Whitehorse Daily Star

December 9, 2011

• Shooting the sheriff: the confessions of slowhand Clapton ( Bookends ) You wouldn't come away from Eric Clapton's autobiography with any sense that you would recommend the man's life as a role model for anyone to follow.
• All I want for Christmas is some precious past moments It's that time of year when Lisa, my wife, keeps asking me, "What do you want for Christmas?”
• Bluegrass dates announced The Yukon Bluegrass Music Society is inviting one and all to the 2012 Kluane Mountain Bluegrass Camp followed by the 10th Annual Kluane Mountain Bluegrass Festival.
• Managing staff: motivation, delegation and evaluation Performance = Ability x Motivation.
• Busy Faro artist toiling on 100 paintings over 100 days Jackie Irvine is an artist who lives near Faro, and is painting 100 paintings in 100 days.
• Gertie's Hall welcomes The Nutcracker ballet ( Review ) Diamond Tooth Gertie's was packed last Sunday afternoon when the Northern Lights School of Dance brought its performance of The Nutcracker to town.
• Fund-raising concert raised almost $12,000 Singer Aaron Pritchett's benefit concert raised nearly $12,000 last weekend.
• Driver faces sentencing in February A sentencing date has been set for a Whitehorse man found guilty of impaired driving after a 2009 rollover which paralyzed one friend and seriously injured another.
• Dawson Regional Planning Commission releases first report The Dawson Regional Planning Commission has released its Issues and Interests Report.
• Eclipse will begin early Saturday morning Yukoners will be able to see a total lunar eclipse early Saturday morning.
• Speaker spurns McIntyre Creek petition A petition asking the Yukon government to protect McIntyre Creek from housing development was rejected in the legislature Thursday.
• Court disallows owner's lien against mine A Yukon Supreme Court justice has ruled the former owner of a Dominion Creek gold mine can't claim a valid lien against his own mine.
• College happy to put controversy to bed Yukon College has decided not to appeal a Yukon Supreme Court ruling which upheld a human rights decision against it.
• A Welcome Visitor Santa Claus paid a visit to Vanier Catholic Secondary School onThursday
• Coin provides glimpse into pre-Gold Rush era A Chinese coin found in the Yukon wilderness this past summer offers a rare look into a period of Yukon history long before the Gold Rush, with links to a little-known trans-Pacific trade route and the life of a Chinese emperor poet.
• YTG receives 12 submissions on affordable housing The Yukon government has completed a call for public submissions to address the need for affordable rental housing in the territory.
• Subdivision's wildlife culverts cost $1M Expensive lots in the new Grizzly Valley subdivision was a topic of debate during Thursday's question period in the legislature.
• Pillai applies long-range thinking to controversy Coun. Ranj Pillai wants a city-wide vote on the question of whether to proceed with a road crossing McIntyre Creek from Porter Creek to the Alaska Highway.

December 8, 2011

• Steel erected for Dawson's waste water plant The south end of the new Dawson waste water treatment plant had a steel framework as of the last week in November.
• Council urged to act on Marwell project City engineer Wayne Tuck is recommending city council finalize the bylaw required to advance the $6.5-million reconstruction project for the Marwell industrial area.
• Strides In Science An excited group of young participants are seen at last Saturday's Yukon/Stikine Regional Science Fair at Yukon College.
• Petition requests creek protection The NDP tabled a petition in the legislature Wednesday afternoon asking the government to protect McIntyre Creek from housing development.
• Northern Climate Exchange has delegate at meeting The Northern Climate Exchange (NCE) at Yukon College has sent a local delegate to the Canadian Commission for UNESCO in Ottawa.
• Bid for suite prompts concerns City councillor Ranj Pillai is concerned that permitting Fox Haven residents to add rental suites runs contrary to the freeze on the subdivision of country residential properties.
• Volunteers Sorely Needed Salvation Army Captains Jeff and Shannon Howard are in what they call a ‘desperate' need for volunteers
• Liberals join demand for whistleblower law Drafting whistleblower legislation has been one of the hottest topics during question period in the legislature this week.
• Nip fracking in the bud, NDP urges Yukon New Democrats are calling for an immediate moratorium on fracking in the territory.
• Promise of timely high school has been broken: NDP What bothers NDP MLA Jim Tredger the most about the new F.H. Collins Secondary School delay is the fact that promises were made but they're not being fulfilled.
• Recall the snowmobile bylaw, council urged The city's snowmobile bylaw is seriously inadequate, city council heard at its meeting Monday night.

December 7, 2011

• Arts Fund distributes grants to various community groups The Yukon government's Arts Fund is providing $197,467 to 14 groups to support art development and programming.
• Don't let winter keep you away from gardening centres! To my surprise, the first of the seed catalogues arrived in the mail the other day reminding me that the seeding time for next crop is not too far away!
• Creating the classic West Dawson winter connection ( Uffish Thoughts ) Early December's sliver of sunshine was slicing at the tops of the hills across the way, and a good deal of the light was a reflection off the fully-lit Moosehide Slide.
• Ottawa foray was well worth it, mayor says The city's mayor joined more than 100 other municipal leaders in Ottawa last week for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities' (FCM's) annual meetings on Parliament Hill.
• Did you know? On the trail of local history! Ed. note: these historic items, submitted by the Whitehorse History Book Society, will be published every second Wednesday.
• Snow-clearing crews working hard, mayor says City snow clearing crews are out in full force this week responding to Monday's extreme weather conditions, says Mayor Bev Buckway.
• Klondikers plot answers to transportation woes About a dozen people gathered in the Odd Fellows Hall ballroom last Wednesday to tackle the issue of ground transportation in and around Dawson City and its environs.
• Government Workers' Gifts The Bare Essentials YG Employees Christmas Campaign
• College launches YNTEP program review Yukon College has started a series of consultations about the Yukon Native Teacher Education Program (YNTEP).
• Whistleblower legislation is needed now: NDP critic Jan Stick, the NDP critic for the Public Service Commission, is calling on the government to enact effective whistleblower legislation.
• Territory shatters employment record November saw the highest level of employment on record in the territory, the Yukon Bureau of Statistics reports.
• Eradicating violence: men must do their part About 75 people gathered in the lobby of the Elijah Smith Building early Tuesday afternoon with 14 white roses — a reminder of what has been lost.
• Watershed issue will continue well into next year The Peel watershed planning process will continue well into the new year, according to a series of letters tabled Tuesday in the legislature.
• Popular Mt. Sima ski hill will open Dec. 15 Mt. Sima will officially open for the season at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 15, officials with the Great Northern Ski Society, Sima's operators, announced today.
• Property tax increase not a fait-accompli An anticipated four per cent property tax increase is no longer an automatic for 2012, says the city's manager of finance.
• Durban-based Greens report to Yukoners The leaders of the federal Green Party addressed Yukoners Tuesday afternoon from the COP17 United Nations climate change conference in Durban, South Africa.
• Development costs determined lots' prices A Yukon government land lottery held Tuesday saw the most expensive and largest rural lot north of Whitehorse selling for $217,634.