The forest fire situation has cooled down, at least temporarily, following Monday night’s downpour here. “It’s pretty hard to tell how widespread [the rainfall] was but except for the Quetico park area, the hazard is down to ‘moderate,’” Arlan Hahkala, sector response officer with the Ministry of Natural Resources here, […]

Atikokan residents can now safely drink their water again after the Northwestern Helath Unit lifted the boil-water advisory there this morning. The water had been declared “unsafe” Friday after a sample taken last Wednesday showed unacceptable levels of the E. coli bacteria, Bill Limerick, environmental health team leader with the […]

The Northwestern Health Unit declared Hannam Park beach in Rainy River safe for swimmers today, after it was declared unsafe due to high levels of bacteria two weeks ago. “We just got the results back now and they’re all good,” public health inspector Brian Norris said this morning. It was […]

The forest tents caterpillars have returned–but in a form more unsightly than destructive. Small tan moths are appearing in increasing numbers these days as more and more emerge from their cocoons, and right on schedule. The moths were first noticeable in large numbers here during the first week of July […]

Vice-principal Kendal Olson welcomed the audience to Sturgeon Crek Alternative Program’s 2001 graduation ceremonies last Tuesday (June 19) at the Sturgeon Creek School gym. Olson led in prayer to open then exercises, then introduced each item on the evening’s agenda. Don Ricci first provided a multi-media presentation reflecting on each […]

Last Wednesday (June 20) was the last day of school for students at Mine Centre School. At 1 p.m., friends, family, staff, and students gathered in the gym for the senior kindergarten to grade seven graduation. The first presentation was made by Mrs. Dennis as she presented each student from […]

Donald Young School held its awards assembly last Tuesday morning (June 19) in the gym, attended by few parents and friends. The program was emceed by teacher Lucinda Meyers. Third-graders Taylor Latimer and Marcas Veldhuisen this year were the recipients of the Grant Shine Memorial Plaque, presented by Linda Angus. […]

Construction of the golf course at Couchiching is on hold pending overall environmental concerns and paperwork for a bridge which will span Frog Creek there. “We have been on site,” said Earl Jessop, a habitat biologist with the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans. “The course is actually on hold […]

An extremely successful slo-pitch tournament, organized by the Crossroads rink committee as a fundraiser, wrapped up over the weekend in Devlin. Joe Bodnar said they exceeded the amount of money they thought this event would make, adding he and the rest of the committee were extremely pleased. After a lot […]

Barwick is celebrating Canada Day a day early, getting a head-start on the festivities with a parade and baseball tournaments this Saturday (June 30). “We have a parade and it’s on Saturday, and we’ve got baseball. There’s slo-pitch and fastball,” noted Barwick clerk Doris Dyson. Participants are encouraged to register […]

Games, entertainment, and fireworks are scheduled as Emo will celebrate Canada Day on Monday, July 2 given similar parties are slated in Barwick on June 30 and Fort Frances on July 1. “It’ll be great. I can’t believe what they’ve put together in the last week,” noted Emo Reeve Russ […]

Hannam Park Beach in Rainy River is still off limits to swimmers after being declared unsafe due to high levels of bacteria last Thursday by the Northwestern Health Unit. “We sampled Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and we’ve only heard back about Tuesday’s. It’s still bad,” public health inspector Dave Coats […]