By Allan Bradbury
Staff Writer
abradbury@fortfrances.com

When the SIJHL’s top players take to the ice Feb. 6-7 in Dryden, Fort Frances Lakers will be well represented, with seven players across the two teams and an assistant coach behind the bench as well. Five members of the Lakers, goaltender Brady Cates, defenseman Zak Green, and forwards Pierce […]

By Robin McCormick
West End Correspondent

Thunder Bay Ironworks #759 Trade School was built two years ago, a building for iron worker apprentices. It was an immediate decision from not only president B.J. Sault, business manager Adam MacGillivary, and the many ironworkers who knew him, that the trade school should be in memory of Russ MacDonald, […]

By Laura Balanko-Dickson
Staff writer
lbalankodickson@fortfrances.com

An increase in the number of grants available, more stringent requirements and the complexity of applications for both federal and provincial grants has prompted the town to consider searching for a full-time grant writer explicitly for that purpose. “Currently, grant applications, reporting, and financial tracking are distributed across staff who […]

– Liam Oliver Neilson photo

Betty’s and The Pink Parasol Tea Room held its first ever “Winter Kingdom of Frost and Flame” renaissance faire on Saturday afternoon. Guests were offered opportunities to play Magic The Gathering, Dungeons and Dragons, trivia and arm wrestling competitions, all while looking the part in medieval themed costumes.

By Allan Bradbury
Staff Writer
abradbury@fortfrances.com

Billet and family weekend started with a bang as a penalty-filled game made its way to overtime with the Lakers pulling off the victory against the Kam River Walleye on Friday, January 23, 2026, followed by another the next night. The Lakers hit the road tonight for three in a […]

By Laura Balanko-Dickson
Staff writer
lbalankodickson@fortfrances.com

A busy Fort Frances Town Council meeting on Monday night saw councillors deliberating on matters from fire-protection grants to a motion to reconsider the fate of Sunny Cove Camp for several hours. “The fire department has applied for the Fire-Protection Grant for 2025-2026 for personal protective equipment (PPE) to protect […]

By Laura Balanko-Dickson
Staff writer
lbalankodickson@fortfrances.com

Emergency repairs are under way at the Fort Frances water tower after a break in a recirculation pipe was discovered earlier this year. The repairs are expected to cost about $175,000, to be funded through the town’s water and sewer reserve. “The water tower recirculation line has frozen and split […]

By Carl Clutchey
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The Chronicle-Journal

As below-normal temperatures persist in Thunder Bay and areas close to the city, Indigenous leaders have been calling on their city counterparts to declare a state of emergency over homelessness, as many are forced to endure the bitter cold outdoors. On Friday, Fort William First Nation Chief Michele Solomon and […]

By Clint Fleury
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
TBnewswatch.com

THUNDER BAY — The city was advocating for more power to push back against over-budget legislated agencies, boards and commissions at the 2026 Rural Ontario Municipal Association conference. “We were lobbying the ministry to say we need some sort of mechanism to say, ‘listen, you can’t come in at 9.1 […]

By Natasha Bulowski
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Canada’s National Observer

As Parliament resumes, Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives are striking a more conciliatory tone on issues like crime but remain unrelenting in their demands to axe carbon pricing and fast-track pipelines. Parliament returned on Jan. 26 after an eventful week marked by Prime Minister Mark Carney’s speech at the World Economic Forum […]