Dryden

UPDATE: The teen has been located in good health.

Officers with the Kenora OPP are searching for a missing 16-year-old teen who wasn’t been seen since late last month.

The Kenora OPP say Alexis O’Cheek was last seen on August 26 in Kenora, wearing a black hoodie and a red hat. She’s described as 5’9” and 120 lbs with long black hair.

A new poll suggests that while many Canadians plan to watch Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral next week, the vast majority have not been personally impacted by her passing and feel no attachment to the monarchy.

The poll from Leger and the Association of Canadian Studies also found that while some Canadians are happy about King Charles III taking the throne and others are not, most are largely indifferent to Canada’s new head of state.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau today will unveil the full details of a plan to try and take some of the sting out of inflation for Canadians feeling it the most.

Both Liberal and NDP sources tell The Canadian Press the plan includes doubling GST rebate cheques for six months as well as a temporary dental-care benefit for some families with young children, and an expanded housing allowance payment.

All three are initiatives the NDP has been asking for since the spring as inflation began weighing heavily on Canadians with low and modest incomes.

A massive drug and firearm bust took place last week in the Fort Frances area, resulting in the seizure of large amounts of fentanyl, cocaine, a variety of pills and five firearms – four of which were loaded.

A 35-year-old Fort Frances resident is now facing a laundry list of charges, with many having multiple counts. 

Kenora MP Eric Melillo says he’s confident in the strength of the Progressive Conservatives' new leader, Pierre Poilievre, to bring Canada together – as well as to tackle a number of longstanding issues in the north.

Pierre Poilievre was elected as leader of the federal Conservative party on Saturday night, beating out ex-Quebec Premier Jean Charest, Leslyn Lewis, Scott Aitchison and Roman Baber with nearly 69 per cent of members’ support. It was a record-breaking night for the PCs, as over 400,000 members cast their ballots.

The final racing event for 2022 was last night at Lake of the Woods Speedway.

Feature race winners included Kamea Mulholland in the 4-cylinders, Alex Mira with the WISSOTA Pure Stocks and Glen Strachan battled Brandon Rehill for their entire 20-lap feature race. Strachan ultimately won in his Q104 WISSOTA Midwest Modified.

The afternoon opened with a 21st-anniversary tribute to the events of 9/11 in 2001. Area fire departments, OPP, Treaty 3 Police, MNRF Fire and EMS were on the track with all drivers to commemorate the day and honour First Responders.

Residents travelling through the Dryden area are warned of delays on Highway 17, east of the community.

The City of Dryden says road repairs will be taking place on Highway 17, east of the Duke Street Overpass to the East Welcome Sign, every day until 7 p.m. through September 19.

The city says traffic control will be in place to maintain one lane of traffic with alternating east and west traffic flows. The sidewalk will also be closed to pedestrian traffic during this time, and alternate routes are recommended to avoid delays.

Kenora’s A&W has completed the Burgers to Beat MS hat-trick, and is officially the top fundraising restaurant in Canada for the third year in a row!

Through collecting $2 from every Teen Burger, rounding up at the till and a variety of their own fundraisers, Kenora’s A&W Restaurant raised $40,834.28 on August 18 to help people living with MS across Canada.

Kiiwetinoong MPP Sol Mamakwa says northwestern Ontario’s elders shouldn’t have to spend their remaining time hundreds of kilometres away from their families and support systems in southern Ontario, likening Ontario’s new healthcare legislation to that of the Indian Residential School system.

Staff with the Lake of the Woods Control Board say water levels on Lake of the Woods have finally dropped within legislated operating ranges after this spring’s high water levels and severe flooding, but levels on the Winnipeg River remain 6 feet higher than usual for this time of the year.

The LWCB says Lake of the Woods has been above its legislated operating range of 1061 feet for 119 days, but has dropped to within 1 foot of its normal summer targets. Meanwhile, the Winnipeg River near Kenora is over 6 feet above normal levels.