Fall Fair Schedule

It's a busy day at the Rainy River Valley Agricultural Society's Fall Fair in Emo.

The Borderland Racing Association kicks it off with a pancake breakfast begin at 7:00 a.m.

The logging competition in front of the grandstand begins at 9:30 a.m.

There will be plenty of farm animals to see with the miniature, draft and light horse shows and the beef and dairy cattle show getting underway this morning as well.

The midway opens at noon.

New Life Jacket Legislation Sought

OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino says he'd like to see all boaters be required to wear life jackets or personal floatation devices at all times.

Twenty-three people died in 2008 while boating on waterways policed by the OPP and this year 20 people have perished.

Only two of this season's casualties were wearing life jackets.

Fantino says it's been a summer filled with needless tragedy and many of the deaths would have been prevented by life jacket use.

AbitibiBowater Reports More Losses

AbitibiBowater, which has been under bankruptcy protection since April, says its second-quarter losses have doubled to more than half-a-billion dollars U-S.

The loss compares with a $251 million shortfall a year ago.

A report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission this week indicates second-quarter revenues plunged nearly 39 per cent to just over one billion dollars.

While the losses affected all areas of the business, newsprint -- AbitibiBowater's specialty -- was particularly affected with revenues tumbling 44 per cent over the past year.

Truck Route Open

Key parts of the truck route through the town of Fort Frances are now open.

The completion of paving of Victoria Avenue and Nelson Street has allowed the town to reopen both streets to truck traffic.

Town officials say this should help alleviate some of the congestion experienced in the downtown and central areas of the community.

Fort Frances Delegation Heads to AMO

Connecting link funding and Pither's Point Park will be some of the topics to come up as members of Fort Frances town council head to Ottawa for the Association of Municipalities of Ontario meeting.

Along with the conference's regular business, Mayor Roy Avis says private meeting have been set up with Transportation Ministry's Parliamentary assistant Linda Jeffery, Labour Minister Peter Fonseca and Aboriginal Affairs Minister Brad Duguid.

Councillors Ken Perry, Andrew Hallikas and John Albanese are also attending the meeting which begins Monday.

Rezoning Application Denied

The township of Alberton has turned down a rezoning application that would have led to Weechi-it-te-win Family Services moving its Training and Learning Centre to property on Highway 11 at Ducharme Road.

In a unanimous decision, council Wednesday night refused the application put forward by Gayle Arpin, feeling the property should be left designed a business park.

Concerns with the centre would be to the highway, nearby rail lines and an aggregate pit were also cited.

Clint Calder, lawyer for Weechi-it-te-win says the agency is disappointed by the decision and will take some time before determining its next step.

"Right now everybody just kind of considering the options," says Calder, "whether to file an appeal, to file a new application, or move on and look for a new location."

Gayle Arpin, who submitted the rezoning application, can appeal the decision to the Ontario Municipal Board within the next twenty days.

Storm Warning Issue

Environment Canada has issued a severe thunderstorm warning for the Sioux Narrows-Nestor Fall and Morson areas.

A severe thunderstorm is affecting communities along the northern and western parts of the Rainy River district this morning.

Large hail, strong damaging wind gusts, torrential rain and frequent intense lightning are being associated with this severe storm.

Emo Fair Begins Today

It will be a pioneer theme at this year's Rainy River Valley Agricultural Society Fall Fair in Emo.

Organizers are asking people to dress up in period costume and enter the parade.

President Emily Watson says a theme is something they haven't tried for a while.

"It's on again, off again," says Watson. "People, when they want to enter the parade, they ask what's our theme. The last couple of years we've trying to come up with a theme that's consistent throughout the fair."

Tied to the pioneer theme will be an old-time music dance Friday night where patrons will receive dance lessons to better enjoy the music.

The fair opens with the midway at 2:00 p.m. today.

Tonight it will crown a fair queen.

Legal Aid Dispute

Ontario's attorney general says he's willing to set up consultations with those involved in a legal aid boycott if it will help move discussions forward.

Lawyers, including those in northwestern Ontario, have been refusing legal aid cases in their demands for more money in the system.

Attorney General Chris Bentley says he's been in constant talks with players in the justice system and would be happy to set up discussions in any structure that will help the sides communicate.

But he warns it's difficult to commit to increased funding during hard economic times.

Student Aid Demands Increases

Calls are flooding into financial aid offices at universities across Ontario as concerned students scramble to pay for their fall tuition.

Ontario Student Assistance Program applications are up 5.7 per cent this year for colleges and 4.6 per cent for universities.

University registrars are pointing to a record high student unemployment rate as the main reason young people are seeking financial assistance.

Gren Party Candidate Wanted

The federal Green Party has started the search for a candidate to run in the Thunder Bay-Rainy River riding in the next election.

Russ Aegard represented the Greens in the last two elections, but is stepping aside to spend more time with his family.

Aegard received about 14-hundred votes in last fall's election.

Building Permits Down

Despite the influx of millions of dollars in government infrastructure money, building activity in Fort Frances was far greater in 2008 than its been this year.

Statistics Canada says 33 building permits during the first six months of this year have accounted for nearly $6.5 million in construction.

This includes the building of the new library.

During the same period last year, a total of 57 permits were issued worth $13.6 million dollars.

Last year's activity was aided by the building of the native youth detention facility.

However over the past two months, more than $16.5 million worth of work has been started in Fort Frances, including the work on the new Robert Moore School.

Federal Building Gets Upgrades

Some major improvements to a Fort Frances landmark.

The federal government is spending more than 246-thousand dollars on a variety of upgrades to its Scott Street building - home to several departments including Canada Post and Service Canada.

Conservative MP for Kenora Greg Rickford says the improvements are for both safety and security reasons.

"We believe this will be a substantial upgrade at 301 Scott Street," says Rickford, "and provide ultimately better service to residents of Fort Frances. It includes handrail upgrades and lock stone repairs to increase the safety for residents accessing the building. There will also be a security system upgrade to improve security."

Rickford says some of the work has already started, but expects most of it to occur next year.

Small Business Funds Provided

Several small businesses in Minnesota have received a financial shot in the arm.

More $4.3 million in grants and loans provided by the Pohlad Family Foundation were distributed to over 70 businesses, including at least one unnamed company in Koochiching County.

The money was made available to eligible businesses to help retain employment.

Economic Workshops Planned

Band council members and staff at a Rainy River area First Nation will be strengthening their knowledge about economic development.

Naicatchewenin First Nation is receiving provincial funding to cover the cost of two training workshops.

The objectives of the workshops are to analyse the community's current economic performance, identify specific economic objectives and complete a strategic economic development plan.

Low Demand for Enhanced Driver's Licences

Demand for the new enhanced driver's license has not been as strong as expected by the Ontario government.

The province has mailed out almost 8,700 of the land and water alternatives to the Canadian passport for travel to the U.S.

A spokesman for Transportation Minister Jim Bradley says the slightly lower demand is being attributed to the economic downturn and the ``current soft-enforcement approach'' by border officials.

The card costs Ontario drivers $40 on top of the regular $75 license fee.

Forest Fire Fighting Efforts in B.C. Continue

More than 600 Ministry of Natural Resources personnel are now helping crews wrestle with forest fires in British Columbia.

Fire information officer Debbie MacLean says 28 FireRangers and 15 staff trained in values protection equipment headed for the B.C. fire lines earlier this week.

Raging forest fires have forced droves of people out of their homes in British Columbia over the past few weeks.

Smoke from fires in western Canada is also making its way into some parts of northwestern Ontario.

The MNR says upper level atmospheric conditions has caused smoke to drift in from as far away as the Yukon.

The presence of that smoke has led to some calls to the forest fire reporting hotline.

Currently there are no active fires in the region.

Meantime, the fire hazard in northwestern Ontario is beginning to rise once again.

Recent warm weather has moved the hazard to high along the Rainy Rainy River district.

Tower to Be Painted

A former forest fire observation tower being placed on the Fort Frances waterfront will get a paint job after all.

The town had initially looked to pressure-washing the tower before reinstalling the local landmark, but Community Services Manager George Bell says the effort to remove the existing paint isn't working.

"We just couldn't get it off sufficient enough to make it look refurbished," says Bell. "What they will be doing though is testing the paint that's left on it to ensure it has appropriate enough adhesion to paint on it and it won't peel off."

Cost to paint the tower is pegged at $34,500.

Runway to Close

A "cross runway" at the Fort Frances airport will be shut down at the end of September.

Councillor Paul Ryan says the runway, built more than 20 years ago, has fallen into disrepair.

“The secondary runway is not eligible for Transport Canada funding, as it is not used by scheduled passenger flights and it is estimated to cost approximately $1 million," says Ryan, "I think it will be over that—to rehabilitate and repave.

The runway is mainly utilized by small aircraft when there is a substantial crosswind, but less than 5 per cent of all aircraft using the airport last year, used the runway.

Meeting Sought with IJC

The Rainy Lake Conservancy wants the group overseeing the waters along the Canada-U.S. border to review a proposed hydro-electric project on the Namakan River.

Ojibway Power and Energy Group, a partnership involving the Lac La Croix First Nation, is proposing the run-of-the-river project.

Conservancy member Paul Anderson says the IJC needs to review the impact the project may have on the Rainy Lake Watershed.

"They say they'll look at, but we're getting a little frustrated they haven't looked at it yet," says Anderson. "The hydro project has been in the planning stages for three years now."

Anderson says they're hoping for a private meeting with the IJC when they meet in International Falls later this month.