Tourism Meeting in Dryden

Tourism officials and campowners are gathering today in Dryden for the Northern Ontario Tourist Outfitters Association annual conference.

Today, they'll get an update on the new tourism zones and discuss the benefits of a Tourism License for Ontario.

Tomorrow the continuous issue of Americans with minor offences being denied access to Canada will highlight the talks.

Municipal Election Results

Two long-time municipal leaders retained their seats in last night's municipal elections across the Rainy River District.

Dennis Brown successfully defended his mayor's seat in Atikokan by taking 80 per cent of the vote to beat out Bob Davidson.

Jerry Duhamel, Bud Dickson, Bob Gosselin, Mary Makarenko, Marj Lambkin and Marlene Davidson were elected as councillors.


In Lake of the Woods township, Valerie Pizey outdistanced challenger Gerald Fisk to hold on to her mayor's seat.

Colleen Fadden, Glenn Anderson and Bill Lundgren were elected as councillors.

The fourth spot ended in a tie between incumbents Nancy Gate and JoAnn Moen which will force a recount.


Vince Sheppard is the new Mayor of Emo, defeating incumbent Ed Carlson.

Gary Judson was the only Emo councillor to be re-elected and joins newcomers Anthony Leek, Robert Simmons and Vernon Thompson.


Ross Donaldson beat out Ken McKinnon to be elected the new Reeve in LaVallee township.

He'll be joined at the council table by Dennis Allen, Jim Belluz, Freeda Carmody and Darcy Robson.


Brenda Jodoin, Aime Desaulniers, Bennett Drennan and Archie Wiersema were elected as councillors in Dawson township.

Mayor Eltjo Weirsema was acclaimed.

In Rainy River, Larry Armstrong, Ashley Stamler, Brent Anderson and Gord Armstrong were elected councillors and join Mayor Deb Ewald, who was acclaimed, at the council table.

And Rick Neilson was winner of the councillor race in Ward 4 in Chapple township's only election.

He returns to the council table along with Ken Wilson, Rilla Race, James Gibson and Reeve Peter Van Heyst who were all acclaimed.

Morley Reeve Not Yet Decided

Residents in Morley will have to wait until December before they know who will be reeve of that community.

Clerk-Treasurer Anna Boiley says because no one filed nomination papers for the position, it will be left up to the new council to determine how the vacancy is filled.

One option is an appointment among the four councillors who were acclaimed.

New Mayors in Northwestern Ontario

There are many new faces in the mayor's chairs elsewhere in northwestern Ontario.

Keith Hobbs won the top council seat in Thunder Bay.

Dryden Mayor Anne Krassilowsky lost her seat to Craig Nuttal.

Dave Canfield is back as mayor in Kenora after losing four years ago.

And Dennis Leney is the new mayor of Sioux Lookout.

The changes in Thunder Bay, Dryden and Kenora likely mean major shifts to the board of directors for the Northern Ontario Municipal Association where Krassilowsky is President.

School Board Elections

There are a couple of new faces on the Rainy River District School Board.

David Kircher out-polled both incumbents Dan Belluz and Terry Higgins to capture one of two seats in the Fort Frances area.

Belluz, who is currently chair, finished second in voting.

Ralph Hill beat out incumbent Glenda Belluz for the position representing the Alberton and LaVallee areas.

Dianne McCormack won the seat representing the Rainy River and area.

Margaret Heyens in Emo and Mike Lewis in Atikokan were acclaimed.

Chair Anne Marie Fitzgerald and incumbent Harold Huntley were returned to the Northwest District Catholic School Board as trustees for the Fort Frances area.

Teresa Larson will sit as trustee for Atikokan.

Results for the seat representing the west part of the Rainy River district were not received.

Delays Stalling Local Projects

Kenora-Rainy River MPP Howard Hampton is pushing the provincial government to help keep seniors in the their own community.

Hampton says requests for funding for supportive housing projects in the Rainy River district are being held up by the Northwest Local Health Integration Network.

"In Fort Frances, where the waiting list is equally long, they’re interested in supportive housing," says Hampton, "but they have put proposal after proposal after proposal to the North West LHIN without much of a response."

Hampton says the Rainy River District Social Services Administrative Board is also waiting for funds for a project in Rainy River.

Riverview Manor Open House

An open house will be held the renovated Riverview Manor in Rainy River today.

Executive Director of the Rainy River District Social Services Administration Board Donna Dittaro says residents will get a glimpse of the more than 430-thousand dollars worth of work done to the 14-unit complex.

"What resulted in two modified two-bedroom units and two modified one-bedroom units," says Dittaro. "The one-bedroom units will accommodate wheelchairs. The two-bedroom units accommodate people with walkers or prosthetics."

The open house goes from 1 p.m. until 3 p.m. this afternoon.

Municipal Election Day Today

It's voting day in municipal elections across Ontario

Polling stations in communities using ballot boxes open from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m.

Voters in Fort Frances and Lake of the Woods township have until 8 p.m. to get their vote-by-mail ballots back to their respective municipal offices.

To vote, residents must be 18 and older and will need identification that shows name, a signature and qualifying address.

At some polls, voters who come without acceptable ID but are on the voters list can sign a declaration.

B-93 will have a list of all of the winning candidates in the Rainy River district on our newscast tomorrow morning.

Watershed Task Force Meets

A task force set up to help governments address water quality and related issues in the Lake of the Woods and Rainy River watersheds will hold a series of public meetings this week.

The International Lake of the Woods and Rainy River Watershed Task Force is in Ely tonight and International Falls tomorrow to gather public comment.

The Task Force is to submit its recommendations to the International Joint Commission by July 15.

Forest Fire Season Not Over Yet

(Prescribed Burn conducted by Ministry of Natural Resources last week - MNR photo)

The forest fire season isn't done just quite yet.

The Ministry of Natural Resources says there were two new fires reported last week in the Rainy River district, both small and lightning-caused near Flanders.

The fires were spotted while the MNR was doing a prescribed burn at Pekagoning Lake.

One at Big Joe Lake, north of Flanders, is still listed as being active, as does another another within Quetico Provincial Park which has been burning since October 6.

MNR crews from both Kenora and Fort Frances also responded to a lightning-caused fire on the Aulneau Peninsula on Lake of the Woods which burned 4.5 hectares.

New Director for Riverside

(Riverside Health Care Facilities photo)

Riverside Health Care Facilities has a new Communication Director and director for its Foundation.

Nicke Baird takes over the position from Teresa Hazel who stepped down after eleven years.

Baird is from Fort Frances and recently returned from Nanaimo, British Columbia, where she operated a business for the past five years.

Caribou Caravan Reaches Northwest

(Greenpeace Canada photo)

Greenpeace brings its "caribou caravan" to northwestern Ontario today.

The environmental group is pressuring Minister of Northern Development Michael Gravelle and the Ontario Government to save woodland caribou.

Spokesperson Richard Brooks says the government can balance both the environment and forest industry.

Greenpeace plans to set up its caravan in front of Gravelle's constituency office in Thunder Bay.

Highway Work Ending

(Ontario Ministry of Transportation photo)

Thirty two highway projects in the region are nearing completion.

Nearly 500 kilometers of highway are being repaved and nine bridges are also being worked on.

They include 21 kilometres of Highway 11 east of Fort Frances and the fabricating of pre-cast concrete deck components for the Noden Causeway.

Northern Development Minister Michael Gravelle says the improvements will lead to safer roads and encourage economic growth.

Bass Tournament Gets Help

The Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship is a go for 2011.

Tournament organizers confirmed plans for next year after finding a new chair and filling a number of vacancies on the board during a meeting last night.

Outgoing chair Tom Fry says it's a huge relief for him.

"More relieved that it looks like things will go ahead," says Fry, "than I am about not having the position as chair anymore. Certainly, I fell good about that. I just didn't feel with my new personal commitments of heading south and so on that I could handle the job the way I've done in the past."

Fry says he will continue to stay on the board to assist new chair Gord Watson.

Ambulance Funding Discussed

Ambulance services across the province may get more direction today as to how they can save for new ambulances.

They're meeting with Ministry of Health staff to discuss new rules that limit the amount of money agencies can set aside each year.

Smaller services, such as the Rainy River District Social Services Administration Board, say it could take longer to replace aging vehicles as a result.

Flu shot Clinic Open

The Northwestern Health Unit is putting out a call for residents to get their flu shot this fall.

It began its flu shot clinics this week.

Director of Infectious Diseases Donna Stanley says H-1-N-1 is still cause for concern, but unlike last year, the health unit won't be administering a different shot to help combat that flu strain.

"Last year when we had H1N1, it represented a major change and a new strain," says Stanley. "That strain has now become the seasonal circulating strain. This year's vaccine, there's always three components to it and this year one of the components is H1N1.

Stanley says priorities groups this year includes those with a chronic disease, seniors and young children under five.

Pink Out Day

(Students at Crossroads School in Devlin at a previous Pink Day)

The Rainy River District Breast Health Network wants to paint the district Pink today.

Chair Teresa Hazel says they're proclaiming the day Pink Out day to raise awareness of Breast Cancer Health.

"we're encouraging individuals, organizations, employees, students, teachers, men, women and children to wear pink to show their support of breast cancer awareness," says Hazel.

Hazel says they'll also hoping to raise a few dollars for a new digital mammography unit and will be traveling around the area awarding prizes to those in pink.

Q-Gold Resumes Drilling

Q-Gold Resources has resumed drilling operations near Mine Centre.

The company is working in the McKenzie Gray area believed to be contain high quantities of gold and silver mineralization

Q-Gold began drilling the area last year.

Chamber Directors Needed

The Fort Frances Chamber of Commerce is looking for individuals to sit on its board of directors.

Chamber Manager Anthony Mason says as many as two spots will be open in the coming year.

Elections to the board will take place November 24.

Update on Rainy River Resources Project

(Rainy River Resources photo)

Rainy River Resources has released the latest results of its drilling program at its exploration project north of Barwick.

The company says it continues to be pleased with the findings.

President Ray Threlkeld says all of the information collected is vital in determining the project's future.

"We'll use that resource information to define within some level of accuracy what the capital costs might be," says Threlkeld, "what the configuration of a mining scenario might be, whether it be open pit or underground.

The company plans to continue drilling until the middle of November with underground exploration planned for early next year.