in a joint custody situation, require a brief change to where they're picked up or dropped off or want a ride to work.
The review came after some parents expressed concerns the existing policy was not flexible enough.
The committee is expected to review the proposed changes again later this month.
Union Gas customers in northwestern Ontario will see a slight decrease in their bills this month.
Spokesperson Kerry Dudley-Tatsu says it's good news especially during the cold winter months.
"For customers in the northern area, they're going to see a decrease of about a dollar per year on their total annual natural gas bill for the average customer for Union Gas," says Dudley-Tatsu.
The Ontario Energy Board approved a decrease in the cost of natural gas of about 2.3 cents per cubic metre.
Minnesota legislators start a new session today.
House Democrat Tom Anzelc expects most of the debate this year centered around the state's massive deficit.
"we are $6.2 billion short," says Anzelc, "and we have anticipated build-in spending projected at about $38 billion for the next two year period. That's a very, very serious situation."
Anzelc, who represents Koochiching County, also anticipates a planned redraw of the legislative and congressional boundaries that could result in his district becoming larger.
(Dr. Robert Lidkea with wife Marg and granddaughter Piper)
Here is a list of some of the top news stories from the Rainy River district in December 2010.
Garry Donald Mathewson was sentenced to 66 months in jail and ordered to register with the Sexual Offenders Information Registry after being found guilty of three counts of Sexual Exploitation and a charge of Sexual Interference. The sentence relates to sexual assaults against three youths that took place in the Rainy River and Thunder Bay districts between 1992 and 1999.
The first ever Acts of Kindness fundraiser collected almost 20-thousand dollars for the Fort Frances Community Chest.
Newly elected municipal councils took office in December. Morley township councilors select Moe Henry as their new reeve, filing a vacant from the October municipal election.
Atikokan trustee Mike Lewis took over as chair of the Rainy River District School Board while Fort Frances trustee Anne-Marie Fitzgerald was re-elected chair of the Northwest Catholic District School Board.
A group of parents whose children ride the bus to school called for changes to the Rainy River District School Board's transportation policies. Parents said existing policies don't meet their student needs.
Pam Cain announced she's stepping down as Fort France Museum curator to become the new executive director of the Thunder Bay-based Community Arts and Heritage Education Program.
Osisko Mining and several area First Nations signed a Resource Sharing agreement pertaining to Osisko's Hammond Reef project.
Nick Beyak, current owner of the GM dealership in Dryden, announced he's taking ownership of Sunset Country Ford in January.
Area residents help stuffed four OPP cruisers, 14 times with food and gifts for five area agencies as part of a Stuff-A-Cruiser campaign.
The town of Fort Frances purchased the former library building for a dollar, although exact plans for the building have not been determined.
The town of Fort Frances called for provincial help in dealing with rising policing costs.
A report from the Northwestern Health Unit suggested the cost for families in the Kenora-Rainy River district to eat healthy each month has risen 11 per cent over the past year.
The Rainy River District School Board and the Ontario Provincial Police secured $100-thousand in funding to train school staff in the area of threat assessment.
Fort Frances town councillors accepted a report in principal aimed at increasing the amount of materials collected for recycling in the town. The report makes nine recommendations.
The city of International Falls brought forth its 2011 budget that sees no levy increase.
Riverview Manor in Rainy River is among three facilities in the Kenora and Rainy River districts that will receive funding to expand home-care services.
Margaret Sedgwick, chief librarian at the Fort Frances Public Library Technology Centre was identified as the winner of a distinguished award from the Ontario Library Boards' Association.
A wet start to the month with more than 6-centimetres of rain falling in less than three hours on Canada Day. The town of Fort Frances later revealed it was forced to send more than 9-thousand cubic meters of untreated sewage into the Rainy River because of the rains.
Weather also impacts research crops at the Emo Agricultural Research Station and area farmers' hay seasons.
Some residents lined-up to watch the Canada Day parade in Fort Frances were also witness to a float plane crashing into Rainy River yesterday morning. Two U.S. men escaped unharmed.
OPP divers recovered the body 43-year-old Robert Mainville of Couchiching First Nation who fell into the lake on Canada Day.
The Rainy River District School Board says it won't be offering any before or after school care for students attending full-day junior kindergarten at Atikokan's North Star School this fall because of a lack of interest from parents.
The Fort Frances Lions Club helped out an 11-year-old area boy hear many sounds for the first time. Carter Kinnear sports new hearing aids, paid for in part by the Lions.
Jon Evans and Gus McFaddin won Lake Despair Lodge's Castin' for Cash bass fishing tournament.
Abitibi-Consolidated has been fined $125-thousand for a violation under the Occupational Health and Safety Act relating to an August 2008 incident at the Fort Frances mill in which three people, including a student worker, were injured by an arc flash while they were working on a paper machine.
Emo's Felicia Schmutz competed at the Miss Teen Canada-World pageant in Toronto.
Trustees with the Rainy River District School Board yesterday awarded a contract worth $5.9 million to Thunder Bay-based Finnway General Contractor to build a new school in Mine Centre.
Cloverleaf Grocery proposed to set up a recycling collection depot and allowing non-profit groups to reap the benefits of items collected.
Unionized employees with the town of Fort Frances accepted a new two-year deal with a 3.5 per cent wage increase.
Provincial Police in Fort Frances charged 43-year-old Garry Donald Mathewson with a series of sex offence, some dating back almost twenty years ago.
Dorian Lindholm of Fort Frances with long-time fishing partner Bill Wilcox of Texas captured the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship.
A local manufacturing company Abzac is is sold to South Carolina-based Sonoco with most of the employees expected to lose their jobs by the end of October.
(Photo: Copyright Library of Parliament / Mone Cheng)Election talk is springing up again in Ottawa.
As MP's started their Christmas Break, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff suggested Canadians are ready for an election.
But Thunder Bay-Rainy River MP John Rafferty disagrees
"I'm certainly ready and the NDP is ready for an election," says Rafferty, "but I don't want an election. I don't hear a lot of people in the riding clamouring for an election."
Kenora MP Greg Rickford says while the opposition has been chomping at the bit to force a spring vote, the government has been more focused on improving the economy of Canada.
An expert panel set up by the Ontario government says people with mental health issues need more support in the community.
The panel says the lack of community support means the courts and hospital emergency rooms are spending too much time dealing with the mentally ill.
The advisory group is calling for more investment in community-based services.
Kenora-Rainy River MPP Howard Hampton says the public shouldn't be fooled by the province's plan reduce the deficit.
The plan, announced before Christmas, included eliminating some government agencies.
Hampton says it's nothing more than window dressing.
"This is a government that has created literally dozens of new agencies and commissions," says Hampton. "Many of those agencies and commissions have racked up millions of dollars of expenses and cost. Just before an election to say (they're) going to reduce by a handful is really just window dressing."
Hampton says none of the agencies targeted for closure will have any impact on the public.
(Fort Frances Public Library Technology Centre photo)
Fort Hope and Pickle Lake children will be having a Merry Christmas this year thanks to the Nishnawbe Aski Police.
Thousands of dollars of toys were delivered to both communities.
Twelve-hundred pounds of donations were sent to Fort Hope, and over 3-thousand dollars worth of toys made it up to Pickle Lake.
The town of Fort Frances has given the green light for construction of a 10-unit residential complex in the town's north end.
Councillors this week approved a zoning by-law amendment for the project proposed by the Fort Frances Native Urban Wahkaiganun Corporation at the intersection of York Avenue and Eighth Street West.
Construction is expected to begin in the spring.
Minnesota is being accused of not being aggressive enough in cracking down on water polluters in the state.
A Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy report suggests two-thirds of Minnesota companies had at least one violation over the past five years.
But Author Michael Schmidt says few faced any penalty.
"The State has the authority and the obligation to make sure the facilities comply with their permits," says Schmidt. "and having 2/3rds out of compliance shows they are not doing that."
The report claims Boise's Mill in International Falls was among few companies with violations that actually had enforcement action taken against them.
MP's are back home for their Christmas break.
Thunder Bay-Rainy River MP John Rafferty says he was hoping the past session of Parliament would have been a little more productive than it was.
"A lot of legislation has not been passed that we would have liked passed," says Rafferty. "Sometimes that happens in minority governments but we're still working to pass legislation that we know is good for Canadians."
Rafferty says many pieces of legislation including his own private member's bill protecting workers pensions have been slowed by various means.
