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Year in Review: September 2022

By Ryan Forbes Dec 30, 2022 | 5:00 AM



Below is a collection of some of the most clicked-on stories on KenoraOnline and DrydenNow in the month of September 2022.

Manitoba commits to twinning after Lugli letter
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Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson is committing the Manitoba government to twin Highway 17 between the Manitoba/Ontario border and Falcon Lake, in response to a local family’s call to action.

Earlier this month, Peter Lugli, the brother of Dryden’s Mark Lugli and uncle of Jacob Lugli – who passed away in a tragic accident in the Falcon Lake area three years ago – had sent an open letter to the Premier calling for the highway to be twinned.

The Lugli’s say they were hoping to prevent any more tragedies along that 17-kilometer section of single-lane highway, noting over 5,000 northwestern Ontario residents drive across it every day.

Premier Stefanson had previously extended her sincere condolences to the family and promised she and Manitoba’s Minister of Infrastructure, Doyle Piwniuk, would review the situation and look for improvements after a request from Q104 and KenoraOnline.

Read more here.

Manhunt continues for suspects in Saskatchewan stabbings, police remain tight-lipped
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Investigators continued their “relentless” manhunt Monday for two suspects accused in a series of stabbings that left 10 people dead and at least 15 others injured in rural Saskatchewan a day earlier.

The men were still on the lam 24 hours after officials first issued an emergency alert warning residents of the rampage on the James Smith Cree Nation and the nearby village of Weldon, Regina Police Chief Evan Bray said in a video posted to Twitter early Monday morning.

Read more here.

City proposes 5-year lease for Keewatin Clinic

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After a summer of negotiations, the City of Kenora is proposing a five-year lease to doctors of the Keewatin Medical Clinic to stay in their building at 904 Ottawa Street.

In June, the City of Kenora explored selling the Keewatin Medical Clinic property to a new buyer, but physicians warned that the privatization of the building could lead to a loss of the clinic.

After backlash from the public, the city explained that properties not occupied by municipal staff carry significant costs and maintenance work, and are considered ongoing risks and liabilities.

In a Committee of the Whole meeting on September 13, the City of Kenora’s Director of Community Services, Stace Gander, proposed a five-year lease agreement between the clinic and the city, with an option for another 5-year renewal.

Read more here.

Former nurse pleads guilty to causing death of patient

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A former Fort Frances nurse has plead guilty to causing the death of one of her patients seven years ago, and sentencing is expected to take place this fall.

In a Fort Frances courtroom on Monday, 37-year-old Lindsey Coyle of Fort Frances plead guilty to one count of criminal negligence causing death and one count of failing to comply with a release order related to the death of 76-year-old Hermina Fletcher in 2015.

Fletcher was admitted to Fort Frances’ Laverendrye Hospital on December 20, 2014, described as being critically ill. But despite receiving treatment, she suspiciously died just 15 days later.

In an agreed statement of facts presented to the crown, Coyle, who was a 30-year-old Registered Practical Nurse at the time, admitted to manipulating Fletcher’s medical records to increase the patient’s dosages of morphine, so Coyle could steal the morphine and take it herself.

Read more here.

The Queen, longest-reigning monarch in British history, dies at 96: Buckingham Palace

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Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada and the Commonwealth, ascended the throne as much by a twist of fate as by the grace of God.

As the daughter and granddaughter of men who were not first in line to the throne, Elizabeth was once destined for a life of relative regal obscurity.

Instead, she became one of the world’s most famous women at the age of 25, when her father’s death in 1952 made her England’s sixth ruling queen and longest-reigning monarch.

Read more here.

Kenora community stands together for truth, reconciliation, healing

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A sea of orange filled Kenora’s Whitecap Pavilion yesterday afternoon as the community stood in solidarity in honour of our shared Indigenous history, culture and traditions – as well as the second annual Day of Truth and Reconciliation in Canada.

The day’s events began with community members wearing their orange shirts and walking from the former Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School’s memorial site down Airport Road to the Harbourfront for a traditional lunch, before Grand Entry under the Whitecap Pavilion.

Read more here.