Falls Airport Commission Hopeful

International Falls Airport officials are hopeful a new carrier will take over air passenger service from Delta Air Lines.

Delta has given notice it wants to end service to the Falls by the middle of October.

Airport Manager Thor Einarson says it's a position they've seen before.

"We've always come through at the end of the game," says Einarson. "It's always been a battle. It's always been fight. It will always change. I feel confident that at the end of the game we'll have something. We'll have good service. I'm really confident of that."

Delta has indicated that Wyoming-based Great Lakes Airlines may be interested in serving the Falls.

Bass Tournee Survey

The economic impact of the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship is being studied this week.

Out-of-town-visitors and anglers will be asked a variety of questions.

Consultant Tannis Drysdale says it will update a similar survey conducted about 15 years ago.

"We'll be using some of the same questions, particularly with the anglers," says Drysdale. "We have a much similar form and format for the visitors. We'll have people on site during certain set periods of time to check the number of out-of-town visitors who are attending the tournament and ask them questions."

A final report is expected out by the end of August.

More Evacuations

(Ministry of Natural Resources photo)


There's been more evacuations from Ontario's far north due to forest fires.

385 residents from Fort Hope and Sandy Lake were flown out yesterday to Geraldton, Winnipeg and Sioux Lookout.

Ninety-four fires are still active, none in the Rainy River district.

Smoke in Rainy River District

(Ministry of Natural Resources photo)


Smoke from several fires in the far north could become a concern for areas elsewhere in northwestern Ontario.

Environment Canada says smoke could be experienced in the Rainy River district today.

Debbie MacLean of the Ministry of Natural Resources says it's also spreading well out of the province.

"We have a satellite imagery on and yesterday it was drifting to the east as far as New Brunswick," says MacLean. "Smoke tends to have a long distance travel effect and people will just have to deal with that I guess."

MacLean says more than two-thousand forest firefighters are working full out to contain the blazes.

Humidex Advisories Issued

Air conditioners will be humming across the Borderland again today.

Environment Canada is forecasting temperatures to reach as high as 33 C during the day, prompting a humidex advisory for the Rainy River district.

Meantime, a heat advisory, issued by the U-S National Weather Service for Koochiching County, remains in effect until at least tomorrow night.

Wisconsin Man Not Appealing Ruling

A Wisconsin man is expected to begin serving jail time today after losing an appeal of a conviction for failing to pay tolls at the bridge linking International Falls with Fort Frances.

Falls City attorney Steve Shermoen says Dean Crist has indicated he will not appeal last week's ruling by the Minnesota Court of Appeal.

The Appeal court upheld a ruling last fall by a Koochiching County court judge.

Crist was convicted of five misdemeanour theft counts and sentenced to three consecutive 90-day jail terms.

Walk for Good Life Set

(Good Life for Young People photo)


A 7-day 500-kilometre walk around the Kenora and Rainy River districts is set to go next month.

It will be the third year for the Walk for Good Life organized by the group Good Life for Young People.

CEO Teresa Hazel says it's a journey of self discovery and accomplishment.

"They walk together and they learn together and they dream together," says Hazel. "We bring in elders from different communities so they get cultural teachings and they get a sense of community."

The event is open to anyone with registration made through the group's Fort Frances office or its website.

Man Killed in ATV Accident

A Minnesota man is dead following an ATV accident in Littlefork.

Koochiching County Sheriff's office say 34-year-old Randy Scott Berg was operating the ATV Sunday afternoon when he lost control and the machine rolled on top of him.

Delta Seeks Air Passenger Service Changes

Delta Air Lines is seeking federal approval for changes to its flights at International Falls.

Delta wants two subsidized routes handed over to another air carrier.

It's part of a host of changes the airline is seeking at airports across the United States.

Delta says it has been losing $14 million a year serving 24 cities.

Flights out of International Falls have been averaging 53 per cent capacity.

Nexus Program Aids to Smuggling

Newly released documents show Nexus travellers who are supposed to be low-risk have been caught trying to smuggle goods into the country illegally.

The program is to border patrol more efficient by allowing Nexus members who have
already undergone security clearances to pass through customs more quickly.

But documents obtained under the Access to Information Act show more than a hundred Nexus travellers were caught smuggling goods valued in the thousands of dollars in the second half of 2010.

The goods include a $16,000 engagement ring, a set of tires installed on a car that was crossing the border and a boat attached to a trailer.

In many cases the travellers did not initially declare the items then later admitted to attempting to smuggle them.

Forest Fires Situation Extreme

The forest fire situation in northwestern Ontario remains extreme.

Ninety-six fires, mostly in the region's remote north, continue to burn.

Over 250-thousand hectares of forest have been blackened.

That's prompted the evacuation of residents from Cat Lake, Kee-Way-Win and Fort Hope.

The Ministry of Natural Resources has also imposed a restricted fire zone in an area north of CN's northern rail line until further notice.

Hot Weather Blankets Borderland

The temperatures in the Rainy River district and Koochiching County reached near record highs on the weekend.

Yesterday, Fort Frances reached 32 C, but with the humidity it felt like 42 C or 108 F.

Atikokan hit 33 C, 41 C with the humidex.

The thermometer in International Falls reached 91 F.

Senator Not All Happy with Budget Deal

Minnesota legislators could be recalled this week for a special session following last week's tentative deal to end the government shutdown.

District 3-A Senator Tom Saxhaugh says while the deal gets services back, it's done little to solve the budget issue.

"I guess the good news is that it's over and we don't have the cuts we were trying to avoid," says Saxhaugh. "The bad news is we've kicked the can again and we're going to have to deal with that $1.4 billion or more two years from now."

A special session was expected today, but work continues on the detailed budget bills.

Electronic Waste Depots in Fort Frances

Ontario Electronic Stewardship comes to Fort Frances today to collect unwanted old televisions, computers, cellphones and stereos.

Depots will be at the Memorial Sports Centre beginning at 2 p.m.

Spokeperson Sean Magee says it's part of a northern tour to help divert the materials from landfill.

"we've had actually a bigger turn out for most of the places we've been to," says Magee. "We've collected over 70 tonnes of electronic waste. It's been a real great success."

The Recycle Your Electronics tour has also been to Rainy River and Atikokan.

Kids Pro Winners

For the first time, the Kids-Pro side of the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship has been shared by a pair of youngsters.

13-year-old Kale Bruyere-Huntley fishing with Mike Adams and Michelle Desalnier and 11-year-old Kobi Ward fishing with Joe Thrun tied for first with just over eleven pounds of fish each.

A total of twenty youngster shared the day with tournament anglers.

Accident on Highway 502

At least two people were taken to hospital in Fort Frances following a two-vehicle accident on Highway 502 Friday morning.

It happened at around 9:30 a.m. in the area of of the Crow Rock Bridge, about 7 kilometres north of Highway 11.

Police the two people were from one of vehicle and sustained injuries that are described as serious.

Wisconsin Man Loses Appeal

A Wisconsin man has lost a bid to have charges for failing to pay the toll at the bridge linking International Falls with Fort Frances overturned.

The Minnesota Court of Appeals, last week, upheld the conviction of Dean Crist.

Crist was convicted in a Koochiching Court last year on charges of theft of services for crossing the bridge several times without paying.

He appealed on several grounds, including claiming the Court did not have jurisdiction over the case on an "international bridge."

But the Appeal's court says the theft did not occur on the bridge, but on private property within the city of International Falls.

Area Bus Company Concerned

A bus company, providing service to Fort Frances and Atikokan, isn't happy with the arrival of a subsidized out-of-province company.

Caribou Coach president Sandy Smith says Pacific Western's arrival will hurt the local companies.

"With a specific company like Pacific Western coming in and exclusively taking away a third of the ridership from us and other carriers, that puts a real dent in the number of passengers we carry," says Smith.

Smith says Pacific Western is to service all patients who qualify under the Northern Health Travel Grant program.

College Support Staff Back Strike Action

Students head back to Ontario colleges in just over a month but labour trouble is already looming.

Support staff at community colleges represented by OP-SEU, including those at Confederation College, have voted 77 per cent in favour of a strike mandate.

Negotiators for the province's 24 colleges are urging the union to return to the table to work out a settlement before school starts.

Goldcorp Evacuates Employees

Advancing forest fires have forced Goldcorp to evacuate most of its 380 employees from the Musselwhite gold mine north of Pickle Lake.

Electricity to the mine is being provided by generator because the fire destroyed a section of a transmission line.

A crew of 50 employees, including the mine's general manager, will remain at the site to monitor operations and co-ordinate with firefighters.