As Fort Frances struggles with its 2004 budget, the Northwestern Health Unit is asking the town to foot a 36 percent hike in its per capita levy this year. Council received notice at its regular meeting Monday night that at the Jan. 15 meeting of the health unit’s board, it […]
Local News
Local MP Robert Nault said he’s pleased with the direction in which Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) is moving despite the new minister’s announcement to scrap the controversial First Nations Governance Act that was introduced when Nault held that portfolio. “I think that the announcement was a very positive […]
Town council agreed Monday night to extend the existing garbage collection contract with Asselin Transportation and Storage Ltd. for an additional nine-month period. This contract is at a rate of $14,025.36 (plus GST) per month. The previous rate was $12,800/month. Council also agreed to a recommendation by Operations and Facilities […]
Ten adventurous students from Rainy River District will be heading out to Costa Rica in March—but this trip down south is no holiday. With the assistance of Canada World Youth, an organization that helps organize informal educational trips for young people around the world, the students will spend 13 days […]
A five-year project to improve Northwestern Ontario’s access to the latest technology in telecommunications was completed last month—and the region already has begun reaping the benefits, said project manager Jim Green. “Our project started out by recognizing there was no competitive broadband in the region,” he explained. “The objective was […]
What do the new Wal-Mart store (which opens tomorrow), Canadian Tire, and other Fort Frances businesses along King’s Highway west of McIrvine Road all have in common? They’re all located on land that once belonged to the Biddeson family—one of the town’s founding families. Bruce Biddeson, now in his 90th […]
Council received the 2004 operating and capital forecast report last night—a document showing a projected operating shortfall of $2,792,030, which translates into a 67.5 percent residential tax increase if town council and management don’t make some serious changes in the near future. “This package is essentially the beginning of a […]
As council works to establish the 2004 budget, Fort Frances appears to be on hard times—with a possible residential tax increase of 67.5 percent in the year ahead if council doesn’t make cuts and hike fees, Mayor Dan Onichuk warned this morning. Details of what the town is up against […]
After first opening the doors to “David’s Deli” back in May, 2002, the Joy of Life Fellowship Church here has tried to see that no one goes hungry for at least a few days each week. And if the number of people who come out for the free meal are […]
While the Northwestern Health Unit had hoped it would find out by mid-January if the provincial Health Services Review Appeal Board had decided in favour of its stance on banning smoking in all enclosed public places, it looks like it will have to wait a little longer. “The last thing […]
It wasn’t quite a wake, but the atmosphere at the Little Beaver Snow Park definitely was not upbeat when the Sunset Country Snowmobile Club met there last week. Apart from the board of directors and about a dozen club members, virtually no one from the public attended the meeting, which […]
With word the Kiwanis skate park committee has begun making the big push for its new brick fundraiser campaign, in hopes of seeing a shovel in the ground this spring, Fort Frances Mayor Dan Onichuk said he’s definitely in favour of the project. “I think it’s already off the ground. […]
