All appears back to normal in Fort Frances following a weekend train derailment in the community. CN Rail spokesperson Louis-Antoine Paquin says as of this afternoon the track reopened, however the cause still remains a mystery. About 40 carloads of grain parted with the track late Sunday afternoon. No one was injured.
The Transportation Safety Board is now in control of investigating Sunday's plane crash in Red Lake that killed 5 people. Spokesperson Peter Hildebrand says early indications are thatthere may have been some problems on board the plane just before it crashed 2 miles short of the runway. Hildebrand says while the plane itself has had issues in the past they didn't relate to the airworthiness of the airplane
Members of the local Filipino community are watching events from their homeland anxiously. Reuben Villagracia is the head of the local Philippine Association and says news of last weeks tragic typhoon is hard to watch for many. He says it really hits home when you see the television footage over and over again. Villagracia says there are fundraising events planned including one on Saturday at the farmer's market at the CLE
Possible cameras for police officers across Ontario. The Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police is conducting a pilot project, where the officer wears a camera. Dryden Police Chief Rob Davis says it's being done in Toronto, but he would be in favour it. Davis says there are number of legalities that have to be looked at first before the Dryden Police Service considers it.
The Ministry of Natural Resources will be getting an upgrade of its fire fighting facilities across northwestern Ontario next year. Two new bases are expected to be opened in the region. Fire information officer Heather Pridham says the new bases will be located in Sioux Lookout and Armstrong. Pridham says the Armstrong Fire Base should be ready by September 2014.
The website our-health-system dot ca shows the Northwest Local Health Integration Network, which includes Thunder Bay, has fewer people that have a family doctor, 83 per cent compared to 85 per cent in Canada and 91 per cent in Ontario. As well the stats show that life expectancy in our region is about 78 and a half years compared to about 81 years in both Ontario and Canada. As for our regional hospital, it ranks better than the rest of the province and the country in hospital deaths and the average cost of staying in the hospital but lags behind in the number of patients who urgently have to go back to hospital within one month of being discharged. A link to the survey can be found HERE
