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NDP Candidate Speaks On Fort Frances Mill

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A political hopeful is speaking out about the ongoing uncertainty in Fort Frances over the future of the mill.

A candidate seeking election in the Thunder Bay-Rainy River riding this October feels that the Federal Government should intervene in the recent sale of the idled Resolute Forest Product mill.

Yuk-Sem Won is reacting to reports of conditions placed on the mill, which the Town of Fort Frances says will restrict it from restarting and gaining wood from the Crossroute Forest.

The NDP candidate throws blame on the Liberal Government for failing to support northern Ontario, leaving people in the region to fight on their own.

Won says it’s also time for northern Ontario to control its own resources and steer its own economic development.

The town of Fort Frances announced on July 15th that the mill had been sold.

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Cannabis Production Facility Possible For Idled Fort Frances Mill

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The former Resolute Forest Products mill in Fort Frances could be a new home to a large scale Cannabis production facility.

That’s according to Riversedge Developments, who recently purchased the idled facility.

Developer Justus Veldman says a biomass boiler could be used in that production, “which would allow for the steam to be utilized in the greenhouse and in the operation of the Cannabis grow and the CO2 to be used. And create, potential, significant amount of jobs.”

Veldman says there are no concrete plans right now, but he has also been in conversation with a company interested in restarting the mill for brown bag production.

He says “We’re going through as we promised right now with some proponents who’ve shown an interest through due diligence to see if it’s viable to restart. It does need a tremendous amount of work but we’re giving that some time.”

Veldman notes they still want to gather input on some of the assets and potential future uses.

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Fort Frances Councillor Turns To Ministry For Release Of Agreement

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A Fort Frances town councillor has written Ontario’s Natural Resources Minister for more information about a deal between the Ministry and Resolute Forest Products that absolved Resolute from having to pay back a more than 20-million conditional grant given to construct the biomass boiler.

Mention of that agreement was made in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission documents filed by the company.

The Ministry asked for the money back in 2014 when Resolute shuttered its Fort Frances mill and set a deadline for the end of that year if the biomass being utilized by then.

That deadline was extended several times before an agreement was reached three years later.

Doug Judson now wants to know what measures were put in place that protects the structure from being demolished.

“I think it’s important for us as a community to understand what restrictions, what limitations, if any, were put on the future of the facility by the previous government,” says Judson.

The deal was struck while the previous Liberal government was in place.

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Man Arrested For Using Stolen Credit Card

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A 39-year-old man from Couchiching First Nation is facing charges for using a stolen credit card.

Provincial Police says the card was initially stolen from a vehicle on Second Street East in Fort Frances and was used several times to purchase items at stores downtown.

That led to the arrest of Randy Linklater who’s facing a charge of possessing property obtained by crime and five counts of using a stolen credit card.

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Minnesota Team Wins Fort Frances Bass Title

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A two-time champion to mark the 25th anniversary of the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship.

Minnesota’s Mark Raveling and Mike Luhman reeled in 53.60-pounds of bass over three days to capture this year’s crown.

The anglers also won the championship in 2012.

Luhman and Raveling stated that it was an honour to win, calling the experience unbelievable.

They defeated Lauren Ras and Chuck Olson by 1.23-pounds.

Tony Casareto and John Sanders finished third with 49.65-pounds of fish.

For the complete results visit: http://www.canadianbass.com/live-results

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No Injuries In Fort Frances Train Crash

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No one was injured following a train crash at the McIrvine crossing in Fort Frances.

The collision between two trains happened around 11:00 Sunday night.

Five cars left the track but there were no leaks or spills.

Provincial Police, the Fort Frances Fire Department, CN Police and CN Staff all attended the scene.

The crossing remains closed as the clean-up continues.

The cause is under investigation.

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Funnel Clouds Reported In Parts Of Northwestern Ontario

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Some communities are cleaning up following a Wednesday night storm.

The Dryden area was under a Tornado Watch but missed the brunt of the storm.

The power went out in the Rainy River district and some homes remain without electricity.

Hundreds were effected at the height of the storm which brought heavy rain, strong winds, hail and tornado warnings.

There are multiple reports of funnel clouds in the west end of the district as well as Kenora.

Several tornadoes were seen touching down in parts of northeastern Minnesota.

No injuries have been reported.

Last night’s storm dropped a lot of rain on some areas of northwestern Ontario.

The Fort Frances area was the hardest hit with 44-millimetres recorded.

Ignace received about 33-millimetres.

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Future Of Fort Frances Mill Unknown

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Still a lot of questions regarding the future of the mill in Fort Frances.

Mayor June Caul says it was at a meeting last week with officials from Riversedge Development that she learned of a finalized deal between it and Resolute Forest Products.

Caul says there’s been a lot of rumours, but still no clear understanding what’s to become of the property.

“We’re sitting here, hearing these things, but not absolutely sure whether deals have been made or deals have been completed or what’s going on.”

Caul stresses “We are still working hard to get this mill up and running in some capacity, because we do know that there are still people out there who have been interested and continue to be interested in making a deal so that the mill can restart.”

She says she’s reached out to Rainy River Packaging, a company that expressed interest in the mill earlier this year.

Caul adds she’s still remaining positive that whatever transpires will be good for the community and surrounding area.

 

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New Owner For Idled Fort Frances Mill

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Finally some progress with the idled Resolute mill in Fort Frances.

The municipality has found a new owner for the pulp and paper facility.

Town officials say the mill has been transferred to a company believed to be a subsidiary of Riversedge Development with interests from an unnamed local entity.

What becomes of the properties has not yet been revealed.

A release from the town says its goal is still to see operations restart that make use of local forest resources.

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Tornado Watches Issued for Red Lake, Kenora and Fort Frances

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A Tornado Watch is in effect for the Red Lake and Woodland Caribou Park area according to Environment Canada.

The Tornado Watch also includes Kenora and Fort Frances.

Environment Canada says a Tornado Watch is issued when atmospheric conditions are favourable for the development of thunderstorms that could produce tornadoes.

In the event of a tornado or if a Tornado Warning is issued, Environment Canada says to go indoors to a room on the lowest floor, away from outside walls and windows, such as a basement, bathroom, stairwell or interior closet.

They also say to leave mobile homes, vehicles, tents, trailers and other temporary or free-standing shelter, and move to a strong building if you can. As a last resort, lie in a low spot and protect your head from flying debris.

At the same time, Dryden, Sioux Lookout, Ignace and other areas are under a Severe Thunderstorm Watch that could produce 100 kph winds, damaging hail and a risk of Tornados.