Coroner's Inquest Makes Recommendations

A coroner's jury is recommending increased staff training and searches of inmates after examining the death of an Atikokan man at the Fort Frances district jail.

An inquest into the August 2009 death of 21-year old Dylan Wreggitt determined he died accidentally of opiate toxicity.

The jury made a total of eight recommendation after hearing two-days of testimony last week in Fort Frances.

They included the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services making resources available to staff for enhancing training regarding drug screening and that the Fort Frances jail consider using OPP K-9 units to conduct random weekly searches of the cells.

Multiple Ballots Received

Some voters in the Rainy River district may have received multiple Vote by Mail kits for this month's school board elections.

The kits were sent out last week.

The Rainy River District School Board says electors with property in both a municipality and an unorganized area may have received kits from both their municipality and the school board.

Superintendent of Business Laura Mills says the mailings could not be avoided due to the way voter notification lists were produced.

Voters are to use just one ballot, and to return it to their municipality.

Stop Being Nice: Panel

How do we get northwestern Ontario issues on the radar at Queen's Park?

That was the topic at a panel discussion at the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association conference in Thunder Bay.

Panelist and Toronto Star Writer Christine Blizzard says northerners have to stop being nice.

"I was very surprised to hear (municipal leaders) had given two standing ovations to Premier Dalton McGuinty," says Blizzard, "in light of the far north act that was passed against serious opposition from northwestern Ontario that the crowd could have been a lot more critical."

Others says northerners need to focus attention on a couple of key issues at one time.

More Gold Found in Atikokan

An mining company says its found new gold zones near Atikokan.

The discovery by Sparton Resources was made during its summer exploration program of property that straddles Osisko Mining Corporation's Hammond Reef project.

Sparton is planning more exploration this fall that will include a drilling of the identified areas.

Live@edu

The Rainy River District School Board is partnering with Microsoft to make its Live@edu initiative available to secondary students across the district.

Information Technology Services manager Stephen Danielson says it allows students to access their school emails and projects from any computer.

"From home, the public library, wherever they have an interest connection," says Danielson. "The nice part is that they can transfer their files from school to an on-line storage and access that same file from home."

Danielson says they are already looking to expand the initiative to students in grade seven and eight.

Students Clean Shoreline

The shores of Rainy River are a little cleaner today, thanks in part of the students from J.W. Walker School in Fort Frances.

Teacher Angela Petsnick says about forty students picked up garbage as part of the Great Canadian Shoreline Clean-Up.

"Last year we picked up a lot of cigarette butts along the river front," says Petsnick, "A lot food wrappers and plastic bottles. Sometimes we find some weird things like a seagull or a skunk. We pick up everything."

This is the sixth year the school has participated in the Canada-wide clean-up.

Far North Act Defended

Ontario's Premier is defending the Far North Act.

Numerous groups including businesses and First Nations organizations have condemned it.

Speaking in Thunder Bay, Dalton McGuinty believes there will be a way to work around any concerns.

"We're going to work hard with our First Nation communities," says McGuinty, "to make sure we establish a genuine partnership where each party has confidence in the other and that we can almost anticipate each others thinking.

McGuinty also appointed a new coordinator to oversee the Ring of Fire chromite deposit initiative.

ReThink Economic Development: Consultant

Northwestern Ontario communities need to rethink the way they carry out economic development.

Brock Dickinson, an economic development consultant, spoke at the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association Conference in Thunder Bay.

Dickinson says northern communities need to revamp their economic development skills.

"The tools, the offices and the systems that we put in place were put in place thirty or forty years ago," says Dickinson, "and focused on things that are not on the leading edge of the new economy. Step one is to rethink what we're doing and why we're doing it."

Dickinson says the North can also thrive on entrepreneurs that do business world wide using technology such as green energy.

Rafferty Introduces Seconds FASD Bill

Thunder Bay-Rainy River MP John Rafferty has introduced his second Private Members' Bill on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.

Rafferty is calling on the Federal Government to develop a national strategy on the issue.

The bill is not expected to come up for debate before the next federal election.