Monday, August 31, 2009

Hard Water in Littlefork

Residents of Littlefork may experience some hard water conditions with their tap water over the next couple days.

A city official say the conditions may be brought upon by a flushing of the water treatment plants brine tank that's taking place.

The city says the water is still safe to drink and conditions should clear over the next couple of days.

Chilly Mornings in Borderland

It's been a few chilly mornings across northern Minnesota and the Rainy River district.

International Falls broke their record low for August 29th with a midnight reading of 34 F.

The temperature continued to fall through the early morning of the 30th, reaching another record low for the day of 32 F.

The pre-dawn hours of Sunday and today saw widespread temperatures in the low to mid 30s across northeast Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin.

Small Fire at AbitibiBowater

A small fire at the AbitibiBowater mill in Fort Frances drew the attention for firefighters with the Fort Frances Fire and Rescue Service early this morning.

Fire officials says slag from welders working on the roof of the building housing the papermachines went through a vent to cause the fire down below.

The fire, though, was quickly extinguished and caused little damage.

Sabres Meeting

There was a strong show of support to maintain junior hockey in Fort Frances last night.

About forty people attended a public meeting to discuss continuance of the Fort Frances Sabres.

Director of Scouting Grant Perrault says he was encouraged by the response and the team will move ahead with the start of training camps this week.

Perrault says they're also kicking off a season ticket drive beginning tomorrow, Wednesday and Thursday at the Memorial Sports Centre from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. each day.

Local Area to Air on Television

Ontario Sunset Country Travel Association is gearing up for prime time.

The association received a grant of 218 thousand dollars to produce 26 television shows.

Executive Director, Gerry Cariou says production has already started.

"It's more like a travel log show as opposed to a traditional guy in a boat catching fish show," says Cariou. "There will be some of that, of course, as there is when you want to display that great product of ours, but there's a lot more to it. It's going to be the whole travel experience including I'm hopeful some urban destinations will come on board."

Cariou says most of the shows will be aired in the United States, and in Canada on Wild TV.

Math Facilitator Being Hired

Catholic school teachers will get some assistance in the delivery of mathematics to their students.

The Northwest Catholic District School Board has received $100-thousand dollars from the province to hire a mathematics facilitator and another $35-thousand for travel and training purposes.

Education Director Mary-Catherine Kelly says the facilitator will lead to improved student learning.

"We currently have excellent math scores on EQAO," says Kelly, "but this is an opportunity to continue to build capacity of teachers and continue to grow and develop in the area of mathematics."

Kelly expects the position to be filled within the next week or so.

Repairs to Damaged Hydro Pole Continues

Crews with the Fort Frances Power Corporation expect to be resume their work at the corner of Portage Avenue and Second Street today to replace a hydro pole damaged last Friday.

Motorists travelling through the area should proceed with caution as traffic lights remain out.

A temporary four-way stop is in place until work is complete.

Portage Underpass Opening This Week

The town of Fort Frances says the Portage Avenue underpass will open to traffic on Thursday.

Officials says there will be one lane of traffic opened that day with both lanes opening on Friday.

The underpass will be completely closed to traffic until then as paving of the roadway resumes.

The project is now into its 8th week, but officials says Friday's opening is 7 weeks ahead of initial forecasts.

Bass Tournament Successful

Warm, sunny weather helped bring hundreds of people out to Smoky Bear Park for the International Falls Bass Championship.

Board president Gary Potter says support on both sides of the border also made the tournament a success.

"Tremendous support from the community," says Potter, "and actually people from across the border. We had quite of few of them coming over and helping out. Plus the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship, we work so well together with our two tournaments. We share equipment and expertise and it's been mutual benefiting for both events."

Potter says they're already looking at some changes for next year.

International Falls Anglers Win Local Tournee

Some history this weekend at the International Falls Bass Championship. this weekend.

John Cann and Ted Olson became the first anglers from the Falls to win the fishing tournament in its five year history.

Cann says they did so battling rough waters on Rainy Lake on the second day of the tournament.

"We fished the rough water all day to day," says Cann. "We didn't go behind islands or anything like that. We stayed out in the big water. My walleye boat worked really well. We got our first five fish within 15 minutes."

Cann and Olson's 28 pounds of bass was three pounds more than second place finishers Tyler Kocon of Duluth and Kyle Potter of the Falls.