Ring Of Fire Progress Questioned At Queen's Park

At  Queen's Park,  the NDP is accusing the province of dragging its feet on the Ring of Fire mining project.

The opposition points to a lack of progress with establishing the development corporation.

Mines Minister Michael Gravelle says there's plenty going on behind the scenes to come up with a transportation route.

Gravelle says the hiring of the consulting firm Deloitte is an important part of the equation.

Thunder Bay Hospital Faces Fire Code Violation

The Thunder Bay Regional Health Science Centre is facing a fire code violation.

It's because patients are being placed in alcoves not designated for their care.

The hospital is currently facing an overcrowding problem.

International Falls Wants Hockey Day In Minnesota

International Falls wants to host Hockey Day in Minnesota.

The event celebrations the sport in the State with televised high school, college and NHL games on Fox.

The city's economic development director Shawn Mason says she's working on forming an exploratory committee to see what it will take to host the event.

Mason says since the location for next year has already been set, they'll hoping to be a host in 2016 or 2017.

Scholarships And Bursaries Handed Out To College Students

Over 250 Confederation College students have one less financial worry.

They have been awarded scholarships and bursaries totaling $120-thousand to continue their education.

President Jim Madder says it's all made possible by private donations.

The ceremony was held at the College's Thunder Bay campus yesterday.

Construction Boom Predicted For Northern Ontario

A series of large resource and infrastructure projects are been seen as boosting the construction industry in northern Ontario.

A report from BuildForce Canada predicts projects such as the Ring of Fire, the Energy East pipeline and ongoing transmission work, will bring new workers to the region over the next five years.

It also sees the demand for workers exceeding the existing workforce, forcing recruitment efforts to focus on youth and the Aboriginal community.

Ontario Wants More Immigrants

Ontario wants to attract more skilled immigrants to the province.

The Liberals are introducing an Ontario Immigration Act, aimed at strengthening its role in the immigrant selection process.

Ontario also wants the number of individuals who fall under a nominee program to increase to five-thousand from the current 13-hundred.

The program allows employers to fill skilled-labour vacancies with immigrants when suitable workers can't be found in Canada.

Retirement Benefits Changed

Retirement benefits for Ontario's civil service are being changed

Employees who retire on or after January 1, 2017 will be required to pay 50 per cent of their benefits premiums.

Currently the government pays the full cost.

Workers will also have to work 20 years, up from 10, to qualify for benefits.

The moves expect to save the province $1.2 billion over five years.

More Hunting Fines Issued

The hammer is coming down on more illegal hunting in the region.

This time it's a southern Ontario man who has been fined a total of $3,700 for illegally hunting two cow moose and for shooting across a road.

He has also been banned from hunting for a year.

The Ministry of Natural Resources says the incidents happened at a resort in the Lac des Mille Lacs area, west of Thunder Bay, last fall.

Student Tests Reviewed

The agency responsible for administering the province-wide tests in Ontario says most students do well in the three R's by the time they reach high school.

The Education Quality and Accountability Office say it's tracked students scores over the past seven years and found that students not doing well at the high school level also struggled in elementary school.

Chief Executive Officer Bruce Rodriques says it shows that educators and parents need to pay close attention to students' results on the provincial assessments.

NDP Wants No New Taxes

Provincial Liberals are balking at NDP demands to avoid any new taxes or fees in the upcoming budget.

NDP leader Andrea Horwath says her party won't support the Liberals if it happens.

Premier Kathleen Wynne says she understands her concerns, but the budget they will bring forward will be fair.

Wynne says she plans to meet with both opposition leaders in the future to discuss their budget wish lists.

Valcourt Promotes First Nations Education Act

The Federal Aboriginal Affair Minister is trying hard to sell his government's plan for First Nation Education.

Bernard Valcourt met with Native leaders in Thunder Bay yesterday.

Valcourt says understands their concern that funding won't flow until next year, but says time is needed to get the legislation through the House and into law.

Valcourt feels the plan will allow adequate funding and First Nation say in the education system.

Watch The Weather

Weather officials are watching closing a pair of systems that have the potential of bring huge amounts of snow to northwestern Ontario and northern Minnesota.

An Alberta clipper and a Texas low are expected to develop by tonight, and track towards the Great Lakes tomorrow.

There's still some uncertainty as to the exact track of the storm's centre.

Environment Canada says it is possible we could see snow, changing to ice pellets and freezing rain.

Senator Seeks Customs Facility Under New Funding Program

A U.S. Senator believes International Falls should be a pilot under new legislation that would allows for alternative funding of a new customs facility.

Minnesota's Amy Klobuchar says as many as five pilots are to be selected under the measure included in the recently passed omnibus spending bill.

The U.S General Services Administration has plans for a new facility, but hasn't moved forward on the project because of funding.

More Help For Propane Users

Koochiching County is setting up a new fund for those struggling with propane costs.

Community Services Director Terry Murray says eligible applications would be referred by Kootasca after having exhausted all other relief initiatives.

Murray says they will then see if they qualify for other programs before dipping into the new fund.

The County's put in 20-thousand dollars as start up money.

Debate Over Sewer Board Appointments

An effort to fill two vacancies on the North Koochiching Sanitary Sewer Board resulted in a debate at International Falls city council last night over who should fill those spots .

Councillor Cynthia Jacksa wanted at least one councillor in place to ensure the city's concerns are brought forward, but Mayor Bob Anderson ruled the request out of order because it didn't reflect the intent or spirit of a city ordinance regarding public participation in committees.

It was eventually left to Anderson to make recommendations to be discussed by Council at a later date

OPP Seek Student

OPP are hiring.

Their seeking a student to work with their marine unit in the Rainy River district this summer.

Students work with OPP officers to conduct regular patrols of area lakes to ensure boaters are following the rules of the water.

Only electronic applications will be considered and can be located at http://www.gojobs.gov.on.ca/SEP.asp, or the Career pages of www.opp.ca.

Colleges Ask For More Focus On Youth Employment

MPP's are being asked to put more focus on youth unemployment this session.

Colleges Ontario says young people have been hit particularly hard in the current economy with more than 16 per cent of youth without jobs.

It says broader policy measures are needed so education and training better reflect with the needs of the job market.

Bayfield Files Report

Bayfield Ventures has completed a technical report on its exploration project north of Barwick.

The report details exploration efforts conducted within its so-called "B-Block" which adjoins to the north of New Gold's gold project.

The company says drilling has led to the discovery of wide spread gold, silver, zinc and copper mineralization, but no calculations have been done to determine how much.

Crimestoppers Welcomes Tips To Break In

OPP are turning to Crimestoppers for help in solving a break-in at Nestor Falls.

An unnamed business on Highway 71 was broken into sometime between 6 p.m. Saturday February 8 and 1 p.m. the next day.

An amount of money and some small items were taken.

Anyone with information can call Crimestoppers.

New Youth Program For Pikangikum

Ontario Provincial Police and the National Crime Prevention Centre are unveiling a new program to help the youth of Pikangikum First Nation.

Sergeant Shelley Garr says the new initiative will run for five years.

The young people taking part in the program range from 6 years old to 18.