Candidates Forum For Falls Area Candidates

The International Falls Area Chamber of Commerce is setting up a candidates' forum for those running in local elections in November.

It's to take place October 16 at Rainy River Community College.

Candidates running for positions on the International Falls City Council, Ranier City Council, Koochiching County Board and District 361 School Board have been invited to participate.

They'll face questions being developed by the College's Student Senate and students from Falls High School and Indus High School.

Schools Raise Funds For Terry Fox Foundation

Two elementary schools have added to the coffers of the Terry Fox Foundation.

Students at Donald Young School in Emo raised $2941.00 during its Terry Fox school run Friday.


Students at Sturgeon Creek School in Barwick collected more than $27-hundred in their run on Friday.

Other area schools will hold their runs and walks this Thursday.

Revco Introduces Hot Tubs To Local Market

A venture into a new product for a Fort Frances flooring business.

Revco Flooring has introduced a line of Beachcomber hot tubs to area residents.

General Manager Guy Donaldson believes there a strong market for the tubs

As the dealer for the entire northwestern Ontario, Donaldson says they're already getting interest from people in Red Lake and Sioux Lookout/

Donaldson says hot tubbing can also bring many health benefits.

Fort Frances BIA Chair Steps Down

The chair of the Fort Frances Downtown Business Improvement Association has stepped down.

Connie Cuthbertson has informed Fort Frances town council of her resignation from the board in a letter, citing health reasons.

A new chair has not been selected.

Boundary Changes Hearing Approaching

Area residents have a week left to register if they want to make comment to the agency proposal changes to the federal riding in our region.

The Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission in Ontario is proposing Lake of the Woods township be removed from the Thunder Bay-Rainy River Riding and added to the Kenora riding.

A public hearing takes place in Kenora October 9.

Anyone wishing to comment must contact the Commission by October 1st.

Absentee Voting Underway In Minnesota

Absentee voting is underway for Minnesota voters who can't make it to the polls on Election Day in November.

Absentee voting is available in person at county auditors' and some municipal clerks' offices up until November 5th, the day before the election.

Mail-in votes will also be accepted, but voters must submit an application and get the absentee ballot back to local election officials by Election Day.

Nuinsco Sells Royalty

Nuinsco Resources is selling off a royalty it has on a exploration project in the Nestor Falls area.

The 3 per cent royalty on Coventry Resources' Cameron Gold Project will be handed off to an unnamed third party for $5.1 million.

Nuinsico earned the royalty as part of a sale of the project to Conventy two years ago.

Medical School Fundraiser

The Northern Ontario School of Medicine is embarking on a new fundraising campaign.  

Officials are hoping to raise $120-thousand with the sale of so called virtual chairs.

Organizer Jackie Dojack says the money will help offset students expenses.

The cost of each chair is 60 dollars with 2-thousand being made available.

Falls Senior Facility Progressing

Work on a new home for the Good Samaritan Society in International Falls is well underway.

The $18-million, 54 bed project, will replace the Society's existing facility and is scheduled to open sometime next fall.

Community Relations director Barb Owen-Boerger says residents can expected to see walls go up early next month.

Owen-Boerger says fundraising for the project also continues with about half of their one-million dollar goal raised.

FireRangers Replaced

The Ministry of Natural Resources continues to provide forest fire fighting assistance to Minnesota.

Four forests firefighters from the MNR's Fort Frances fire district have been working in Ely and Roseau since the beginning of the month.

They're came home Friday, but replaced by four others.

Question of the Week

Most respondents to a 93.1theborder.ca poll don't think students were justified in walking out of class last week

Just 29 per cent feel the students were right in staging walk-outs, they said supported teachers opposition to a legislated contract.

Our question this week, should motorists being paying in advance before filling up at the pumps?

Fort Frances Participates in Health Recruitment Tour

Officials from Fort Frances will get a chance today to meet with some prospective physicians they hope to woe back to the community.

They're attending a health professional recruitment event in Thunder Bay.

It kicks off a tour that will also take them to southern Ontario in October.

New physician recruiter Todd Hamilton says it's the first step in building relationships.

He'll be joined in the visit to Thunder Bay with Dr. Jason Shack.

Hamilton says the benefits of living in Fort Frances will be a main selling point in their discussions with the students.

New Foundation Chair

Some new faces at the helm of the Riverside Foundation for Health Care board of directors.

Livia Lundon takes over as chair from Deane Cunningham who held the position for the past three years.

Lundon has been with the board since 2010 and was serving as its vice-chair since last year.

Kim-Jo Bliss becomes the new vice-chair.

Families In Decline In Rainy River District

More evidence of the population decline in the Rainy River district.

Census figures released show the number of families in the region last year is down 245 since 2006.

Statistics Canada defines a family as being composed of a married or common-law couple, or a lone parent living with at least one child.

Atikokan had the biggest net decline of 105 families over the past five years.

Morley Township sees an increase of 15 while the number of families in Emo has remained the same.

The number of families living in Fort Frances declined by 60 since 2006..


Of the families in Fort Frances, 67 per cent were married couples, with and without children - a decrease of almost 3 per cent from five years ago.

Common-law couples make up 13.7 per cent of local families, up slightly from 2006.

Divorce is also up - 8.3 per cent last year, compared with 8.1 per cent five years ago.

Almost five per cent of households in Fort Frances also have adult children aged 25 and over still living at home.

Internet Cattle Auction Planned

The Rainy River Cattlemen's Association will be going a little high tech at it's next auction.

The September 29 sale at the Stratton sales barn will be broadcast over the Internet, allow bids to come from all over the world.

The Association's Kim-Jo Bliss says a website promoting the sale has generated lots of interest.

The Internet auction is a first for the Association, although it has tried sales via satellite in the past.

Outsourcing of Government Service Still Concern With MPP

The opposition is still upset Ontario hunters are having to call Tennessee to register for this year's hunting season.

At Queen's Park,  Kenora-Rainy River MPP Sarah Campbell says despite assurances from government, hunters are still concerned how their personnel information will be used.

Natural Resources Minister Michael Gravelle insists privacy will be protected, noting Ontario's privacy commissioner also feels the information collected will be safe.

International Falls "Best In Glass"

International Falls can now brag that its water is ``Best in Glass.''

The city's drinking water was judged the best-tasting in Minnesota in a contest held by the Minnesota chapter of the American Water Works Association.

It's the first ever win for International Falls.

Diamond Jubilee Celebrated In Atikokan

The Queen's Diamond Jubilee is being celebrated in Atikokan today.

The Atikokan Museum holds a community tea this afternoon as it unveils a new exhibit.

Curator Derek Kowalchuk says local newspaper accounts of the Queen's coronation are among items on display.

The Museum will also commemorate the Queen's 60th year by planting two trees near the Historical Park log cabin tomorrow.

Today event goes from 3 pm to 5 pm with the tree-planting ceremony taking place tomorrow at 1 pm.

Scams Hit Rainy River District

A couple of scam are making their rounds through the Rainy River district.

One involves a letter from the Mississauga area that asks residents to become "secret shoppers."

Respondents then receive large cheques they're asked to cash, sending most of the money back to an address in New Jersey.

OPP says the cheques are bogus, leaving the bank account holder responsible for the amount taken out.

Some of the transactions have been more then four-thousand dollars.

A second scam involves a letter saying they have lots of money and need someone to transfer it to a safe account.

The fraudster asks to forward personal and banking information, giving them access to your bank account and the ability to use your identity.

Diabetes Registry Scrapped

EHealth Ontario is cancelling its contract to set up a diabetes registry.

Greg Reed, president of eHealth, says notice of termination has been sent to company hired.

An eHealth spokesperson had indicated that none of the $46-million earmarked for the project had been spent, alleging CGI Information Systems and Management Consultants of regularly missed deadlines.