Local news updates from across Northwestern Ontario.

16 full and part time employees with the Fort Frances Community Clinic could soon be in a strike position. Members of the local Canadian Union of public employees voted 100 percent in favour of strike action. Bargaining teams will meet with a conciliator this Wednesday. The stumbling block in negotiations has been wage and benefit increases.

Five people charged with defrauding the Ontario Works program on the Fort William First Nation near Thunder Bay will appear in Superior Court later this month. They're facing charges including fraud over five-thousand dollars, uttering forged documents and breach of trust by a public officer. The scheme led to an estimated financial loss of about 1.3-million dollars between January 2000 and the end of 2002. Of the 12 people originally charged in the case, four have pleaded guilty.

A Canadian Military Search and Rescue team from Comox, B.C. will be calling Dryden home the next few days. Captain SueEllen MacGowan of 19 Wing Comox says the 7 members were on board a Buffalo aircraft Sunday when the plane experienced engine troubles. The plane was able to land safely at the Dryden Regional Airport with one engine out and leaking oil. No one was injured and no major damage was reported. However, Captain MacGowan says the crew will be grounded in Dryden for a couple of days as it will take some time to replace the engine. She says Search and Rescue teams are well trained for this situation and practice landing with one engine on a regular basis.

The KI First Nation in Northern Ontario is pleased with an Ontario Court of Appeal ruling stating jailing and fining aboriginals who staged protests over a mining dispute only served to pit the community against the justice system. The protesters had spent between 10 and 14 weeks in jail when the court decided in late May to reduce their six-month sentences to time served. The ruling states that Superior Court Justice George Smith was conscientious in trying to find a fair resolution in the difficult case, but handed out sentences that were too harsh. It says the judge failed to consider mitigating factors in the case, including the fact the protesters were first-time offenders.

The Dryden Cemetery is quickly running out of space and expansion is desperately needed. The City has received a conceptional development plan from Consultant Rob Hilton who says 7-acres of land is available at the east end of the property. The $916,000 project calls a new entrance off Leach Road, improved signage, wider roads, upgraded burial areas, expanded cremation section and new planting strips. Hilton adds the City needs to increase prices as the current fees are lower then the cost of doing business.

The public is being asked to comment on the draft economic development strategy before July 21st. The long-term plan for Dryden centres on 7 areas including education and labour force development, agriculture, renewable energy and supporting entrepreneurs and small businesses. Consultant Christine Tremblay says it also identifies Dryden as a hub for mining and exploration. The plan can be viewed at www.dryden.ca or by visiting the Dryden Development Corporation Office on 45 King Street. Consulting Firm McSweeney and Associates spent 2-months speaking with local stakeholders.

OPP have released details surrounding a stand-off at Pickerel Lake near Kenora. Officers were called to a residence on Pickerel Lake Road Saturday and found an agitated male. Police say the accused was ordering people off the property and threatening them if they didn't leave. The Emergency Response Team and Negotiators were called in. Yesterday, the Tactical Response Unit entered the residence taking the suspect into custody without incident. OPP say a 60-year-old Pickerel Lake man is facing charges of assault with a weapon, uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm and mischief.

Moose are starting to become a nuisance for motorists in the Dryden area. Dryden OPP dealt with 2-separate collisions in one day. Police were called to Highway 17 near Gulliver River Bridge in Ignace and a 60-year-old B.C. woman was transported to hospital with minor injuries. The second incident was on Highway 502 and a 31-year-old Missouri man was treated with minor injuries. Motorists are asked to be on the lookout for wildlife.