Education Director Announces Retirement

The director of education with the Northwest Catholic District School Board is calling it a career.

Mary-Catherine Kelly plans to retire at the end of this August.

Kelly says the timing to leave after seven-and-a-half years is right.

Kelly says a need to be closer to her aging parent in southern Ontario also played a role in her decision.

Council Vacancy Filled

The township of Alberton has filled a vacancy on its council.

Wayne Woods was selected in a special council meeting held this past week to review applications for the seat left open by the recent departure of Doug Mitchell.

Woods will be sworn into office next month.

Illegal Baskets Stopped At Border

U.S. authorities in International Falls have stopped a shipment of baskets, they say had the potential to do harm to the country's forest.

The baskets, originating from China, were being railed through Canada to the U.S. when they reached the Falls rail facility for inspection.

Officials says the baskets were made out of a type of willow that's prohibited in many countries because of its risk of spreading watermark disease and being a potential host to several wood-boring pests.

Almost 8-thousand baskets were seized and destroyed.

Help To Attract Doctors Wanted

There are renewed calls for the province to rework the rules around signing physicians to contracts.

Vice-President of the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association, Dave Canfield says the current model, based on population, doesn't take into account patients from the outlying communities and First Nations.

Canfield claims several doctors wanting to practice in the north are being held up by bureaucracy.

Opposition Questioning Future Wage Freezes

The Ontario government is coming under fire for its position on wage freezes for public servants.

Opposition Conservatives are accusing the government of back-pedaling on the freezes.

P-C Leader Tim Hudak says a change of government is the only way to get the province's finances back on track.

Chambers Award Winners

Fort Frances Chamber of Commerce handed out awards in its annual business awards last night.

Here are the winners

Business of the Year – Award Sponsored by 93.1 The Border

·         Norwest Animal Clinic

Business Woman of the Year – Award Sponsored by the Professional Women’s Network

·         Heather Johnson, RBC Royal Bank

Customer Service – Business – Award Sponsored by TD Canada Trust

·         North Auto

Customer Service Award – Individual - – Award Sponsored by Good Impressions Printing

·         Pamela Bujold, Greensides General Store

Employee of the Year – Award Sponsored by the West End Weekly

·         Rosanne Farmer, Fort Frances Times

Entrepreneur of the Year – Award Sponsored by the Rainy River Futures Development Corporation

·         Kevin Webb, Webb’s Power Shack

Home Based Business Award – Award Sponsored by M.L. Caron Electric

·         Kirsty Sinclair, K.I.D.S.

Small Business Trainer of the Year – Award Sponsored by NCDS

·         Steve MacNeil, Rainy Lake Tribal Contracting

The Tony Beyak Memorial Volunteer of the Year Award – Award Sponsored by the Fort Frances Chamber of Commerce

·         Jan Judson