Town Report Being Reviewed

The company interested in acquiring the former Atikokan Forest Products mill is mulling over a report identified possible wood supplies to open the shuttered mill.

The report was commissioned by the town of Atikokan.

Mayor Dennis Brown says it's identifies wood coming from a number of private woodlot owners.

The mill is currently slated to be sold off for scrap.

CEP Adds AbitibiBowater Sawmill Workers

Maintenance and production workers at AbitibiBowater's sawmill in Thunder Bay have agreed to join the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers union.

The union conducted a six-month organizing drive that led up to Friday's vote.

NDP Final Vote

NDP bring their travelling ballot box to Fort Frances in their selection of a provincial candidate for Kenora-Rainy River.

Tonight's meeting at the Adventure Inn is the last of four nominations meetings for Sarah Campbell of Oxdrift and Robert Sinding of Kenora.

It begins at 6 p.m.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath is expected to be in attendance.

Renewable Energy Program Debated

The McGuinty government's renewable energy program is shaping up to be an election issue this fall.

Progressive Conservative Energy Critic John Yakabuski says they'll scrap the program if elected.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath says she'd look to making changes to the program before allowing any new contracts to proceed.

More Forest Fires

(MNR photo)


The forest fire situation in northwestern Ontario doesn't seem to be letting up.

The Ministry of Natural Resources says there were 28 new starts on the weekend, bring the number of active fires back to over 110.

None of the new fires are in the Rainy River district, but the Ministry is watching to see if a storm the passed through Friday will result in any lightning fires.

Task Force Report Gets Public Review

The International Joint Commission kicks off a series of meetings tonight in Fort Frances to discuss the future management of the Lake of the Woods and Rainy Lake basins.

Nick Heisler, a senior advisor, says they want the public to provide input on recommendations made by a task force.

"These include a summit to be convened by the International Joint Commission to encourage the development of a water shed vision to look at common goals and objectives," says Heisler. "The second recommendation is to combine the two existing IJC boards, the Water Control Board and Pollution Control Board, into a single international water shed board."

The meeting takes place at the La Place Rendez-Vous beginning at 7 p.m.

Pawlenty Drops Out

Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty is dropping out of the race for the G-O-P presidential nomination.

His decision came after a disappointing 3rd place finish in the Iowa straw poll Saturday.

Nomination Meetings Begin

NDP in Kenora-Rainy River kick off a series of nomination meetings in Sioux Lookout tonight in the selection of their candidate for the October provincial election.

There are two nominees.

Sarah Campbell, a constituency assistant in Dryden and Kenora lawyer Robert Sinding.

Nomination meetings will also be held in Kenora and Dryden this weekend with the final balloting coming in Fort Frances where the winner will be announced Monday night.

Service Guarantee Proposed

The Liberals want to make it easier and faster to renew your driver's licence or health card if the party wins the October election.

They're proposing a service guarantee to refund any provincial fees if people have to wait more than 20 minutes at a Service Ontario outlet.

Solar Panels Now Up

(Solar panel atop the Memorial Sports Centre - town of Fort Frances photo)

Solar panels on four municipal buildings in Fort Frances have now been installed.

They're located on the roofs of the Memorial Sports Centre, water treatment plant, Public Works garage, and day care centre.

It's expected they'll be connected to the grid as early as next week.

A 20-year deal to sell the power back will see the town earn about $12-thousand annually over the next decade and $49-thousand in each of the final ten years.

Warp 9 to Open?

It appears the former Warp 9 bar in Fort Frances has been sold.

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario is considering an application for a liquor license for the facility to be known as Club 88.

The facility, which is in a former theatre, has been closed for the past five years and put up for sale.

No official word yet on who the new operators will be.

Jury Review

A former Supreme Court of Canada justice is going to look at why aboriginals are being shut out from juries in Ontario.

First Nations who live on reserves in the province say they have been excluded from juries for years.

The province has asked former Supreme Court justice Frank Iacobucci to look at the issue and come up with ways to fix the problem.

Atikokan Bass Classic Underway

(Atikokan Bass Classic photo)


Fishing at the Atikokan Bass Classic gets underway today.

One hundred and seven angling teams are competing for a share of the nearly 48-thousand dollars in cash being offered with a top prize of 10-thousand.

Darwin King of Atikokan and Guy Lagarrie of Thunder Bay are the defending champions.

Weigh-ins are at 3 p.m. today under the big tent at the Atikokan arena.

Go-Karting Club on the Rise

(Kim Williamson photo)


Go-karting in the Rainy River district is growing in popularity.

The Borderland Racing Go-Kart Club races each Friday night at Emo Speedway.

One of the organizers, Kim Williamson says they're getting close to 20 drivers a night.

"Our novice groups starts out at about age 6," says Williamson. "The advance is for the most skilled seniors drivers up the 16, but we also have one adult now. But interest is growing so we might be able to introduce more classes as people get their karts ready."

Williamson says a new club in International Falls is also attracting some Americans to Emo.

Cost Reduction Priority One

AbitibiBowater is looking at making more cost reductions to a company that has already seen deep cuts.

The company enjoyed a net profit of $61-million in the last quarter of this year.

But in a conference call to investors yesterday, CEO Richard Garneau says reducing costs remains at the top of the list.

Garneau says the company is still looking at $120-million on capital improvements at some of its mills.

Production Increases at Barwick

Ainsworth says production at its OSB mill in Barwick was at its best in the last three months of this year since acquiring it in 2004.

The mill saw a 10 per cent increase in production relative to the second quarter of 2010

CEO Rick Huff says the mill benefited from an extensive list maintenance and improvements done near the end of last year.

Energy Audit Planned

A number of municipal buildings in Fort Frances will get a thorough look over to see how the town can reduce its energy costs.

Honeywell will soon be starting energy audits on buildings considered high energy users or older facilities.

Travis Rob, the town's Sustainability Coordinator, says its findings will help identify improvements.

"Part of the project is to develop a five year plan," says Travis, "how to move forward on it, what should we tackle first, what's going to give us the best return first so we start generating as much cost savings as possible right off the start."

Rob says council could have a final report to consider by the time it begins next year's budget deliberations.

Comprehensive Study on Mine Started

The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency is giving the public an opportunity to comment on Osisko Mining's proposed Hammond Reef Gold Mine north of Atikokan.

It's to include two open pit mines, a mineral processing facility and a tailings management facility.

The agency has begun a so-called comprehensive study to examine the potential environmental issues and other concerns.

It will begin accepting comments beginning Monday for a one month period.

It's also providing $50,000 for individuals and groups to participate.

Post-Secondary Education Protest

Post-secondary student groups plan to scribble their priority issues for the October election outside Queen's Park today.

The University of Toronto Students' Union and the Canadian Federation of Students want parties to tackle what they call an underfunding crisis in provincial colleges and universities.

Docs Back Bicycling

The Ontario Medical Association wants to see the provincial government give bicycle safety a higher priority.

An O.M.A. report says with 26-thousand cycling-related emergency room visits in 2009, it's time to focus more on bike safety.

The doctors' group would like to see bicycle-safety lessons added to the curriculum in primary schools, and new drivers tested on how to share the road with cyclists.