Municipals Seek More Help with Infrastructure Projects

2009-04-20

07:39:56

Municipal leaders are looking for a new funding formula to help cover the costs of local infrastructure projects.

Currently, federal, provincial and municipal governments each share one-third of the total cost. But Reeve of Machin township Garry Parkes says many smaller communities like his can't afford the local share.

"Shovel ready projects are great for larger communities," says Parkes, "but they are unavailable to the small population with a small tax base. What we need is some kind of change in the formula to deal with our issues in small communities. You give us the money, we'll do the project."

Northern Development Minister Michael Gravelle says he is giving communities an opportunity to cover one-half of their share through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund.

 

Festival Results - Friday

2009-04-20

07:27:21

The first week of the Rainy River District Festival of the Performing Arts has wrapped up.

Drama competitions closed out the week. Here is a list of all winners.

FESTIVAL RESULTS, DRAMA DIVISION, Friday, April 17, 2009

 

CLASS A204

                First – Felicia Schmutz

                Second – Kayla Gardiman

CLASS A110-A

                First – Kayla Gardiman

                Second – Emily Donaldson

CLASS A110-B

                First – Michael Brady

                Second – Kasemer Hawrylak

CLASS A110-C

                First – Jonathan McCoy

CLASS A110-D

                First – (TIE) Justine Christie and Felicia Schmutz

CLASS A1301

                First – Melissa Fletcher

CLASS A1302

                First – Justine Christie

                Second – (TIE) Jonathan McCoy, Felicia Schmutz, Kasemer Hawrylak

CLASS A1306

                First – (TIE) Justine Christie and Michael Brady

 

FESTIVAL RESULTS, FRENCH DRAMA, Friday, April 17, 2009

CLASS F105-B

                First – Justine Christie

                Second –Kasemer Hawrylak

CLASS F203-B

                First – Michael Brady

CLASS F102-B

                First – Jade Green

CLASS F102-DI

                First – Wyatt McLeod

                Second – (TIE) Abigale McLeod and Avery Wilson-Hands

CLASS F102-DII

                First – Mackenzie Wright

                Second – Eric Matthews and Aiden Tullio

CLASS F103-A

                First – Maddie Sanders

                Second – Alyssa Chiasson

CLASS F103-C

                First – Shanleigh Fryer

CLASS F105

                First – St. Francis School, Grades 4 and 5 – Director:  Solange Busch

 

 

Local Entries in Boston Marathon

2009-04-20

07:26:21

It's a day of pounding the pavement in Boston for two area women.

Lori Green and Conne Badiuk are among the thousands taking part in the annual Boston Marathon.

The race begins at 9 this morning central time.

Arpin 10th

2009-04-20

07:24:57

It was a successful day at the track for Steve Arpin.

Arpin earned his first top-ten finish in ARCA-Remax Sunday at Rockingham Speedway in North Carolina.

The 10th place showing also moved Arpin up to 10th place in the overall standings.

Teacher Deal in Keewatin-Patricia

2009-04-20

07:23:57

Elementary school teachers with the Keewatin-Patricia District School Board have reached a tentative contract agreement.

The Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario says it reached the deal Saturday night. Ratification votes are scheduled for later this month.

Meantime, talks with teachers in the Rainy River district continue.

Hospital Funding Announced

2009-04-20

07:20:06

Area Hospitals are getting more money.

The North West Local Health Integration Network is providing nearly $3 million for thirteen regional hospitals for hospital upgrades.

Riverside Health Care Facilities will receive more than $545 thousand. Atikokan General Hospital will get $186 thousand.

Changes to Bass Championship

2009-04-20

07:17:53

There's going to be a new look to this year's Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship.

The event is being shortened with the tournament starting in the middle of the week. Some events, such as the Parade of Boats and teen dance, have been eliminated. President Tom Fry says the changes reflect public concerns that a week-long event was too long.

"That's the message we we getting from the public," says Fry, "that there was too many nights involved. That was one of the reasons we saw a fall off of attendance in the first couple of days."

Fry says the elimination of the parade of boats was based on declining participation from anglers and lower than expected attendance at the tent site.

NOMA Executive Elected

2009-04-20

07:16:30

Dryden Mayor Anne Krassilowsky will continue as the president of the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association.

Joining her on NOMA's executive include Morley township Reeve Gary Gamsby who will serve in an vice-presidency capacity.

Also on the board from the Rainy River district include Rainy River Mayor Debbie Ewald, Atikokan Mayor Dennis Brown and Emo C-A-O Brenda Cooke.

 

Municipalies Request Involvement in Land Claims

2009-04-20

07:07:58

Municipalities in the Rainy River district have renewed calls for more involvement in local land claims.

Stanjikoming First Nation is in the midst of a claim. President of the Rainy River district municipal association, Emily Watson says recent government correspondence leaves out municipal involvement in those talks.

"this letter is from Lees Hanson who is the senior negotiator, negotiations from the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs. She closes by saying 'I would like to assure you that I will continue to keep you updated as negotiations progress," says Watson. "Keep us updated? No mention of inclusion once again."

Watson says she did attend a meeting last June, but is waiting for an invite to further talks.

Minister Considers Tourist Centre Options

2009-04-20

06:52:56

Ontario's tourism minister says she'll consider ways of attracting more people to the province's tourist information centre in Fort Frances.

Monique Smith made the comments after touring the area Friday with Fort Frances town officials.

"We've got some work to do to better access the tourist information centre," says Smith, " and we're going to look at some creative solutions."

Mayor Roy Avis says better signage that directs people to the centre was among the ideas discussed. He says her tour of the centre gave the minister of a better understanding of the town's concerns.

"We've put forward briefs to the ministry of tourism many, many times," says Avis, "Now she's walked through it. She's seen it. Now she has a better understanding of what our problem is."

The number of visitors to the centre has been dropping in recent years.

 

Regional Government Proposed

2009-04-20

06:45:07

The development of a regional government is being floated by some elected officials in northwestern Ontario.

The idea was discussed on the weekend by delegates attending the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association meeting in Fort Frances. Schreiber councillor Patrick Halonen says it may give them more control over how provincial policies are implemented in the north.

"I believe right now that southern Ontario does really understand the north, and we're being dictated to," says Halonen. "They are making moves that effect northern Ontario people. Not southern Ontario people."

NOMA president Anne Krassilowsky doesn't fully support the idea of a regional government, but understands why its being discussed now.

"There is such a frustration of job loss, and direct and indirect businesses that are disappearing," says Krassilowsky. "I can understand that part, but we just can not create something we can't afford either and adds another cost to communities."

Thunder Bay councillor Iain Angus says the idea of a form of third-level government was reviewed when NOMA established the so-called Common Voice Initiative, but quickly dismissed.

"It would require a constitutional amendment," says Angus. "We choose the path, let's fix what we can to help the people today than some esoteric concept that might come in to being in 15 or 20 years." 

 

 

Tourism Regions Discussed

2009-04-17

13:12:54

A request to maintain Ontario's Sunset Country Travel Association is getting a cool reception from the province's tourism minister.

The province is looking at merging Sunset Country into a much larger tourism marketing organization for the entire northwest. Monique Smith says new body will be effective.

"The larger regions allow for better marketing for better products to be developed," says Smith, "and for a broader, more bank for your buck. So we want to work with our existing destination marketing organizations and with the regions that don't have anyone representing them to make sure we can marketing every part of region effectively."

Smith says the ministry will be discussing its proposal with industry officials later this month in Kenora and Thunder Bay.

Province Helping Forest Industry: Cansfield

2009-04-17

13:09:47

Natural Resources Minister Donna Cansfield says Ontario's not ignoring the province's forest industry.

Critics have argued the province isn't doing en ought to help the industry financially.

Speaking to area mayors and reeves in Fort Frances, Cansfield said her Ministry provided AbitibiBowater, in particular, with more than $150 million, including $20 million for its new biomass boiler in Fort Frances.

"We have been with them as they started to make their transition," says Cansfield. "The challenge they've got, in Abitibi's case, is that their entire global market has collapsed."

Cansfield expects the forest sector to survive, but will have a different look.

Crimestoppers Clearing the Air

2009-04-17

13:06:32

Northwestern Ontario-Northern Minnesota Crimestoppers is "clearing the air".

Coordinator Gary Potter is touring the region speaking to High School students about the program.

Potter says its vitally important to reach out to our youth.

"I believe historically we haven't spent enough time passing on this information in depth enough," says Potter, "so that people can really understand it. As these high school students mature and get older, hopefully they're going to have a better understanding of Crimestoppers than you and I did."

Potter says he also wants to ensure High School students feel comfortable about calling the anonymous hotline.

 

Hunting Fine

2009-04-17

13:05:36

A Sioux Narrows man has learned the hard way to clean up his mess.

A court fined 27-year-old Jess Swenson 600-dollars for failing to restore a conservation reserve site to its original condition. Swenson was ordered to remove the material he left behind at his deer hunt camp at Calendar Island in the Lake of the Woods Conservation Reserve.

The man was warned by the Ministry of Natural Resources before he was slapped with the fine.

 

Call for Federal Attention to Forestry

2009-04-17

12:51:13

Start paying attention to the Forest industry!

That was the direct comment made by Liberal Natural Natural Resources Critic Geoff Regan who met with some of the area forestry officials in Dryden yesterday. Regan says the Conservatives are virtually ignoring the struggling sector.

"We learned this week that there was a meeting the government held last month in Thunder Bay with four stakeholders," says Regan, "Now we had a meeting this morning with about twenty. It's not hard to get them to come to a meeting if you ask them. So I can't understand why the government would hold a meeting with only four stakeholders if their really want to hear from people and get a range of views.

Regan says the Grits are developing their platform for the next election by listening to people involved in the industry.

Longer Trucks Proposed

2009-04-17

12:50:24

A pilot project will see as many as 100 double tractor-trailers on some Ontario roads starting this summer.

The aim is to see how well they fare on the province's highways, as the government says the longer vehicles are more efficient.

The program will include restrictions on where and when the vehicles can travel and what they can carry.

Pit Bull Ban Challenged

2009-04-17

12:49:34

Civil rights lawyer Clayton Ruby is taking his fight to overturn Ontario's pit-bull ban to the highest court in Canada.
 
Ruby says the legislation which assumes that it's the nature of the breed that creates danger is wrong.

He's asking the Supreme Court to review of an Appeal Court decision last October that upholds the province's ban.

Falls High School Boys win track meet

2009-04-17

12:34:45

It was a great day on the track yesterday for Falls High School.

The boys track and field team finished first overall at a meet in Deer River. The Broncos earned gold medals in several events.

Jake Jensen won two golds with a 12-foot leap in the pole vault and as part of the 4-by-400 relay team.  Here is a list of all medal winners for the Broncos

4X800  Meter Relay team - 1st - 9:15.0

110 Meter Hurdles - Aaron Skoglund - 2nd - 17.5 seconds

110 Meter Hurdles - Ryan Tomevi - 3rd - 19.0 seconds

100 Meter Dash - Jake Jensen - 2nd - 11.7 seconds

4X200 Meter Relay Team - 2nd - 1:41.0

1600 Meter Run - John Sobczynski - 1st - 5:20.0

4 X 100 Meter Relay team - 3rd - 52.6 seconds

400 Meter Dash - Aaron Marx - 2nd - 58.6 seconds

300 Meter Hurdles - John Sobczynski - 3rd - 50.1 seconds

800 Meter Run - Thomas Briggs - 2nd - 2:18.0

800 Meter Run - Alex Marx - 3rd - 2:23.0

200 Meter Dash - Brandon Richards - 2nd - 24.7 seconds

3200 Meter Run - Zach Severson - 1st - 11:32.5

3200 Meter Run - Myles Walden - 3rd - 12:07.2

4 X 400 Meter Relay Team - 1st - 3:52.9

Shot Put - Brandon Richards - 2nd - 40'10"

Discuss - Ryan Tomevi - 2nd - 109'9"

Triple Jump - Ryan Tomevi - 2nd - 35'4"

Triple Jump - Aaron Skoglund - 3rd - 34'1"

Long Lump - Ryan Tomevi - 1st - 17'8"

Long Jump - Thomas Brigs - 3rd - 17'5"

High Jump - Shawn Filipiak - 1st - 5'8"

High Jump - Aaron Skoglund - 3rd - 5'4"

Pole Vault - Jake Jensen - 1st - 12'3"

Pole Vault - Kyle Askey - 2nd - 7'6"

Festival Results - Thursday

2009-04-17

12:32:21

There were several multiple winners during yesterday's competitions in the Rainy River District Festival of the Performing Arts.

Ryan Shouldice captured four first-place finishes in the instrumental category. Taylor Shouldice and Sarah Bagacki each earned three honours.

On the Drama side, Robert Moore School's drama clubs captured four separate honours with Kasemer Hawrylak earned three honours in solo readings.

The drama competitions continue today at the Townsend Theatre. Here are the complete results from Thursday's competitions.

FESTIVAL RESULTS, INSTRUMENTAL DIVISION, Thursday, April 16, 2009

 

CLASS B401

                First – Sarah Bagacki

CLASS B405        

                First – Taylor Shouldice and Carrie Shouldice

CLASS S705

                First – Ryan Shouldice

CLASS S2402

                First – Ryan Shouldice

CLASS S1250

                First – Taylor Shouldice

CLASS S1400

                First – Taylor Shouldice

CLASS S1201

                First – Sarah Bagacki

CLASS S1401

                First – Sarah Bagacki

CLASS S1302

                First – Ryan Shouldice

CLASS S2502A

                First – Ryan Shouldice

CLASS S2502B

                First – John Jankiewicz

CLASS B107

                First – Jade Green

CLASS S1100

                First – Lemuel Carradice

CLASS S1101

                First – Hunter Neilson

CLASS B400

                First – Moriah Carradice and Lemuel Carradice

                Second – Brendan Morand and Brady VanUden

CLASS B700

                First – Kelly Dyke

CLASS B401

                First – Cynthia Hudson and Meghan Metke

CLASS B703

                First – Jahn Jankiewicz

FESTIVAL RESULTS, DRAMA DIVISION, Thursday, April 16, 2009

 

CLASS A705-A

                First – St. Francis School, Grades 4 and 5 – Solange Busch

CLASS A705-C

                First – J. W. Walker School, Grades 4 and 5 – M. Armour and J. Johanson

CLASS A706-C   

                First – J. W. Walker School – E. Cain and J. Johanson

CLASS A805

                First – St. Francis School, Grades 4 to 6, Ojibwe Class – C. Bannon

CLASS A104-A

                First – Emma Dystra

                Second – Wyatt McLeod

CLASS A104-B

                First – Mackenzie Wright

                Second (TIE) – Michael Drouin and Maggie Gurski

CLASS A105-A

                First – Maddie Saunders

                Second – Brielle Byma

CLASS A504-D

                First – Michael Brady

                Second – Jonathan McCoy

CLASS A504-E

                First – Kasemer Hawrylak

CLASS A703-A

                First – Robert Moore School, Grade 3 – Alexis Norris

CLASS A704-C

                First – Robert Moore School, Grade 4 – L. Fryer

CLASS A704-B

                First – Robert Moore School, Grade 4 – L. Fryer

CLASS A1200

                First – Robert Moore School, Grades 3 and 4 – C. Donald and K. Beckett

CLASS A504-A

                First – Kasemer Hawrylak

CLASS A504-B

                First – Justine Christie

CLASS A504-C

                First – Felicia Schmutz

CLASS A402

                First (TIE) – Randi-Rae Lee and Jonathan McCoy

CLASS A103-B

                First (TIE) – Jocelyn George and Olivia DeBenedet

CLASS A104-D

                First – Trustin Bruyere

CLASS A106-D

                First – Andrew Eldridge

                Second – Shanleigh Fryer

CLASS A501-A

                First – Andrew Eldridge

CLASS A1502

                First – Kasemer Hawrylak

                Second (TIE) – Justine Christie and Michael Brady