Local Sports for Wednesday January 13

Fort Frances Muskies girls hockey team blanked Babbit-Embarrass 4-0 at the 52 Canadians Rink last night.

Jillian Langtry, Jessie Baker, Nicole Beadle and Taylor Dixon did the scoring for the Muskies.

Dana Cridland had the shut out in net.

The boys team was also victorious, defeated Lake of the Woods Bears from Baudette 3-1.

Donovan Cousineau, Devan Ball and Davis Smith scored for the Fort.


In the Falls, Broncos boys basketball team won it's second in a row with a 69-41 decision over Greenway.

Rainycrest Visits Restricted

Visitor restrictions have been imposed at Rainycrest Long Term Care Facility in Fort Frances.

Officials say the measures are necessary because of an increase in the number of confirmed cases of gastroenteritis.

Visitations are being limited to only family members and restricted to the resident's room.

Garbage Complaints

The town of Fort Frances says some residents aren't following rules regarding the disposal of their household waste.

Operations and Facilities Manager Doug Brown says they're getting complaints of some not putting their garbage out by 8 a.m.

"Our contractor is continuously getting phone calls from people who say they've had it out," says Brown. "The contractor is now doing a survey to record if there have been any missed bags."

Brown says some residents are also placing extra bags to the curb without attaching bag tags.

He says bags without tags just won't be picked up.

The town is also issuing notices to residents who are not in compliance of the current by-law, and suggests charges may be pursued against repeat offenders.

Child Care Review

The move towards full-time kindergarten in the province has the town of Fort Frances looking at the future of child care services in the community.

The town is hoping to secure funding to conduct a feasibility study involving the Rainy River District Social Services Administration Board.

A committee that recently examined programs and services offered at the Fort Frances Children's Complex suggests a more comprehensive study would help determine program options as well as reviewing the current Best Star Hub and Outreach programs.

Boards Plan for All-Day Learning

The planning is now underway to implement a full-day kindergarten program at two schools in Atikokan.

The Rainy River District School Board will offer the program in the fall at North Star Community School.

Education Director Jack McMaster says it expands on the current half-day program.

"We know there's room in the facility," says McMaster, "and we'll work with the early learning programs in the community. We'll have to notify the parents that we're going from half-day instruction to full-day because North Star has traditionally been half-day instruction rather than alternative days like we run in Fort Frances. So it's a much easier transition for us."

McMaster says they're also looking to expand the program to the new unnamed elementary school in Fort Frances in 2011.

The Northwest Catholic District School Board was given approval to offer the full-day kindergarten at St. Patrick's school in Atikokan.

Education Director Mary Catherine Kelly says the transition there should also be smooth.

"We plan to have the E.CE. teacher working side by side with our kindergarten teacher," says Kelly. "The daycare portion of the project will take place at the local daycare provider. In the first year, we'll be working with the daycare provider to make sure there's a smooth transition between the daycare and the school program."

Kelly says they've also been approved for funding for the program to be offered at St. Francis School in Fort Frances in 2012.

Strike Vote Today

Instructors at two dozen community colleges across Ontario, including those at Confederation College's campus in Fort Frances, will vote today on whether to give their union a strike mandate.

Ted Montgomery, chair of the union bargaining team for the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, says a strike wouldn't happen for at least a month.

He says talks with the colleges broke down December 15 and the key issues are workload, academic freedom and management's decision in November to impose its offer on the teachers without letting them vote on it.

The union is seeking a 2.5 per cent pay increase in each year of a three-year contract while the colleges are offering 1.75 per cent in each of the first two years and two per cent in the last two years of a four-year deal.

Montgomery says a walkout would affect 200,000 full-time day students but not so much the 300,000 night-time students because most of their teachers work part time and aren't part of the union.

About 4,100 of the 22,530 members of a Facebook group called Ontario College Students Against a Strike have signed an online petition calling on the colleges and the union to come to terms without a strike that students fear could cost them their semester.

Interim Tax Bills Out

The first tax bills of 2010 for property owners in Fort Frances will come out very shortly.

February's bill will be the first of two interim tax bill to be sent to local homeowners and will be based on last year's property assessment and tax rates.

The other will be due at the end of March.

Council will meet next week to begin working on a budget and this year's tax rate which won't be determined until some time later this spring.

New Municipal Affairs Minister

Premier Dalton McGuinty has named Environment Minister John Gerretsen as Ontario's new interim minister of municipal affairs and housing.

This after former minister Jim Watson confirmed he's quitting cabinet and will resign as a member of the Ontario legislature shortly, to run for mayor of Ottawa.

McGuinty is expected to make a more permanent shuffle to his cabinet next week to replace former deputy premier George Smitherman who stepped down last week and Watson on a more permanent basis, but other significant changes are also expected.

Full-Day Kindergarten Announced

Two schools in Atikokan will be among the first in the Rainy River district to offer full-day learning to four and five-year olds.

North Star Community School and St. Patrick's School were among first six hundred in the province to offer the program this fall.

Education Minister Kathleen Wynne says it's critical for children to get a quick start.

Premier Dalton McGuinty says it's his goals to have the programs expanded into every school in the province by 2015.

Local Sports for Tuesday January 12

Former Fort Frances Muskies Joe Basaraba is ranked 39th among North American skaters in the NHL Central Scouting Bureau’s Mid-Term Rankings.

That projection would put Basaraba, now skating for Shattuck-St. Mary's Prep School, as a likely second or third round pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.

Basaraba has committed to playing for The University of Minnesota-Duluth next season.



Fort Frances Muskies hockey teams hit the ice tonight with games against Minnesota schools.

The boys team faces Lake of the Woods Bears of Baudette at Ice for Kids Arena at 7:30 p.m.

The girls will play Babbitt-Embarrass at the 52 Canadians Rinks at 7 p.m.

Over at Falls High School, the Broncos girls hockey team travels to Eveleth-Gilbert.

The girls basketball team is in Warroad while the boys team hosts Greenway - 7:30 p.m. at the High School.


In local girls hockey action, Kaemingh Esso blanked the Rolling Lake Lightning 2-0.

Scoring for Esso were Sara Jackson and Caitlyn Visser.

Power Use Drops

The World Wildlife Fund says demand for electricity is dropping in Ontario because people are getting the message that conservation works.

But critics, say that's just wishful thinking and that the real story is economic devastation in power-sucking industries such as pulp and paper and manufacturing and mining.

NDP MPP Howard Hampton says he doesn't know what planet the World Wildlife Fund is on.

I. Falls Paper Reduces Publications

The daily newspaper in International Falls ended its five-day-a-week schedule.

Beginning February 1, the International Falls Daily Journal will publish only on Wednesdays and Fridays as a renamed The Journal.

In a story published yesterday, Publisher Rob Davenport says the move was not prompted by slow ad sales, but rather an effort to focus more on local news.

Another Cabinet Vacancy Expected

Municipal Affairs Minister Jim Watson will announce today that he will quit provincial politics to run for his old job as mayor of Ottawa.

A source tells The Canadian Press that Watson was happy in the McGuinty cabinet but not pleased with the way Ottawa has been run and wanted to help the city get back on its feet.

Watson's move and the earlier resignation of deputy premier George Smitherman, to run for mayor of Toronto, is forcing the premier to shuffle his cabinet.

Government sources say McGuinty does plan some major changes to the cabinet but won't make any moves before next week.

Gerry Phillips, who is temporarily minister of energy and infrastructure, is said to want a lighter workload and is expected to be dropped in the shuffle or return to be minister without portfolio.

Full-Day Kindergarten to be Announced

Premier Dalton McGuinty will announce today which Ontario schools will offer full-day kindergarten to four- and five-year-olds this fall.

A government source says 600 schools will be able to offer the new program in September, including North Star Community School in Atikokan.

At least one school from each board will have the program, which will be rolled out across the province over five years.

McGuinty, who's making the announcement in a Chatham school today, is moving ahead with the costly initiative despite an unprecedented $25-billion deficit.

The Conservatives say the program, which will cost about $1.5 billion a year, should be put off until the province is in better financial shape.

The New Democrats say some kids won't be getting equal access to the program this fall because their schools don't have extra space or adequate facilities.

Airport Fuel Rises

Price of airplane fuel is going up again the Fort Frances airport.

The cost of low lead will now be 33 per cent above the town's cost while the cost for Jet A fuel is 42 per cent above cost.

The changes reflects increased prices in the cost for fuel and compares with the cost paid at airports elsewhere in northwestern Ontario.

New Councillor Policies

New policies how Fort Frances councillors are reimbursed for meeting they attend on behalf of the hour are now in place.

Council approved the policy at its meeting Monday night.

Human Resources Manager Christine Ruppenstein says a per diem given to councillors to attend meetings has clarified.

"It's been taken out of the travel policy,"says Ruppenstein, "to further reflect that its not necessarily meant just for travel, but is for attendance at functions that have been authorized by resolution."

The report also reflects an increase in salaries for mayor and councillors, effective this December.

Review of Board Terms Underway

Fort Frances town council will take a further look at the length of terms served by community members appointed to various boards and commissions.

Council was asked last night to reduce the current length from four years to two, but town clerk Glenn Treftlin did not think that would have helped fill vacancies during this current term.

"In fact they're traditionally the same committees that had difficulties with two year terms getting the full slate of people to fill the vacancies," said Treftlin.

Some councillors felt a shorter term for volunteer members would help attract more residents to serving.