Dryden

The Kenora-Rainy River region has received a huge investment from Ontario that will go towards a new Homelessness Prevention Program (HPP) that will launch on April 1, 2022.

$5.5 million of the $25 million annual provincial investment will stay in the region to help people experiencing or who are at risk of homelessness find the right housing and other supports.

$5,020,000 will go to the Kenora District Services Board, an increase of over $115,000, and $540,000 for the Rainy River District Social Services Administration Board, an increase of over $41,000.

The Dryden GM Ice Dogs had a tough weekend after coming short in three straight road games. They visited the Kam River Fighting Walleye where they were outscored 6-5 on Friday night, then again 3-2 Saturday. Looking for a change of pace, they travelled the Red Lake to face-off against the Miners where they were taken down 6-3. The Dogs have a couple days before they head back to Red Lake to seek redemption from their weekend losses. 

The price of gasoline in Northwestern Ontario and across Canada has been greatly impacted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Gasoline prices in Kenora have soared 30 cents in just over a week up to the current high of 185.9 per litre, as of March 11, 2022, which has broken price records in the process.

“It’s affecting tourism, it’s affecting forestry,” said Kenora MP, Eric Melillo. “These rising fuel costs are affecting everyone’s bottom line at the end of the day across our region. There’s a number of factors impacting it, of course, some that are out of our control.”

The Northern Ontario School of Medicine has been established as an independent university with degree-granting authority by the Ontario government, effective April 1, 2022.

“This will give them greater autonomy, they’ve been having some fantastic discussions with Seven Generations and various colleges and universities across Northern Ontario,” said Kenora-Rainy River MPP, Greg Rickford.

UPDATE: A male has been taken into custody without any injury reported. 

The Dryden OPP is asking the public to avoid the Wabigoon, Zealand Township area as officers work to negotiate and resolve an ongoing situation.

Residents are reminded to move their clocks forward one hour tonight as Daylight Saving Time begins.

The Municipality of Sioux Lookout is making improvements to its pet identification system.

The Municipality is moving away from microchipping pets and now implementing a new tracking system for pets to reunite missing or found animals with their owners.

With the owner's consent, this year’s pet registration/renewal form will be entered into the new tracking system and then uploaded to the municipal website.

Two years ago to the day (March 11, 2022) the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic due to the surge of COVID-19.

Fast-forwarding to now, public health restrictions, such as capacity limits, proof of vaccination, and mask mandates have slowly been lifted across Canada, including Ontario.

Kenora MP, Eric Melillo sees restrictions being lifted as a very positive step for Canadians.

“I think Canadians have done their part to get through this pandemic and it’s good to see the light at the end of the tunnel is now emerging,” said Melillo.

Statistics Canada says the economy added 337,000 jobs in February, more than offsetting the loss of 200,000 jobs in January as the unemployment rate fell below pre-pandemic levels.

The unemployment rate dropped to 5.5 per cent in February compared with 6.5 per cent in the first month of the year.

That is the lowest it's been since it was 5.7 per cent in February 2020 just before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is investigating a plane crash that took place just north of the Municipality of Sioux Lookout. 

A Communications Officer from the TSB was able to say that on March 8, 2022, a Cessna 208 operated by Bamaji Air Inc was conducting a flight from Sioux Lookout Airport to Springpole Lake, ON with one pilot and 1 passenger onboard. 

They added, approximately 17 kilometres North Northwest of the Sioux Lookout Airport the aircraft impacted the frozen surface of Lac Seul.