Woman Charged In Assault

A woman has been arrested in connection with a stabbing in the International Falls area.

Koochiching County Sheriff's office says a 52-year-old man was stabbed several times with a knife at a home on County Road 99 short after 1:30 a.m. yesterday.

He was taken to Rainy Lake Medical Center for treatment.

48-year old Tracy Nuthak is in custody and faces a charge of Second Degree Assault.

OEB Should Watch Gas Prices

Provincial NDP is suggesting the Ontario Energy Board monitor gasoline prices.

Critic France Gélinas says while there's an expectation northerners will pay more for gas at the pumps than in southern Ontario, a recent jump in prices has her wondering if its bordering on opportunistic price gouging.

Gelinas says a good start to ensuring fair, stable and predictable fuel prices might be mandating the Ontario Energy Board to watch prices.

Infrastructure Fund Promoted

The federal government says its ready to help small communities in Ontario rebuild.

Transport Minister Lisa Raitt promoted the Conservative's New Building Canada Plan to municipal leaders attending the Ontario Good Roads Conference in Toronto yesterday.

The 10-year plan proposed to spend 70 billion dollars on infrastructure.

Raitt sees the plan ensuring small communities have stable, long-term access to funding for infrastructure projects.

Government's Commitment To Mining Questioned

The Progressive Conservatives are questioning the Liberal government's commitment to mining in the province.

Vic Fedeli says after the Victor diamond mine was developed, the province imposed a mining tax and he wonders if history could repeat itself in the Ring of Fire.

Fedeli says in 2003 Ontario was ranked number one in mining, now we are number 16.

No Word On Casino Yet

Still no indication from the provincial government if and when a casino might be developed in northwestern Ontario.

A request for proposals for the Ontario North Gaming Bundle closed almost a year ago.

The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation had said it wanted to see new casinos in the Kenora and North Bay areas, adding to existing casinos in Thunder Bay, Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie. 

Minnesota Legislators Back To Work

Teresa Boardman photo

How to better support Minnesota's nearly 700-thousand family caregivers is among the issues to be debated as the 2014 Legislature opens today.

State director of AARP Minnesota Will Phillips says they're supporting efforts that help those with economic security and workplace flexibility

The estimated value of unpaid family caregivers to the Minnesota economy is nearly nine-billion dollars annually.

Hockeyville Voting Area Set Up

Proponents of Fort Frances' bid to the Kraft Hockeyville contest say they'll have a specific voting area if they make it to the next round of the contest.

It will be set up at the Memorial Sport Centre.

Officials say the arena will also be open during the duration of voting.

An announcement of the sixteen communities to advance in the contest will be made during Hockey Night in Canada March 8.

Fort Frances Gets Audience With Provincial Ministers

A number of issues impacting Fort Frances will be discussed in Toronto this week.

Mayor Roy Avis and Councillor Ken Perry are among those at the Ontario Good Roads Conference.

The duo have meeting with a number of provincial cabinet ministers.

They started with discussions yesterday with Transportation Minister Glen Murray over winter road maintenance and connecting link funding.

They're also schedule to meet with Finance Minister Charles Sousa and Northern Development Minister Michael Gravelle.

MPAC Changes Forthcoming

The Province is taking action against the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation.

The government is directing the Ministry of Finance to develop an action plan to implement 26-changes to improve the property assessment system.

Dryden Mayor Craig Nuttall, who led the campaign for change, says it's a long time coming.

Several northern Ontario mayors called for changes are the assessed value of area mills were dramatically reduced, leading to huge tax rebates for the companies and fewer tax dollars for municipalities

The Ministers of Finance and Municipal Affairs are also calling for a comprehensive, independent performance evaluation of MPAC.

No Gas Shortage Concerns From Union Gas

No worries of a shortage of natural gas for users in northwestern Ontario.

The colder than usual winter has increased demand.

Union Gas' Andrea Stass says they have amble supply to meet that demand.

New prices come out in March, but Stass says any change will likely still be below market price because the company purchases on longer-term contracts that helps keep consumer costs down.

Nominations Announced

A total of 42 nominations have been made for the upcoming Fort Frances Chamber of Commerce's annual business awards.

Those awards will be handed out March 6.

Here is a list of all nominees.

Business of the Year - Sponsored by: B93.1 The Border

Betty’s of Fort Frances
Saulteaux Consulting and Engineering
From the Grind Up
Gillons' Insurance Brokers
Cloverleaf Grocery

Customer Service Award (Individual) - Sponsored by: Good Impressions Printing
Kerry Zucchiatti, 93.1 The Border
Zac Manty, Webb's Power Shack
Adrian Chapman, Investors Group
Alicia Desserre, Simplicity Hair & Body Shop
Donna Lowey, Lowey's Green House
Laureen Luchka, Boston Pizza

Customer Service Award (Business) - Sponsored by: TD Canada Trust
RBC Royal Bank
Tonic Tattoo
Lowery's
Betty's of Fort Frances
Fort Frances General Supply
Northwoods Gallery & Gifts
Tompkins Home Hardware

Employee of the Year - Sponsored by: The Westend Weekly
Christine Krueger, Fort Frances Dental Centre
Elizabeth Petkau, Rainy River Meats
Duane Hicks, Fort Frances Times
Jay McFarlane, Plaza Lanes

Business Woman of the Year - Sponsored by: Professional Women’s Network
Donna Lowey, Lowey's Greenhouse
Jennifer Horton, Curvy Chick/ Chick With A Camera
Grace Cridland, Gillons’ Insurance Brokers
Paula Jensen, Shear Serenity
Jackie Lampi-Hughes, Energy Fitness

Entrepreneur of the Year - Sponsored by: Rainy River Future Development Corporation
Ben Morelli, From the Grind Up
Chad Jackson, Pro-Shine
Paula Jensen, Shear Serenity
Tyler Nordin, Just 4 Fun Power Sports

Home Based Business Award - Sponsored by: M.L. Caron Electric
Inga Friesen, Merge 2
Ken Hawrylak, Digital Dr
Nicke Baird, Chelsey Simpson and Heather Bridgeman, Smashing Tea
Miles Kupila, Kupila's Sound Centre
Diane Gibson, Gibson Design

Small Business Trainer of the Year Award - Sponsored by: NCDS

Ted DeBenetti, A Buck or Two
Bobbie Parker, Mr. Sub
Ben Morelli, From The Grind Up
Dennis Roach, D.J. Roach Electric

Tony Beyak Memorial Volunteer of the Year Award - Sponsored by: the Fort Frances Chamber of Commerce
Kayne Shaw
Leslie Danielson

The Award Ceremonies will take place at La Place Rendez Vous.

This year's event will be hosted by comedian Ryan McMahon of Fort Frances.

Tickets can be purchased at the Chamber Office.

Fort Frances Youth Selected As QP Page

A Fort Frances youth has been selected to be a page at Queen's Park.

Mira Donaldson, a grade 7 student at Robert Moore School, will be among a number of other young people who will deliver messages to MPP's, meet key parliamentarians and learn about Ontario's government.

Donaldson applied back in November, completing a 700 word essay as part of the application process.

She'll attend orientation at the end of this week and start her duties as page for a month beginning March 17.

Johnson No Longer Party Candidate

A candidate for the Progressive Conservatives has been removed from running in Thunder Bay Superior North in the next provincial election.

Tamara Johnson says she has removed by the party.

The announcement comes following statements Johnson made on Facebook, regarding businesses on the Fort William First Nation.

The PC Party has not yet commented on Johnson's statement.

Vaccines Are Safe

File photo

Vaccines are safe and have a low risk of adverse reactions.
That according to a report on Vaccine Safety in Ontario.

It says of the nearly 8-million doses of vaccine administered by the province's health professionals in 2012, about 630 adverse reactions were reported.

The majority were mild, such as pain, redness or swelling.

Only 56 people encountered more serious reactions

Mail Delivery Continues This Year

Door-to-door mail delivery in northwestern Ontario communities will continue for at least this year.

Canada Post says it will start rolling out its expansion of community mailboxes this fall to 11 communities.

They includes some parts of Winnipeg and Calgary, Oakville and Kanata near Ottawa.

No northwestern Ontario communities are listed.

Canada Post plans to have community mailboxes in all areas where door-to-door delivery now exists within the next five years.

Spectrum Sale

A recent sell off of frequency for expanded wireless services in Canada has netted the federal government more than $5.2 billion.

A total of 97 licenses were awarded to 8 companies taking part in the 700-megahertz spectrum auction.

Bell, Rogers, TELUS and Bragg Communications were winning bids for licenses in northern Ontario.

TBaytel participated in the auction but failed to win any bids.

Energy Summit Planned

Ontario will host an energy summit next week.

The Summit will bring together national, provincial, business and policy leaders from the energy and innovation sectors.

They'll be talking about such things as opportunities in clean energy technology and ways of tapping into international markets.

Energy Minister Bob Chicarelli says it will be a platform for the province can share its successes and collaborate on ways to export its expertise.

School Bus Cancellations In Rainy River District

Weather is having an impact on some schools and buses today.

Classes at Confederation College's campus in Fort Frances have been cancelled.

Schools in International Falls and Indus are delaying the start of classes by two hours this morning.

All schools in the Rainy River district are open.

Here is the complete list of all bus cancellations in the Rainy River district.

All Iron Ranges buses

All Dimit Bus lines

Seine River to Mine Centre

Seine River's handicap bus

All Red Gut Bay buses

Northwest Bay high school and elementary buses

Rainy River First Nation high school

Stanjikoming First Nations buses

Shane McDonald - SM 235

Bruce Neilson - BN 245

Bill Romyn - BR 260

Ken Fisher - ESE 205

Keith Jolicouer - KR 220

Jodi Gouliquer - Big Grassy to Rainy River High School

Maury Nielson - MN 251

Darryl Dyck - MN 250

Shelly McDoanld - MM230

Jack Medwechuk - JM 240 - Morson to Rainy River

Kaylene Johnson - BJ 216 XRR

Bob Johnson - BJ 215HHW

Fort Frances Helps With Recycling Data Base

Fort Frances is being credited with helping Ontario Waste Diversion establish a new municipal database.

It allows the agency to collect information on how much material is being diverted from landfill sites.

Chief Executive Officer Michael Scott says Fort Frances was used as a test model before rolling it out province wide.

Scott says the better data might also help improve municipal recycling efforts.

Osisko Shareholders Still Asked To Reject Goldcorp Take-over Bid

Osisko Mining continues to urge its shareholders to reject the unsolicited take-over bid from Goldcorp.

Chief Executive Officer Sean Roosen says that bid is preventing shareholders from getting a dividend on their investment.

Roosen says Osisko planned for a significant dividend policy, but claims that some of the money is now being spent on lawyers and bankers dealing with the legal challenge against Goldcorp.

A Quebec court is to hear matter March 3.