The Flin Flon Fireworks Committee has confirmed that the Canada Day fireworks for tonight have been cancelled.  Manitoba Conservation has issued a fire ban and will not allow fireworks due to dry conditions and the high risk of forest fires.

A new date will be announced once it has been confirmed.

The annual Flin Flon Trout Festival Canada Day parade is taking place tomorrow sponsored by Twin Motors under the theme Time Warp.  Parade Director Tina Law says the classic cars will start at 11 followed by the parade from in front of CFAR on Green Street.  She says from there it will move south on Green Street making a right at Northland Ford, turning right at the HBR tracks to Third Avenue  to Main Street, turning left on to Main Street south to the Co-op where the parade will disperse.

Prizes are awarded for both commercial and non-commercial floats, classic cars and best decorated bicycles.  The bicycles will join the parade at Rotary Park.

 Canada Day will be celebrated tomorrow at the Creighton Ball Diamond.  Recreation Director Channa Senyk says it starts at one o’clock with opening ceremonies with the Royal Canadian Legion followed by local entertainment and games including the family tug of war, potato sack races, three legged race, hoola hoop race, mini putt golf and the sumo suits will be there.  She adds the bouncy houses are coming from The Pas, there will be face painting, Canada Day balloons and a great day for everybody.

Senyk adds they will also have free Canada Day cupcakes and ice cream.

 Seven graduates from Many Faces Education Center in Flin Flon received their diplomas along with several awards last night.

The Art Wahlenberg Memorial Award went to Clifford Packo along with a Many Faces Alumni Award, the Clarence Pettersen MLA Bursary to Stephen Wright along with a Many Faces Alumni Award, the Flin Flon School Division Award to Sabrina Clarke along with the UCN Scholarship, the Tri-Service Volunteerism Award to Callum Spencer, the Women’s Resource Center Award to Judy Lambert along with the Betty Johnson Memorial Bursary, the Motorcycle Association Award to Andrew Olson and a Many Faces Alumni Award to Keiran McKenna,

The graduation ceremony was held last night at Rocky View Lodge in Denare Beach.

 Denare Beach Recreation invites you to join them for Canada Day celebrations tomorrow evening.  Recreation Director Laurie Stomp says they start at 5 pm with the Denare Beach Fire Department and they’re going to be in the tennis court area with a lot of fun games for the kids.  She says the Denare Beach Recreation Board will be selling wild rice and beef burgers from 5 to 7, and then they will have games starting at 6:30 for kids ages 3 to 9 and they have games later for the older kids.

Stomp adds they will also have cotton candy sales, Amisk Sounds music, face painting, sandcastle building contest, glow sticks for sale and free cupcakes for the first 200 people.  Due to dry conditions plans for the Denare Beach fireworks at 11:45 tomorrow night are on hold unless it rains.

Members of the International Association of Machinists Local 1848 have voted to reject a strike settlement offer from Huday.    85 percent of the members voted on the offer with 77 percent voting to reject the offer.

  Union President Rene Beauchamp says clearly their membership is expecting that Hudbay finally addresses their concerns at the bargaining table adding in their ninth week of strike they have a clear mandate to settle the outstanding issues.

The Union has been on strike since May 2^nd.  The Union identifies the lengthy grievance procedure as their biggest concern as well as contracting out by Hudbay and rates of pay which they feel are well below industry standards.

 Flin Flon Parks and Recreation, Arts Council and School Division are holding Summer in the Parks from July 6^th to August 28^th.  Assistant Supervisor Taylor Davidson says they’ll offer a variety of programs for five to nine year olds.  She says this year their program will let children have the opportunity to explore a different theme each week through various activities, games and crafts.  She adds they have holiday week when kids will get to celebrate Christmas, Halloween, Easter and Valentine’s Day, they have survivor week where they get to go throughout the community and visit the super heroes like fire fighters and the police and animal planet when they get to go to the SPCA and visit the animals.

  Summer in the Parks will run Monday to Friday from 12 to 5 starting July 6^th.  For information and to register call Erin or Taylor at the Recreation Office at 204-687-7542.

 Members of the Flin Flon Horticultural Society and other volunteers planted flowers around the city last week.  President Harry Antoniw says they planted 1050 dozen or well over 12 thousand flowers.  He says they managed all the plots around the museum, the Grindle Memorial, across from the Gateway, at the fountain, across from Northland Ford, across from the Flin Flon Hotel and also the big one at the zoo.         

Antoniw says they were a little late planting this year because of the wet ground by now the plants need regular watering and a good rain.

 Diplomas were presented to 49 graduates of Hapnot Collegiate Friday night along with around 60 bursaries and scholarships valued well over 45 thousand dollars.

The largest award the Hudbay W.A. Green bursary for 35 hundred dollars a year for up to four years was presented to Rebecca Kozar who also received the Governor General Bronze Medal for highest academic standing with a 99.4 percent average.  The Sparling Trophy for the student who contributes the most to school life while still maintaining a good academic standing selected by staff members went to Mackenzie Grove who was also the Valedictorian. She praised parents, teachers and especially her fellow students noting what they have accomplished so far and are looking forward to what is coming next.

Guest Speaker former Hapnot teacher and McIsaac School Vice- Principal George Trevor told the students your future is in your hands advising them to keep learning, be your best at whatever you do, be happy with yourself, be kind to yourself and get involved in your community.

 Members of the International Association of Machinists Local 1848 have announced they have received a strike settlement offer from Hudbay. Union Vice-President Blaire Sapergia says the offer is similar to what was offered to the Steelworkers.  He says they addressed none of the union’s major issues so they are taking it back to their members for a vote to reaffirm their commitment to the process and to see if they can’t make this company deal with their outstanding issues.  He adds they will not be recommending it and hopefully this is the feeling of the membership but they will let them decide.

The Union has been on strike since May 2^nd. Membership meetings are being held Monday at 11 in Snow Lake and at 4 in Flin Flon.

 Callinex Mines has announced it has appointed Alan Vowles and J.J. O’Donnell to their Technical Team.  They note Vowles and O’Donnell have more than 50 years of combined experience with expertise in exploring for copper, zinc, gold and silver rich VMS deposits within the Flin Flon Greenstone Belt.  The Company is currently utilizing Vowles to review all geophysical data while O’Donnell is providing oversight on planned drill holes for the upcoming phase two drilling campaign which is expected to begin in July.

 Callinex President Max Porterfield stated they have the people, projects and ambition to make the next meaningful discovery in the Flin Flon belt. He adds Alan was instrumental in the discovery of Hudbay’s Chisel North and Lalor Mines among numerous others and JJ was previously the CEO of Callinex and served as a Senior Mines Geologist for Hudbay’s Triple Seven Mine.

Flin Flon’s Many Faces Education Center will be holding their graduation Monday evening.  The Center’s Maureen Reagan says they are doing something different this year.  She says they’re holding their graduation ceremony and dinner out at Rocky View Lodge at Beaver Lake and they have seven graduates participating this year.  She adds after that they’re going to go to Rack’s for a little socializing.

Eleven awards will be presented to students during the graduation ceremony Monday.

 The Aqua Center will be 40 on Sunday and they are having a two day celebration in honor of the event.  Director of Recreation Mike Dubreuil invites you to take part.  He says this Sunday is the Aqua Centers actual birthday so they’ll open up the facility for free for people to come out and use it during their regular hours and on Monday they’re going to have a barbeque from 12 to 1 again just for people to come out and to celebrate and share some stories about the Aqua Center and why it is important to them.

They will have a silver collection on both days with all money collected going toward the Aqua Center Refurbishment Fund.

Canadian Tire is hosting a barbeque at their Flin Flon store tomorrow to support their Jumpstart program.  Local Associate Dealer Dino Dorazio invites everyone to come out and support this program.  He says it’s all about area kids and over the last five years they’ve been able to help 360 kids get into sports that otherwise may not have that opportunity.  He says in the Canadian Tire parking lot from 11 in the morning to 4 in the afternoon they’re going to have fresh home made burgers, pop and chips for five dollars and all proceeds go to area kids.

Dorazio adds last year they were just shy of 14 thousand dollars and that money went to help 107 kids in the Flin Flon area play in many different sports.

Members of the International Association of Machinists local 1848 have announced they have received a strike settlement offer from Hudbay.  The Union has been on strike since May 2^nd.  The committee is reviewing the offer and details will be released later.

 Frontier Collegiate in Cranberry Portage celebrated their graduation yesterday afternoon with 41 awards presented.  Among the multiple award recipients was Alexandra Boucher receiving the Hazel Barrow, Attendance, J.F. Orchard, L. Krueger, Arctic Beverages, and Extra Curricular awards along with an Honors award.  Chance Laponsee also received an Honors award along with the Norman Regional Health and Sakoochetaw award.

  Zachary Ames received the Governor General’s Award along with the Gary Wesner, Arctic Beverages and a Manitoba Metis Federation award.

And Tanisha Moose received the LUD Citizenship and NOFI Humanitarian awards along with the Friends of Frontier Collegiate and FCI School Committee Scholarships. 38 grads received their diplomas.

 The Flin Flon and District Environment Council invites you to be part of their Voyageur Canoe Challenge Saturday afternoon.  The Council’s Greg East says it’s a fun event that raises funds for the Environment Council and anybody can enter as long as you can get yourself into a canoe.  He says they provide the canoes, 25 foot Voyageur canoes and it’s a lot of fun. The race he says takes maybe six minutes and you race against one other canoe with six, eight or ten people in a canoe.

You can form at team and if you wish challenge other teams to come out to Ross Lake off the Stittco parking lot at 1:30 Saturday afternoon.  The cost to enter is 100 dollars per canoe and you can register by calling Greg at 204-687-0754 or 306-362-2331.

Hapnot Collgiate’s graduating class of 2015 will be celebrating tomorrow.  Grad Committee Chair Bobbi Willets says the evening starts with the banquet and speeches starting at 4 o’clock and then they get ready for the convocation which will start at 6:45.  She adds from there the grand march is at approximately 8:30 and then they do their grad march inside the Whitney Forum, they have their first dance and then they all get together for a formal picture and the safe grad party starts at 10 o’clock.

There are 49 graduates receiving their diplomas tomorrow evening.

Coordinator for the Aboriginal Business Service Network Deborah Smith told the Flin Flon and District Chamber of Commerce their programs are funded by Western Economic Diversification through Community Futures. She says they provide access to business information, services and training for Aboriginal entrepreneurs and connect aboriginal resources to those financing programs that are geared towards aboriginal entrepreneurs.  She says they also do a lot of community based training and getting out the information on how to start a business on a First Nations community.

Smith adds they host an annual competition called Dragon’s Quest for First Nations, Metis and Inuit where they submit a business plan and could win five thousand dollars and make business connections.  Information is available on their programs on the Community Futures website www.cfmanitoba.ca.

11 year old Joel Fidler was reported missing last night.  After an extensive search the RCMP report he was located around five o’clock this afternoon on Hill Street.  He was taken to Flin Flon General Hospital to be checked over and was released. The RCMP had praise for the community saying they really rallied behind the family in helping to locate their son.

At around 10:30 last night the RCMP received a report of a missing 11 year old boy from Flin Flon.  Joel Fidler was last seen after school around 4 o’clock yesterday.  He is four feet five inches, slim build with brown eyes and light brown hair.  He was last seen wearing blue jeans, a black shirt with skeleton bones on the sleeves and red runners.

The RCMP are asking anybody with information to contact their office at 204-687-1423 or call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477, submit a secure tip to www.manitobacrimestoppers.com or text TIPMAN plus your message to CRIMES.

The Flin Flon School Board held their last meeting of the school year last night and heard from Wayne Elliott.  Elliott asked the Board to seriously consider adding a voyageur canoe program to their current canoe program that starts in grade seven.  Citing the importance of the voyageur canoe in the importing and exporting of goods in and out of central and western Canada, Elliott feels it would be beneficial for youth to experience the history behind the canoe.  He also said he was willing to assist with the program.

Ruth Betts Community School will receive just over 20 thousand dollars from the Minister of Children and Youth Opportunities supporting the Family Room in its contributions to the school.

The Board extended its thanks to Kurt and the Wings Over Kississing staff who flew 61 grade six students over the community yesterday.

The Board wished the best to graduates, students and staff for a safe summer.  School resumes September 9^th.

 Foran Mining Corporation has announced they plan to start metallurgical studies on the Bigstone deposit 25 kilomters southwest of their McIlvenna Bay deposit which is 65 kilometers west of FlinFlon.

Their President Patrick Soares says the exceptional results from their winter drill program demonstrate that the Bigstone deposit merits further work.  As such they plan to advance this deposit using a step by step approach starting with metallurgical test work.  He adds pending positive results the next step would be to conduct an independent resource estimate.

An independent consultant has recently completed the compilation and validation of historic drill data for Bigstone.  With this database Foran plans to conduct a summer program which will include logging and sampling of historic drill core, combined with further geological interpretation to form the basis for the resource estimate.

 A meeting was held last night to form a committee to move forward with plans to redevelop the Flin Flon Aqua Center. A relatively small but extremely interested group attended and managed to fill the four executive positions and start membership on several committees.

  Committee Chair will be Tricia Tetlock, Vice-Chair Kara Plamondon, Treasurer Corey Thompson and Secretary Lindsay Shirran.  Sitting on committees are Fund Raising Viki Armstrong, Grant Writing Sara Lawrence, Volunteer Coordinators Marsha Reeves and Phyllis Kozak, Public Relations Christa Carmichael and Karen MacKinnon and Technical Ken Pawlachuk.

Pawlachuk noted its important to remember Flin Flon can’t do it all so they need funding and help from all outlying communities that use the Aqua Center leading to the suggestion of forming a Liaison Committee with contact people in each community.

Director of Recreation Mike Dubreuil said this project has to be done with community support and they’re off to a good start.

 Coordinator of the Entrepreneurs with Disabilities Program for Saskatchewan and Manitoba Susan Bater spoke to the Flin Flon and District Chamber of Commerce yesterday.  She told them 15 percent of the world’s population is living with disabilities and her program helps them start businesses and works through Community Futures. She explained basically people come with an idea to start a business or to expand a business and the staff at CF Greenstone will meet one on one and talk about their idea, help them get through their business plan and if they would like they can also apply for funding.             

Bater adds they also run a contest that promotes these businesses and details can be found at www.justwatchmecontest.ca.  Information on their programs can be found on the Community Futures website www.cfmanitoba.ca.

The Norva Center is holding their annual meeting tomorrow afternoon.  The Center’s Karen Clark says they want to hear from people interested in the arts.  She says the meeting will make any changes needed to their constitution and elect their board and they also talk about how the year has gone and what the membership is interested in pursuing over the coming years, so they do some strategic planning at that meeting.  She says they are hoping to have a really good turnout so they get lots of input from their membership but also from members of the public if they wish to attend the meeting.

The meeting starts at 5 tomorrow afternoon at the Norva Center on Green Street.

The Flin Flon Neighborhood Revitalization Corporation reports a busy year last year.  Their Executive Director Laurence Gillespie reported their Fix Up Grant Program was under utilized last year with just over five thousand dollars left in the fund.  He did add this year they included information on the program with the water bills and received triple the number of applications although their budget for the grants had been cut by the government by 15 percent.

Gillespie also reported the Small Grants Program saw the full 25 thousand dollars allocated adding their Neighborhood Renewal Fund continues to be a challenge with Flin Flon lagging well behind other area in using it with just over 74 thousand dollars used from their 95 thousand dollar fund.

He also reported on other events they support including the Trout Festival, Library Programs and the flowers on Main Street.  They have one vacancy on their Board and anyone interested can call their office at 204-687-6972.

The Flin Flon Trout Festival presents a Cabar-eh Saturday night to support the Flin Flon and District Environment Council.  The Council’s Greg East says it will feature long time entertainer Alan Gerber who originally played with a band called Rhinoceros in the 1970’s or possibly the 60’s out of California.  East says he’s been a fixture in the music scene around North America for many decades and you would never know it to see him as he is young at heart and he looks younger than his age.  He adds Gerber likes northern Manitoba and this is his third visit up here so they’re very pleased that he is coming and bringing his daughter Hannah from Montreal.

  The Cabar-eh also features the local group The Basic Blues Band.  The doors open at the Flin Flon Community Hall at 7:30 Saturday night.  You can reserve a table by calling Greg at 204-687-0754.

Seventeen graduates received their diplomas as Creighton Community School held their graduation exercises Friday night.

Thirty-seven bursaries and scholarships were presented with the top award the Hudbay Scholarship for two thousand dollars a year for four years going to Khariz Kawa followed by the Fred and Pearl Shwaga scholarship for two thousand dollars each to Taylor Kryschuk and Calum Tyson.  The Creighton Community School Foundation Bursaries for one thousand dollars each went to Paige Walker for Citizenship and for Arts, Khariz Kawa for Athletics, Curtis Custer for First Nations and Jody Tait for Trades.

  Principal Stacy Lair reminded the grads when you face tomorrow’s challenges remember you each have knowledge, skills and abilities that will support you. She then introduced next year’s Principal Jason Straile who is currently Vice-Principal.

A meeting is being held tomorrow night as plans continue to move forward for redevelopment of the Flin Flon Aqua Centre.  Director of Recreation Mike Dubreuil explains what they’re doing primarily is getting people to put their names forward to be on the executive for the committee and they will then hold elections the same evening so whether you’re interested in being on the executive committee or you’re just looking to be part of the regular committee you can come out and vote.  He adds everyone is welcome to attend these meetings whether you attended one in the past or not.

The meeting is being held tomorrow night at 7:30 in city hall council chambers.

Simon House Bible Camp is taking registrations for their summer camps. Director Darrell Janzen says they have camps and fun activities planned all summer.  He says they’ve got all kinds of outdoor activities, they have access to beautiful lakes, they had kayaking, standup paddle boards, a rock climbing wall, all kinds of adventures for kids and for teens to stretch their imaginations.

Janzen adds their first camp starts July 5^th which is a senior high camp for ages 13 to 17.

  For more information or to register for their camps you can check their website at www.simonhouse.ca or call them at 204-687-3340.

The RCMP are investigating after a kindergarten student was allegedly tied up in a school yard.  Flin Flon School Superintendent Blaine Veitch says they investigated the incident and learned the child was dropped off at the school but left the playground with two other children who aren’t students there.  He says when classes resumed they tried unsuccessfully to contact the parents.  He says they checked the playground several times and the children weren’t visible.  Veitch adds at approximately 2:40 when the afternoon recess period started the children returned to the playground and at that time there was a bit of an incident among the three boys and some of the older students intervened and brought the child to the office.  He says the child didn’t appear hurt or upset and returned to his regular class for the rest of the afternoon.

The boy’s mother says some older kids tied her son to a goal post and hit him with a necklace chain.  The investigation continues.

The RCMP and school officials are investigating after a kindergarten student was allegedly tied up in a school yard.

Mylene Robertson says her five year old was dropped off at his Flin Flon school but didn’t go inside when the bell rang. She says some older kids then tied him to a goal post with his shoe laces and hit him with a necklace chain.  Robertson says he was discovered more than an hour later when other students came outside at recess.

The Flin Flon Neighborhood Revitalization Corporation is holding their annual meeting Monday.  The organizations Laurence Gillespie invites you to come out to review their past and look to the future.  He explains this is one of the best opportunities they have to get community feedback on what they’ve been doing, how people regard the small grants and the fix up program, so they’re always eager to get response from people and it is also a time where they brainstorm for ideas for the coming year.

  Gillespie adds they are also looking for new people to sit on their board.

The meeting will be held at 7 Monday evening in City Council chambers.

 The Habitat 53° Chapter of Habitat for Humanity has decided to expand the hours their ReStore will be open.  Store Manager Kathy McCormick explains there’s been a demand for more shopping hours at the ReStore so instead of being open only Friday and Saturday they will be open Wednesday and Thursday from 1 to 4 along with their present hours of 1 to 4 Friday and 10 to 3 Saturday.

The ReStore accepts donations of building material, appliances, furniture and other gently used unwanted or discontinued items which they sell at reasonable prices to raise money to build a home that provides a family of low income with access to an affordable home.  The ReStore is located on the armories lot next to Twin Motors.

Volunteers are needed in order to operate through these extended hours so if you can spare an hour or more to help call their Volunteer Coordinator Katie Anderson at 204-687-3935.

The Flin Flon Horticultural Society will start planting flowers around the community on Monday.  Their President Harry Antoniw says they cover a lot of areas starting Monday by the Museum.  He says another location is the Grindle Memorial Garden, there’s a little plot by Northland Ford, the zoo area where there’s two large plots, the Duck Pond and this year they have a new plot where the fountain used to be by the Legion housing.

Antoniw says they’ll need a lot of help so if you can help bring a friend and meet them at 9 o’clock Monday morning at the Museum.  Last year they planted 925 dozen or just over 11 thousand flowers.

The Flin Flon Trout Festival Photo Scavenger Hunt is underway.  Festival Vice-President Melissa Richard says the hunt involves teams of four members and a photo taker.  She says you get a bunch of categories and you go around with your team mates and you have to take pictures and all the picture are worth a different amount of points.

Richard says the deadline for getting your entries in has been extended to Monday June 29^th.  The entry fee is 25 dollars a team with forms available at CFAR or by going to www.flinflononline.com or the Trout Festival website and download the form.

 National Aboriginal Day is being celebrated at the Flin Flon Aboriginal Friendship Center Sunday afternoon.  The Center’s Events Coordinator Jeremiah Herman says they will have food and entertainment.  He says Tracy Bone will be back for another year and in addition to that they’ll have Dallas Arcand who is a three time hoop dancing champion as well as local performers like the Silver Evening Star Singers, the hoop dancers from Creighton and Flin Flon as well as our famous Ron Burwash a Metis performer and also a couple of different drumming groups.

Herman adds there will also be a free barbeque, cake, raffles, a toonie parade and 50-50 draw.  It runs from 1 to 5 Sunday in the Friendship Center parking lot on Church Street.

The annual Battle of the Bands will take place July 4^th.  Organizer Alex McGilvary says they’re looking for bands who want to have fun and win prizes.  He says they need bands with at least three people with one being a drummer to come out and play and they have enthusiastic crowds remembering last year when the bands were each others biggest fans so it’s a really fun competition.   McGilvary adds there are prizes for the best original song, best dressed, best choreography with about 600 dollars in prizes.

The Battle of the Bands is being held Saturday, July 4^th at 4 o’clock on the Trout Festival Main Street stage.  You can enter by emailing celticfrog@live.com or show up by 3:30 on the day of the event.

 Northland Ford held their Drive One For Your School Saturday to support the School Community Council at Creighton School.   Sales Consultant Nikki McConnell says for each test drive taken Ford of Canada is donating 20 dollars to the school.  She says they had 94 test drives so the school will receive 1880 dollars.

  Northland Ford is again planning to hold their Drive One For Your Community in September to support community groups and organizations.

Seventeen graduating students will receive their diplomas as Creighton Community School holds their graduation ceremony Friday night.  Principal Stacy Lair says they’ll have a full evening of celebration.  She says they have their banquet at the Sportex at 5:30, they’ll see their grads in the community in the grand march at 7 and then the ceremonies kick off in the Creighton School gym at 7:30.  She adds the grads are having their chem. free grad party following the ceremony so there’ll be a very short meet and greet with them and they head off to the Community Hall for the party.

The students will also be holding their car parade through Creighton and Flin Flon tomorrow afternoon starting at 2:15.

The Norman Regional Parent Child Coalition opened their new office at 78 Main Street yesterday afternoon.  The Coalition’s Marian Paul says their office offers play group, parenting sessions, self-esteem, a variety of parenting workshops such as Triple P, Handle With Care, Nobody’s Perfect, Traditional Parenting and How to Talk so Your Kids Will Listen

Paul adds you can also just drop in if you ever need some parenting support. She adds they are open from 9 to 5 weekdays unless she is visiting the  other communities they serve.  She says their sign will be out when she’s in the office.

At last nights Flin Flon City Council meeting Mayor Cal Huntley congratulated Councillor Karen MacKinnon on being elected as one of two northern board members for the Association of Manitoba Municipalities. He added the Association’s meeting in The Pas was a good meeting for northern communities to raise the issue of the need for a base tax with Municipal Minister Drew Caldwell.  He said the minister was interested but he’s not sure where the issue will go from here.

In other business Council agreed to provide ten thousand dollars to the newly formed Canada 150 Committee.  Councillor MacKinnon said the committee has been formed to celebrate Canada’s 150^th anniversary during the Trout Festival in 2017 and this funding will be in place if it is needed for start up costs.

  And Councillor Leslie Beck attended the Federation of Canadian Municipalities conference and trade show in Edmonton with over 17 hundred other delegates and information she gathered will be shared with city committees and departments.

A fire broke out yesterday afternoon in the combustible part of the Hudbay garbage dump northwest of the Triple Seven mine.

Vice-President of the Manitoba Business Unit Rob Winton says the fire department got the fire under control and were wrapping up at the fire by late afternoon.  Mines Manager Richard Trudeau says they monitored the wind direction and when the smoke started blowing toward Triple Seven mine they shutdown a downcast so the smoke wouldn’t be pulled into the mine.

  The cause of the fire is being investigated.

A shoreline cleanup organized by Danielle Yungwirth Saturday was a success.  Yungwirth says a lot of garbage was removed from the Ross Lake shoreline along the Boardwalk.  She says the picked up 1268 pounds of garbage and about half of that was old rotten lumber that they had found so it was very effective.  She adds they had 16 volunteers come out and they braved the rain clouds and the army worms and they were glad to see there was a lot less garbage than there was last year.

Plans are to hold a shoreline clean up again next year.

The Saskatchewan Government has announced funding to support summer literacy camps including one hosted by Creighton School Division.  The camps are for children ages 5 to 15 years old with the focus on First Nations and Metis students.  The camps are to help prevent summer reading loss by encouraging students to take part in literary activities during July and August.  Each camp takes a community based approach to learning by involving families and integrating local traditions and culture into their programming.  To encourage them to keep reading students also receive books to take home.

Last summer more than 14 hundred children across Saskatchewan participated in the camps reading an average of 14 books each, about three times the number needed to combat summer reading loss.

  A Creighton Community Appreciation Barbeque is being held tomorrow evening.  Recreation Director Channa Senyk invites the community out to celebrate June as Recreation and Parks Month. She says they have invited some of their special volunteers that they have had out helping them running their programs throughout the year and it’s just a great way for the community to come out and celebrate.  She adds they’ll have burgers, hot dogs, salads, entertainment, kid’s games and it’s going to be a great family event.

The event is free and starts at 5:30 tomorrow evening at the Creighton Tourism and Recreation office.

 Streamer’s Tru Hardware in Cranberry Portage is preparing to close its retail business with an end of an era sale starting today.  Owner Wayne Streamer says they have been there since his grandfather started the business in 1928.  He explains he was asked to move it lock, stock and barrel into Flin Flon and become one of the very first businesses there but he chose to stay in Cranberry.  He says his grandfather and father went into partnership when he returned from overseas service in the Second World War and when he passed on his father and mother owned it and he and his brother bought it from them in 1975 and they’ve operated it continuously since then.

Streamer adds even though the retail business will be closing they will continue to operate their satellite installation business.

The Citizens on Patrol Program or COPPS has recruited 16 new members over the past month and a half.  Their Marketing Coordinator Dave Etienne says they can always use new members to help with their patrols.  He says their main mission is to participate in the community based crime prevention and that’s just to improve the safety of the community.  He says they’ve done a little bit of fund raising but it’s primarily the patrols and with the nicer weather they’re hoping to get out and do a lot more foot patrols for a little bit better visibility as well as maintaining their night patrols.

Etienne says they have put in over 100 hours of patrol time over the past month and are planning a mass patrol to raise awareness about their patrols.  Anyone interested in COPPS can attend their next meeting Wednesday evening at 7 at Mugsy’s Deli on Main Street.

Earth Day Canada is accepting nominations for its Hometown Hero Awards.  Their Program Manager Jennifer Mack says the awards fall into four categories individuals, groups, businesses and a new youth category.  She explained it’s an award that’s going to go to an outstanding youth who is either doing work in their school community or their general community or both and that is a five thousand dollar cash prize that the youth can either donate to an environmental cause of their choice or they can choose to use it in the form of a scholarship to go towards their post secondary studies.

Winners in each category win cash prizes that they can donate to programs that support local environmental causes. Information and nomination forms can be found at their website www.earthday.ca/hometown with the deadline June 30^th.

Ratification votes were held yesterday by three unions at Hudbay.

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1405 had 83 percent of their membership vote with 53 percent in favor of the agreement.  The International Brotherhood of Carpenters Local 1614 had 95 percent of their membership vote with 85 percent in favor of the agreement and the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers Local 451 had 100 percent of their membership vote with 66 percent in favor of the agreement.

These Unions join the United Steelworker Union Locals 7106 and 9338 in ratifying agreements with Hudbay.  The International Association of Machinists Local 1848 continues their strike action against Hudbay.

The official kickoff for the Canadian Cancer Society Relay for Life is being held tomorrow.  Chairperson Margot Gray says they’ll have hot dogs, drinks, drummers, hoop dancers and other entertainment along with a lot of information.  She says they’ll have team registration packages available, any information you’ll need on how to become a volunteer, how to sign up as a survivor, to buy luminaries, all the general information that you need so people really understand and know what Relay’s all about.

The kickoff runs from 1 to 4 at Pioneer Square tomorrow afternoon or the Flin Flon Community Hall if it rains.  The Relay for Life will be held September 12^th and 13^th at the Creighton ball diamond to raise funds and awareness for the Canadian Cancer Society.  The last Relay raised over 98 thousand dollars.

At their 17^th annual meeting last night the Women’s Resource Center’s Executive Director Colleen Arnold reported they continue to provide education and awareness.  She said along with their many programs and their webpage they have added a facebook page to advertise their events and workshops and they are pleased to see all of the community support their efforts to end violence against women and girls.  Arnold also mentioned the Board has been busy revising their policies and procedures and the staff attended many training opportunities.

  Programs and events over the past year included support groups, Lunch and Learn, the Vagina Monologues, Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, Domestic Violence Prevention Month, Take Back the Night, Candle Light Vigil, Women’s Memorial March and International Women’s Day.

Thanks were given to the volunteers, staff, Board members and local businesses and organizations for their ongoing support. Their Board has a vacancy for a one year term.

The annual free summer family fishing weekend is being across Manitoba tomorrow and Sunday. Anglers will be able to fish without a licence province wide except in national parks where a federal licence is required.

Anglers fishing without a licence this weekend will be allowed to keep a conservation limit of fish which varies by species.  All other rules and regulations apply as outlined in the 2015 Manitoba Angler’s Guide which is available where fishing licences are sold or online at www.manitobafisheries.com. General admission fees will also be waived at all provincial parks today through Sunday.

 The Manitoba government has announced they will invest 800 thousand dollars in partnership with communities to improve or replace municipal streets and roads.  The City of Flin Flon is receiving funding for 21 road surfacing projects around the community for a total of 2 kilometers of roads.

In total 27 kilometers of municipal roads in the northern area will be improved or replaced through this funding including Flin Flon, Grand Rapids, Leaf Rapids and Thompson.

The fourth in a series of open houses was held last night to receive public input on major renovations to the Flin Flon General Hospital that will result in a completely self contained emergency room as part of the hospital.  Northern Health Region Vice-President of Planning Joy Tetlock says they are finalizing design development and in that phase they’re finalizing the layout of the design and are also going room by room and identifying what needs to be in those rooms in terms of equipment and how those rooms will be utilized. She adds they have just completed that step and the drawings shown at the meeting last night were the product of that work.

The fund raising Foundation is approaching the 2.2 million dollars the community is required to raise as their part of the 22 million dollar project. They are now at 1.42 million dollars with the deadline to raise the remaining 780 thousand the start of construction expected January 1^st.

The Flin Flon Writers Guild is sponsoring a visit to Flin Flon by the Tale of a Town Project. The Arts Council’s Crystal Kolt says a couple has received grant money to travel the country.  She says they are hoping to get support from the Arts Councils in each province to be able to go across the country and collect community stories.  She adds these stories are all going to be turned into a song cycle that will be presented during Canada’s 150^th anniversary during 2017.

If you are interested in sharing your story they will be at Pioneer Square June 18^th from 10 to 4 and the 19^th from 10 to noon and you can book an appointment by calling the Arts Council office at 204-687-5974.  You can check their website at www.thetaleofatown.com.

Northland Ford is again sponsoring Drive One For Your School to support the School Community Council at Creighton Community School.  Salesperson Nikki McConnell says they will have vehicles at the school Saturday from 10 to 3. She explains they will have a variety of different models there for people to take a quick test drive and for every test drive taken Ford will donate 20 dollars to Creighton School.

There’s only one test drive per family and you must be 18 years or older with a valid drivers license.  The Creighton Kodiak football team will also be hosting a concession and a dunk tank.  Last year Northland Ford had 105 test drives raising about 21 hundred dollars for the Many Faces Education Center.

The Rotary Club of Flin Flon is holding an open house tomorrow night.  Club President Bill Pauley says you can learn about what Rotary does on the international level as well as locally.  He says they’ll talk about the projects that they do in both fund raising and projects that they support such as Camp Whitney, Rotary Park and others.  He adds there’s going to be a couple of past Rotary exchange students to talk about their experience and then looking at what your commitment is if you decide to become a member.

The Rotary open house is being held tomorrow night at city hall council chambers.  Doors open at 6:30 with refreshments and snacks with the presentation starting at 7.

As part of the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup the second annual shoreline cleanup will take place Saturday along the Boardwalk on the shores of Ross Lake.  Organizer Danielle Yungwirth says the cleanup will run from 1 to 4 o’clock and they are going to provide gloves, garbage bags and water.  She says everybody can meet at the Manitoba Avenue access to the Boardwalk and she has had a couple of people ask if they can put canoes in the water so anybody else interested in doing that is more than welcome to.

Yungwirth adds if enough people come out they will expand the clean up area to include the first and second valley areas towards North Avenue and the other side of Ross Lake in the Gas Bar area.

Callinex Mines has issued an interim exploration update on its Pine Bay and Flin Flon Projects located near Flin Flon.  The Company is finalizing drill targets for the upcoming phase two campaign set to start in July.

At present seven holes are planned in the Sourdough Bay area of the Pine Bay Project and one hole in the We Lake area of the Flin Flon Project.

They report one of the highest priority target areas is near the Sourdough Deposit which has not been drilled based on modern geophysics adding the majority of the 31 historic holes were completed before 1950 and the deposit area has not been drilled since 1980.  A total of 36 target areas have been identified in the Pine Bay and Flin Flon project

A group of 33 grade six students from Creighton Community School took part in the school’s annual southern exposure trip last week.  Teacher Rod Walker says the students had a great trip.  He says the highlights are always the tunnels in Moose Jaw and the McKenzie Art Gallery in Regina, the RCMP in Regina, the legislative buildings and Batoche is always exciting where they had them marching around like soldiers and the boys and girls really enjoyed the Science Center in Regina again this year.

Walker was on his 32^nd trip and says the students again represented the school well during the trip and were good ambassadors for Creighton and Denare Beach.

Superintendent Blaine Veitch reported he received a letter from the grade nine social studies class at Hapnot Collegiate regarding school accessibility for people with physical disabilities or injuries. Veitch advised the students the board has made application to the Department of Education to access funding in order to make the necessary changes to the building.  He said they remain hopeful that they will receive funding but realistically this will not likely happen in the next year or two.  Veitch added their current plan is to install automated doors at McIsaac School as well as new and renovated washroom facilities adding they have similar access issues at Ruth Betts that they need to address in the near future.  The issue was referred to the Facilities and Grounds Committee.

Concerns were also raised about students crossing Ross Street from the duck pond.  There are no crossing guards there as it’s not a pedestrian crossing area.  The matter was referred to the City Traffic Commission.

People Met at the Rotary Wheel Sunday Afternoon to Support Diabetes Research.

This year’s ambassador 12 year old Jerilyn Wood welcomed the walkers to the JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes followed by a Zumba warm up and the walk.  Organizer Kerri Wood says for the first time hosting this event in Flin Flon they were very happy with everything and how it went.  She says they had approximately 50 walkers and in total the walk raised 10,788 dollars plus there are a few more pledges to come.

Wood adds she would like to thank all those who took part in the walk from the Flin Flon area, The Pas and Cranberry Portage.

The Hapnot Spring Concert will be held tomorrow night.  Band Instructor Kim Jones says the bands will feature some challenging pieces. She explain one exciting one is called The Machine Awakens which is the first song they’ve ever done with electronic accompaniment so it’s a little bit challenging getting the band to sync up with a recording.  She adds they are also featuring some works that the students did in Honor Band in March such as the Radetzky March and Trombone King and then the senior band will be ending off the night with Jungle Fantasy which is an interesting jazz inspired concert band work.

The concert will start at 7 tomorrow night in the Hapnot Collegiate Gym.

The University of Manitoba is sponsoring a Kidnetic Energy Science and Engineering summer day camp in Flin Flon in August for students 9 to 12 years old or in Grades 4 to 6.  University student Stephanie Kozar from Flin Flon says they operate with different themes.  She says this year they are going to have five theme days including natural disaster day, how it’s made, code maker’s day, chemistry day and agriculture day.  She says this summer the camp is going to be held at McIsaac School instead of Ruth Betts and it will be held August 17^th to 21^st and this year also new is that they will be having 40 spots instead of just 20 for kids to register.

The registration fee is 110 dollars with forms available online at www.wisekidneticenergy.ca or by calling 1-800-432-1960 extension 9340.

Creighton Recreation is looking for individuals, groups or organizations who want to be part of the Canada Day celebrations at the Creighton ball diamond. Recreation Director Channa Senyk says you’re invited to register and set up a booth.  She says they’re open to anything.  They would like anybody selling raffle tickets, putting on a event, whether they are doing some fund raising, wanting to sell burgers, everybody is welcome , all they ask is that your pre-register your booth with them and then come out for Canada Day.

Senyk adds they would like you to register by the 15^th by calling their office at 306-688-3538.

 Flin Flon’s Inner Wheel Club is holding their annual Boot Sale tomorrow.  The Club’s Agnes Mills says they will have hot dogs, Rotary fries and drinks as well as people selling from the boot of their car, their truck or on tables in a sale that supports clubs projects.  She says they have a retro table and four chairs which is probably at least 45 years old.  She adds there will be antiques and collectables and the gentleman who is bringing this has tons of stuff including an A&W colored jug, vases, stuff from occupied Japan and the list just goes on.

The sale runs from 10 to 1 at the Victoria Inn parking lot and there’s still room for more sellers.  You can call Agnes at 687-8204 to book a space for 15 dollars.

The Manitoba Youth Job Center is open for another season.  Youth Engagement Leader Carissa Zoerb says this year at the Center they are going to assist youth between the ages of 12 and 29 with employment related skills such as resume building, interview preparation workshops and job searching.  She says they also coordinate employment opportunities through the Odd Job Squad for youth aged 12 to 16 and she adds they also offer free job referral service between youth looking for work in the community and employers looking to hire them.                          

The Center is open at 143 Main Street weekdays from 8:30 to 4:30 with a break for lunch from 12 to 12:45. You can call them at 204-687-1686.

The Joe Brain Children’s Petting Zoo on Green Street is opening Monday for their 18^th season.  Recreation Programmer Caitlin Bailey says they again have your favorite animals.  She says this year so far they have 3 calves from The Pas, a couple of chickens and a duck, some baby lambs, a couple of baby goats, a couple of bigger goats and a couple of bigger lambs.

The Zoo will be open daily starting Monday from 11 to 7 depending on the weather.  For information you can call them at 687-6910.

The Flin Flon Fire Department was called to a bush fire yesterday afternoon.  When they arrived at the fire along the Cliff Lake Road and the perimeter highway flames could be seen shooting above the tree line.  Water bombers were called in and helped the fire department knock the fire down. A helicopter with a water bucket assisted until early in the evening.  As a safety precaution people and the animals were removed from the SPCA shelter and the perimeter highway was closed temporarily between Balsam and Green Street.

The Flin Flon Fire Department is fighting a bush fire along the Cliff Lake road and the Perimeter Highway.  Water bombers have been called in to assist with fighting the fire.  As a safety precaution people and all the animals have been removed from the SPCA shelter.

The Women’s Resource Center is again holding an event called Walk a Mile in her Shoes to support the Safe Haven.  Executive Director Colleen Arnold says the event raises money and awareness.  She explains it’s an international men’s march to stop rape, sexual assault and gender violence.  She says it’s an effective way to get people involved adding it’s a serious subject but the walk provides an ice breaker to get the message out there.  Arnold says they are looking for more men like those who participated in the past to send a strong message to other men and boys that violence against women must stop.

The walk will take place Friday, July 3^rd at 4 o’clock starting at Pioneer Square.  Pledge forms are available at the Women’s Resource Center and they have men’s shoe sizes 9 to 14 in red high heels for the men to walk in. For more information you can call them at 681-3105.

The Wellman Lake United Church Camp is opening up again this summer.

Reverend Alex McGilvary of the Northminster United Church in Flin Flon says it’s a great camp for children to attend in July or August. He says the camp is an opportunity for kids to go camping in the Duck Mountains adding it’s a wilderness experience and a chance to build community and make some new friends.  He says next year will be their 60^th anniversary as a summer camp and they have a day camp for children 5 to 7 and then they have overnight camps for those 7 to 16.

You can learn more about the camp and register to attend at their website www.wellmanlakeuccamp.ca or at the United Church here in Flin Flon.

The Canada Safety Council is reminding water sport enthusiasts to be safe this summer.  Communications Coordinator Lynn Lau says they are encouraging people to wear lifejackets. She explains drowning is one of the more preventable sources of injury and death and they do know that Canadians aren’t really wearing their lifejackets.  She says a lot of people do get involved in boating but there isn’t a lot of awareness on how important it is to wear your lifejacket.

In Manitoba between 2007 and 11 there were 28 boating related deaths and only 2 of those 28 were wearing lifejackets.

At their meeting last night Flin Flon City Council accepted the Fire Chief’s report for May indicating there were ten fire calls during the month.  Protective Services Chair Councilor Ken Pawlachuk praised the Flin Flon and Hudbay Fire Departments for their quick action at the Crepes and Grapes fire on Main Street adding it could have been a much more serious fire if they hadn’t controlled it quickly.

  Council passed on first reading their financial plan for this year which sets the residential and commercial mill rates, a rate for the business tax and special tax for the equipment replacement reserve fund and general reserve fund. The bylaw requires two more readings before the plan is adopted by Council.  They are still waiting for a decision from the Municipal Board on their request to extend the special levy for police and fire services. That decision will affect their financial plan.

 A Culture Days Cabaret is being held Saturday evening.  Organizer Susan Lethbridge says they will feature eleven local performers.  She says they have some of the choir people from the Flin Flon Community Choir who were in Les Mis like John Bettger, Curtis Trubiak, Kat Windjack, Vanessa Unrau, Natalie Milligan all from choir and then some old favorites, people who have been around for a while like Debbie Rowe performing with Stacy Becker as well as Holly Freeborn and Joanna Dauk.

Lethbridge adds this is a bring your own drinks and food event.  The Cabaret will start a 7 Saturday at Johnny’s Social Club at 177 Green Street with tickets available at the Orange Toad or call Susan at 687-8554.

The Northminster Memorial United Church is holding a coffee house Friday night.  Reverend Alex McGilvary says they have a good line up of talent. He says they have Sam Jarvis Dufour who’s going to be playing and Kat Windjack singing, Jenn McLean, Mark Kolt, Bob Stevens, John and Gaby Taylor to it’ll be a really good night and there’s going to be coffee and cookies and the collection is in support of Freedom’s Outreach at Denare Beach.

The coffee house starts at 7 Friday night at the United Church.

A thirty hour famine was held at Hapnot Collegiate from Thursday night to Saturday morning. Organizer Laura Sparling says they had 21 students participating and they raised over 1550 dollars and awareness.  She says the students organized a one hour information session for all the students participating where they gave presentations and did some workshops on why famine is a problem and what solutions we can come up with to solve it.

Sparling adds the students also put their focus on Flin Flon providing stats on Food Bank usage and they addressed ideas on relieving some of the hunger issues in our community.

The annual MS Walk was held at Bakers Narrows Provincial Park Sunday afternoon.  The MS Society Parkland Chapter’s Robin Searle says it was unbelievable.  She says they had approximately 107 walkers which exceeded their expectations which is absolutely wonderful and their budget was 17 thousand dollars and they exceeded that.  She adds they weather was beautiful, the volunteers were great and the walkers had so much fun.        

 Searle says so far they have raised 21 thousand dollars and there is still more money coming in from their online pledges.

 The Flin Flon Friendship Center’s Aboriginal Headstart program is celebrating 20 years this year.  The Program’s Katie Kawerski says they offer a pre-school program for aboriginal children 3 to 5 years old as well as family programs.  She says children come Monday to Thursday and the three year olds come in the morning and the four and five year olds come in the afternoon and for both classes they get them ready for kindergarten with the emphasis on culture, language and education.

Kawerski adds they held a celebration barbeque for families, Kids First North held rock painting, Ruth Betts Community School masks, Women’s Resource Center hoop dancing and they also had face painting and a bouncy house.

Members of the United Steelworkers Local 7106 have voted to accept a new agreement with Hudbay.  Their President Tom Davie says 88.5 percent of their members voted and 72 percent were in favor of the agreement.

As well members of the United Steelworkers Local 9338 representing office and technical workers voted on a new agreement.  Their President Steve Collins reports they had an 83 percent turnout with 88 percent in favor of accepting their agreement.  Neither President was willing to comment on the contents of the agreements at this time.

Meanwhile members of the International Association of Machinists Local 1848 met on Friday with the federal conciliator to explore possibilities in resolving their outstanding issues and ending their present work stoppage.  They report his efforts were unsuccessful in resolving any of their issues and they found no common ground and remain at an impasse.

The Cranberry Portage Heritage Museum was officially opened yesterday afternoon.  Maryann Playford who is now curator of the Museum formed a group in 2004 to preserve the history of Cranberry Portage that led to the development of the museum located in the old train station.  She had praise for those who helped develop the Museum.  She says they did so by purchasing memberships, monetary donations, volunteering to assist with RAP their Recreation Action Plan, donating human history, artifact items, archival information, photographs, stories, articles from newspaper clippings saved from years past and individual and family histories.

Playford adds she hopes this will encourage more people to share their history with the museum.

The museum is open Tuesday to Saturday from 12 to 4.

 The local Northern Neighbors Foundation continues to participate in a match grant program offered by the Thomas Sill Foundation. Their President Jane Robillard explains if they can raise a minimum of 10 thousand dollars the Thomas Sill Foundation will match it two to one and they have 18 months to raise these funds to a max of 50 thousand dollars.  She says they are asking the public to consider a donation to the Northern Neighbors Foundation and they provide a permanent source of funds to meet community and regional needs now and in the future.

Robillard adds Northern Neighbors would like community members to keep them in mind when they are preparing their estate or when leaving a donation for a family member or friend who has passed on.

Donations to the Northern Neighbors Foundation can be made at Northern Rainbows End on Main Street.

The JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes is being held in Flin Flon Sunday.  Organizer Kerri Wood says their plans are to get as many people out as possible to raise awareness and funds to find a cure for diabetes.  She says the walk begins at 1 o’clock till 3, it’s going to be at the Rotary Wheel, there’s going to be refreshments, entertainment by Ron Burwash and a good time.

At the walk you can meet the 2015 Ambassador 12 year old Jerilyn Wood who was diagnosed with diabetes at 9 years old. For pledge forms, to volunteer or for more information you can see Kerri at Eddies Family Foods, Bob at Scorpio Bearing, call them at 687-3260 or register online at www.jdrf.ca/flinflonwalk.