Manley pays visit to Thunder Bay

Silver medalist figure skater Elizabeth Manley is helping honour the Alzheimer Society.  Manley was their guest speaker at the local chapter's fundraiser.  Manley says she personally wants to say thank you to the organization.  The Olympic skater lost her father to the disease in October.  The fundraiser also marked the 25th anniversary of the local Alzheimer's Chapter.

Pressure nothing new for Eric Staal

It will be an intense weekend for Eric Staal and his Carolina Hurricanes. They have two games remaining and hold their destiny in their own hands.  Two wins and they're in.  Staal tells our newsroom he lives for this kind of pressure. He says the team appears to be handing it well and haven't buckled yet. The Canes take on Atlanta Friday and Tampa to close out the regular season.  They were helped out by the Thrashers Thursday night when they beat the New York Rangers 3-0.

MNR and Grassy Narrows sign agreement

The Province and Grassy Narrows First Nation are working towards allowing logging activity in the Whiskey Jack Forest near Kenora.  Chief Simon Fobister says they're not against environmentally friendly logging practices; they're against clear cutting.  Fobister notes they will not dismantle their blockade; but the agreement with the province is a step towards that.

Marathon man facing child porn charges

A 71 year old Marathon man is facing Child Pornography charges. OPP say following an on-line undercover investigation they searched a home in that community and 3 computers were seized which they say contained movies of child sexual abuse. Charged is Reginald Begin. He appears for a bail hearing in Thunder Bay Friday.

NDP MP's launch Northern platform

Northern Ontario's NDP members are hoping to get your vote with their election platform.  Thunder Bay Superior North MP Bruce Hyer says if his party is elected they'll make FEDNOR a stand alone agency.  The Northern platform also suggests providing more funding for seniors homes and strengthening the Canada Pension Plan.  The NDP are proposing increases in funding for seniors homes and 700 million dollars towards eliminating senior poverty.

LU prof follows candidate tweets

A Lakehead University professor is counting the tweets. Livio DiMateo says he is checking out which of the local candidates in the federal election are on Twitter and seeing what kind of following they have.  He says he was interested in knowing how the candidates were making use of the new social media.  He began tracking the number of Twitter followers on his blog March 30th.  DiMateo says at the end of the election he will try to see if the number of followers a candidate has matches the vote count.  A link to his blog can be found here

Hearings controversy won't go away

The McGuinty government is being called out of touch, arrogant and uncaring about the north. NDP leader Andrea Horwath is still hounding the government over its refusal to hold forest tenure committee hearings outside of Toronto. Horwath predicts however, the government won't change it's mind about the issue

A New Vision for Ontario's Optometrists

Optometrists across Ontario are now allowed to prescribe eye medications to patients for serious diseases. This enables people with serious eye conditions as well as minor eye infections to receive medication from their own optometrist. Thunder Bay Optometrist William Ulakovic says they can now take a greater role in managing patients individually. He says this will serve as a positive for patients living in North Western Ontario.

Election day for Fort William First Nation

There is no shortage of choices for voters in today's Fort William First Nation band elections.  Electoral Officer Kimberly Pelletier says there is almost 70 people running for Councillor and 8 for Chief and residents can come to the Community Centre to vote.  Polls will close at 8 tonight with results expected tomorrow morning.