Kenora

The provincial government says it is working to reduce surgical wait times.

Right now it’s estimated that 206,000 people are waiting for routine surgeries.

Minister of Health Sylvia Jones says they will be using private clinics to provide some of the procedures.

“It really wants to reinforce that this really is about quality of life and quality of life for patients waiting too long for routine surgeries,” Jones said a press conference Monday morning.

Premier Doug F0rd adds the province will be investing $300 million to address the surgical backlog.

The Beaver Brae boys hockey team won a tournament over the weekend in Winkler.

The Broncos went undefeated beating the Mile MacDonnell Buckeyes in the final 3-1.

St. Thomas Aquinas lost the bronze medal game 2-1 to the Stonewall Rams.

The Kenora U18 AAA Thistles earned a split in their weekend games against the Interlake Lightning.

The Thistles dropped a 2-1 decision yesterday at the Kenora Rec. Center.

That followed up on a 4-3 victory on Saturday night against the Lightning.

Nick Fagnilli had a pair of goals in that game.

Canadian home prices are down year-over-year for the first time since 2008, according to a new report.

But Royal LePage said prices still remain considerably higher than what they were before the pandemic.

The company’s latest house price survey showed prices fell 2.8 per cent year-over-year in the fourth quarter to an average of $757,100.

That is also 2.3 per cent lower on a quarter-over-quarter basis, marking the third consecutive quarterly decline.

Open houses are being held this week across the region regarding the Waasigan Project.

Daniel Levitan, Vice President of Stakeholder Relations at Hydro One, says the new transmission line will bring a lot to the region.

“It’s going to bring about 350 megawatts of power. That increase in capacity is going to support mining and forestry activities and really more importantly, enable growth,” says Levitan.

According to Levitan, that amount of electricity could power approximately 11 new mining operations.

A Winnipeg woman is grieving the loss of her husband after a vacation in Mexico.

In a social media post, Stacey Ropos says her husband Jesse Ropos, originally from Kenora and a father of three, was murdered while on vacation at a Mexico resort.

Her post states while she returned to the hotel from a trip to the bar together at 11:45 p.m., she was woken up by hotel staff at 3 a.m. who informed her that Jesse had been found unresponsive and had passed away.

Greg Rickford says the Ontario government is doing all it can to support community partners and Council members who are trying to ‘clean up the streets’ of downtown Kenora.

Kenora’s curlers are hitting the ice this weekend before teams from across northern Ontario get together to see who moves on to represent the province. 

The Kenora Curling Committee is hosting their annual Lake of the Woods Open Bonspiel this weekend, and the Northern Ontario Curling Association’s Provincial Championships will be taking place in Kenora next week.

“We are lucky enough to host both of the Men’s and the Women’s events,” explains the Special Events Coordinator with the City of Kenora, Morgan Seller.

Highways have reopened in the area but drivers in northwestern Ontario are still being warned to stay home.

The Ministry of Transportation reported that Highway 17 was closed between the Ontario-Manitoba border and the Vermilion Bay area after multiple collisions this morning, but things have since reopened.

Ontario's 28th Lieutenant Governor, David Onley, has passed away at the age of 72.

The journalist turned vice-regal served for seven years in the role, making him the third longest serving viceroy behind current Ontario Lieutenant Governor Elizabeth Dowdeswell, currently in her 9th year, and Albert Edward Mathews who served from 1937 to 1946.

The Municipal Property Assessment Corporation says it still doesn’t know when it will be able to reassess properties across Ontario.

Steven DeRocco from MPAC says they are ready to go anytime the province is.

“It is tricky from our end because we do prepare for it…we prepare for multiple valuation dates,” DeRocco told Kenora city council during a presentation this week.

“We have two modellers/statisticians in Thunder Bay, who are constantly drawing up models based on (housing) sales.”