Water Levels Discussed

There are calls for more gauges to monitor water levels on Rainy Lake.

At a meeting in Fort Frances last night, the International Rainy Lake Board of Control was told levels in the North Arm of the Lake this summer reached near flooding conditions while staying normal elsewhere.

Engineering advisor Rick Cousins admits it is an issue for the board.

"We're always looking at trying to increase the gauging we have," says Cousins. "They all cost money and we have to look at the efficiency and effectiveness of additional gauging compared wit the other things we can do."

Cousins says lake levels this year were very unusual with both Rainy River and Namakan Lake experiencing both very low levels in the spring to near highs in July.

Howarth's Becoming Leon's

A well-established business in Fort Frances' downtown will become a Leon's store next month.

Howarth's Home Centre is in the process of liquidating stock before undergoing a renovation to become the local home to the national furniture chain.

Owner Mark Howarth says timing for the change is right.

" We've always been trying to improve on our furniture," says Howarth. "Our electronics and appliances have always been very well priced but we've been a little behind on the furniture so we want to make that better. The Source contract was coming up so we're dropping the The Source and becoming Leon's."

Howarth expects to re-open as Leon's in mid-September.

Howarth's has operated in Fort Frances since 1950.

Sexual Assault Charged Re-Issued

A 62-year-old Ignace man is again facing charges relating to sexual assaults in the region in the 1980s.

Donald Milani is charged with 19 offences.

He was charged in 1987 but all charges were dropped in 1989 when the matter was still in the preliminary hearing stage.

A provincial police spokeswoman says new evidence has come to light.

Milani is to appear in a Thunder Bay court on August 30.

Highway Blitz Begins

Ontario Provincial Police launch Operation Corridor this morning.

The 24-hour safety blitz will target commercial vehicles and their drivers.

Officers will be looking to nab speeders and other aggressive drivers.

The Ministries of Transportation and Environment will conduct truck inspections, looking for poor maintenance, environmental violations and mechanical problems.

MNR Crews Busy in B.C.

(Ministry of Natural Resources Photo)

Ontario fire crews are playing a huge role in forest fire suppression efforts in British Columbia.

The Ministry of Natural Resources has provided nearly five-hundred fireRangers and support personnel for the past two weeks.

MNR Senior agency rep David Cleavely says they've often been asked to take a lead role in many fires.

"As well as having firefighters out here we also have three incident management teams," says Cleavely. "Those teams have been given the responsibility of a large amount of land base. Some of them looking after 30 fires and some of those fires in the neighbourhood of 10 to 20-thousand hectares in size."

Cleavely says the biggest challenge for firefighters has been thick smoke and high temperatures which is restricting the crews work to the morning hours.

Filing Period ends in Minnesota

The filling period for candidates seeking election to local government seats in Minnesota came to an end yesterday.

In the city of Rainer, incumbent Ed Oerichbauer will face a challenge for the mayor's chair from Bernie "Spike" Woods."

Brenda Baeur, Fred Woods senior, Thomas Hall, Terry Lahmayer, Norris Klesman and Marjorie Benning are seeking two trustee positions.

The final list of candidates running for the three councillor seats in International Falls is to be issued later this morning.

Elections will be held November 2.

Golf Fundraiser Needs Golfers

Golfers are needed to help raise money for Muskie Sports teams.

The Muskies Sports Association will hold its annual golf scramble fundraiser on August 29.

Fort Frances High School athletic director Shane Bliss says it's open to anyone.

"Usually people sign up as teams of four," says Bliss. "If you want to do that you can sign up through the (Kitchen Creek) pro shop 274-4653 or call me 274-0502. If there's some individuals that can't find a team, they can still register and maybe we can make up a few teams that way."

Bliss hopes running the event on a Sunday will avoid conflicts of other events and attract more golfers