Americans here to help fight fires

The Americans are now helping us fight our forest fires in Northwestern Ontario. Ministry of Natural Resources spokesperson Paul McBay says there about 50 of them arriving in Thunder Bay and they will be deployed to areas that need them the most.

Number of forest fires now at 120

The number of forest fires in Northern Ontario sits at 120. Stephanie Pagnucco  of the Ministry of Natural Resources says a number of fires remain of concern.  They include fires near Red  Lake, Pickle Lake and Sioux Lookout.  Pagnucco says a couple of new fires also broke out in Wabakimi Provincial Park in the Thunder Bay District

Beady wants taxpayer support for Sandy Lake family

..The Grand Chief of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation is calling for financial support for a family of the forest fire evacuees.  This week a Sandy Lake First Nation family returned home to find their house completely destroyed by fire.  Grand Chief Stan Beardy says immediate Provincial and Federal support is needed to replace the loss.

Two candidates vie for NDP nod in Kenora-RR

There's officially a race for the Provincial NDP in the Kenora-Rainy River Riding. Kenora's Robert Sinding has announced that he's seeking the nomination. He's the second person to announce an intention after Howard Hampton said he was retiring from politics

Evacuees could all be home today

If all goes as planned, the remaining forest fire evacuees in Northwestern Ontario could be home today.  About one-thousand people were still waiting to return as of yesterday afternoon. Officials hope to complete the task by the end of the day.

Our economy no longer relies soley on the US

Trade with China is keeping our economy from slipping backwards with our US neighbours.  Thunder Bay Market Expert Keith McCullough says our economy no longer relies on our southern neighbours but is surging ahead thanks to ties to China.  McCullough says our connections with China are helping post better unemployment numbers than the US. 

Tragic collision grips Thunder Bay family

A Thunder Bay family is trying to cope with an untimely loss of their little girl.  Police Spokesperson Chris Adams say the tragic irony is that a family member was behind the wheel of the SUV that ran over 2 year old Kylie McKay yesterday afternoon on North Vickers Street.  Adams says he drove home and was arrested but after further investigation it appears the driver didn't know he had hit Kylie.

ATV accident results in death

A 16 year old girl from Southern Ontario is dead following an ATV accident in Greenstone on the weekend. OPP Constable Shona Camirand says the girl was driving the vehicle at the time of the accident on Saturday evening and was unresponsive when police arrived.  The victim is identified as Arlynne Holyer of St. Catherines.  Police say she was thrown from the vehicle she was driving after it struck a fallen tree.

Hospital looking at wi-fi

The Regional Hospital says plans are in the works to have wi-fi set up by sometime in the fall.  However spokesperson Bruce Sutton says the decisions that need to be made are:  where should it be located and whether to charge for the service or not.