The Northwestern Health unit is warning restaurant owners to be on the watch for fake public health inspectors.
The fake inspectors contact restaurant owners by phone asking for detailed business and personal information and threatening them with fines if they don't comply.
Medical Officer of Health Doctor James Arthurs says two restaurants were recently targets in the Kenora and Rainy River districts.
He says Health Unit inspectors usually arrive unannounced and carry photo ID's.
The deaths of two men in northwestern Ontario last year will be subjects of coroner's inquests later this fall.
A September inquest in Fort Frances will examine the death of 21-year-old Dylan Wreggitt of Atikokan.
He died while in custody at the Rainy River District Jail last August.
Another inquest into the death of 30-year-old Levi Schaeffer will be held in Thunder Bay in October.
Schaeffer died in an altercation with Provincial Police in the Osnaburgh Lake area last June.
(CKDR Photo)Atikokan will be the next stop on this summer's tournament tour for area anglers.
The Atikokan Bass Classic gets under in two weeks time with a full field of 110 angler teams competing.
Chair Jim Johnson says the push right now is for volunteers to help set up a week from today.
"The big tent is going up and everybody knows that's a big job, " says Johnson. "The more hands that are there, the easy it will be to put it up. Then Saturday and Sunday we'll be filling it up with tables and chairs which is a labourious job. Again, the more people that we have out to help will make the job that much smaller."
Person interested in helping out can register at Bass Classic's office, by calling 597-2757 or on its website http://www.atikokanbassclassic.com/.
A 16-year-old boy from Fort Hope First Nation, north of Sioux Lookout, is facing a murder charge.
Ontario Provincial Police say it follows the stabbing death of a 17-year-old boy in that community last week.
The accused will be appear in a Thunder Bay court August 3.
A rise in the number of fatal motor vehicle accidents across the province has prompted Provincial Police to be on a close watch for motorists who break the law this August long weekend.
Sergeant Shelly Garr says there have been twelve fatalities in northwestern Ontario this year, compared with eighteen in all of 2009.
"We're always concerned with the number of motor vehicle collisions on our highways," says Garr. "We're always looking for the big three risk factors and will continue to do so this long weekend. We'll be looking for aggressive driving, failing to wear seatbelts and impaired driving."
None of the fatalities have been in Rainy River district, but twenty-six people have been injured in accidents in the district this year.
A southern Ontario man, police believe is behind a large prescription pill trafficking ring in northern Ontario is now in custody.
37-year-old Jabir Khan was arrested in North York and sent to Thunder Bay to face trafficking charges.
Police believe he's helped in the illegal distribution of Oxycodone to First Nation communities around the region.
During a two-year investigation, police seized more than 360-thousand dollars in Oxycodone tablets and another 60-thousand in cash.
Two other men from Toronto and Thunder Bay and a woman from Toronto have also been charged.
Gardeners hoping to be a part of a community garden in Fort Frances will have to wait until next year to plant their vegetables.
A group was hoping to have the garden ready for planting this summer, but Becky Holden of the planning committee says permission needed to use municipal property in the town's north end took longer than expected.
"We will not be moving ahead with gardening this year," says Holden, "but we will be working on the property after we've been given approval form the town of Fort Frances to use to site. The committee will also still be meeting regularly."
Town council held a public meeting Monday night on a potential zoning amendment to permit the Garden at Lillie Avenue and Elizabeth Street West.
A decision is expected next month.
AbitibiBowater says it's repaid $166-million of its debtor-in-possession loan following an improvement in market conditions and operational performance.
In regulatory filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company says it now has $40 million outstanding under the loan.
Companies rely on DIP financing to fund operations while in bankruptcy.
Sioux Lookout is close to becoming the first town in Ontario to ban plastic bags in stores.
Councillors approved the second reading of a by-law last week.
Town clerk Mary MacKenzie says they'll seek out more public comment before bringing the by-law back for a final reading in September.
Ontario Provincial Police in Fort Frances are getting some assistance this summer from a couple of summer students.
Samantha Meuller and Brett McMahon are bicycling throughout the town, carrying out a variety of policing programs.
"We've been involved in certain problems including the Lock It or Lose It," says Meuller. "We've conducted traffic surveys for statistics on traffic behaviour. We are also positive role models for the Positive Tickets Program within the bike rodeos that we hold for the children of the Rainy River district."
McMahon says the experience he's gaining may be used toward a possible career in policing.
"I've always been interested in law enforcement," says McMahon, "so I thought this would be a great opportunity to get to know what they do and get a feel for it."
The local detachment also has a student assigned to its Marine unit.
Persons United for Self-Help is looking for Northwestern Ontario residents who want to share their story.
Spokesperson Justin Miller says they want to hear from people living with disabilities.
"Share their stories of various issues they have faced in regards to barriers they have encountered with their disabilities," says Miller. "We have representatives go out to the other smaller communities in the region to ask give people a better understand of PUSH Northwest."
Miller says many people in the region still have trouble finding adequate housing and transportation.
A story about pickles and diversity will be told at Fort Frances Public Library Technology Centre today.
Pickle Bumps for Baby Dill is the first picture book for children by author Bob Fulton of St. Cloud Minnesota.
Fulton credits his youngest grandson for the idea.
"He says tell us a story about pickles," says Fulton. "He just loves pickles. I thought, well, how do you tell a story about a pickle. The first thing that came to mind was the saying 'like bump on a pickle.' I thought well maybe we can have a story about a pickle that doesn't have any bumps and where does that go."
Fulton will hold readings at the library this 2 p.m. this afternoon and tomorrow at 11 a.m..
A book signing is planned for Wednesday at Betty's in Fort Frances.
(Mark Raveling of Longville, MN and Mike Luhman of Deer Park, WI are third after Day 1 of fishing with their catch of 19.11 lbs of bass)
The Ontario government has released the list of highway projects in northern Ontario its funding during this construction season.
Northern Development Minister Michael Gravelle says almost $775-million will be spent on on road improvements, expansions and bridge updates.
"That's a 20 per cent increase over last year's record amount of $648-million," says Gravelle. "We are seeing a tremendous amount of construction work. All of it important to the people of the communities it effects.
Six projects are in the Rainy River district, including continued upgrades to the Noden Causeway and the rehabilitation of the LaVallee River bridge on Highway 11.
(Aboriginal Affairs Minister Chris Bentley (left) with Thunder Bay-Atikokan MPP Bill Mauro)
The man who chaired the parent company responsible for Acadia and Northwoods Broadcasting has died following a brief illness.
Jack Irving was 78.
Irving was the youngest son of industrialist the late K.C. Irving and was responsible for a number of companies within the varied Irving enterprises, including its radio stations in Ontario and the Maritimes.
Almost 100 charges and another 300 warnings were issued by Ministry of Natural Resources Conservation officers during a recent enforcement blitz across northwestern Ontario.
Almost 23-hundred anglers were checked on area rivers and lakes during the seven-day blitz held from June 17 to June 24.
Most of the charges were issued for fishing without a license, having too much fish or importing live bait.
Conservationists are crying foul over recycling habits as a frightened bear with a plastic jar stuck on his head slowly starves.
Joanne St. Godard, of non-profit group the Recycling Council of Ontario, says the bear is in this predicament because someone didn't properly recycle the jar in the first place.
Wildlife officials in northwestern Ontario have spent the last two days searching for the bear, who has not been able to eat or drink because of the jar.
Ministry of Natural Resources official Ross Johnston says the bear is weak and has lost weight -- and may be only surviving off the condensation from his breath inside the jar.
Officials and the OPP have tried to catch and tranquilize the bear, but he runs when people approach.
Construction of a new elementary school in Mine Centre could begin as early as next month.
Trustees with the Rainy River District School Board yesterday awarded a contract worth $5.9 million to Thunder Bay-based Finnway General Contractor.
Education Director Heather Campbell says additional funding from the Ministry of Education is also covering all project costs pegged at $6.5 million.
"We received two letter from the Ministry of Education providing the funding," says Campbell, "and we've come under budget in our tendering and working with the contract to reduce costs. So we are full speed ahead."
The new school will house about 90 students from the Mine Centre area as well as Seine River and Nicickousemenecaning First Nations.
Ontario's Education Minister Deb Matthews must still sign off on the project, but the board isn't anticipating any difficulty with that step from occurring.
The Parade of Boats makes its return today at the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship.
It begins at 5 p.m. beginning on Central Avenue with boats making their way down Scott Street to the Memorial Sports Centre.
Chair Tom Fry is looking for a good show from the anglers after the parade was dropped last year.
"They were part of the desire to bring it back," says Fry. "We had a lot of comments from people in the town as well as anglers who said they missed it last year. So we're kind of hoping everyone will come out and support it."
Boston Pizza also jumped on board as the major sponsor and is putting up a prize to the best dress boat as selected by the public.
Ontario public sector unions are critical of Finance Minister Dwight Duncan's plan to freeze their wages.
Labour leaders met with Duncan yesterday to discuss deficit reduction plans that includes freeze on public sector salaries for two years.
The C.A.W. calls the plan an attack on the collective bargaining rights of public sector workers.
President Ken Lewenza says the union recognizes the difficulty the province is facing, but the cost cannot be borne almost wholly by workers.
The president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union says Finance Minister Dwight Duncan's wage freeze plan is unfair.
Smokey Thomas also says the plan doesn't protect the public services Ontarians need or strengthens the economy.
(Retiring City Attorney Joe Boyle with International Falls Mayor Shawn Mason)
It was a busy weekend for the Fort Frances Fire and Rescue Service who responded to no fewer than five calls.
Saturday morning about 10 a.m., the department was called to a home on Kaitlyn Drive to deal with a kitchen fire.
The owners of the home had the blaze extinguished by the time firefighters arrived, but not before it caused some fire and smoke damage to the kitchen.
Early Sunday morning at about 5 a.m., the department responded to a call of smoke filling an apartment on 6th Street East.
The problem was pinpointed to a burned out furnace fan.
An hour later, crews rushed to a home in the 400 block of Church Street where an elderly woman was taken to hospital for treatment after fire started in a sofa and filled the home with smoke.
Within fifteen minutes of arriving, firefighters were dispatched to a smoke alarm in the 1100 block of Scott Street which turned out to a false alarm.
And last night at round 8:30 p.m., Fort Frances Fire was sent to Gillon's Insurance on Church Street where a burned out roof fan sent smoke into the building.
Damage was considered miminal.
