The Engineering and Infrastructure department in the City of Kenora is getting ready for a busy summer.
A number of contracts are about to be awarded, or will be awarded later this winter.
Department head Greg Breen says that includes a number of projects affecting the city’s green spaces.
“We’re basically ready to award the McLeod Park Phase 2 renovation,” Breen update city council recently.
“We are ready to award also the Central Park green space and storm water upgrades on 1st Street South. And another highlight is, we’re just in the final pieces of putting together the award for the Coney Island playground.”
Breen says other contracts they plan to award still need a bit more work.
“Municipal Paving and Lakeview Drive arterial paving, and also Railway Street Phase 4. Those are just at the final strokes of design, so we’re getting ready to move into tender process for those three projects.”
The city has a capital budget of about $6.1 million dollars this year.
Provincial funding for Gakijiwanong Anishinaabe Nation, known as Lac La Croix First Nation.
The community is receiving nearly $30 million that will be applied to the construction of a new water treatment plant.
Chief Carrie Atatise is thrilled to be receiving the money.
“We are excited to work with Ontario, the Ministry of Infrastructure, and the Health and Safety Water Stream on this important project,” states Atatise in a release.
“This work will improve the lives of our members in the resolution of a long-term boil water advisory and in providing the opportunity to drink safe tap water.”
A boil water advisory has been in place since January 2022.
The funding comes from the province’s Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program’s Health and Safety Water Stream (MHIP-HSWS).
“The Health and Safety Water Stream is ensuring the safety, functionality and longevity of the water of the treatment plants that community members in Gakijiwanong Anishinaabe Nation rely on, today and into the future,” states Kenora-Rainy River MPP Greg Rickford.
Construction is expected to begin this year, with the new plant expected to be operational within two years.
The 184-kilometre all-season road will link Marten Falls with the provincial highway network for the first time, substantially increasing the community’s access to supplies, resources, and services during the many months of the year when there is no car access to the outside world.
But the proposed access road will do more than connect Marten Falls to its surrounding communities: it will also serve as a road network for future industrial projects in the Ring of Fire, enabling the movement of people and goods to and from the region.
The Ontario Government hails the assessment’s submission as another step towards opening up the Ring of Fire.
With the environmental assessment submitted, it says the province remains on track to get shovels in the ground on the access road by August.
Some early burning is planned near International Falls.
Voyageurs National Park says it is preparing to conduct prescribed burns over the next several weeks to eliminate invasive cattails and dead vegetation.
It is part of the park’s long-term project to improve habitat for wildlife, provide enhanced fishing opportunities, and support natural wetlands.
The park notes that hybrid cattails have invaded approximately 500 acres of wetlands, displacing native plants such as wild rice, sedges, rushes, and native cattail.
Much of the burning will take place around Black Bay and Cranberry Bay on Rainy Lake.
Additional burns will be done on Irwin Bay on Lake Kabetogama if possible.
The park says the burning will be done during daylight hours and is dependent upon ice conditions holding up to allow access.
It is asking people to avoid the areas when the burning takes place.
Calling all shutterbugs: The Friends of the Thunder Bay Public Library will be hosting a special vintage camera sale the weekend of March 14 at the County Fair Mall.
The equipment is donated by the Interactive Media Development program at Confederation College. The college says that while these items are no longer in use, they remain in good working condition and reflect years of hands-on learning by students in the program.
“We’ve been clearing out older camera equipment and knew there would be people out there who were still interested in using it,” said Orion Atkinson, IMD Program Coordinator at Confederation College. “Though it no longer fits our curriculum needs in the Interactive Media program, we’re happy to be donating this vintage equipment to a local charity and supporting the Thunder Bay Public Library.”
“Many of our students learned photography and videography on these analogue cameras and it’s great to think that they’ll get a new life with new owners.”
Here’s what will be on the block:
Vintage SLR and DSLR cameras
Video cameras and accessories
Photography and video equipment
Gently used books of all genres
All proceeds from the sale will go towards Thunder Bay Public Library programs and services.
“We’re incredibly grateful to the IMD Program for thinking of us,” said Fran Duke, President of the Friends of the Thunder Bay Public Library. “Raising funds to support the library is at the heart of what we do. This donation allows us to help this equipment find new homes while generating funds that directly benefit the library and the community.”
The camera sale will run alongside the popular $2 Tote Sale, where customers can fill a tote bag with gently used books for only $2.
St. Stephen is asking local businesses and event organizers to help shape its 2026 Visitor and Event Guide.
The town said the booklet will be distributed at Visitor Information Centres across New Brunswick to highlight what the community offers.
It also explained that businesses can be listed under where to eat and drink, where to stay, or where to shop in a social media post.
Event organizers are also invited to submit details, and eligible events must be open to the public and can be either free or ticketed.
The 2025 guide highlights St. Stephen’s small‑town character and notes that visitors will find a range of shops, restaurants and local attractions.
It also outlines the community’s long history and points to Ganong Bros. Ltd. as a major employer that has shaped the town’s identity as Canada’s Chocolate Town.
Anyone interested in being included in the 2026 guide can email their information to the town’s tourism coordinator.
NASA’s Artemis II moon mission completed its second “wet dress rehearsal” on Thursday, setting the stage for a potential launch date of March 6.
The first attempt, made earlier this month, exposed leakage issues with the rocket’s liquid hydrogen fuel tank.
Wet dress rehearsals take a rocket launch through the entire process of fuelling, checking systems, boarding crew, and even counting down to launch — only stopping the clock a few minutes before a rocket would really fire up its engines during an actual launch.
In a press conference on Friday, NASA representatives confirmed that the fuel leak had been corrected.
With the second dress rehearsal deemed a success, NASA will now complete its final preparations for launch.
It announced that the four-person Artemis II crew, including Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, began their quarantine on Friday.
The Artemis II will launch its crew on a ten-day voyage, flying by the moon before returning to Earth.
It will be the first time in over five decades, since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972, that humans travel to the moon.
The mission will also make Canada the second country to send a human to the moon.
The aviation industry in Thunder Bay is getting a piece of the pie from Mark Carney’s huge defence spending increase.
The Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario (FedNor) is investing over $1.5 million into Thunder Bay’s Levaero Aviation Group. These funds will go towards Levaero’s Hangar 97 project, a new 500-square foot building to accommodate aircraft equipment and staff for refurbishment processes.
FedNor Minister and Thunder Bay MP Patty Hajdu says keeping Canadian aviation manufacturing in-country is very important in the current political climate.
“Canada was built by Canadians, and our defence industry is no different,” Hajdu said. “By supporting domestic efforts to grow our armed forces through the Buy Canada plan for supplying the military, we are investing in Canada and in Northern Ontario. This will create real opportunities for businesses and workers, here at home. When we empower Canadian industries to thrive, we contribute to a safer future for all generations.”
Thunder Bay-Rainy River MP Marcus Powlowski emphasized the need for defence spending, referencing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and U.S. President Donald Trump’s aggression towards Canada.
Confederation College aviation students pose with Confederation College President Michelle Salo, MP Patty Hajdu and MP Marcus Powlowski at Friday’s announcement (Jacob Henriksen-Willis/February 20 2026)
“It would be nice to live in a world where we don’t have to spend any money at all on defence,” Powlowski said. “The money could go to healthcare, to education, to better roads. But as Prime Minister Carney said, we need to take the world as it is. Currently, threats abound from all sides.”
“Either you’re at the table or you’re on the menu, and we don’t want to be on the menu for countries that look at dividing up the world and creating their own spheres.”
Patty Hajdu says the defence strategy has a goal of creating 125,000 jobs through domestic production.
“The intent is to be able to produce as much as possible for our own military needs and our own sovereignty needs,” Hadju said. “The best-case scenario is that we’re confident Canada can defend itself, that we can act as an ally, that we’ve met our NATO commitments, and that we have a skilled workforce with confident Canadians knowing they have a place.”
Levaero Aviation is just two doors down from Confederation College’s aviation centre, and they have a strong partnership with the program. The college also provides training to reserves and aircraft maintenance technicians for the Royal Canadian Air Force.
“(We) supply those maintenance grads, as well as those who will be flying the planes. Not only for the Air Force, but across Northwestern Ontario and Canada,” said Michelle Salo, President of Confederation College.
Salo says the investment will benefit more than just the defence sector.
“When you think of how northwestern Ontario is evolving with critical minerals, you really need planes to get in and out of some of these places to bring people and equipment in. And you need mechanics to help support that too. So this will be critical for the economic development of northwestern Ontario, as well as the defence strategy,” Salo said.
An eight-week pilot project will put more RCMP officers on patrol in downtown Moncton.
“Beginning March 1, and ending April 25, consisting of a dedicated full-time, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, downtown security patrol service enforcement by regular Codiac RCMP detachment members during their overtime,” Councillor Daniel Bourgeois read the motion aloud at the Moncton City Council meeting this week.
The cost is approximately $288,000 for for the duration of the pilot project.
Downtown High Visibility Safety Patrol Pilot
Once the project is completed, an assessment report will be submitted to city council before May 31 to help determine the feasibility of the project and whether or not it should be extended with or without modifications.
This project also calls for $250,000 for Downtown Moncton Centreville Inc. to establish and manage a community resiliency fund to support small businesses affected by recent criminal activities.
It will help offset things like uninsured losses, deductibles and security improvements, to help reduce repeat victimization.
The funds to pay for downtown patrol will come from the City of Moncton Codiac Regional Policing Authority surplus deficit reserve. The resiliency fund will be paid for through the City Council contingency fund.
Moncton City Council unanimously voted in favour of the downtown patrols.
A local group called ‘Enough is Enough’ that advocates for public safety responded in a social media post.
“While welcoming positive steps from Moncton City Council, Enough is Enough continues to call for measurable action from all levels of government. The Downtown safety patrol pilot is a welcome step, with the hope that it expands community-wide. While the new relief fund helps, the real cost of crime far outweighs available resources, and prevention must be the priority.”
Another decrease in outflow from the Norman Dam into the Winnipeg River today.
That’s because of continued dry conditions across the drainage basin.
Water levels on Lake of the Woods went down about 2 centimeters this past week, and despite the decrease in outflow from the dam, lake levels are expected to decrease another centimeter over the next seven days.
Levels on the Winnipeg River below the Norman Dam are expected to drop about 5 centimeters this week and 1.5 centimeters at at the Dalles.
