Art Centre Future Discussed

(Atikokan Arts Centre photo)

Officials with the Atikokan Art Centre are sitting down today with an unnamed community organization to discuss a possible takeover of the facility.

Chair Jada Siegfried says they'll be bringing forward a proposal that would see the building and land donated to the group.

Siegfried says it's not certain if a final decision will be made today.

The Centre's is facing the threat of running out of money at the end of this month.

District Population on Decline

A new report shows the population in the Rainy River district still in decline.
Statistics Canada says the district's population last year at just over 21-thousand - a 12 per cent drop from 2009 and the loss of nearly one- thousand people from five years ago.

Most of the decline is being attributed to people moving to other centres in Ontario.

The report also shows the average age in northwestern Ontario at about 41 years with almost 15 per cent of the population over the age of 65.

Local Food Act Required

Kenora-Rainy River MPP Howard Hampton wants to see more Ontario food used by government departments and agencies.

Hampton says the province is encouraging voluntary purchasing, but feels a procurement policy would better suit farmers.

"Why don't we start paying attention to what local producers can produce right now," says Hampton. "and put in place the purchasing strategies and the marketing strategies to make this happen in a way that benefits consumers and benefits our farmers."

Hampton says the province should follow the examples set by Nova Scotia and Illinois that require their agencies to purchase at least 20 per cent of foods from local sellers.

Native Housing Funding

Just over $14 million is being handed out to Ontario's First Nations for social housing projects.

Kenora MP Greg Rickford made the announcement at a Northern Ontario Housing Conference in Thunder Bay.

Rickford says the money will help improve the housing situation on many First Nations.

"This is going to go a long way to create not just social housing," says Rickford, "but opportunities for the Bands to stabilize housing challenges in their communities."

Couchiching First Nations is among area First Nations to benefit, receiving $402-thousand.

Readerboard Repairs Sought

Municipalities and First Nations promoted on an electric readerboard at the Fort France border are being asked to help pay for some recent repairs.

The Rainy River Futures Development Corporation say it had to replace a faulty circuit board that caused the board malfunction for a short period of time.

It's now asking Kenora, Sioux Narrows-Nestor Falls, Dryden and Fort Frances, along with two First Nations organizations, to share in the 42-hundred dollars cost.

U.S. Visitor Fee Suggested

President Barack Obama is floating the idea of charging a fee for every Canadian entering the U.S. by air or sea.

The proposal is outlined in the 2012 federal draft budget he submitted to Congress on Monday.

The $5.50 fee would not apply to visitors arriving in private vehicles.

Visitors from Canada, Mexico and a number of Caribbean countries are currently exempt from ``passenger inspection fees.''

Obama's budget blueprint proposes lifting those exemptions and using the revenue from the charges to support air passenger inspections which have recently grown more intensive.

Weather Records Set

Another unusual warm February day resulted in more weather records in the Borderland.

Atikokan was the hot spot in Ontario yesterday with a high of 15.1 C.

That shattered the 1981 record of 9.6 C.

International Falls' high of 48 F tied a 1981 record.

There was no record in Fort Frances, but the thermometer did reach 8.5 C.

The warm weather, however, won't last.

Temperatures well below Zero arrive tomorrow.