Fort Frances To Host Evacuees

Fort Frances will be playing host to about one hundred residents from Sandy Lake First Nation.

They're being flown out of their remote community this afternoon because of smoke from nearby forest fires.

Fire Chief Frank Sheppard says they'll be staying the Adventure Inn when they arrive.

More than 550 other residents are in Thunder Bay.

School Boards Told To Negotiate Deals

Ontario's Liberal government wants school boards to use the province's deal with the Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association as a basis to reach local contracts by the end of the August.

Education Minister Laurel Broten says boards will have to do what her government could not do and convince the teachers' unions to accept a pay freeze or she'll introduce legislation.

The Elementary Teachers' Federation says Broten is being unrealistic in expecting school boards to reach deals in 30 days that the province couldn't reach in six months.

Second Teen Arrested In Death

A second teen is facing a charge of First Degree Murder in the death of a man on Whitefish Bay First Nation earlier this month.

A 14-year-old boy, who can not be named because his age, will appear in a Kenora court today.

Both Treaty Three Police and OPP initially charged a 16-year-old boy, who also can't be named, two day's after police discovered the body of 61-year-old Charles Minshall when they responded to gun fire in the area of the man's store.

Fight To Reopen Tourism Centres Continues

It's not going to happen this year, but the fight to get the region's tourism centres re-opened isn't stopping.

Kenora-Rainy River MPP Sarah Campbell is again refuting the Tourism Ministry's reasons behind closing the centres, including those Fort Frances and Rainy River.

Campbell says the government's now pointing to the use of GPS units as a reason.

She disputes that claim saying her use of GPS in the area often fail to identify local landmarks that would help travellers.

Campbell admits its been frustrating, but isn't giving up hope the centres can be reopened next year.

Border Numbers Up

There's an increase in traffic being seen at the Fort Frances border.

Canada Border Services Agency says more than 108-thousand people in 50-thousand vehicles passed in June.

That's a 4.3 per cent increase from the number in June of last year.

By contrast, the number of travellers through the border at Pigeon River was down 3 per cent.

Portage Ave. Underpass Closed

There's a closure of the Portage Avenue underpass in Fort Frances today.

Operations and Facilities Manager Doug Brown says road will be closed from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. today and tomorrow so crews can install electrical cable as part of upgrades to the sewage pumping station.

The sidewalk is also being closed, but pedestrians will be permitted to walk through the area along the closed road portion.

No More Evacuations Announced

MNR file photo

No word yet if there will more evacuations of remote First Nation communities today.


Emergency Management Ontario spoke with several communities, including Fort Frances, yesterday about the possibility of them hosting people from communities impacted by smoke from forest fires.

Thunder Bay is hosting 300 evacuees from Sandy Lake First Nation.

Walk for Good Life Continues

A walk through parts of northwestern Ontario is underway.

Between 20 to 25 participants are involved in fourth annual Walk for Good Life, promoted by the group Good Life for Young Peoples.

They left Eagle Lake First Nation Sunday and will pass through this area today with stops at Couchiching and Rainy River First Nations.

The walk aims to inspire walkers culturally while promoting healthy lifestyles.

Zebra Mussel Problems In Minnesota

Inspectors for Minnesota's aquatic invasive species program are struggling to keep up with the spread of zebra mussels in State lakes this summer.

The Department of Natural Resources identifies more than sixty lakes are as being effected.

Agency officials add about 20 percent of boaters they check are in violation of laws aimed at preventing invasive species, but they're are making progress in building awareness.

Death At Remote Community Probed

Nishnawbe-Aski Police and the Ontario Provincial Police are investigating the death of a North Spirit Lake First Nation resident.

The deceased has been identified as 38 year-old Paul Campbell.

Details of the circumstances that led to his death have yet been revealed.

A post-mortem examination is scheduled for today in Thunder Bay.

Weekend Death Not Suspicious

OPP says they've found nothing suspicious about a weekend death of a 66-year-old man from Minnesota.

The man was pronounced dead at LaVerendrye hospital Friday afternoon after being transported from an island on Rainy Lake near the Five Mile Dock with what's described as a medical emergency

A post mortem was to be conducted Monday in Kenora.

Emo Break-In Suspects Sought

OPP are looking for two people who may be connected with a break-in earlier this month in Emo.

Fishing roads, an ice auger and a chain saw were taken from an unlocked garage.

Police says security cameras in the area identified two men carrying an auger and chain saw in the early hours of July 22..

One was wearing blue jeans and an orange or red sweatshirt.

The other was wearing a dark sweatshirt and dark pants.

Minnesota Anglers Win FFCBC

A Minnesota angling team is this year's winners of the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship.

Mark Raveling and Mike Luhman led all three days of fishing combining for 55.06 lbs of bass.

The team had finished second in four previous tournaments.

They beat out Chad Johnson and John Janousek, who entered the final day of finishing 11th and held onto to the top spot with 51.83 lbs before Raveling and Luhman weighed in.


Fort Frances anglers Jim Sandelovich and Karl Howells were fourth with 50.06 lbs.


Ted and Leo Heyens finished fifth with 50.05 lbs. 

Hydro Out

Some residents in the Mine Centre area are without power this morning.

Hydro One says about 50 customers lost their electricity overnight.

There is also an outage in the Devlin area with about 20 customers impacted.

Crews have been dispatched and should have power restored later this morning.

Meantime, nearly two-thousand home in the Kenora area are still without power after a vicious storm passed overnight.


As many as three-thousand were effected.


Hydro One says it will be later today before power can be fulled restored to that area.

Forest Fire Hazard Drops

MNR file photo

Forest fire hazard across northwestern Ontario has dropped to low.

Sixty-six fires are still active, but were slowed by rain on the weekend.

Among the new blazes in the Rainy River district was one near Lizard Lake north of Sapawe.

It's listed as being under control.

Five fires are now within Quetico Provincial Park, but are being allowed to burn themselves out because of  their benefit to the ecosystem.

All of the fires in the district are being identified as being lightning-caused.

First Nation Residents Evacuated

MNR file photo

A forest fire has forced an evacuation of 70 people from Sandy Lake First Nation.

Chief Bart Meekis says he's asked city of Thunder Bay to serve as a host community.

Some Crews Head Home

An easing of the forest fire situation in parts of northwestern Ontario is allowing some out-of-province crews to return home.

Twenty firefighters from Minnesota as well as two CL-415 waterbombers from Quebec left the region yesterday.

Personnel from New Brunswick and Saskatchewan are still in the area helping Ontario forest firefighters.

More ORNGE Hearings

Health Minister Deb Matthews faces another grilling by a legislative committee this week about her oversight of Ontario's embattled air ambulance service Ornge.

Matthews earlier testified that her ministry was kept in the dark by Ornge while it set up a web of spin-off companies with taxpayers' money.

But much of what Matthews told the committee was contradicted by former CEO Chris Mazza.

BizKids Sell Products

There's some new entrepreneurs in the Fort Frances.

Nine youngsters, who participated in the Northwest Business Centre's BizKids camps, pitched products at at open air market Friday.

13-year-old Nicholas Derkson, who sold Candy-Kabobs, says he learned a lot.

The youngsters learned all aspects of operating a business and visited stores in the downtown area before marketing their own wares.

It's the first time the camp has been offered in Fort Frances.

The Centre is looking at bringing it back next summer.

Facebook Travels

Greg Mountenay photo

An Ontario man is trying to get a little face-to-face time with the hundreds of his Facebook friends.

Greg Mountenay is travel across the country and make Fort Frances a stop on the weekend.

He says he's being able to connect with friends he hasn't seen in several years.

Mountenay lists more than 1,200 Friends on this Facebook page.

He started his journey two weeks ago and will end it later next month