Music Teacher Recognized

Fort Frances High School Music teacher John Dutton directed the school band at the Townsend Theatre for his last time last week.

With it came the news that the school's Arts Wing would be renamed in his honour. The Rainy River District School Board agreed to the renaming by acting on a request from several members of the school band.

Dutton who retires at the end of this month was overwhelmed.

"I didn't think you got an honour like that if you were still among of the living," says Dutton. "I told people at the concert I was happy for the honour and happy to be alive to receive it. But I was a little overwhelmed by it because it's an amazing thing. I'm just here doing my job."

Dutton will do his job one last time when he directs the band a final time at the school's graduation ceremonies.

Lowey's Produce Honoured

An area greenhouse has been honoured by the province.

Lowey's Produce was one of five regional winners of the Premier's Agri-Food Innovation Excellence Awards.

Owner Blair Lowey says they were recognized for their efforts to become more energy efficient which included the installation of a biomass boiler.

"Putting in a biomass boiler helps because we don't use natural gas," says Lowey. "Our electrical energy consumption has been substantially reduced so in both of those we're being recognized for that."

The measures have helped Lowey's reduce its energy costs by almost 40 per cent.

DayCare Changes Proposed

The author of a long-anticipated report into education in Ontario says sweeping changes that would combine daycare and kindergarten into a single full-day program will mean greater success for children.

Charles Pascal says these changes will also provide a boost to the well-being of student's families.

Premier Dalton McGuinty gave Pascal, a former deputy minister of education, a two-year appointment to advise the province on how to implement full-day kindergarten.

The report recommends that parents be able to leave children aged four and five at school from 7:30 a.m. until 6 p.m.

Parents, however, would still have a choice about whether their kids would be enrolled for a full or half-day of kindergarten.

The report says children who attend full-day programs before Grade 1 fare better academically and have better social skills.

First Nations hit by N1H1

The H-1-N-1 flu has hit First Nations communities in northwestern Ontario, with more than 100 sick on the Sandy Lake reserve.

Nurses and a doctor are distributing the antiviral drug Tamiflu to the sick.

Authorities have asked people from Sandy Lake to not travel to other First Nations communities in the region to keep the virus from spreading.

No Changes to Hospitals' H1N1 Measures

Despite a rise in the pandemic alert over the H-1-N-1 Flu virus, Riverside Health Care Facilities says it has no plans to increase its precautionary measures.

Riverside is still recommending people experiencing any flu-like symptoms not to visit the hospitals or Rainycrest.

Self-screening and hand washing procedures also remain in effect.

Emergency Ramp Entrance Changed

Road construction around LaVerendrye Hospital will impact access to the emergency department ramp from Victoria Avenue this week.

Effective tomorrow, the emergency ramp at La Verendrye will only be accessible from Sinclair Street off of Armit Avenue.

Infrastructure Funding for Area Communities

The townships of Dawson and LaVallee each benefited from three infrastructure announcements Friday.
Dawson township will use more than $95 thousand dollars on an addition to its fire hall in Pinewood, $66 thousand to upgrade River Road and about $58 thousand to improve Atwood Road 2.

LaVallee received $64 thousand dollars to rehabilitate Cain Road, $28 thousand for work on Pyne Road and $24 thousand for a retrofit of the Emo-LaVallee Community Centre.

Rainy River received $280 thousand to refurbish its municipal garage and fire hall and another $30 thousand for upgrades to its municipal office.

$83 thousand will go to Emo to rebuild Fisher Road.

The township of Alberton will get $125 thousand for its fire hall while the township of Morley received $54 thousand for improvement to its Community Centre complex.

More Library Funding Approved

Another one-point-nine million dollars in government funding is heading toward the new library and technology centre in Fort Frances.

The joint federal-provincial money was part of infrastructure funding announced to a host of Rainy River district communities late Friday.

Library Board Chair Joyce Cunningham says it should help solidify the project's construction this year.

"I'm very much appreciative of all of these levels of government," says Cunningham. "I'm very much appreciative of all that has been done in order to get us this far. I'm very confident that we will be moving ahead very, very quickly."

Town councillors must still approve a construction contract. They had rejected a contract in April over concerns with the amount of money the town would have to provide. With the new money, the town's contribution is believed to be significantly reduced.

Grade 10 Literacy Test Results

2009-06-12

12:27:59

Grade 10 students with the Rainy River District School Board have scored high in recent provincial testing for literacy.

84 per cent of students who wrote the reading and writing tests in April met the provincial standards.

The board's student success leader Casey Slack says the board is pleased with the results.

"We're comparing quite favourably with the surrounding boards," says Slack, "but at the provincial level we're matching those who were successful, particularity the first time eligible."

"We do have a comprehensive board literacy plan. Teachers have a direct role in creating that plan, and the board continues to support that in a variety of ways through resources or professional development."

The board's score was just a percentage off the provincial average, but hirer than most other boards in northwestern Ontario

 

Fort High Students Honoured

2009-06-10

11:30:23

Sixty students who reached the honour roll at least seven times where among those receiving awards at Fort Frances High School's recognition ceremony Tuesday

Fort Frances high school students who excelled in the areas of music, athletics and academia were recognized yesterday.

More than two hundred students received awards for reach the honour roll multiple times.

Principal Gord McCabe says it's a reflection of the students' commitment to education.

"You always want to see students doing even better," says McCabe, "but when I watched those numbers of students walk across the stage, because its not just being on the honour roll one time, its having been on the honour roll multiple times, it tells me they are really working hard because they're acheiving in a variety of different disciplines to do that."

Co-presidents of the school's student council Dianelle Gustafson and Alex Crichton were this year's recipients of the principal's award for student leadership.

Most Valuable Certificates were award to the following students

Athletic Association - Adam Esselink

Newspaper - Sarah Kellar

Yearbook - Sarah Pryce

First Responders - Micha Gerber

O.S.A.I.D - Dawn Derendorf

Chem-Free Grad - Eric Gustafson

Drama - Cody Caul

Musical - Sam Mueller

Musical Revue - Micha Gerber and Owen Harrison

Music - Christina Empy 

 

Cyclist Travels Throught Rainy River District

2009-06-10

11:19:31

A close friend diagnosed with Cancer has let an Ontario man on a coast-to-coast cycle ride to raise money for Cancer research.

Glen Baxby cycled through the Fort Frances area yesterday.

"We started off at the Pacific Ocean, Victoria, British Columbia, on May 15," says Baxby. "and we're going to dip the bike in the Atlantic on the 14th of July."

"This started at the end of November when I heard of a friend who had been recently diagnosis with cancer. It was a matter of coming to a decision (to do the ride) and getting the proper training and guidance in terms of fitness and nutrition, and putting a committee together to get the logistics of the ride put together."

So far, Baxby has raised just over $25,000. Those wanting to make a donation can go the his Coast to Coast to Cure website.

New Provincial Chief Selected

2009-06-10

11:16:24

Chiefs and representatives from 42 First Nations across Ontario have selected a new chief for the Union of Ontario Indians.

Patrick Madahbee from the Sudbury area is the new provincial chief.

He replaces John Beaucage, who is running for national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, the largest aboriginal group in Canada.

Fantino Appointment Extended

2009-06-10

11:15:00

OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino

Julian Fantino has been re-appointed as Ontario's top cop for one more year.

Premier Dalton McGuinty says Fantino will remain the head of the Ontario Provincial Police until the end of July 2010.

Fantino, whose tenure at the OPP has at times been marred by controversy, has been at the helm of the unit since 2006.

Visitor Restrictions Imposed at Kenora Hospital

2009-06-10

11:04:37

Lake of the Woods Hospital in Kenora has restricted visits to the facility due to an respiratory illness spreading through the northwestern Ontario city

Lake of the Woods District Hospital in Kenora is prohibiting visitors following an outbreak of a
respiratory illness in the community.

The hospital's head of patient care Leslie Brown says the hospital felt it necessary to impose the restrictions to limit reduce the risk of patients coming down with the illness.

Birchwood Terrace Nursing Home, also in Kenora, also closed its doors to visitors for similar reasons.

Health Care Wait Times

2009-06-10

11:00:21

The Ontario Health Quality Council says the majority of Ontario cancer patients who need urgent surgery within two weeks are waiting twice that time for their operation.

Council chair Lyn McLeod says some health care wait times have been reduced over the past few years, but not all.

"Thanks to Ontario's Wait Time Strategy, waits have been greatly shortened for cataract surgeries, hip and knee replacements, and some cardiac procedures," says McLeod. "But when half of cancer patients  who need urgent surgery have to wait longer than is medically acceptable, when waits for MRI scans are three to four times longer than the target, and when waits for nursing home spaces have doubled in just two years, it's pretty clear that everyone involved in delivering healthcare has to take action."

McLeod adds it's very important that the controversy surrounding the management of eHealth Ontario doesn't push back the province's 2015 date for implementing electronic health records.

 

Condo Agreement Extended

2009-06-10

10:58:14

The developer of a proposed condominum project in Fort Frances has received more time to find potential buyers for the Nelson Street project.

Fort Frances town councillors agreed to extend the deadline of a purchase agreement with Robert Zanette to July 1st.

Zanette is hoping to have at least twenty of the twenty-three units available sold before beginning construction.

No News Yet on Infrastructure Funding

2009-06-10

08:44:40

While communities in the Rainy River district wait for news on their infrastructure funding, so does the area's MP.

John Rafferty says he's been trying to determine what programs will receive funding from the federal and provincial programs governments. Several communities elsewhere in northwestern Ontario have already received funding commitments.

Rafferty suspects the lack of an announcement for the Rainy River district is just another game of politics.

"I think they're always playing politics," says Rafferty. "I spoke to a high-ranking Conservative a couple of days ago and I mentioned at least as a courtesy, so were ready when the media calls, we should get a little advance notice when the spending announcements are coming. The reply was 'we don't have to tell you a thing'."

Neither Rafferty or fellow NDP member Bruce Hyer were invited to last Friday's announcements meant for Thunder Bay and area municipalities in their ridings.

Buy Ontario Policy Promoted in Fort Frances

2009-06-09

09:20:37

Regional and local labour representatives join with Ontario Federation of Labour President Wayne Samuelson (centre) and Thunder Bay-Rainy River MP John Rafferty to celebrate the Federation's Drive to Work Caravan in Fort Frances 

 

The Ontario Federation of Labour rolled its Drive to Work Caravan into Fort Frances last night with a call for a Buy Ontario policy.

The Caravan is crossing northwestern Ontario to draw attention to a need to protect jobs across the province.

Speaking to town council, president Wayne Samuelson says the policy is not about protectionism.

"In the United States and Europe, they've figured this out," says Samuelson, " especially when your talking about taxpayers money invested to help us through these tough times. Let's do everything we can do to make sure those jobs are in our community at least in our province or in our country."

Mayor Roy Avis says the OFL policy will be reviewed by the town's administration and finance committee before coming to council for a decision.

Fort Frances Budget Passes

2009-06-09

09:11:07

The town of Fort Frances has passed its 2009 budget.

It includes a 1.1 per cent tax increase for residential ratepayers which is about $20 extra on a house assessed at 100-thousand dollars.

Council Rick Wiedenhoeft says its a good budget in tough economic times.

"When we're facing an overall 3 per cent increase in inflation, a 3 per cent increase in salary and benefits across the corporation, and to maintain the services that we do and still come in with at a 1.1 per cent tax increase in my opinion in phenomenal," says Wiedenhoeft.

Mayor Roy Avis called the budget affordable.

No Money for Scott Street Yet

2009-06-09

09:07:02

The town of Fort Frances still waits for funding to start work on Scott Street.

The town was hoping to begin work on the road between Colonization Road East and Reid Avenue this summer.

But Mayor Roy Avis says requests for provincial money have yet been approved.

"We have made contacts with every level of provincial government," says Avis, "right from the office in Thunder Bay right to the top. We're so of in a holding pattern until we get our funding."

CAO Mark McCaig says it would be nice to know soon if they're getting that money so they can begin work.

"We got to stop work at the end of October," says McCaig. "Maybe in the GTA they can work until the end of December. We can't do that here. If we're part of a cluster group for approval with northwestern Ontario municipalities, we should be getting these approvals a little earlier than we have been."

The town issued a tentative contract for the work in March.