Municipal Election Candidates

No elections will be held for municipal councils in two Rainy River District communities this October.

The current sitting council in Fort Frances were returned after no further nominations were received at Friday's deadline.

Clerk Glenn Treftlin says this is the first time since he's been clerk that there's been no contest for council.

Alberton's township council will also proceed without an election after reeve Mike Hammond and councillor Mike Ford filed their nominations just before Friday's close to round out the council table.

Legislation does not permit acclamation until 4 p-m today.

The township of Morley will hold a second round of nominations on Wednesday for the office of reeve.

No one filed for the position at the close of nominations Friday.

The seat is currently held by Gary Gamsby.

Incumbents George Heyens, Maury Neilson and Bill Romyn, along with Moe Henry, will be acclaimed as councillors.

There are several races elsewhere in the Rainy River District.

In LaVallee township, Ross Donaldson and Ken McKinnon seek the reeve's chair vacated by Emily Watson who did not seek reelection.

Harold Kellar, Freeda Carmody, Jim Belluz, Donald (Darcy) Robson, Brian Trimble, Dale Stamarski, Dennis Allen and Lucille MacDonald are running for council.

Ed Carlson faces a challenge for the mayor's seat in Emo from Vincent Sheppard.

Ken Fisher, Gary Judson, Anthony Leek, Geoff Pearce, Harriet Sheloff, Robert Simmons, Vernon Thompson and Daniel Young are running for councillor.

In Atikokan, mayor Dennis Brown is up against former township Reeve Bob Davidson.

Marlene Davidson, Bud Dickson, Gerry Duhamel, Sherwin Durand, Bob Gosselin, Gayle Green, Darrin Hanlon, Marj Lambkin and Mary Makarenko are running for councillor.

In Lake of the Woods township, long-time incumbent mayor Valerie Pizey is being challenged by Gerald Fisk.

On the ballot for councillor are Glenn Anderson, April Chojko-Bolek, Colleen Fadden, Nancy Gate, Bill Lundgren, JoAnn Moen, Rocford Moen, Hugh O'Hare, Adrienne Olson and Tony Sepers.

Eltjo Wiersema returns as Mayor of Dawson Township.

Linda Armstrong, Aime Desaulniers, Bennett Drenna, Brenda Jodoin and Archie Wiersema battle for the four councillor seats.

Deb Ewald was unopposed in her bid for another term as Mayor of Rainy River.

Ashley Stamler, Gord Armstrong, Larry Armstrong, Ed Tymkin, Susan Carpenter, Brent Anderson, Weston Blight and Gerry Marchuk are running for councillor.

The only election in the township of Chapple will be for the councillor seat in Ward four where incumbent Rick Neilson and Murray Gerula will seek voter support.

Reeve Peter Van Heyst, along with councillors Rilla Race and James Gibson, were acclaimed.

They'll be joined by newcomer Ken Wilson who ran unopposed in Ward 1.

School Board Candidates

There are also elections for some seats on both the public and catholic school boards.

On the Rainy River District School Board, incumbents Dan Belluz and Terry Higgins are joined by David Kircher on the ballot for the two seats available in Fort Frances.

Dianne McCormack and Michelle Abraham are seeking the seat representing the far west of the district.

Margaret Heyens returns as trustee for the Emo and Chapple areas.

Glenda Belluz was unopposed in her return representing the Alberton and LaVallee townships area.

Mike Lewis will serve the Atikokan area.

On the Northwest Catholic District School Board, incumbents Anne-Marie Fitzergerald, Harold Huntley and Paul Cousineau will the two trustee seats available in Fort Frances.

Incumbent Mark Chojko-Bolek and Roseanne Zimmerman are seeking the seat representing the west part of the Rainy River District.

Teresa Larson will sit as trustee for Atikokan.

Check the Voters List

Fort Frances town officials are encouraging residents to check the voters lists for this October's municipal election.

Clerk Glenn Treftlin says because they're conducting mail-in ballot, they need to ensure lists are correct by the close of business Monday.

Voter lists can also be viewed online or at the Civic Centre, the Library and Memorial Sports Centre.

New Visitor Hours

Riverside Health Care Facilities is implementing new a visitor policy at its hospitals and at Rainycrest Long Term Care.

Visitor hours at the hospitals in Emo, Rainy River and Fort Frances will now go from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Hours at Rainycrest Long Term Care are from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Officials say the change respects the needs of the patient and the role family and friends play in the healing process.

Queen's Park Resumes

The long-summer break for provincial politicians end's today.

MPP's are back to work at Queen's Park.

Kenora-Rainy River MPP Howard Hampton expects the Liberals will use the session to try to sell themselves in advance of next year's provincial election.

"The government has certainly started their election campaign," says Hampton. "They will try to use this session as an election campaign, but I think the bigger issues, things like people's hydro bills, the continuing difficulties in the health care system and the Far North Act, will overshadow any attempt by the government to run an election campaign."

The only piece of new government legislation planned this fall will be aimed at pension reform.

Resort Receives Funds

The provincial government is helping a Rainy River area hunting and fishing lodge expand.

Harris Hill Resort is receiving more than $147-thousand from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund to help winterize cabins and expand a septic system, allowing it to operate year-round.

The expansion is expected to lead to another two positions created at the resort, located 30 kilometres north of Rainy River on Lake of the Woods.

First Nation Protest

A dispute over the band's operation of the community's school is at the heart of a dispute in Whitefish Bay First Nation, east of Sioux Narrows.

Some band members began a protest at the school Thursday.

They're upset with band council take over of the education authority which lead to the subsequent firing the board and its education director.

The school principal and several teachers also recently quit.

Quetico Search

A search is underway in the interior of Quetico Provincial Park for a man who fell out of a canoe Thursday afternoon.

OPP responded to McAree Lake after an emergency GPS locator beacon was deployed in the park.

OPP, along with the Ministry of Natural Resources personnel are conducting marine patrols of the lake.

An OPP dive team is expected to arrive on scene Friday afternoon.

Tour de Fort Future in Doubt

The group responsible for bringing entertainment to Fort Frances says if it doesn't sell more season-passports by next Tuesday, it will end operations at the end of the 2010-11 season.

President of Tour de Fort, Kerry Zucchiatti says they need to sell at least another 125 passports to ensure they have the funds needed to book performers for another season.

"Despite a huge effort to promote the series, it seems that interest has seriously waned," says Zucchiatti, "and without those support dollars, we simply cannot enter into contracts in good faith."

As part of its campaign, the group is contacting former passport holders and making passports available at Shopper Drug Mart and the Fort Frances Public Library.

Victims of Crime Programs Get Funding

A Fort Frances agency is getting help to help aboriginal people who are victims of crime.

Weechi-ti-te-win Family Services is receiving $192-thousand from the province's aboriginal victims support grant program for a variety of programs.

Lori Flinders, Director of Ninaadawewinan says all of the programs as based on community needs.

"It's very important that it's provided an opportunity for us to have intervention and prevention rooted in our traditional and cultural practices for our ten first nations," says Flinders.

David Zimmer, Ontario's Parliamentary Assistant to the Attorney General, made the funding announcement during a visit to the area Thursday.