Fort Frances Times Online Edition - February 18, 2016

Isabelle Meeks moved her game piece around the giant “Candyland” board set up at the Fort Frances Public Library on Monday as part of Family Day there. The library offered up other fun and games while Family Day activities also were held in Emo, Barwick, and Alberton.

Fort Frances Mayor Roy Avis would like any tax increases this year to be as low as possible.

During a budget meeting yesterday afternoon, Mayor Avis said he’d like to see the residential tax hike limited to one percent, including any increases to property assessments from MPAC.

“I think it’s about time the residents get a break,” he noted.

“Borealis Bards,” the Backus Community Center’s own community theatre troupe, is at it again!

They will present their second-annual unique dinner theatre, entitled “A Room to Act,” on Saturday, Feb. 27.

The meal begins at 6 p.m., followed by an entertaining evening of short plays, monologues, and poems performed by friends and neighbours.

Whiddon Road between King’s Highway and Highway 613 South was closed for about an hour yesterday after a member of the Hughes Trucking fleet slid into the ditch after turning onto it. Police were on the scene, along with the Township of La Vallee grader and Witherspoon Sand Gravel & Concrete, which brought a backhoe to help remove the truck.

Defensive duels haven’t exactly been the norm this season for the Wright Physiotherapy Rockettes.

But they proved last night they can play as well around their own net as they have around the other teams’ goal like most of this season.

Chase McGuire drove the road to redemption like there wasn’t a cop with a radar gun for another 500 miles.

McGuire riddled the Dryden Eagles for four goals to lead the Muskie boys’ hockey team to a 5-2 victory there Tuesday night to give Fort High a perfect regular-season record of 15-0.

Sully Shortreed had the other Muskie goal while Matt Booth earned the win in goal.

Sioux Lookout Warriors’ goalie Alex Morin didn’t have a chance on this sizzling delivery over her shoulder from Muskie captain Rachel Jean to give Fort High a 7-1 lead en route to a 9-3 victory last night in opener of their best-of-three NorWOSSA semi-final series at the Ice For Kids Arena.

“The Three R’s” took the Minnesota Iron Rangers to school last night.

The line of Dylan Robertson, A.J. Rupert, and Nolan Ross combined for nine points as the Fort Frances Lakers made it 10-straight league wins with a 7-1 romp down in Hoyt Lakes.

HALIFAX—The creator of a cheeky website that encourages Americans to move to Cape Breton before Donald Trump can be elected president says he’s been shocked by the response.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.—The 1962 N.Y. Mets, the mid-’70s Tampa Bay Bucs, and the current Philadelphia 76ers have nothing on Casey Mears.

The nephew of four-time Indianapolis 500 champ Rick Mears, Casey has a tortured losing streak that is closing in on 300 races.

TORONTO—An Ontario hospital foundation pulled a Toronto-area home from its annual lottery prize offerings this week after realizing it backed onto a residence where legally-grown marijuana sent out an “an intrusive odour.”

But police in the community say there’s little they can do about such situations.

OTTAWA—The Shipbuilding Association of Canada is hoping the Liberal government will change course when it comes to the renewal of the country’s navy and civilian fleets.

The industry group said yesterday the current strategy—laid out in the former Harper government’s national shipbuilding program—is not working and has led to “unaffordable and untenable” renewal programs.

OTTAWA—Canada’s Senate, often accused of being an anachronism, is being asked to wrestle with the futuristic dream of driver-less cars.

OTTAWA—As MPs in the House of Commons thrashed out their conflicting views of how to prosecute the war against militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, the Canadian military quietly acknowledged yesterday its bombing campaign has come to a conclusion.

LOS ANGELES A Los Angeles hospital paid a ransom in bitcoins equivalent to about $17,000 to hackers who infiltrated and disabled its computer network, the medical centre’s chief executive said Wednesday.

Jenn Hanna knows what’s coming.

The Ontario skip is prepared for the reminders of Jennifer Jones’s final stone the last time they met at a Canadian women’s curling championship.

Up two points coming home without hammer, Hanna’s team from Ottawa was on the verge of a national title at the 2005 Scotties Tournament of Hearts in St. John’s, N.L.

WASHINGTON—A U.S. magistrate’s order for Apple Inc. to help the FBI hack into an iPhone used by the gunman in the mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif. sets up an extraordinary legal fight with implications for ordinary consumers and digital privacy.

SAN FRANCISCO As the maker of trend-setting gadgets like the iPhone and iPad, Apple has changed the way people use technology in their daily lives. Now, after positioning itself as a champion of privacy, the tech giant has sparked a potentially momentous conflict with the federal government over encryption.

WASHINGTON A U.S. magistrate’s order for Apple Inc. to help the FBI hack into an iPhone used by the gunman in the mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, sets up an extraordinary legal fight with implications for ordinary consumers and digital privacy.

HILLSDALE, N.J. A postmaster seems dumbfounded in a 911 call he made to get help for a New Jersey letter carrier who was trapped inside his truck by several wild turkeys.

The incident played out Tuesday in Hillsdale. The audio was released Wednesday.

WASHINGTON President Barack Obama will pay a historic visit to Cuba in the coming weeks, senior Obama administration officials said, becoming the first president to set foot on the island in nearly seven decades.

There’s a real joy in slowing down in the kitchen. Gone is the frantic stress of trying to get dinner on the table in an instant and in its place comes a different type of gentle cooking. It allows beautiful smells to waft through the house and ingredients to mingle and develop over time into something deep, rich and flavourful.