Loss of judge upsets lawyers

Lawyers in the Rainy River district are seeking a meeting with the Ontario's Chief Justice to explain the reasoning behind a decision not to replace a judge who's relocating to southern Ontario. President of the District of Rainy River Law President Barbara Morgan says the province should be hiring more judges. Morgan says the loss of a resident judge will delay court proceedings in Fort Frances and reduce the number of court dates available in Rainy River and Atikokan.

Forestry strategy proposed by MP

A national strategy on forestry is being proposed by Thunder Bay-Rainy River MP John Rafferty. He put forward three motions in the House of Commons last week he hopes will lead to some discussion. A similar motion failed to see the light of day in the last parliament.

City may re-work funding proposal

Don't count out the city's chances of getting future federal funding for a new convention centre even though we were turned down. City manager Tim Commisso says the city can resubmit the application for the public and private partnership program without the arena component. However, that doesn't mean the dream of a multi-plex is dead.  He says they could apply under different government programs for the arena funding.  Commisso hopes they can resubmit the re-worked application if the P-3 program is revived in the spring.

Vacancy rate in the city down this year

The rental market in Thunder Bay is getting a little tighter with news that the vacancy rate in the city is down according to Warren Philp of Canada Mortgage and Housing. He says the rate for 2011 went down to 1.7 per cent compared to 2.2 per cent last year. Philp says one of the reasons sited for the decline was fewer first timers getting into the home buying market