Scott Street Closure Clarified

2009-06-03

12:36:09

The town of Fort Frances has clarified closure plans of Scott Street this summer.

Operations and Facilities Manager Doug Brown says when crews begin that work on Portage Avenue, the intersection of Portage and Scott will be blocked to traffic for a one-week period.

The town clarified the closure during a recent meeting with members of the Fort Frances Business Improvement Association.

Brown says when that closure takes place is still dependant upon work around Victoria Avenue and Nelson Street.

But he says it could be at the end of July or early August. The town also intends to give the BIA a one-weeks notice before the closure occurs.

Robert Moore School Contract

2009-06-03

12:35:01

A contract has been issued for the building of the new Robert Moore School.

Manshield Construction's bid of $11,830,000 thousand dollars was the second lowest of five received.

Education Director for the Rainy River District School Board Jack McMaster says that bid was selected after a lower one from Monteith Building Group was withdrawn.

McMaster says they'll be meeting with the Thunder Bay contractor soon to outline a work schedule.

 

RIDE Program Nets Buds

2009-06-03

12:34:04

A Fort Frances man faces a drug charge after provincial police found a quantity of marijuana in a truck during a RIDE program check last week.

The seven pounds of marijuana is estimated at over $21 thousand.

The 18-year-old man will appear in court at the end of June on a charge of Possession for the Purpose of Trafficking.

Catholic Boards Amalgamated

2009-06-03

12:33:12

The board responsible for most catholic schools in the Kenora and Rainy River district is getting larger.

An amalgamation plan by the provincial government will see the Northwest District Catholic School Board take over schools now under the control of the Atikokan Catholic District School Board.

The change is effective this September.

Board Volunteers and Bus Drive Honoured

2009-06-03

12:32:29

Three volunteers and a long-serving bus driver were honoured by the Rainy River District School Board last night.

Gary Parker at North Star School in Atikokan, Paul Noonan at Fort Frances High School and Shawna Lee Carlson at Robert Moore School were named volunteers of the years.

Sonny Ferris, a bus driver with the board for the past 45 years, was named driver of the year.

Energy Efficiency Project Money

2009-06-03

12:31:29

Nearly $1.5 million in energy efficiency improvements will be made to the district's public schools over the next two years.

The funding to the Rainy River District School Board is part of a $600 million dollar fund the province is doling out to school boards.

The board is now identifying areas where the money will be used.

Board Budget Approved

2009-06-03

08:53:41

A balanced budget for the Rainy River District School Board.

Trustees approved at their meeting last night, the budget which includes expenditures and revenues equalling almost 43-million dollars.

Superintendent of Business Laura Mills says balancing the budget was made despite changes in provincial funding.

"The benchmarks for text books was reduced by 15 per cent," says Mills, "and they are calling that a permanent decrease. Classroom computers, they're calling for a reduction of 25 per cent this next and a further 25 per cent the year after."

Provincial money for staff development and transportation was also reduced.

The budget, though, does show a $3.6 million dollars increase in revenue.

"Even though this looks like a really big number this year, it's not really indicative of what was happen. Last year when we were doing budget at this time, we did not have Mine Centre. So we did not have revenue for eight students. We did not have the expenditures for those eighty students."

 Mills says the increase in revenue also reflects new labour agreements.

Forestry Protests

2009-06-03

08:48:57

Forestry workers in Dryden blocked the Trans-Canada Highway yesterday to highlight concerns about their battered industry.

About three dozen demonstrators stopped cars on the highway, which runs through Dryden,  for about 20 minutes over the lunch hour.

The workers want federal support, saying Prime Minister Stephen Harper has done nothing for the forestry sector while offering billions of tax dollars to help the auto industry.

The demonstration in Dryden comes as thousands of forestry workers marched through the streets of Ottawa, sharing the same concerns as the protesters in northwestern Ontario.

In the Commons, N-D-P Leader Jack Layton offered some solutions to the industry's problems to the prime minister.

"What we need is some loan guarantees, said Layton. "What we need is a strategy to create markets in this sector. What we need is some fair trade for a change. What we need is to stop raw logs from going across the border and creating jobs down in the United States. When will we see some real action from the government?"

Prime Minister Harper responded by criticizing the New Democrats for voting against past measures to help the forestry industry.

"Everybody knows that the difficulties in the forestry industry are due to the dramatic decline in demand we have seen in the American market. Yet, when the government brought in the softwood lumber agreement that gave us access to that market and $4.5 billion back from the litigation, the NDP voted against it. When we brought in measures to help workers and communities affected by layoffs in the forestry sector, the NDP voted against those. When we brought in measures to increase financing for EDC and BDC to help this sector, the NDP voted against them."