Mail Delivery Continues This Year

Door-to-door mail delivery in northwestern Ontario communities will continue for at least this year.

Canada Post says it will start rolling out its expansion of community mailboxes this fall to 11 communities.

They includes some parts of Winnipeg and Calgary, Oakville and Kanata near Ottawa.

No northwestern Ontario communities are listed.

Canada Post plans to have community mailboxes in all areas where door-to-door delivery now exists within the next five years.

Spectrum Sale

A recent sell off of frequency for expanded wireless services in Canada has netted the federal government more than $5.2 billion.

A total of 97 licenses were awarded to 8 companies taking part in the 700-megahertz spectrum auction.

Bell, Rogers, TELUS and Bragg Communications were winning bids for licenses in northern Ontario.

TBaytel participated in the auction but failed to win any bids.

Energy Summit Planned

Ontario will host an energy summit next week.

The Summit will bring together national, provincial, business and policy leaders from the energy and innovation sectors.

They'll be talking about such things as opportunities in clean energy technology and ways of tapping into international markets.

Energy Minister Bob Chicarelli says it will be a platform for the province can share its successes and collaborate on ways to export its expertise.

School Bus Cancellations In Rainy River District

Weather is having an impact on some schools and buses today.

Classes at Confederation College's campus in Fort Frances have been cancelled.

Schools in International Falls and Indus are delaying the start of classes by two hours this morning.

All schools in the Rainy River district are open.

Here is the complete list of all bus cancellations in the Rainy River district.

All Iron Ranges buses

All Dimit Bus lines

Seine River to Mine Centre

Seine River's handicap bus

All Red Gut Bay buses

Northwest Bay high school and elementary buses

Rainy River First Nation high school

Stanjikoming First Nations buses

Shane McDonald - SM 235

Bruce Neilson - BN 245

Bill Romyn - BR 260

Ken Fisher - ESE 205

Keith Jolicouer - KR 220

Jodi Gouliquer - Big Grassy to Rainy River High School

Maury Nielson - MN 251

Darryl Dyck - MN 250

Shelly McDoanld - MM230

Jack Medwechuk - JM 240 - Morson to Rainy River

Kaylene Johnson - BJ 216 XRR

Bob Johnson - BJ 215HHW

Fort Frances Helps With Recycling Data Base

Fort Frances is being credited with helping Ontario Waste Diversion establish a new municipal database.

It allows the agency to collect information on how much material is being diverted from landfill sites.

Chief Executive Officer Michael Scott says Fort Frances was used as a test model before rolling it out province wide.

Scott says the better data might also help improve municipal recycling efforts.

Osisko Shareholders Still Asked To Reject Goldcorp Take-over Bid

Osisko Mining continues to urge its shareholders to reject the unsolicited take-over bid from Goldcorp.

Chief Executive Officer Sean Roosen says that bid is preventing shareholders from getting a dividend on their investment.

Roosen says Osisko planned for a significant dividend policy, but claims that some of the money is now being spent on lawyers and bankers dealing with the legal challenge against Goldcorp.

A Quebec court is to hear matter March 3.

Ring Of Fire Progress Questioned At Queen's Park

At  Queen's Park,  the NDP is accusing the province of dragging its feet on the Ring of Fire mining project.

The opposition points to a lack of progress with establishing the development corporation.

Mines Minister Michael Gravelle says there's plenty going on behind the scenes to come up with a transportation route.

Gravelle says the hiring of the consulting firm Deloitte is an important part of the equation.

Thunder Bay Hospital Faces Fire Code Violation

The Thunder Bay Regional Health Science Centre is facing a fire code violation.

It's because patients are being placed in alcoves not designated for their care.

The hospital is currently facing an overcrowding problem.

International Falls Wants Hockey Day In Minnesota

International Falls wants to host Hockey Day in Minnesota.

The event celebrations the sport in the State with televised high school, college and NHL games on Fox.

The city's economic development director Shawn Mason says she's working on forming an exploratory committee to see what it will take to host the event.

Mason says since the location for next year has already been set, they'll hoping to be a host in 2016 or 2017.

Scholarships And Bursaries Handed Out To College Students

Over 250 Confederation College students have one less financial worry.

They have been awarded scholarships and bursaries totaling $120-thousand to continue their education.

President Jim Madder says it's all made possible by private donations.

The ceremony was held at the College's Thunder Bay campus yesterday.

Construction Boom Predicted For Northern Ontario

A series of large resource and infrastructure projects are been seen as boosting the construction industry in northern Ontario.

A report from BuildForce Canada predicts projects such as the Ring of Fire, the Energy East pipeline and ongoing transmission work, will bring new workers to the region over the next five years.

It also sees the demand for workers exceeding the existing workforce, forcing recruitment efforts to focus on youth and the Aboriginal community.

Ontario Wants More Immigrants

Ontario wants to attract more skilled immigrants to the province.

The Liberals are introducing an Ontario Immigration Act, aimed at strengthening its role in the immigrant selection process.

Ontario also wants the number of individuals who fall under a nominee program to increase to five-thousand from the current 13-hundred.

The program allows employers to fill skilled-labour vacancies with immigrants when suitable workers can't be found in Canada.

Retirement Benefits Changed

Retirement benefits for Ontario's civil service are being changed

Employees who retire on or after January 1, 2017 will be required to pay 50 per cent of their benefits premiums.

Currently the government pays the full cost.

Workers will also have to work 20 years, up from 10, to qualify for benefits.

The moves expect to save the province $1.2 billion over five years.

More Hunting Fines Issued

The hammer is coming down on more illegal hunting in the region.

This time it's a southern Ontario man who has been fined a total of $3,700 for illegally hunting two cow moose and for shooting across a road.

He has also been banned from hunting for a year.

The Ministry of Natural Resources says the incidents happened at a resort in the Lac des Mille Lacs area, west of Thunder Bay, last fall.

Student Tests Reviewed

The agency responsible for administering the province-wide tests in Ontario says most students do well in the three R's by the time they reach high school.

The Education Quality and Accountability Office say it's tracked students scores over the past seven years and found that students not doing well at the high school level also struggled in elementary school.

Chief Executive Officer Bruce Rodriques says it shows that educators and parents need to pay close attention to students' results on the provincial assessments.

NDP Wants No New Taxes

Provincial Liberals are balking at NDP demands to avoid any new taxes or fees in the upcoming budget.

NDP leader Andrea Horwath says her party won't support the Liberals if it happens.

Premier Kathleen Wynne says she understands her concerns, but the budget they will bring forward will be fair.

Wynne says she plans to meet with both opposition leaders in the future to discuss their budget wish lists.

Valcourt Promotes First Nations Education Act

The Federal Aboriginal Affair Minister is trying hard to sell his government's plan for First Nation Education.

Bernard Valcourt met with Native leaders in Thunder Bay yesterday.

Valcourt says understands their concern that funding won't flow until next year, but says time is needed to get the legislation through the House and into law.

Valcourt feels the plan will allow adequate funding and First Nation say in the education system.

Watch The Weather

Weather officials are watching closing a pair of systems that have the potential of bring huge amounts of snow to northwestern Ontario and northern Minnesota.

An Alberta clipper and a Texas low are expected to develop by tonight, and track towards the Great Lakes tomorrow.

There's still some uncertainty as to the exact track of the storm's centre.

Environment Canada says it is possible we could see snow, changing to ice pellets and freezing rain.

Senator Seeks Customs Facility Under New Funding Program

A U.S. Senator believes International Falls should be a pilot under new legislation that would allows for alternative funding of a new customs facility.

Minnesota's Amy Klobuchar says as many as five pilots are to be selected under the measure included in the recently passed omnibus spending bill.

The U.S General Services Administration has plans for a new facility, but hasn't moved forward on the project because of funding.

More Help For Propane Users

Koochiching County is setting up a new fund for those struggling with propane costs.

Community Services Director Terry Murray says eligible applications would be referred by Kootasca after having exhausted all other relief initiatives.

Murray says they will then see if they qualify for other programs before dipping into the new fund.

The County's put in 20-thousand dollars as start up money.