By Andrew Flynn
Editor in Chief
aflynn@fortfrances.com

It’s been nearly a month since the Canadian Tire store was temporarily put out of action by a devastating fire and it’s still a pretty big topic of conversation between Fort Franciscans. What we really want to know is, when’s it going to reopen? It’s our job at the Times […]

By Liam Oliver Neilson
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
lneilson@fortfrances.com

My name is Liam Oliver Neilson. I’m a newcomer to your community, recently hired as a staff writer and reporter at your local newspaper, the Fort Frances Times. I was born and raised in one of Canada’s most southern municipalities, Windsor, Ont. I lived there until I was recruited into […]

By Ken Kellar
Editor
kkellar@fortfrances.com

If there’s a secret to economic development success in the Rainy River District, Sioux Narrows-Nestor Falls may have cracked it. That’s the message coming out of last weekend’s meeting of the Rainy River District Municipal Association (RRDMA), which brought together the district’s municipal leaders for a day-long conference at the […]

By Laura Balanko-Dickson

A request to review the decision to sell Sunny Cove, the library’s budget, sewer and water billing and a report of tens of thousands of dollars raised for the local food bank were among the agenda items considered during Monday’s regular meeting of the Fort Frances Town Council. A letter […]

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

Alternative voting measures such as online and telephone voting will officially be available for future municipal elections in Fort Frances, though balloting for byelections will remain a paper-based system for the time being. The use of online and telephone voting began as a measure to address the social distancing requirements […]

By Matt Prokopchuk
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
TBnewswatch.com

DRYDEN — The MPP for the Kenora-Rainy River riding says his government “has not ruled out” financial help for airlines that want to serve regional airports. Speaking to reporters in Dryden, Greg Rickford said 80 to 90 thousand people each year leave the riding to fly to other destinations out […]

By Matt Prokopchuk
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
TBnewswatch.com

NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO — The Nishnawbe Aski Police Service has over a dozen new constables. The First Nations-led police service, which operates in 34 First Nations across Nishnawbe Aski Nation territory in Ontario’s far north, awarded badges to 15 new officers in a ceremony on Jan. 9. They’ve already been sworn […]

By Matt Prokopchuk
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
TBnewswatch.com

IGNACE — The latest major step in the Nuclear Waste Management Organization’s push for a massive underground storage site for spent nuclear fuel is “fantastic news” to Ignace’s mayor. The Impact Assessment Agency of Canada publicly posted the initial project description submitted by the NWMO for the proposed deep geological […]

By Sonal Gupta
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Canada’s National Observer

A remote Cree community on the shores of James Bay has declared a state of emergency after its water treatment plant failed this week — a crisis residents say the federal government is responding to far too slowly. Kashechewan First Nation, home to around 2,300 people alongside the Albany River […]