The Fort Frances Fire Department blocked off the 300 block of Scott Street temporarily yesterday evening, after a possible gas leak was reported. Around 6 p.m. a call was made to the fire department to respond to Wesley Derksen’s law office (339 Scott St.). Upon arrival on the scene, crews deterimed there was no gas leak. Elevated carbon dioxide levels in the building sparked alarm, said ...

The Fort Frances Public Library is hosting a new reading program this summer called “Laugh Out Loud @ Your Library” and kids could not be more excited. The program has only been running for 10 days but there have already been 80 kids signed up and more are eager to join. Upon registration, children are given a music record that gets hung from the ceiling and acts as a chart to keep track of ...

After failed contract negotiations last month between Fort Frances Community Clinic management and members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 65.08, bargaining teams will meet with a conciliator tomorrow to try to come to an agreement. On June 26, the 16 full and part-time female workers at the clinic voted 100 percent in favour of striking, leading up to tomorrow’s ...

The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources Aviation and Forest Fire Management Program provided support on a medical emergency call Sunday in the Shabaqua area of the Thunder Bay District. The afternoon was a sweltering hot and windy day when the Thunder Bay Fire Management Headquarters received a request for support via the Central Ambulance Communications Centre. They were told that an air ...

Two new fires were reported in the West Fire Region by the end of Sunday. Both fires, Kenora fire #21 and Fort Frances fire #9, were 0.1 hectares in size. There are currently five active fires in the region, and recent lightning activity is expected to result in new forest fires. There’s been a total of 86 fires to date, consuming a total of 339 ha. In other news, helicopter and fire crew ...

A delegation of 10 women representing Riverside Health Care Facilities, Rainy River District Breast Health Network and the Canadian Cancer Society attended the 5th World Conference on Breast Cancer in Winnipeg on June 5–8. “We had the opportunity to meet with delegates from thirty two countries around the World”, enthused Sandy McKinnon who is a Registered Nurse and certified examiner for ...

Visitors are invited to come and be introduced to and learn more about some of the critters that live in Voyageurs National Park on Friday, July 4. Park Naturalist Brandon Baker will have activities, songs, and balloon animals for all. This evening is sure to be a hit for ages 1 to 99. Evening programs are offered every Friday night during the summer at the historic Woodenfrog State Forest ...

Wildfire Music, a local disc jockey company, will be moving to a new location in a few months. The company currently is run from Fort Frances, where it was created just over five years ago by current owner Adam Armit. The company has undergone major changes in growth over those years and is now expanding. The new head office now will be located in Thunder Bay. “The move will not affect a ...

The Northwest Catholic District School Board is proud to give out its Grade 8 Leadership awards for the 2007-08 school year. The Grade 8 Leadership awards are awarded based on the following criteria: •The student must be a confirmed Catholic student who participates regularly in liturgical celebrations and sacraments and must be an effective communicator, who speaks, writes and listens ...

A Dryden man has been fined to pay $3,150 in fines for an over limit of lake trout found in his home.  Norbert Graf, 50, pleaded guilty to possessing an over limit of lake trout, resulting in a $3,000 fine. Graf also pleaded guilty to using an extra line while ice fishing and was fined $150.     On March 8, conservation officers saw Graf fishing on Upper Manitou Lake. When conservation ...

The Fort Frances Service Canada Centre for Youth (SCCY) held a pancake social yesterday at their office on Scott Street in an effort to promote its youth employment services to the public. “An event like this just basically is meant to call out to the community and increase awareness. I mean offering free food draws people in and gets people interested in the services that we offer here,” said ...

THUNDER BAY, ON—Hundreds of people from all walks of life have signed their names to a letter to the Premier of Ontario urging him to avoid the decimation of the province's forestry sector that will occur with a wrongly implemented Endangered Species Act. Municipal leaders, housewives, bankers, lawyers, business owners, educators, forestry workers, high school students, journalists and police ...

The Fort Frances OPP is seeking the assistance of the public to solve the following crimes of vandalism. On March 15th, 2008 police were called to investigate three reports of vandalism. In all three incidents, someone smashed the taillights on parked vehicles. The vandalism occurred at the 100 block of Nelson Street, the 700 block of Nelson Street and the 400 block of Nelson Street in the ...

One new fire was reported yesterday—a 0.1 hectare blaze located in the Red Lake District north of Woodland Caribou Park. FireRangers and water bombers responded, and no problems are anticipated in extinguishing the blaze. This brings the total number of active fires in the region up to four. There’s been 81 fires to date, consuming 337 ha. read more

The Town of Fort Frances’ summer day programs and specialty camps are off to a great start this year with many different ones being offered for a variety of age groups. “The programs are all named the same as before and they are basically the same, except we are doing a lot more field trips and fun activities than before,” enthused summer activities co-ordinator Kate Elliott yesterday. “We ...

Although the weather was certainly less than ideal, this year’s annual “Relay for Life” was still deemed a success. “It was a pretty soggy Friday and Saturday, but it didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits,” stressed event organizer John Rafferty. “Everyone had a good time.” The event, a significant fundraiser for the Canadian Cancer Society, ran from 7 p.m. on Friday evening until 7 a.m. Saturday ...

A tug of war between Fort Frances and its sister city, International Falls, originally slated for tomorrow (July 3), has been postponed until next month. At the request of Falls mayor Shawn Mason, the third-annual contest will be held in late August to coincide with events being planned for that time. As previously reported, the cross-border tug of war, which the Fort Frances team has won the ...

The Junior Miss “Fun in the Sun” pageant came to a close yesterday under the big tent in the midst of all of the July 1st festivities when Hailey Clendenning (Energy Fitness Centre) was crowned as its first-ever queen. The titles of First Princess and Miss Congeniality both were bestowed upon Mandy Barker (Lowey’s Greenhouse), while Sarah Glover-Dittaro (Lakewood Tire Ltd.) glowed as the ...

Brother and sister Christian and Callahan Wiedenhoeft were crowned “Mini-King” and “Mini-Queen” respectively Friday during the annual Downtown BIA’s “Mall Days,” in conjunction with “Fun in the Sun” activities. For the “Mini-King” contest, six boys, ages four to seven, stood up on the “stage” in front of the museum with their eyes on the prizes—a crown, cape, sash, water gun, and a chance to ...

As far as the public library board is concerned, any new library and technology centre built in Fort Frances will be a stand-alone facility next to the Memorial Sports Centre, on the corner of Reid Avenue and Second Street East. The library board cemented its stance on the matter once and for all last Wednesday, after passing a motion to accept a study on the proposed joint facility for the ...