Tim Davidson

The Trans-Canada Highway just west of Vermilion Bay has been closed due to an accident.

Details are few at this time.

A Ministry of Transportation release says the collision took place in Bridges Township near Kimber Lake and just past Stanley’s Resort.

There is no indication how long the closure will last.

In the meantime, one lane of Highway 17 west of Kenora is closed due to a collision.

The eastbound lane and shoulder are closed to a crash near Red Pine Ridge Road.

The collision took place just before 8:00 this morning.

The Municipality of Sioux Lookout is using a grant from Hydro One to help purchase flood mitigation equipment.

The town is putting together a couple of kits to deal with flooding in the municipality.

That includes two water pumps with portable power sources.

There’s also a pair of crates for hoses and connectors.

Doug Lawrance is the mayor of Sioux Lookout and says the funding is welcome.

“With support from the Hydro One Community Partnership Grant, we’ve been able to purchase critical equipment to strengthen our flood response and better prepare for future flooding,” says Lawrance.

“This investment will help us respond more quickly and protect key infrastructure when it matters most.”

The town says the town say the kits can be deployed where needed, especially in locations where sandbags are not enough.

The power sources can also be used by nearby homes if the equipment is deployed in a residential area.

The funding comes from Hydro Ontario Community Partnership Grant.

We’re supposed to be in a Super El-Nino year, with warmer than normal temperatures.

Environment Canada says that’s certainly borne out by recent monthly weather statistics.

The month of October was both warmer and much drier than normal.

The Daily Mean Temperature was 8.1 degrees.

That’s 2.9 degrees over our usual.

We usually see the temperature hover around the 5 degree mark.

In terms of rain, the Kenora Airport recorded 25 millimeters, compared to the usual, which is 67 millimeters.

The 50/50 draw for the Lake of the Woods Hospital Foundation was it’s biggest so far this year.

The foundation gave away $32,285 to Kristine Gagne of Kenora, the lucky winner.

The Hospital Foundation uses from the draw to purchase equipment for the hospital.

That includes a new ORCA food digester for the Food and Nutrition Department.

The ORCA breaks down food waste, using a natural biological process.

The boating season is almost over, and the City of Kenora is using this time to repair one of it’s boat launches.

The Keewatin Boat Launch on the Lake of the Woods side will be shutdown for a couple of days next week.

Starting on November 9th to the 13th, new pre-cast concrete boat launch pads will be used to replace broken one.

The city says it will also be introducing new concrete boat launch pads to extend the launch ramp.

Also, additional gravel will be used to smooth out ruts next to the boat launch.

The IISD-Experimental Lakes Area has won an award for its solar power project.

It was named the Canadian On-Site Project of the Year by the Canadian Renewable Energy Association at their annual awards in Toronto last month.

By installing new solar panels, the ELA has reduced it’s reliance on diesel generation by 80 percent.

Roger Mollot is the operations manager out at the ELA and says the project is expandable.

“We can scale this up with appropriate financing,” explains Mollot.

“So, we can install more solar panels, and we can install a larger battery storage system. It is possible for us to imagine moving more toward not just replacing 80 percent of the diesel-generated electricity but moving to replace 99 or 100 percent.”

Mollot says they’ve been able to install solar panels around the facility and not on their buildings.

“What we’ve done, since there is a clearing around the entire camp, we’ve installed the solar panels along the fire line rather than put them on the roofs of buildings. Having them on the fire line means access to the panels is easy for removing snow in the wintertime.”

The Experimental Lakes facility is an off-grid complex of buildings and labs between Kenora and Dryden.

Sioux Lookout is losing it’s Santa Claus Parade.

The Sioux Lookout Chamber of Commerce informed the municipality on October 16th that it would no longer organize the parade.

The town had to do a quick pivot and instead has organized Santa’s Village.

It will take place on December 6th between Front Street and Centennial Park.

The town says there will still be room for floats and it will set up light displays throughout the Park.

Santa’s Village will take place from 3 until 6.

The Nuclear Waste Management Organization says it has received some promising water testing results from the area proposed for the Deep Geological Repository.

A hydrogeologist has been testing the water in the bore holes that have been drilled.

Only seven samples could be gathered and most were above the 150 meter mark, and only two samples were from below that depth.

Testing also showed the water below the 150 meter mark was millions of years old.

The NWMO says the results are promising because it shows how little water there is in the rock.

The DGR would be located more 500 meters below the surface.

(Photo from the Nuclear Waste Management Organization)

Northwestern Ontario has a new regional commander for the OPP.

Sean Crabbe has been named the Chief Superintendent for the region.

Crabbe has held a number of detachment commander positions, including in Red Lake, the Rainy River District and acting inspector in Kenora.

He has also served in supervisory roles in Pickle Lake, West Parry Sound and James Bay.

The OPP says as regional commander he will lead all operations across the region.

Crabbe has been on the job since October 12th.

The City of Kenora has been fined a $1,000 by Elections Canada.

It’s as a result of removing campaign signs in the 2025 election race.

The Commission of Elections Canada confirms that 102 election signs were removed by city by-law officers without providing prior notice to the campaigns.

A complaint was filed with Elections Canada in April of 2025, four days before the federal election.

The removal of the signs violates a sub-section of the Elections Canada Act that prohibits interfering with election advertising.

The city says it has taken steps to avoid future violations.