Power Restored

Power has been restored to over two thousand Hydro One customers in the west end of the Rainy River district.

They lost electricity shortly after midnight this morning.

An equipment failure is blamed for the outage that impacted several areas, including the town of Rainy River, the townships of Morson and Morley and Big Grassy and Big Island First Nations.

July 4th Celebrations in International Falls

Plenty of activities to held celebrate the 4th of July in International Falls

Food and game booths as well as craft tables will open at Smokey Bear Park at 11 a.m.

A Kiddie’s Parade will begin at 12:30 p.m. running along Third Street from Ninth Avenue to Third Avenue.

The main parade goes at 1 p.m. on Third Street from Twelfth Avenue to Third Avenue.

Fireworks will begin at 10 p.m. over the area between Falls High School and Rainy River Community College.

Fort Wins! Fort Wins! Fort Wins!

Fort Frances has retained bragging rights for at least a year after winning the International Pulling for Peace Tug of War Saturday over International Falls.

Fifty people on both sides of the Rainy River participated in the friendly challenge.

Mayor Roy Avis says it was a great event.

"It was a very good day," says Avis. "There's no real winner. It's a pull for peace. We all enjoyed it. We had tremendous turnout, tremendous community support. It was great."

The Americans took the loss admirably, but attributed it to a gravel and slanted ground, compared with the grass on the Canadian side.

Facilities Officially Open

(Voyageurs National Park Superintendent Mike Ward at official opening)

The new headquarters for Voyageurs National Park and the Irvin N. Amphitheater were officially open Saturday with ceremonies and a concert in International Falls.

Park superintendent Mike Ward says it brings much more visibility to the park.
"For us it means great efficiency. A fabulous building to work out of for a long, long time," says Ward. "It's also got a symbolic link to the city for us working together on a project in a tangible way. Everybody can see it's a a building we're going to be in for a long time."

The headquarters and amphitheatres are part of a much larger waterfront development project the city has also dedicated in honour of long time former U-S congressman James Oberstar.

Former Mayor Dies

Funeral services were held Saturday for a former International Fall mayor.

Jack Murray died last Tuesday.

He was 89.

Murray, a marine aviator during World War II in the Pacific, held office for 28 years, 14 as mayor.

Falls Mayor Shawn Mayor calls him a great leader who will be missed.

Government Services Shutdown

Minnesota's state government has shut down non-essential services.

District 3 Senator Tom Saxhaugh says it could be at month or more before some kind of resolve can be found over the State budget.

"It's the same old argument," says Saxhaugh. "Are you going to do the whole thing with cuts to your budget or are you going to raise some revenue? That combination is really where the crux of the matter lies."

Governor Mark Dayton and Republican leaders have been at odds for six months on how to solve a five-billion dollar deficit.

Court Yards Open

Rainycrest Long Term Care gave area residents a look at their new court yards Thursday as part of a staff and volunteer appreciation bar-b-que.

They include flower beds, gardens and benches.

Administrator Edith Bodnar says they're well utilized.

"The residents love them. The families love them," says Bodnar. "They like to go out there and sit on the benches. As we get more furniture I'm sure they'll be used much more."

The court yards were installed as part of other renovations to the home completed last year.

Mini King and Queen Crowned

(Photo courtesy Mike Anderson)

Some royalty of our own on Canada Day.

Fort Frances youngsters Liam Dent and Piper Lidkea were named this year Mini King and Queen.

A total of twenty boys and girls participated.