Mine Centre Tender Accepted

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.

St. Francis School Project Funded

The Northwestern Catholic District School Board has received provincial funding for a renewable energy project for St. Francis School in Fort Frances.

Superintendent of Education Chris Howarth says the $159-thousand is for the installation of a SolarDuct Photovoltaic project.

"It consists of solar panels that will use the sun's energy," says Howarth. "Using a converter, we'll convert it into electricity and that will be fed back into Ontario's power grid and the school board will see revenue from that."

Howarth says the project could generate $27-thousand annually for the board through the sale of power back to the grid when in place next fall.

Parade of Boats Returns

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.

Labour Leaders Pan Deficit Reduction Plans

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.

OPSEU Calls Government to "Come Clean"

The Ontario Public Service Employees Union is calling on the Liberal government to "come clean'' about a police raid on provincial offices in Toronto last week.

President Smokey Thomas says the union has been told that its members were not the target of the OPP raid, but thousands of workers remain under a cloud of suspicion because the government won't state which ministries were targeted.

Eco Fees Lifted, But...

Ontario residents may not be paying the controversial eco fee at the cash register, but they're still on the hook for the program.

Environment Minister John Gerretsen lifted the fees yesterday, but says the government will fork over up to five-million dollars to keep the program going for the next three months.

He says the government will take that time to come up with a better plan to offset the cost of recycling potentially hazardous items.