The Dryden Eagles high school football team improved to 2-1 on the season thanks to a 32-14 win over the St. John’s Tigers, in the Winnipeg High School Football League.
The Eagles are at home next Friday as they take on the Churchill Bulldogs.
This afternoon, the Beaver Brae Broncos meet the Fort Frances Muskies in a battle of NORWOSSA teams.
The Broncos are still looking for their first win of the season after an 0-2 start, while the Muskies are at 2-0 to start the season.
Several health professionals may soon have their scopes of practice expanded.
The Ministry of Health says it is consulting on changes that would affect several regulated health professions.
It would include dental hygienists, speech-language pathologists, physiotherapists, denturists, chiropractors, chiropodists and others having the ability to order diagnostic imaging procedures such as X-rays, MRIs and CTs.
Optometrists would be able to perform minor surgical procedures, use laser therapy, order diagnostic tests and treat open-angle glaucoma without having to refer patients to a physician.
Psychologists with specialized training and education in psychopharmacology would be permitted to prescribe certain medications to manage and treat mental health conditions and addictions, as well as order select diagnostic tests such as urinalysis and blood work.
Pharmacists who are now able to assess and prescribe medication for various ailments would add another 14 to the list.
They include shingles, minor sleep disorders, head lice, ringworm, warts and dry eye.
They would also be able to administer vaccines for RSV, pertussis, tetanus, diphtheria, pneumococcal, and shingles.
“Across our province, qualified health-care professionals are ready to contribute more to their communities, ensuring doctors’ offices and emergency departments are available for those who truly need them, states Health Minister Sylvia Jones.
“By working to expand scopes of practice for additional professions, we are building on our progress to make it faster and easier for families to access the care they need, when and where they need it.”
The Ministry does not indicate when the changes may take effect.
A car wash in Fort Frances has been the target of a theft.
Provincial Police says the coin box at Auto Spa East on Scott Street was damaged and removed sometime last weekend.
They are now reached out to the public for help in solving the crime.
Anyone in the area of Scott St. and Williams Ave. who has video cameras outside their home or was in the area and noticed any suspicious activity, is asked to contact the OPP at 1-888-310-1122.
A man is facing charges after allegedly setting his car on fire and then assaulting responding officers.
City police received reports about an arson incident in the Algoma Street North area on Wednesday.
Witnesses alerted officers that a man was attempting to set his car on fire.
The fire was extinguished before city police arrived.
Officers then received information that a man matching the suspect description was wandering into traffic and throwing objects at vehicles near the intersection of Algoma Street and Red River Road.
When officers attempted to make an arrest, the suspect became combative and resisted.
Ultimately, officers were able to take the suspect into custody.
According to city police, the suspect allegedly spat on officers after being taken into custody.
As a result, a 44-year-old is facing the following charges:
Arson
Assault police (two counts)
The accused remains in custody with a future court date.
An arbitrated pay increase has been awarded for Ontario doctors in the final three years of a new agreement with the province.
It will provide physicians with increases totalling 7.3%.
Doctors received an earlier 9.95% hike for the first year, on top of a 3% increase announced last fall.
“This outcome also reflects the mutual agreement reached with the Ministry of Health on key components of the new Family Health Organization Plus (FHO+) model,” states Dr. Zainab Abdurrahman, President of the Ontario Medical Association.
“FHO+ builds on the existing model to reduce administrative burden, address lagging compensation and ongoing efforts to close the gender pay gap. It is designed to strengthen team-based primary care, improve access to family doctors and support recruitment and retention.”
The Ministry of Health also sees benefits in the agreement.
IT says it will increase patient access to primary care and provide stable funding for staffing.
“These investments will also connect more Ontarians to care by incentivizing doctors to take on new patients, supporting the shift of procedures from emergency departments to clinics and strengthening incentives for after-hours care,” the Ministry states in a release.
The province notes that the OMA and Ministry of Health have agreed on new funding measures to support in-hospital anesthesia services, hospital on-call coverage, and other initiatives that ensure patients have timely access to hospital and specialist care.
Members of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) met outside the office of Kevin Holland, MPP for Thunder Bay-Atikokan to protest the provincial government’s public service cuts.
While tens of thousands of OPSEU members are currently on strike as Ontario public college support staff, an additional 150,000 members in sectors including teaching and healthcare are currently in bargaining with the province.
At the center of OPSEU’s conflict with the Ontario government is Bill 124, which in 2019 limited pay increases for public sector workers to 1% annually. Though the law was repealed after Ontario courts ruled it unconstitutional last year, public service employees continue to feel as though they’ve fallen behind after years of high inflation rates.
OPSEU strikers rallying outside the office of Kevin Holland, MPP Thunder Bay-Atikokan, September 17, 2025
An attack on working people
Representatives from OPSEU consistently voiced the belief that these provincial cuts to public services are designed to bring about the degradation and privatization of public services.
“We’re very concerned that they’re about to try to close colleges or privatize colleges,” said OPSEU president JP Hornick. “Meaning more and more students are going to get left behind.”
Hornick referenced the closure of 650 public college programs: “This is something that should be striking fear in the hearts of Ontarians.”
JP Hornick, president of OPSEU, at a rally outside Kevin Holland’s office on September 17, 2025.
Carlos Santander-Maturana, president of the Thunder Bay and District Labour Council, echoed the feelings of Hornick. Asked about the public service cuts, Santander-Maturana pointed to the high inflation rates of the past few years – particularly in areas of basic necessity like food.
“Rent is skyrocketing, mortgages are high, and it’s very difficult for workers to make ends meet. Many of them have to start looking for a second or third job in order to pay the bill, so any cuts to wages and salaries are going to be felt by working families.”
“There is no question this is an attack on working people,” continued Santander-Maturana.
NDP MPP Lise Vaugeois, representative for Thunder Bay-Superior North, attended the rally in support of OPSEU. In alignment with the general theme of the day, she accused the Ford government of underfunding colleges with calculated purpose, with spending cuts “to the tune of at least $10,000 per student.”
A particularly stinging loss for Thunder Bay was the now-cancelled culinary program at Confederation College, which Vaugeois said was important for restaurants in the community.
Nobody’s Listening
Asked whether OPSEU had heard anything from the office of MPP Kevin Holland, JP Hornick stated they’d heard “nothing but crickets.”
“He’s not very keen on meeting with people who will have opposing political points of view,” said Carlos Santander-Maturana.
This reporter contacted the office of MPP Kevin Holland for a response, but at press time had yet to receive a comment.
Owen Smith, president of OPSEU Local 731, in a costume outside the office of MPP Kevin Holland on September 17, 2025.
President Owen Smith of OPSEU Local 731 could be seen in a tongue-in-cheek costume meant to call out CEO Graham Lloyd of the College Employer Council. OPSEU’s negotiations with the College Employer Council have been at a standstill for more than a week.
Asked whether he felt the provincial government was listening, Smith said no. “It’s sad that it seems to be falling on deaf ears, that we have to go on strike to get people to take notice.”
Smith maintains that the striking OPSEU public college support staff want to go back to work.
“People are falling behind… it’s unfair,” said Smith. Referencing the 10,000 layoffs of public college support staff, representing one-fifth of staff in the sector, Smith said workers were stressed by the large reduction in staffing.
“We’re trying to do more with less… Overtime is not allowed in most departments. So how do we keep up? We can’t. Things are going to fall through the cracks for us, and specifically at colleges, students are going to fall through the cracks.”
The ongoing dispute between Canada Post and the union representing postal workers took another step Thursday.
According to a press release from the Crown corporation, they have informed the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) that it would be responding to the union’s recent offers with new global offers designed to move negotiations forward.
The release said the goal of the offers is to allow the two sides to return to the table sometime in the next week.
Canada Post said CUPW’s offers from Aug. 20 added “significant new costs and restrictions at a challenging time for the corporation.”
Canada Post said it’s making the new offers after CUPW did not respond to their request to come back to the table with “workable solutions that reflect the company’s current realities and provide the basis for meaningful discussions.”
With a planned return to the table, Canada Post said it has asked the union to amend its strike action and end the flyer delivery ban announced on Sept. 12.
