Dryden

Different levels of government involved in trying to bring an end to the mass demonstrations in Ottawa and several border crossings last winter were not always on the same page, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau acknowledged Wednesday.

But he says the important thing is that, in the end, there was unity between the city, the province and the federal government, including over the decision to invoke the federal Emergencies Act in mid-February to bring an end to the weeks-long events.

The Kenora District Services Board now operates five more childcare centres in Kenora and staff are hoping to create additional spaces for the community.

As of October 1, the KDSB assumed control and the direct delivery of FIREFLY’s childcare programs in Kenora, after FIREFLY identified they would no longer be able to sustain the services.

The new bivalent COVID-19 vaccine booster is now available in northwestern Ontario for anyone over the age of 12.

Health Canada approved the use of Pfizer’s bivalent COVID-19 vaccine booster in September, initially. Then, in early October, Pfizer released an updated version of the vaccine, targeting the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants, which has been authorized for use in individuals 12 and older.

Previous COVID-19 vaccines were monovalent – meaning they targeted the original strain of COVID-19 from 2020.

After a short hiatus, Special Olympics is back to full regular league play.

On the men's side, Cory Landsiedel topped the leaderboards with an impressive 285. Scott Malmo bowled his way to a 250, while Sean Belair scored 192. MVP for the night went to Robert King with 124.

For the women, Jem Moeller earned the top spot with 184, followed by Brittany Morris with 159 and Brennan Spencer Gropp with a 146. MVP of the night was Jody Derouard with 127.

Employee unions say unless hospitals in northwestern Ontario hire 150 more staff each year, emergency room wait times and staffing shortages will only continue to get worse.

Leadership with the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU) and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) raised the issue in a Zoom call with regional media members last week, saying their data is based on available data from the government and local hospitals.

A new expansion and facility at the Kenora District Jail is one step closer to opening, and the Ontario government is working to find the staff to operate it.

The province announced the hiring of 98 new correctional officer graduates last week, as part of a $500 million over five years investment to increase front-line staff in adult correctional service facilities.

Ontario says 26 of those graduates will work in the north, split between Kenora, Fort Frances, Monteith, Sudbury, Algoma and two facilities in Thunder Bay.

Residents are warned to avoid using water from multiple lakes around the region, due to the presence of toxic blue-green algae.

The Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks and the Northwestern Health Unit have confirmed the presence of blue-green algae on Lake Lulu and Mink Bay near Kenora, as well as on Black Sturgeon Lake near the Williams Road area.

Residents are asked to avoid the three lakes for a minimum of two weeks after the algae bloom has disappeared before using water, swimming or drinking from the lake.

After 18 days of restrictions, the COVID-19 outbreak affecting Sioux Lookout’s Meno Ya Win Health Centre is now over.

The outbreak was first identified on September 26 after two patients were found to be positive, and was declared positive on the afternoon of October 14 after 10 days straight of no new positive cases.

“By expanding infection control measures within the hospital, our outbreak management team acted quickly to contain this outbreak in a short period of time,” says Douglas Semple, President and CEO of SLMHC.

A British Columbia community has declared a state of local emergency as a drought drags on and the area risks running out of drinking water. 

The Sunshine Coast Regional District, the District of Sechelt and the shíshálh Nation issued the declaration Monday, saying the first order affects non-essential commercial uses of water, including for swimming pools, breweries and concrete, asphalt and gravel businesses. 

The Dryden GM Ice dogs are back home after a successful weekend in Wisconsin. They took both in their 2-game series on the road winning 3-2 on Friday and 4-3 Saturday. 

Meanwhile, the Sioux Lookout Bombers didn't fare as well. They were taken down in both Friday and Saturday night's game in Thunder Bay. The Lumberjacks took it 4-3 on Friday and blanked the Bombers 5-0 Saturday.