Kenora

Staff with the Kenora Catholic District School Board have a new way to promote school events, mental health supports and more – through their new smartphone app.

Kenora Catholic says the free app is a tool for parents, guardians and students to keep track of everything going on in their school, with an events calendar, additional resources for mental health and wellbeing, bussing alerts and much more.

Leadership with the City of Kenora has authorized spending up to $330,000 in emergency funds to replace the water line going into the Kenora Recreation Centre.

Chief Administrative Officer, Kyle Attanasio, explains that the water line servicing the Rec Centre from 1st Ave South to north of the boat launch access lane is over 50 years old and in need of replacement, which was confirmed in an exploratory dig earlier this year.

The last of Canada's COVID-19 border restrictions will disappear at the end of this month with the expiry of a cabinet order affecting mandatory vaccinations, testing and quarantine of international travellers.

That expiry also spells the end of insisting travellers use the ArriveCan app to input their vaccine status and test results, though the app will live on as an optional tool for customs and immigration.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has agreed to let a cabinet order enforcing mandatory COVID-19 vaccination requirements at the Canadian border expire at the end of this month.

The news was confirmed by two senior government sources, who spoke to The Canadian Press on the condition they not be named because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

The federal government is still deciding whether to maintain the requirement for passengers to wear face masks on trains and airplanes.

The Kenora OPP and the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are investigating the death of one individual after a plane crash on Lake of the Woods Wednesday night.

Police say officers and members of the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre responded to the report of an airplane crash on Lake of the Woods around 8 p.m. Wednesday night, with wreckage near Shore Island.

One individual was pronounced deceased at the scene. A post-mortem examination is scheduled to determine the exact cause of death, and the Transportation Safety Board’s investigation is beginning.

The Fort Frances OPP says a youth is in custody, no injuries have been reported and there is no threat to public safety after a weapons call at Fort Frances High School today.

Police say they were contacted by the school in regards to a youth in possession of a knife and responded to the call shortly after 10:30 a.m. today.

The youth was immediately taken into custody. Their name was not released as per the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

September 22 marks the first day of Fall and temperatures have been steadily dropping in northwestern Ontario – but what can we expect next weather-wise?

Environment Canada Meteorologist Geoff Coulson says over the next week or so, residents will see seasonal-average temperatures around 14 degrees, with the risk of rain through the weekend.

The Dryden GM Ice Dogs have one more day to prepare for a back-to-back against the Kam River Fighting Walleye this weekend.

The Dogs open the 2022-2023 regular season against Kam River tomorrow night, with a second game on Saturday. Both will be held at the Dryden Memorial Arena with a 7:30 p.m. puck drop.

Dryden will have a six-day break before they face off against the Wisconsin Lumberjacks on September 30 at home.

Canada's homeownership rate is on the decline, with young adults in particular less likely to own a home in 2021 than they were a decade earlier, says Statistics Canada.

According to the latest census release, 66.5 per cent of Canadians owned a home in 2021, down from a peak of 69 per cent in 2011.

Housing prices have climbed considerably in recent years compared with Canadians' incomes. Statistics Canada says while the median household income grew by 18 per cent between 2016 and 2021, the average value of an owner-occupied home rose by 39.6 per cent. 

Councillors with the City of Kenora have approved a number of zoning by-law changes ahead of the development of the former Northlands building at 216 Matheson Street South.