Rainy River Railroad Daze Begin

Railroad Daze gets underway today in Rainy River.

It begins at noon with the start of a weekend long silent auction.

There is also a slo-pitch tournament, parade, evening entertainment and the popular Great Beaver Cardboard and Duct Tape Boat race.

Events wrap up Sunday.

"Carbon Man" Now Canadian

"Carbon Man," has become Canadian.

The rights to Minnesota's symbol of climate change seen in television commercials statewide has been purchased by the Canadian Wood Council for use across Canada.

The commercial, created by Duluth-based Minnesota Forest Industries two years ago, shows how carbon dioxide is absorbed in trees and kept in the products made.

Executive Vice-President Wayne Brandt says they're flattered Canadians like the message and the way its presented.

Great Lakes Fish Report

A new report being released today says eating fish from the Great Lakes may be putting yourself at risk for alarmingly high levels of toxins.

The report from the advocacy group Environmental Defence focused on toxic chemicals in Great Lakes fish by examining advisories published by the Ontario Ministry of Environment.

Fish from Lake Superior had the lowest contamination level while Lake Ontario had the worst.

Local Education Program Promoted

A program helping local students improve their oral language skills is being highlighted at national conference in Calgary today.

Rainy River District School Board's Education Director Jack McMaster has joined with educators from Kenora and Dryden to promote the Oral Language project to delegates attending the Canadian Association of School Administrators

McMaster says the success of the program here is gaining interest elsewhere.

"It's really starting to peak some people's interest," says McMaster, "mostly in Ontario, but this is a national conference. What's happening with this oral language project is going to be fairly large in North America and probably worldwide because a lot of countries are teaching their children English in school."

McMaster says the program, developed in the northwest, has been successful in helping children early in their school years improve their oral language skills.

Rafferty Defend's Party's Position

John Rafferty is defending his party's decision to oppose the government's action plan aimed at stimulating Canada's economy.

The Harper government says 80 per cent of that plan has been now implemented.

The MP for Thunder Bay-Rainy River says he welcomes the recent infrastructure money for the district, but doesn't think it will create the jobs the government believe it will.

"The local projects are welcome," says Rafferty, "but how many jobs are they creating and for how long? Will it make up for the thousand jobs lost because of the government's unwillingness to help the forestry sector?

Rafferty says while the feds indicate 80 per cent of its plan is complete, only a handful of the so-called shovel-ready infrastructure projects announced have actually started.

Test Runs at AbitibiBowater

Efforts to resume an idled paper machine at AbitibiBowater's mill in Fort Frances continue.

Spokesperson Jean-Phillipe Cote says the company's been running tests this week of machine number 6 to see if it can produce alternative types of paper.

Cote says while they are examining its capabilities, there are no firm plans at this time to convert the machine which has been down since March.

Suspected Tornado Leaves Two Dead

(Photo courtesy Kathy Campbell)












Environment Canada suspects a tornado may have touched down in the Ear Falls area that has left two American men dead, five people injured and another guest at an area tourist camp.



Several buildings at Fisherman's Cove, 15 kilometres were destroyed by a storm that passed through the area last night.

Meteorologist Geoff Coulson says indications of a tornado are only preliminary.

"We are treating it as a possible tornado at this point," says Coulson, "and we have sent one of our Environment Canada staff from the Thunder Bay to do a survey of the area, talk with eye witnesses and walk the path of damage to get a better sense of what hit the area."

Bill Laidlaw of Signal Weather Services says video and photographs he's seen coming from people living in the area point to a tornado. He says a cold front was rotating in front of low weather system was passing through the area at the time.

"On the cold front there was some very active thunderstorms," says Laidlaw, "and the closer they got to the low the more active they were. All thunderstroms have a lot of potential energy in them and if all of the ingredients come together, they can do some very nasty damage.

As of the noon hour Friday, police were still searching for one guest who was unaccounted for.

The OPP's emergency response team and marine unit, along with a Ministry of Natural Resources helicopter were involved.

Both of the dead and the missing man, were from Oklahoma.

Their names have not been released pending notification of next of kin.

To view video of the suspected tornado, go to the home page of www.b93.ca and click the What's New" button.