Local Sports for Friday January 8

Judy Labelle's Fort Frances team opened the inter-regional senior curling playdowns at the Fort Frances Curling club with a win.


LaBelle's foursome defeated Marion Clark of the Port Arthur Curling Club 9-1.

Their next game is against Cristiene Hall-Teravainen also from the Port Arthur Club at 11 a.m. today.

On the men's side, Ken McKinnon's rink was defeated 10-2 in its opener by Red Lake's Ken Anderson.

McKinnon plays Randy Fossum of the Port Arthur Curling Club also this morning at 11 a.m.


Fort Frances Lakers were shutout yesterday in Thunder Bay by the K & A Wolverines 2-0.
The Lakers remain in the Lakehead for a game tonight against the Fort William North Stars.


International Falls Broncos boys hockey team won its third in a row with a 4-1 beating of the Eveleth Golden Bears.

Jon McDonald and Willie Corrin each scored twice for the Broncos who will face Hermantown tomorrow afternoon at Bronco Arena.

The Broncos girls hockey team is in action this evening in East Grand Forks while the Broncos girls basketball team is in Virginia.


Fort Frances Muskies junior boys basketball team defeated Beaver Brae 52-26 in a game played in Fort Frances.


The Muskies girls hockey team resumes NORWOSSA play with a game against Kenora at the Ice For Kids arena beginning at 7:15 p.m.


Boston Pizza Royals Pee-wee AA hockey team hosts a tournament this weekend at the Memorial Sports Centre.

The Royals open play this morning at 11:15 a.m. with a game against Dryden.


Fort Frances Canadians Midget Double A team travel to South Dakota for a tournament in Brookings.

Ice Castles Constructed

(Courtesy: Angela Petsnick)

Work is well underway on two ice-castles by students at J.W. Walker School in Fort Frances.

The students started construction this week and hope to finish by the end of February.

Grade 4 student Emma Cole says they're using old milk containers filled with water in its construction.

"First you pour water and then you put snow and you put a brick on," says Cole. Then you put on another and fill in the cracks with water and snow."

Students are asking the public to help out by donating their used containers to the school.

Young Leaders of Today

Young people in Fort Frances are being encouraged to become the leaders of today.

That message from members of the international renowned children's organizations Me to We and Free the Children who were on hand for a student leadership forum hosted by the Northwest Catholic District School Board.

Britta Badour says young people have the ability to make real change now.

"It's not even about the future anymore," says Badour. "It's about doing things right now, right today. What we say in our speeches is that we are no longer the leaders of tomorrow, we're the leaders of today. We're the generation that we've been waiting for."

Galen Kerrick says already the world is seeing a growing number of youth groups involved in local, national and international causes.

Census Concerns

It's a census year for United States, and lawmakers in northern Minnesota says wants to ensure people who live part of the time in the region get counted here.

House Democrat Tom Anzelc says it could be the difference in government determining adequate representation in the State.

"It is possible because of population shifts we could lose representation," says Anzelc. "Our districts may get larger."

Anzelc says it could also impact the amount of money that's provided by senior levels of government to cities, counties and schools boards.

Clean Energy Funding

A clean energy project proposed for Koochiching County is receiving $950-thousand in federal funding.

The Renewable Energy Clean Air Project proposes to turn municipal waste into synthetic gas and steam for industrial use or electrical generation.

The grant will cover about a third of the cost of the project's feasibility study, permitting, design and other pre-construction costs.

Namakan River Project Comment Sought

A public comment period for a proposed hydro development project on the Namakan River is now underway.

Ojibway Power and Energy Group, a partnership between Lac La Croix First Nation and Chant Construction of southern Ontario, recently released the project's draft environmental report.

The project proposes to divert water through an intake facility and powerhouse at Bill Lake and returned west of High Falls, site of a generating station.

Ojibway Power hopes to begin construction this spring.

More HST Concerns

Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak says his party's fight against the HST isn't going to end.

Speaking to members of the Fort Frances Chamber of Commerce yesterday, Hudak says the north will be particularly hard hit.

"After all a family in Fort Frances will heat their home for six to eight weeks longer than in Toronto," says Hudak, "and next winter you'll be paying more to stay warm. Also for commuting, whether to drop the kids off for hockey or go to the grocery store, eight per cent more will be slapped down on the price of gasoline."

Hudak adds native residents won't be receiving exemptions at the till and will be forced to submit receipts for a refund on taxes paid.