Police probing East End attack

Police are asking for your help in finding the person responsible for an attack on a woman Wednesday morning in the East End. They say the woman told them she was walking on McKenzie near Robertson around 10:30 when she was approached by a man driving a silver car. She refused to get in and was later attacked from behind, but managed to escape. The man is described as about 5' 9" with dark hair and a dark complexion. The vehicle was a shiny silver mid-sized 4 door passenger car

Provincial parks open for season

Provincial Parks in Ontario will be full of activity this May long weekend.  It's the opening weekend for camping, and an alcohol ban is in place at most of the provincial sites in the region.  Parks Spokesperson Barb Rees says there are a number of other rules in place.  The alcohol ban is in place at Blue Lake, Rushing River, Sleeping Giant, Aero Lake and Silver Falls until May 24th.

MNR gets new fire truck

The Ministry of Natural Resources is getting a brand new forest fire engine. Thunder Bay Fire Management Headquarters will house one of two new machines. Spokesperson Bob Gardam says it was built in Kakebeka Falls by Holland Enterprises. The machine holds a thousand gallons of water.

Local company buys state of the art chopper

A local aircraft company has a new chopper in it's fleet. Kelner Helicopter has purchased the French built A-Star from Eurocopter Canada. President Frank Kelner says the purchase is part of a long term plan to expand his fleet of aircraft.   Kelner says the cost of the A-Star is about 3 million dollars. He says they're already leasing one of the choppers and plan to buy two more. The company leases aircraft to governments and mineral exploration companies.

Plant it and they will come

The Salvation Army's garden program is underway. It's called the Field of Greens and is a project run by the Port Arthur Rotary Club. Major Mervyn Halvorsen says the food grown in the garden is put to good use. It will be fed to the residents at the Booth Centre and served through the soup van and the Food Bank. The garden is located at the Salvation Army property on Cumberland Street.

Soap boxer's set to race for charity

The 7th annual Soap Box Derby is set for June 5th. Organizers hope to raise 30 thousand dollars for the George Jeffery Children's Centre. Participating this year will be Nancy Rissanen and her 8 year old sonTyler. She says the centre has worked wonders for Tyler. He's been going there since he was 5 weeks old and he has been receiving physio and occupational therapy and is able to function as any normal child. The money raised will go toward building a playground at the Brock Street location.

Earthroots still not happy

More still needs to be done to protect Northern Ontario's boreal forest.  The enivronmental group Earthroots doesn't feel the forest companies pledge to halt logging in 29 million hecatres of forest is enough.  Spokesperson David Sone says it's not time to take it easy on the forest companies.  Meanwhile, Abitibi Bowater says the deal to halt logging will have a huge impact on its ability to access fibre in the region.

Teachers learn to teach green

A group of Thunder Bay teachers are a bit wiser about green learning today. They are part of a local workshop that is teaching them to merge environmental content into the school curriculum. Overseeing it all is Christy Radbourne of the Ministry of Education who says its a work in progress. She says they're hoping to get the teachers to eventually expand the concept into the entire curriculum and make it more meaningful for them and their schools. About 40 educators are taking part in the two day workshop.

Industry doesn't like government plans

There doesn't seem to be much support for the provincial government's new forest tenure system. A public consultation session was held last night in Thunder Bay, and many forestry stakeholders voiced their concerns about the process. Ontario Forest Industry Association President Jamie Lim says the government isn't listening to the industry. The government is proposing an open bidding process for wood fibre, and a new board that would oversee wood supply licences.

Engineering students show off software

A couple of engineering students at Lakehead University have come up with some innovative software. The three programs focus on sharing health records, monitoring patients and teaching. Rachid Benlamri is the head of the Engineering Department at LU.   He says he's proud of the students accomplishments adding, that it shows that even at a small university like Lakehead technological advances can be made that will improve our lives.   The students hope to get some local business people to invest in their programs.

New four way stop at City Hall gets police attention

Keep your eyes open for the new four way stop at intersection of Brodie and Donald street. Thunder Bay police traffic Sergeant Glen Porter says officers are out in full force looking for drivers blowing the stop signs that were installed because of the new bus terminal at city hall. Porter says the fine for blowing a stop sign is 110 dollars and three demerit points.

Water Bomber needed to fight house fire

A water bomber was called in to fight a house fire in Kaministiquia. The house was completely destroyed along with a nearby shed in the blaze that started yesterday afternoon around 3 o'clock on Hill Road. Luckily there were no injuries as the home owner was able to get out of the home safely. Fire crews from the Lappe, East Gorham and the MNR battled the inferno.