Tim Davidson

Monika Ehmann is the winner the Kenora Lion’s Club’s 50/50 draw.

The Lion’s made the draw Saturday afternoon at Canadian Tire.

The jackpot was work more than $14,000.

Kenora OPP is reporting Highway 17 from the Manitoba border to east of Dryden has become snowpacked and icy making travel dangerous.

Earlier today the bypass around Kenora was closed due to a collision. Traffic was down to one lane for a few hours due to a collision in Vermilion Bay and this afternoon a crash near Dinorwic, east of Dryden caused a closure.

The OPP says its officers are currently responding to a high number of collisions and disabled vehicles as blowing snow and freezing temperatures continue to create hazardous driving conditions. Police are advising against non-essential travel at this time. If you have to drive you should reduce speed, increase space with the vehicle in front of you and make sure your vehicle is cleared of snow and ice.

Some changes are being made in the way the Ontario Special Investigations Unit looks into non-lethal incidents.

The SIU says starting in the new year it will stop investigating certain cases.

In particular, it will no longer investigate the discharge of Anti-Riot Weapon ENfields or Arwen’s, and other similar weapons.

The SIU say it’ will continue to investigate cases where traditional firearms are discharged, whether or not it results in serious injury or death.

The community is invited down on Main Street tomorrow to be part of a video for Hometown Takeover Canada.

This is a follow-up video for the city to see if they will be featured in the HGTV show.

Mya Horley is Kenora’s Senior Communications Advisor and says they’ve been asked to submit a second video, which is promising.

“(HGTV) is pretty quiet about the communities that have applied and then the communities as well they have re-reached out to do this extra video, that we’re calling for the community to come out to,” says Horley.

Economic Development Officer for the city Megan Dokuchie says they’ve taken extra precautions for the video shoot.

“We’re closing the street, so there will be lots of room for everyone to come and gather. That street closure is happening at 10:30, so certainly come early and be ready for 11.”

Horley says the video shoot will take place in front of the Main Street Christmas Tree tomorrow at 11 am sharp and should only take about an hour.

Crossing the border to the United States in northwestern Ontario is going to change in the new year.

Northwest Angle and Pigeon River through Lake of the Woods are two of five locations that will be affected by the change.

The Remote Area Border Crossing Program is being discontinued on September 15th, 2026.

Instead, the telephone reporting system, which is already in place in other areas of Canada will be used here.

The Canada Border and Security Agency says this process provides a consistent level of security and expectations of compliance.

It adds that it’s a measure that will more closely align with how travelers report to US customs when entering in remote areas.

To ensure a smooth transition, active Remote Area Border Crossing permits have been extended and will remain valid until 11:59 p.m. on September 13, 2026.

The location of the new telephone reporting sites will be decided in the coming months in consultation with Indigenous communities, local businesses and law enforcement partners.

The Kenora Airport is ready to welcome North Star Air.

Starting on January 15th, the airline will be offering service once a day, five days a week to Thunder Bay and back.

Chair of the Airport Authority Ryan Reynard says this Saturday they will officially launch the flight service.

“What we want to do is just let everybody know what the schedule is…what the prices are,” explains Reynard.

“They can come check out the plane; ask any questions they have. So, we just want to get them familiar with what it’s going to look like, and what the service is going to be.”

Reynard add that while the flights won’t begin until January 15th, they wanted local resident to see what North Star has to offer.

“They’re bringing the aircraft that they are going to be using for flights between Kenora and Thunder Bay. So, it just a big kick-off launch. You know, just promote the service and meet the folks that we are going to be working with at North Star.”

He says there will be snacks and some free draws. There are 2 grand prizes draws of a return ticket on North Star Air for travel between Kenora and Thunder Bay

The launch event will be taking place at the Kenora Airport on Saturday from 1 pm until 3 pm.

The RCMP in eastern Manitoba are searching for a missing ice fisherman on Lake of the Woods.

Police were contacted Tuesday night around 9:00 about a missing 71-year-old man from the Buffalo Point First Nation.

He had gone out earlier in the day on a side-by-side to his ice shack, which is about five kilometers north of the Buffalo Point Marina.

On Wednesday, the Mounties began their seach with a drone.

They found the fishing shack and a pressure ridge.

It’s believed the side-by-side went through the ice here, and police believe the driver was unable to exit before it went under.

The Sprague RCMP continue their investigation.

There’s been a changing of the guard at Sioux Lookout Hydro.

Deanne Kulchyski has retired as Chief Executive Officer.

The Board of Sioux Lookout Hydro has appointed Anthony Zarecki as interim CEO.

He’s been with the electrical utility since 2007 and has been the operations manager since 2019.

Sioux Lookout Hydro serves both Sioux Lookout and Hudson.

A 15-year-old youth has been charged in connection to a fire at the Canadian Tire store in Fort Frances.

The blaze broke out around 11 pm last night.

Flames and smoke could be seen coming from the building, and the fire was successfully extinguished with the help of the Fort Frances Fire Department and the store’s sprinkler system.

Through investigation, a youth has been charged with arson and break and enter.

Other charges include uttering threats, failure to comply with a probation order and mischief.

He’s to appear in Fort Frances Court on January 6th on the charges.

His identity is protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

The battle between the Chief Administrative Officer of the City of Dryden and council Ritch Noel is getting heated.

Noel has issued a challenge to Roger Nesbitt regarding his report to council that there were no severance costs accrued by the city in 2025.

“So, I put to you sir, that if I made an FOI (Freedom of Information) request and found out that there was something else paid out in 2025, and could prove it, without disclosing a name, would you resign for misleading council and the taxpayers of this city,” said Noel in his comments to Dryden city Council at the open meeting this week.

For his rebuttal, Nesbitt says part of his job is to make sure councillors are being kept accountable.

“I have worked for the better part of this term of council, to ensure that councillor Noel is accountable for his actions. And obviously now, I’m being targeted now for my due diligence.”

Nesbitt wrote a report for the council meeting which concluded, “As for the councillor’s attempts to publicly blame municipal staff for the extremely rare occasions of labour related litigation, it is a completely baseless insinuation and exposes the municipality to further liability and associated costs and can create a toxic work environment for municipal staff.