The Ontario government’s proposed new anti-smoking legislation not only would ban smoking in all enclosed public places, but also limit the display of cigarettes in stores—much to the frustration of local merchants. “I’d just as soon they kept their nose out of my business, honestly,” said Craig Sanders, owner of […]

FORT FRANCES—Town council approved a report at its meeting Monday night to give $400 to the Fort Frances Curling Club to help host the Northwestern Ontario ladies’ playdowns here Jan. 5-8. “I support them 100 percent. We should try to give as much support through the public relations budget as […]

FORT FRANCES—Ontario restaurant owners will have the option of allowing patrons to bring store-bought bottles of wine with them beginning sometime in the new year, but some local restaurateurs are less than enthusiastic about the plan. The “Bring Your Own Wine” program will allow consumers to bring store-bought wine into […]

Three out of five proposed new policies suggested by Mayor Dan Onichuk will be discussed at the executive committee level after town council approved a report from the Administration and Finance executive committee during Monday night’s meeting. A specific policy regarding water system agreements, the collection protocol for private customers, […]

The provincial government’s decision last week to scrap the teacher testing program introduced by the Conservatives three years ago is being met with applause here. “The cancellation of the teacher re-certification program was a very positive move,” said Sharon Preston, president of the local chapter of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation […]

While Ontarians may love it or hate it, the new Smoke-Free Ontario Act was announced last Wednesday, which, if passed, will take effect by May, 2006. The Northwestern Health Unit, for one, said the news was a long time coming. “Definitely, it’s a good thing. We’re just disappointed it will […]

The appointment of councillors to the town’s four executive committees has been postponed until Jan. 10 after Mayor Dan Onichuk withdrew his motion to make the appointments at Monday night’s regular meeting. Some councillors had disagreed with the appointments as they stood at the Dec. 13 meeting, and the mayor […]

Tradespeople will be licensed just like any other business here, if town council passes an amendment to its licensing bylaw at tonight’s regular meeting. “If tradesmen come into town from out of town, we would require them to get a licence,” said Clerk Glenn Treftlin, adding this would apply to […]

Borderland was blanketed by about 5.8 cm (2.3 inches) of snow yesterday evening and overnight, but we’re still well below the seasonal average. Yesterday’s storm left the total snowfall for December at 30 cm (11.8 inches), which is about 8.4 cm (3.3 inches) above normal. But for the seasonal total […]

What a difference two days can make. On Tuesday night, the Muskie boys’ hockey team cruised to a 9-1 victory over the visiting Kenora Broncos. But last night in Kenora, the black-and-gold came out on the short end of a 4-3 score—despite controlling the puck, outshooting the Broncos by almost […]

Whether or not the town clerk will be performing civil marriages remains to be seen as council is holding off on any decision until next May. Council approved a report from Clerk Glenn Treftlin this week to “defer further action in the matter of performance of civil marriage ceremonies by […]

Safety continued to be a message being promoted in district schools this fall as students in kindergarten to Grade 8 learned from the “Risk Watch” program first established here five years ago. “This year is pretty much the same,” said program co-ordinator Greg Allan, who also is a firefighter with […]