More Forest Fire Help Sent West

(MNR Photo)

Ontario is sending more support to help western Canada deal with its forest fire situation.

Debbie MacLean of the Ministry of Natural Resources says one-hundred firefighters will depart for British Columbia later this afternoon.

Most are from northwestern Ontario and join those already in the west.

"Right now we have 75 west fire region personal in BC, 21 in Manitoba and 21 in Saskatchewan," says MacLean. "We're sending an additional 63 out of the 107 leaving today."

MNR crews have been in BC and Saskatchewan since Sunday.

Those in Manitoba are into their second week.

Seniors Committee Formed

Ontario Provincial Police are teaming up with the Northwestern Health Unit and the Older Adults Mental Health Program on a new program aimed at seniors.

The Seniors and Law Enforcement Together, or SALT, is intended to give seniors a say into how the agencies can better help them.

Constable Anne McCoy says the first meeting was held yesterday.

"We're just in the beginning stages," says McCoy. "You can come out and be on the committee or come out and just be a part of it on a month by month basis. We're not looking for a huge commitment. We're just looking for some input and some involvement from older adults in our community."

McCoy says part of the committee's role is helping police promote policing programs focusing on seniors.

New Forestry Numbers Released

Thunder Bay-Rainy River MP John Rafferty is calling the latest statistics on Canada forest industry dismal.

Natural Resources Canada figure show the forestry industry significance to the Canadian economy is not at great today as it was four years ago.

Rafferty says the Harper government has played a role in that decline.

"Lots of people say what does government have to do with it, but government has to be a piece," says Rafferty. "and he has failed to stop the decline. He's made no significant investment certainly relative to the size of the sector."

Rafferty feels the numbers will continue to drop without federal support.

Ministers Asked to Step Down

There's a call for three Ontario cabinet ministers to resign because of a police fraud investigation into their ministries.

Provincial police raided the Ministries of Transportation, Economic Development and Trade, and Community and Social Services on July 15 as part of a corruption probe.

No charges have been laid, but NDP justice critic Peter Kormos says the ministers should resign at least until the investigation and any prosecutions are completed.

Fight on Blight Continues

The city of International Falls says its making good progress in its efforts to tear down derelict residential buildings.

The city's initiated a fight-on-blight program about five years ago.

The city's building inspector Kelly Meyers says crews have been fairly busy this year taking care of unsightly properties and removing old buildings.

"Since about the first of the year we've done about eighteen buildings," says Meyers. "They've been house and garages, some of them very dilapidated homes that needed to be removed. We've also done some sheds and individual homes that have gone past their prime."

The city's now looking at some modifications to the ordinance to help it deal with repeat offenders, especially with unsightly lawns.

Cellphone Crackdown

Law enforcement agencies across Minnesota will be conducting a one-day crackdown on motorists who use a cellphone or text while driving today.

It will be part of "Distraction Free Driving Day."

The department's Office of Traffic Safety also is launching a print and radio campaign to educate drivers about Minnesota's two-year-old law banning texting while driving.

Officials say driver distraction is a leading factor in crashes in Minnesota.

Weather Increasing Liquor and Beer Sales

Ontario residents are cracking open more cool ones this summer, a trend some are attributing to the weather.

The LCBO says sales of beer and cider from June 30 to July 17 show an increase of 11.5 per cent over the same period last summer.

Meanwhile, the Beer Store has seen a three per cent increase over last year's sales in June and July.

Odour Complaints Linger

There are more complaints coming from the Minnesota side of Rainy River over an odour that many residents there believe is coming from AbitibiBowater's mill in Fort Frances.

Koochiching County Commissioner Wade Pavleck says the county's fired off letters to the company asking for information on what's been done to stem the smell since an initial meeting three years ago.

"They were going to make quarterly reports to us as they made progress on doing some updates that were going to take of the problem," says Pavleck. "But those meetings never occurred and the odours have continued. It's got to the point that we've got so many complaints that we had to take some action ourselves and try to get the parties back together."

The company maintains its meeting guidelines for air emissions at its mill.

Rainycrest Shortfall Discussed

Discussions are underway between Riverside Health Care Facilities, the Northwest Local Health Integration Network and the Health Ministry to find cost savings at Rainycrest Long Term Care.

CEO Wayne Woods says about half of Riverside's 1-point-1 million dollar shortfall this year is attributed to the Fort Frances home.

"We have to look at Rainycrest," says Woods. "It's been producing a significant deficit for the last three years so we have to be looking at it quite seriously."

Woods says steps to address the shortfall could be similar to those used in dealing with deficits that occurred at Riverside's three hospitals.

Outage Corrected

An outage effecting 9-1-1 service in northern St. Louis County has been corrected.

Officials says the outage was caused by crews working near Aurora, east of Virginia, who damaged a fiber-optic cable.

The outage also impacted some land line, cell phone and Internet services in International Falls and Rainer.

Spray Park Official Opening

Residents of Emo gathered Tuesday night for the official opening of its spray park.

Construction was completed just a few weeks ago.

Fundraising chair Lincoln Dunn says it was a full community effort to make it a reality.

"The support from the community has been unbelievable," says Dunn. "Some of the partners who have worked with us on this project have been there every time we've gone back look for material, labour, assistance or expertise. It's been just outstanding."

Dunn also credits the support of several volunteers in reaching their objective.

More than $225-thousand was raised for the project over a three year period.

NCDS Primary Training Provider

Northern Community Development Services is expecting little change to how it delivers programs after being selected the primary employment and training provider in the Rainy River District.

NCDS will help carry out the province's new Employment Ontario model.

It does include an end to the Job Connect program for youth, but a broader range of programming for all ages.

Ontario's Minister of Training John Milloy says residents now have access to all programs at one location.

Comuzzi Name Back in Political Arena

There's a Comuzzi looking to get back into federal politics.

Maureen Comuzzi-Stehmann, the niece of former longtime Thunder Bay MP Joe Comuzzi, is seeking the federal Tory nomination in the Thunder Bay-Rainy River Riding.

"We'll I feel after many years or service with Mr. Comuzzi that it's time for someone else to pick up the torch," says Comuzzi-Stehmann, "and who better than his niece to do that."

No date has been set for the nomination.

New Terry Fox Run Organizer

There will be a new organizer of the Terry Fox run in Fort Frances this September.

The Church of the Holy Spirit in Fort Frances will coordinate the run's thirtieth anniversary.

Spokesperson Cheryle Wolfe says there's a significant connection to the church.

"We have a member of our congregation, George Walsh and his brother Sandy, who have taken part in the carrying of the colour flag in Thunder Bay since day one," says Wolfe. "It's kind of a special thing for George which is a special thing for all of us."

Wolfe says they are looking at a new route and ways of involving more people from around the district.

Pledge forms and t-shirts are expected to be made available soon.

Bayfield Adds Second Drill Rig

Bayfield Ventures is stepping up its exploration activities north of Barwick.

The company is adding a second drill rig to its Rainy River gold project.

It's hoping the results will lead to an expansion of gold mineralization previously determined by Rainy River Resources on its site which is adjacent to Bayfield's property.

Restructuring Plan Outline Approved

AbitibiBowater has won court approval of its restructuring plan outline, allowing the company to seek the support from its creditors.

Under the plan, unsecured creditors would share the reorganized company’s stock in addition to the right to participate in a 500-million dollar notes offering that would be convertible into equity.

Secured creditors would be paid in full in cash, or get some other other mutually agreed upon treatment that would give them a full recovery.

The company’s existing shareholders would be wiped out under the proposal.

Driver Charged

A motorist faces several charges after trying to allude police in Fort Frances on the weekend.

OPP say as officers turned to follow a motorist driving in an erratic manner in the town's west end early Sunday morning, the driver sped away only to stop along McIrvine Road near Eighth Street.

The driver then fled his vehicle, but was apprehended a short time late by police at a nearby private business.

He now faces several Highway Traffic Act offences, entering a premise where prohibited and impaired driving.

Busy Weekend for OPP

A busy weekend for Provincial Police in the Rainy River district.

Police responded to 135 calls between during the August long weekend.

Among them, nine motor vehicle collisions - four involving wildlife.

No injuries were reported in any of the accidents.

Forty-seven charges were also laid during traffic patrols, including three for motorists having a radar warning device.

Mill Fire

Minimal damage is being reported from a weekend fire at AbitibiBowater's mill in Fort Frances.

It started shortly after midnight Sunday in the area of the paper machines.

Mill staff and the mill's sprinkler system helped contained the blaze by the time firefighters with the Fort Frances Fire and Rescue Service arrived on scene.

Officials says the fire was likely started by an overheated bearing.