Hunter Found Dead Near Rainy River

OPP say the death of a hunter in the Rainy River area isn't suspicious.  Police say the American man was found on Monday, 30 km north of the junction of Highway 11 and Highway 611.  A post mortem is being conducted at the Kenora Hospital.

Status Cards Are Welcome

Thunder Bay's Chamber of Commerce is re-launching a program that they hope will make Aboriginal customers feel more welcome at area businesses.  President Charla Robinson says they're handing out decals to businesses that tell their customers that "Status Cards are Welcome".A recent study by Thunder Bay Ventures says the Aboriginal workforce contributes over 300 million dollars to the local economy.

Late Painting For Bike Lanes

The city is being criticized by some for painting new bike lanes in October, which is considered late in the season.   Active Transportation Coordinator Adam Krupper says the company doing the job was delayed in getting started.  He says they had a backlog of jobs to complete before they could get working on the bike lanes.   Krupper says it would not have been practical to wait until the spring to get the painting done, nor would it save any money.

Holiday Train Here Dec. 1st

The Canadian Pacific Holiday Train will be stopping in Thunder Bay once again.   The food bank fundraiser will stop in the city Sunday December the first at 8:45 in the evening at the Syndicate Avenue train station.  This years entertainment includes  Melanie Doane and Crystal Shawanda

Go Purple Day Wednesday

Expect to see a lot of purple Wednesday for the first "Go Purple for Prevention Day".  The Thunder Bay Childrens Aid Society is using the day to raise awareness surrounding child abuse.  People are encouraged to take photos of themselves dressed in purple and post it to the Step Up Campaign's Facebook page.

Police Board Interested In Changing Beat Program

Some members of the Police Services Board would like to see the beat officers walking area neighbourhoods patrol later into the evenings. Board Chair Joe Virdiramo says the program has been successful from 9 to 5 but they would like to see if the hours of the shifts could be altered.  Virdiramo says they'll continue to look for efficiencies that will allow them to offer the program later into the evening.  The cost to expand the program to another six officers would cost around a million dollars something Virdiramo says they can't afford at the moment.

12 Hour Shifts Start In January

Some members of the City Police Service are going to a 12 hour shift schedule starting in January.  Chief JP Levesque says uniform, communications and records employees will be adding an extra two hours to their work day.  Levesque says the move should save them some money through fewer overtime shifts.  Two staff sergeants and four sergeants will be moved into a variety of positions including the gang unit, criminal investigations branch and the school resource section.  The new twelve hour shift will be tried out for a year.

Hyer Pondering Pipeline Support

Thunder Bay MP Bruce Hyer says he may be changing his support for the proposed East-West pipeline.   The independent member says it's because he thinks the project may be drifting away what he believed was the intended purpose of the pipeline. He was hoping the pipeline would mean we would use more Canadian oil in our homes and gas tanks, but says it looks like the majority of the oil may be shipped offshore. Hyer says he will only support the pipeline if it helps the country toward energy self sufficiency.

Trail Permits For Sale

A sign winter is just around the corner.  Ontario snowmobilers can get a huge break if they purchase a trail permit now.  The Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Club is offering permits at 180-dollars if purchased before November 1st and on-line through the Federation's website.  The regular price is 260-dollars.

MP's Hope For NWO Help In Throne Speech

The Harper government unveils its parliamentary agenda on Wednesday with the Speech From the Throne.  Thunder Bay MP Bruce Hyer  is hoping that the special needs of northwestern Ontario are addressed like   job creation,  the economy and providing stimulus for our major industries.  However Hyer says he doesn't expect to be impressed by the speech.   Meantime, MP John Rafferty hopes the speech will include a promise to restore the 23 million dollars taken from FedNor so more industry can be developed here.