Water Levels Discussed

There are calls for more gauges to monitor water levels on Rainy Lake.

At a meeting in Fort Frances last night, the International Rainy Lake Board of Control was told levels in the North Arm of the Lake this summer reached near flooding conditions while staying normal elsewhere.

Engineering advisor Rick Cousins admits it is an issue for the board.

"We're always looking at trying to increase the gauging we have," says Cousins. "They all cost money and we have to look at the efficiency and effectiveness of additional gauging compared wit the other things we can do."

Cousins says lake levels this year were very unusual with both Rainy River and Namakan Lake experiencing both very low levels in the spring to near highs in July.

Howarth's Becoming Leon's

A well-established business in Fort Frances' downtown will become a Leon's store next month.

Howarth's Home Centre is in the process of liquidating stock before undergoing a renovation to become the local home to the national furniture chain.

Owner Mark Howarth says timing for the change is right.

" We've always been trying to improve on our furniture," says Howarth. "Our electronics and appliances have always been very well priced but we've been a little behind on the furniture so we want to make that better. The Source contract was coming up so we're dropping the The Source and becoming Leon's."

Howarth expects to re-open as Leon's in mid-September.

Howarth's has operated in Fort Frances since 1950.

Sexual Assault Charged Re-Issued

A 62-year-old Ignace man is again facing charges relating to sexual assaults in the region in the 1980s.

Donald Milani is charged with 19 offences.

He was charged in 1987 but all charges were dropped in 1989 when the matter was still in the preliminary hearing stage.

A provincial police spokeswoman says new evidence has come to light.

Milani is to appear in a Thunder Bay court on August 30.

Highway Blitz Begins

Ontario Provincial Police launch Operation Corridor this morning.

The 24-hour safety blitz will target commercial vehicles and their drivers.

Officers will be looking to nab speeders and other aggressive drivers.

The Ministries of Transportation and Environment will conduct truck inspections, looking for poor maintenance, environmental violations and mechanical problems.

MNR Crews Busy in B.C.

(Ministry of Natural Resources Photo)

Ontario fire crews are playing a huge role in forest fire suppression efforts in British Columbia.

The Ministry of Natural Resources has provided nearly five-hundred fireRangers and support personnel for the past two weeks.

MNR Senior agency rep David Cleavely says they've often been asked to take a lead role in many fires.

"As well as having firefighters out here we also have three incident management teams," says Cleavely. "Those teams have been given the responsibility of a large amount of land base. Some of them looking after 30 fires and some of those fires in the neighbourhood of 10 to 20-thousand hectares in size."

Cleavely says the biggest challenge for firefighters has been thick smoke and high temperatures which is restricting the crews work to the morning hours.

Filing Period ends in Minnesota

The filling period for candidates seeking election to local government seats in Minnesota came to an end yesterday.

In the city of Rainer, incumbent Ed Oerichbauer will face a challenge for the mayor's chair from Bernie "Spike" Woods."

Brenda Baeur, Fred Woods senior, Thomas Hall, Terry Lahmayer, Norris Klesman and Marjorie Benning are seeking two trustee positions.

The final list of candidates running for the three councillor seats in International Falls is to be issued later this morning.

Elections will be held November 2.

Golf Fundraiser Needs Golfers

Golfers are needed to help raise money for Muskie Sports teams.

The Muskies Sports Association will hold its annual golf scramble fundraiser on August 29.

Fort Frances High School athletic director Shane Bliss says it's open to anyone.

"Usually people sign up as teams of four," says Bliss. "If you want to do that you can sign up through the (Kitchen Creek) pro shop 274-4653 or call me 274-0502. If there's some individuals that can't find a team, they can still register and maybe we can make up a few teams that way."

Bliss hopes running the event on a Sunday will avoid conflicts of other events and attract more golfers

Leon's to Set up in Fort Frances

National furniture chain Leon's is coming to Fort Frances.

Few details are being released at this time, but the company is confirming it's recently signed a new franchise agreement in Fort Frances with the store to open later this fall.

Calls to Leon's head office in Toronto were not immediately returned.

Racing for Riverside

A local racer will be trying to put Riverside Health Care Facilities Palliative Care room into the winner's circle this weekend.

Jamie Davis is collecting pledges, and plans donate a share of his earnings from this weekend's race's at Emo Speedway to the unit.

Davis says it's something he's considered for some time.

"I though we should race money for cancer or some good cause," says Davis. "I was in at the hospital visiting with my girlfriend's aunt, a nurse there, and took us up to the palliative care room and it just kind of snowballed from there.

Davis has pledge forms around the district for those wanting to support his efforts.

He'll also unveil a new car with Riverside's logo that he'll race the rest of this season at race tracks here at home and in the United States.

Union Seeks Moratorium on School Testing

The elementary school teachers union wants the Education Ministry to stop standardized testing for two years to allow for public consultation.

The tests are given to students in Grades Three and Six and focus on testing literacy and math skills.

The union says the tests rob students of other subjects, such as history, social studies and the arts.

But Education Minister Leona Dombrowsky is rejecting the demand saying the tests are useful. And she points out the testing is done twice in elementary schools.

Education advocates are also questioning the value of the standardized testing.

Rescue on Rainy Lake

A total of ten people had to be rescued after strong winds capsized three boats on Rainy Lake Sunday.

It happened shortly after the trio left their Voyageur's National Park campsite near Brule Narrows.

Park Rangers, Department of Natural Resources officials and Rainy Lake Houseboats were
involved in the rescue of the boaters, aged 9 to 70.

All were wearing life jackets, but one person had to be taken to hospital for treatment.

Falls Budget Work Underway

The work toward a budget for the city of International Falls is underway.

The city must bring forward a levy rate by September 15.

Finance Committee chair Councillor Cynthia Jaksa says they met with the city's department heads last week.

Jaksa says the city is expecting $4-million in local government aid for 2011, but still wants to ensure costs remain flat.

Skate Park Security Examined

The city of International Falls is looking to put a halt to vandalism at its skate park.

City administrator Rod Otterness says there have been some minor incidents, such as tipped over garbage cans, he believes is being caused by a select few.

He says the city is looking at rearranging the summer schedule so it has a stronger staff presence at the Kerry Park site.

New lighting is also being installed with that work expected to be complete next week.

More Candidate Filings

Two more nominations have come in for this October's municipal election in the Rainy River district.

Gayle Green is running for councillor in Atikokan.

She ran unsuccessfully in the 2006 election.

Peter Spuzak has filed for re-election as councillor in the township of Alberton.

Contestants Needed

(Rainy River Valley Agricultural Fall Fair photo)


Contestants are still being sought for the mini-Queen and King contest at this year's Rainy River Valley Agricultural Fall Fair in Emo.

Youngsters four to seven and attending school this fall are eligible.

The contest will be held during the selection of the Fair Queen Thursday night.

Call Mary Croswell at 487-1105 to register.

Fifth Street Road Closure

Fifth Street West in Fort Frances will be restricted to local traffic over the next couple of days.

Town officials says they're continuing work to prepare for an upcoming surface treatment.

The road will be closed between Portage Avenue to Wright Avenue from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. both today and tomorrow.

Fire Fighters Returning Home

(Ministry of Natural Resources Photo)


Some of Ontario fire fighting resources in British Columbia are coming home.

A total of 168 Ministry of Natural Resources fire rangers and support personnel are scheduled back today following a two-week deployment in the west coast.

Sunday, the province sent 206 personnel, including some from northwestern Ontario, to replace those returning.

Ultimate Fishing Town Voting Begins

The second round of the World Fishing Network's Ultimate Fishing Town competition starts today.

Nestor Falls finished the nomination period with 142 submissions, second only to Seeley's Bay, Ontario.

Fort Frances had 17 with Atikokan coming in with two.

Voting on the nominated communities starts at noon today and will wrap up September 28.

Arrest at Grand Portage Border

A Washington man wanted in connection with an alleged robbery in his home state has been arrested trying to enter northwestern Ontario.

27-year-old Daniel Pierre was trying to enter the region last Monday through the Grand Portage Port of Entry.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection arrested after a check of his identification revealed he was the subject of a National Crime Information Centre warrant.

It's the fortieth arrest at Grand Portage port of entry this year.

Ontario Sends More Aid to B.C.

Ministry of Natural Resources forest firefighters working in British Columbia will get some relief.

Over two-hundred fireRangers and support staff left from Sudbury, Thunder Bay and Dryden Sunday for Williams Lake and Prince George.

They will replacing some of the MNR crews who have been working in B.C. for the past two weeks.

Ontario now has almost five-hundred forest fire fighting personnel in west coast.