Doctor Support Tanning Bed Bill

Ontario's doctors are applauding the Liberal government plans to move ahead with a bill to ban teens from using tanning beds.

President of the Ontario Medical Association Dr. Scott Wooder says Ontario's doctors have been sounding the alarm about the harmful effects of tanning beds, especially in children, for several years.

The Liberals intend to fast track the bill into law.

E-Mazing Racers Passing Through Fort Frances

Competitors in the E-mazing race are filtering through Fort Frances.

About forty electric vehicles are crossing the country in the race between Seattle and Prince Edward Island.

Joe Squire of Sun Country Highway says it's promoting both the vehicles reliability and the infrastructure now in place.

Competitors earn points for each charging station they stop at like the one at the La Place Rendez-Vous.

Payday Loans Act To Get Review

The Ontario government says it's going to be taking a close look at it's Payday Loans Act.

The five year old bill was adopted in 2008 to better protect customers.

The province says the review is in response to technological changes in the payday loan industry.

Tuition Rates Continue To Rise

More evidence of the how tuition rates have soared across Canada.

Statistics Canada says full-time students in undergraduate programs are paying 3.3 per cent more in fees this year, on top of a 4.2 per cent increase last year.

Ontario students are paying the highest with the average coming at about $7,200.

Ride Comes To An End

The weather was less than ideal, but the trip was a success.

Three firefighters from Atikokan and one from Dryden have completed a bike trip from the Manitoba-Ontario border to Thunder Bay.

Dryden's Reagan Breeze says it was all for Muscular Dystrophy Canada.

The four began their ride Monday.

CCS To Charge Fee For Transportation Services

Some cancer patients in northwestern Ontario will see a new charge if they need a ride to the Cancer Centre while in Thunder Bay.

The Canadian Cancer Society says any patient signing up to access its transportation service after October 1 will be billed a one-time 100-dollar registration fee.

Regional director Barbara Spencer cites rising costs and increased demand.

The fee does not apply to patients using public transportation or those who qualify for coverage under the Northern Health Travel Grant.

Fight Against Merge Continues

The town of Fort Frances continues to lobby against its municipally owned power corporation being forced into a merger arrangement.

The Liberals have said it won't legislate any mergers, but there's industry concern government could implement measures forcing small utilities to join with larger ones.

Mayor Roy Avis, who attending a recent workshop in Ottawa, says Fort Frances power users are already enjoying the lowest electricity rates in the province and a merger with a utility such as Hydro One could lead to those rates going up.

Avis members of the Power Corp. have meetings planned with the Deputy Minister of Energy to discuss the issue.

Province Takes Action To Protect Consumers

The Ontario government is taking action against the tactics used by certain companies to sell their products.

New legislation introduced is aim specifically at companies who offer deals on water heaters door-to-door and debt settlement services.

It's also proposing more protection for home buyers and sellers in real estate bidding and gives them more power to negotiate fees when working with a real estate firm.

Deficit Drops

Ontario's deficit is coming in lower than expected.

The figure for the 2012-13 fiscal year of $9.2 billion dollars is $5.6 billion less than projected by the Liberal government in its 2012 budget.

One-time labour savings and spending cuts are cited as contributing factors.

Five Facing Drug Charges

Four men and a woman are facing drug charges following a series of separate investigations by the OPP in the Rainy River district in the past couple of weeks.

Three of the people were found with a total of over 80 oxycodone tablets.

Another was charged after police seized 20 marijuana plants and 32 grams of marijuana from the LaVallee township area.

And last Friday, acting on a tip, police intercepted a Thunder Bay man travelling to Fort Frances to find 126 grams of marihuana, drug paraphernalia and a butterfly knife in his possession.

Federal Grant Requested

Federal funding is being sought to implement some of the measures identified that could offset the impact of job loss at the Boise mill in International Falls.

Koochiching County Commissioner Wade Paveleck says its key to accomplishing the goals of a job recovery team with the city.

The exact dollar figure requested is still to be determined.

Pavleck says they hope to have better idea of the how much by the time they complete an application in time for Friday's deadline.

City Goes To Public For Input

The city of International Falls is hoping for some input on a parcel of landing to the west of the city.

It obtained the 122 acres adjacent to the Rainy River and Falls Country Club in a deal with the Donahue family trust in 2009.

Director of Economic and Community Development Shawn Mason says some ideas have been floated already, including a suggestion the city do nothing and sell it off.

The city's holding a series of public meeting to gather input, the first of which was held Wednesday night.

The next takes place at the AmericInn September 25.

Plane Crash Near Kenora

Another crash of an airplane in the Kenora area.

Provincial Police say it happened Tuesday afternoon on Black Sturgeon Lake while the float plane was conducting touch and go take offs and landings.

OPP say the pilot lost control and made contact with the water.

The pilot suffered minor injuries.

Riverside Bring Bottled Water For Emo Hospital

Riverside Health Care Facilities says it's implemented a number of precautions at its Emo Health Centre as the township goes through a boil water advisory.

Work on the water treatment facility led to the advisory going into place Tuesday until further notice.

Riverside says it's supplying bottle water for all patients and residents at the Health Centre and has implemented measures within its food service and infection prevention and control.

MPP Wants Liberals To Resist HST Increase

Kenora-Rainy River MPP Sarah Campbell wants a guarantee the Liberals won't hike the HST or gas taxes to offset the cost of expanding transit services in southern Ontario.

It's a suggestion offered by Metrolinx to help fund services in the Great Toronto and Hamilton areas.

Campbell says her constituents are concerned about how the province will fund strategy, noting northerners are tapped out.

Tuition Rates Not Fair

A Canadian student group says a lack of national standards for post-secondary education is leading to a discrepancy in tuition rates across the country.

A study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives finds Ontario with the highest tuition fees while the most affordable is in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Chair of the Canadian Federation of Students Jessica McCormick says standards for post-secondary education should be set and enforced by the feds in the same matter as health care.