The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
In what could be another blow to a struggling community, Leaf Rapids will lose its lone hotel unless a new owner steps forth. Peter Goodwin, owner of the 38-room Whitewater Inn, said the hotel has closed for good unless someone buys it. "I am in a wheelchair and it's a little bit tough to (run the hotel)" he told CBC, "and it raises the costs quite considerably because I have to hire people to do all the things I can't do." The hotel's closure has reportedly left 20 people out of work. They had been employed within the hotel and its attached restaurant, bar, and beer vendor. Goodwin previously closed the hotel and later reopened, but said this time he has no such intention. The closure of Leaf Rapids' Ruttan Mine in 2002 left some 300 people looking for work. The town had 1,309 residents at the start of 2002 but the population now reportedly sits at about 400. Leaf Rapids is 220 kilometres north of Flin Flon.
