Missing Man Found

OPP divers have recovered the body of a man who had been missing since Canada Day after falling out of a boat on Rainy Lake.

The body of 43-year-old Robert Mainville of Couchiching First Nation was found in an area of Duck Bay yesterday morning.

The search by provincial police had been ongoing since last Thursday night when Mainville and another man fell into the lake.

The other man, whom police have not identified, was found alive that night and taken to LaVerendrye Hospital in Fort Frances for treatment.

Highway Closed

(Submitted photo)


A large sinkhole has closed Highway 11 west of Kashabowie.

Provincial Police says the sinkhole impacts both lanes of the highway and is located about 10 kilometres west of Burchell Lake Road.

Heavy rain is to blame.

The highway is not expected to reopen until crews complete repairs sometime today.

For motorists travelling to Thunder Bay from the Fort Frances area, it means having to detour through Highway 502 and Dryden.

Rainy Weekend

Isolated thunder storms and scattered showers blanketed northwestern Ontario over the weekend

Huge rainfall amounts were recorded across region.

The highest, 13 centimetres, was recorded at a weather station in Quetico Provincial Park at the Ontario-Minnesota border.

Another weather station at Quetico's northern boundary measured rainfall at 117 millimetres.

In Fort Frances, a total of 60 millimetres of rain fell Saturday night and Sunday morning.

Flooding to be Addressed

The mayor of Fort Frances says the town is working towards eliminating flooding of the Portage Avenue underpass in the future.

Responding to questioning over last Thursday's heavy rains that led to water pooling in the underpass, Roy Avis says it's something they hope to avoid in the future.

"There is another tender that's in the process of being let to do the pumping system," says Avis. "All this ties into the work we're doing at the Fifth and Third intersections. We're rerouting the storm sewers. It was just unfortunate we got a heavy rain like we did that day and it filled up. One of the pumps didn't have the capacity to move it."

Avis says the work recently done at the underpass focused only on the roadway itself.

Atikokan Mayor Seeks Another Term

One of the Rainy River district's longest serving municipal politicians is making a bid for re-election this fall.

Atikokan's Mayor Dennis Brown says he's vying for his another term as mayor.

"There are some good times for Atikokan," says Brown. "We're entering into a time we expect much better things to happen for the community and I just simply like to be a part of it to make sure it does go the way we see lining up."


Brown has been in municipal politics for 27 years, and Atikokan's mayor since 1997.

Children's Summer Programs Begin

The Fort Frances Public Library Technology Centre kicks off its summer programming for children and teens today.

Different events will be held each day in the children's area which department head Andrea Avis says is benefiting from new technology.

"We have a smart table where kids can play games," says Avis. "There's lot of learning programs that are all loaded and all of the kids are working together and having a great time with that."

There are also a number of computers where children can surf the Internet with their parents permission.

Falls Wins Tug of War

It was the Americans coming out on top in the annual tug-of-war between Fort Frances and International Falls Friday.

It appeared the Canadians would earn a three-peat, but a hard tug near the end forced Fort Frances Mayor Roy Avis and his team to concede defeat.

"It was a good challenge. We fought hard, but we didn't make this time," says Avis. "We have to let them win at least once so the challenge will go out again next year."

Speaking for the Falls side, city administrator Rod Otterness was pleased their effort and looks forward to defending the title next year.

"It is fun to win," says Otterness, "there's no question about it. But the event from our perspective was exciting. There's a real scene of drama when the rope becomes taught and everyone beginnings pulling for their respective countries."

Plane Crash in Rainy River

A number residents lined-up to watch the Canada Day parade in Fort Frances were also witness to a float plane crashing into Rainy River yesterday morning.

The plane, ended up on its side, several feet from the American side of the river, just east of the Sorting Gap Marina with only its tail and left wing showing above water.

Emergency personnel from both sides of the border responded , as well as a private boater from the Fort Frances area.

The cause of the crash or whether anyone inside the plane was injured have not yet been released.

Rain Kicks of Canada Day in Borderland

It was a wet start to Canada Day in the Borderland yesterday morning.

Environment Canada says the area received more than 6-centimetres of rain in less than three hours, turning fields into lakes, leaving some roads washed out and some basements flooded.

In Fort Frances, the torrent of water quickly filled the Portage Avenue underpass, forcing one motorist to abandon their vehicle after it stalled in the high water in an attempt to drive through it.

Crews spent several hours pumping out the water before the roadway could be re-opened.

In Koochiching County, rainfalls were measured at 3-inches shattered a July 1st record set back in 1991.

HST in Effect

Customers in Ontario are now paying the new HST tax.

The levy kicked in yesterday and while some shoppers were annoyed at paying more for services like hair cuts, others in the province welcomed the tax.

Ontario Federation of Agriculture president Bette Jean Crews says many farmers will see savings on big-ticket items like irrigation systems and farm trucks.

HST is also be blamed for sharp increases in gasoline prices.

The harmonized sales tax is also being tacked onto the cost of renting a site at provincial parks.

Ontario Parks spokesperson Bruce Van Stall Dinen don't think the extra tax will impact reservations.

Camps sites, ranging from 25 to 40 dollars previously, increased by as much as $3.00 because of the HST.

Fall vs Fort

The town of Fort Frances and the city of International Falls will be a war today - well a friendly type of war anyway.

Residents on both sides of the border are being encouraged to come out to participate in the annual Tug-of-War between the two sister communities beginning at 12 noon.

Canadians gather at the Sorting Gap Marina while American combatants will assemble at Pat Roche Landing.

Fort Frances has won the last two events.

Body Recovered from Lake

Provincial Police have recovered the body of a missing man from Rainy Lake.

An OPP dive team located the body of 24-year-old Clayton Windigo yesterday morning, not far from where he went missing.

Windigo was last seen Sunday night while diving from a bridge on Highway 11 in the area of Bear's Pass when he entered the water, but failed to resurface.

Road Closure Today

There will be more traffic detours for motorists travelling to the north end of Fort Frances today.

Fifth Street, between Portage Avenue and Cornwall, is being closed beginning at 8 this morning, re-opening around noon.

Town officials say the closure is necessary because CN Rail is removing old railway track from within the roadway.

The work is not connected with the current road improvements being done along Portage Avenue.

Complex Future Still Uncertain

Fort Frances town officials say they're still uncertain what the impact Ontario's early learning program will have on the local Children's Complex.

Children as young as young as four could be attending full-day kindergarten in Fort Frances schools by the fall of 2011.

Chair of the town's Community Services Committee Councillor Andrew Hallikas says the impact on local day care services is still unknown.

"We have had meetings with local representatives of the boards of education, provincial representatives and current child care deliverers in the district," says Hallikas, "and the full impact of these changes is not yet clear."

The province is moving to make early learning available in all schools by 2014.

Airport Hanger Questions

Town councillors are raising some questions about what's inside the hangers at the Fort Frances airport.

They arose during discussion at Monday's meeting while council approved a new lease for one of the facilities.

Mayor Roy Avis noted the hanger had been used previously used as a storage unit.

"What I've been told being on council for the past thirteen years is that they're supposed to be used for aircraft," says Avis. "If it is to stimulate use of the airport, there should be an aircraft there."

Operations and Facilities Manager Doug Brown says a clause in lease agreements prohibits the storage of items such as boats or trailers in the hangers.

More Help to Manitoba

A quiet forest fire situation in northwestern Ontario is allowing the Ministry of Natural Resources to send additional crews to battle fires in Manitoba.

Crews from Thunder Bay, Fort Frances, Pickle Lake, Greenstone and Red Lake will join five others from the East Fire region in northern Manitoba.

They join the over fifty MNR personnel who have been in the province since last week.

Quest Line-up Set

Quest for the Best now has a full slate of contestants.

A total of twenty performers will compete in the local singing show.

It's scheduled for July 22 as part of this year's Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship at the Memorial Sports Centre.

Tickets, including those for the special V.I.P. section, are now on sale at Canadian Tire or at the Fort Frances Chamber of Commerce office.

Volunteers Needed

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is seeking more volunteers to help monitor the states rivers and lakes this summer.

Volunteers will be part of a program that collects information to help measure the health of the waters.

The M.P.C.A. says help is needed in a number of counties including Koochiching.

Library Under Budget

It's appearing the final tab on the new Fort Frances Library Technology Centre will come under budget.

There is still some exterior work to do, but Community Services Manager George Bell says total construction costs are still running about $63,000 less than the original budget of $4.2 million.

The cost to furnish the new facility is also under budget by about $21,000.

Official Plans Comes Back to Public

A draft of Fort Frances' official plan comes before the public for comment this week.

Consultant Greg Hynde says the document which sets out guidelines for development addresses a number of key issues.

"It does conform with the provincial policies, all of them," says Hynde, "including the growth plan. We put in some guiding principals for sustainability that he province wants in your document. We have new policies and designations for environmental protection."

The town will hold two public meetings Wednesday to gather public input.