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 […]

By Connor McDowell
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Brandon Sun

A Parks Canada document shows that staff weighed pros and cons — including a legal threat from Keeseekoowenin Ojibway First Nation — before deciding to ban motorboats from Clear Lake last May. A briefing document was prepared for Thomas Sheldon, the acting superintendent of Riding Mountain National Park at the […]

– Allan Bradbury photo

Fort Frances mayor Andrew Hallikas, left, and Alzheimer Society of Kenora-Rainy River Districts client services coordinator Mary O’Con-or, right, were joined by a number of local supporters for the raising of the Alzheimer Society flag at the Fort Frances Civic Centre on January 6, 2026, to mark the beginning of […]

By Times Staff

An outbreak of Influenza A at Rainycrest Long Term Care Home has been declared over. In a press release from Riverside Health Care, the organization noted that, in conjunction with the Northwestern Health Unit, the outbreak that had been affecting both the east and west wings at Rainycrest has now […]

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

The Northwest Catholic District School Board’s (TNCDSB) recently released annual mental health plan identifies four main areas that will guide the board’s student support going forward, a strategy that begins with establishing calm as its foundation. “This year we have four focus areas, which we’re calling calm, connection, communication and […]

By Matt Prokopchuk
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
TBnewswatch.com

IGNACE — The transportation of nuclear waste hundreds and thousands of kilometres to a proposed burial site is not covered in the project’s first formal public description. Environmental advocates and those opposed to the deep geological repository, or DGR, being planned in the Ignace area say they want to see […]