Local News from Across the Rainy River District
Darcy Whitecrow considers it his duty to preserve his culture, planting its seeds through traditional language and a connection to nature. A member of Seine River First Nation, Whitecrow says he is here to pass on the lessons he has learned through family, a traditional Ojibwe upbringing and life experience. […]
This wildfire season has been a brutal one in Northern Ontario, with dry conditions creating the conditions for a whopping total of 604 fires so far—outstripping the 388 seen in 2025 and far above the 10-year average of 408 per year. The fires have been big and nasty: more than […]
An old wooden rotary telephone sits quietly at the edge of the Little Falls Cemetery in Atikokan. Unconnected to any wires, its only power source is the heavy breeze rustling through the nearby pines. This is a wind phone, a newly installed monument designed to offer a unique, comforting way […]
Environment Canada says the district should see little rain as dry conditions continue. For most of July, the Thunder Bay district’s precipitation has been 25 to 50 per cent below normal, according to warning preparedness meteorologist Peter Kimbell. “That’s probably going to continue for the next little while because the […]
TORONTO — The Steelworkers Humanity Fund (SHF), the charitable arm of the United Steelworkers union in Canada, says it is donating $20,000 to support people and communities evacuated by recent wildfires in Northwestern Ontario, as well as future wildfire relief efforts across Canada. In one of the worst wildfire seasons […]
A total of 117 active wildland fires were reported as active in the Northwest Region late Monday, down from a high of 148 earlier in July, after a rainy weekend helped to dampen forest conditions. There were 23 fires not under control, three being held, eight under control and 83 […]
Dairy Queen Canada will hold its annual Miracle Treat Day on Aug. 13, donating the net proceeds (pre-tax purchase price minus costs) from sales of Blizzard ice cream treats in Fort Frances to the Children’s Hospital Foundation of Manitoba. Miracle Treat Day, now in its 24th year, has raised nearly $58 million […]
THUNDER BAY — In its first week running a veterinary field hospital in Thunder Bay, Vets Around the Corner has also made two trips to Whitesand First Nation and Armstrong to rescue pets left behind during evacuations from the wildfires in the region. Vets Around the Corner (VAC) came to […]
It’s a veritable landslide — of candidates. The number of names vying to become Neebing’s next mayor in the Oct. 26 municipal election has reached nearly half a dozen. The list, which includes a combination of council veterans and newcomers, was numbered at five as of Monday, according to the […]
Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government insists it is improving communications with First Nations fleeing forest fires in the northwest, following heavy criticism last week. Chiefs, however, say little has changed. Thunder Bay-Atikokan MPP Kevin Holland claimed “there has been improved communication” in an interview published on Friday by TBnewswatch.com. Holland mentioned Kiashke Zaaging […]
Though big dumps of rain aren’t part of the showery forecast for Thunder Bay and areas near the city this weekend, farmers will take every drop they can get as one of the driest and hottest summers in memory continues. “I definitely wouldn’t mind a few more days of rain,” Jason Reid, who […]
A selfie of a high school football coach grinning beside a Free Press front-page story about the investigation into his professional conduct has become part of the case. Doug Kovacs, a resource teacher at Grant Park High School who runs the Pirates football program, was put on leave in the […]
