Whitehorse Daily Star

May 13, 2011

• During a food crisis, look to the outdoors Much has been said about invasive weeds in the Yukon. But just because a plant is a bother to your lawn or garden doesn't mean it's completely useless.
• ‘Writing has changed my life,' author says David Thompson wishes he started writing years ago.
• An Unlikely Pair World renowned author Bernhard Schlink (right)
• An absorbing tale about life in the bush ( Bookends ) Tor Forsberg seems to have settled down these days.
• Yukon writer's play to premiere this month Yukon writer Peter Jickling will see his first penned play, Syphilis: A Love Story, take to the stage at the Guild Hall this month.
• Hope can be found in the ocean, author believes Alanna Mitchell had no trouble deciding which community she would like to visit to deliver her lecture An Ocean of Hope.
• Poignant writing is skillfully brought to the stage ( Review ) The creative heads behind Yukon's Gwaandak Theatre were wreathed in smiles Wednesday night.
• Kluane National Park and Reserve facilities to open The Kluane National Park and Reserve Visitor Centres will open tomorrow, park officials said this week.
• City to stickhandle through ice issue over summer Local skaters and hockey players aren't likely to see any changes to this year's extended and summer ice schedule.
• Two Mile Hill and Hamilton Boulevard to get new turning lanes Drivers making their way up Two Mile Hill and Hamilton Boulevard later in the summer will find themselves navigating through new turning lanes.
• A Rude Surprise Spring's blooming crocuses were pelted with an unexpected surprise
• Tourism industry honours its own Champions of the territory's tourism industry were honoured for their efforts last Friday evening.
• Run for Mom proceeds race past $50,000 Last Saturday's Whitehorse Run for Mom has already netted $50,000 and donations are continuing to flood in.
• Leader, candidate muse tying grid to B.C. Liberal Leader Arthur Mitchell says it's not a question of whether the Yukon should tie into British Columbia's electrical grid; it's a matter of finding the money to do it.
• Dawson protests changes to border crossing cutbacks The Dawson City Chamber of Commerce and town council are up in arms over recently announced decisions to shorten both the season and the hours at the border station on Top of the World/Taylor Highway route.
• Dealerships steered into Alberta-based ownership The more things change, the more they stay the same.
• Enforcement of drinking laws to be stepped up If you're too young to drink, watch out for increased enforcement this month.
• Hard Core Hockey Fans Dawn Cowan is seen with her charges (top) on Takhini Transport Bus 26
• ‘I am the orange life raft in a sea of blue' Linda Duncan, the NDP MP for Edmonton Strathcona, is in Whitehorse to offer some advice to the Yukon New Democrats.
• Public hearing set on more condos near golf course Residents wanting to speak their mind on a zoning change to permit more housing around the Meadow Lakes Golf Course will have their say at a public hearing in June.
• Way Beyond Cute Photo Spread
• Resident suggests controls on expanding garden suites If garden suites are to be permitted in more residential areas, there should also be a regulation that the property owner occupy the home on site, says one local resident.
• Yukoner's case headed to high court The attorney general of British Columbia is taking a Yukoner's case to the country's highest court, challenging the breadth of a law which says First Nations people deserve special consideration when being sentenced.
• Fryer oil helps beat spiralling gas prices Bo and Kathleen Lundgaard haven't filled their 2000 Volkswagen Golf at a gas station since March.
• Political intrigue preceded YP leadership race Craig Tuton, the longtime campaign fixer for the federal Conservatives and Yukon Party,

May 12, 2011

• Yukon Francophonie Day celebrated Friday will mark the festivities of the fifth annual Yukon Francophonie Day.
• Play tackles issues of ambition and identity ( Review ) When Kenneth T. Williams offered a reading of an early draft of the first act of his work-in-progress to the Young Authors' Conference in April 2009, I had no idea the final play was going to be a one-woman show.
• Weather blamed for outage A power outage from the Carcross Cutoff south through Tagish left some of the affected 690 customers without electricity for almost five hours Wednesday.
• Fine Fashions Michael Roszell, Richard Galloway and Gabe Armstrong (left-right)
• Work is full steam ahead in Whistle Bend construction Norcope Construction Group of Whitehorse has been awarded a contract to install a new water main supply line for the Whistle Bend subdivision on Range Road.
• Yukon College enters agreement with Justice Institute of B.C. Yukoners can now complete program certificates with the Justice Institute of British Columbia (JIBC) without having to leave the territory.
• Early-Season Excursion Kim Winnicky and Jolene Lust paddle away from shore
• Former justice minister wants back into politics Former cabinet minister and women's advocate Lois Moorcroft will seek the New Democratic Party's nomination in the new riding of Copperbelt South for the upcoming territorial election.
• State's paring of subsistence fishery will benefit Yukon Alaska will cut back on its subsistence fishery again this year to try to ensure enough chinook salmon reach the Yukon, says a state biologist.
• Storm Sewer Trouble City crews found themselves dealing with an overflowing storm sewer Wednesday on Second Avenue as rain and snow pelted the ground.
• Yukon needs a CMHA presence: advocate Bev Gutray believes the Yukon needs a Canadian Mental Health Assocation (CMHA), and she hopes her talk tonight will help make that happen.
• City gets set for downtown south charette A downtown resident who's been pushing for the area's redevelopment is praising the city's downtown south charette planning event set for next week.
• Travel on the taxpayer's dime is still in style ( Analysis ) As the country continued its climb out of a recession in 2010, the mining boom and steady federal cash transfers kept things business-as-usual for the Yukon government.
• Judge orders new trial for former bouncer A former Whitehorse bouncer convicted of helping to beat up his co-worker's cousin has been granted a new trial.

May 11, 2011

• Author reflects on ‘cataclysmic year', new book Miriam Toews doesn't know how to use Twitter.
• Comedians migrate to their ‘old new home' ( Preview ) The comedians of Whitehorse are having a homecoming party of sorts this week, as they return to an old haunt and revive their bi-monthly habit of getting on stage and trying to make people laugh at them.
• FH Collins Fashion Show Photo Spread
• Officials held forest fire exercise Yukon Emergency Measures Organization and the community of Haines Junction held a joint tabletop emergency exercise last Thursday to recognize Emergency Preparedness Week.
• KDO meeting reported on a busy Dawson City The Klondike Development Organization (KDO) held its second partnership forum on April 15, and had plenty to report.
• Environment Fair to celebrate value of learning for the land The Yukon government will host an Environment Fair later this week to connect the public with the people and organizations involved with protecting or enhancing the territory's ecosystems.
• Clayoquot resort developer eyes Yukon's potential DAWSON CITY – "The City of Dawson is near and dear to my heart,” John Caton told his audience at last weekend's Tourism Industry Association of Yukon conference.
• Commissioner presents volunteer award Years of promoting a healthy lifestyle for Yukon seniors has earned a Whitehorse man a Commissioner's award.
• Sale raised $4,000 for ailing tot When Lea-Ann Dorval heads down to Vancouver this month to help out her brother's family as her 3 1/2-year-old nephew Oscar fights cancer, she will deliver $11,000 to help with an ongoing list of expenses the family is facing.
• ‘Violence is everybody's problem' About 30 people gathered across the street from the Council of Yukon First Nations' (CYFN's) offices early Tuesday afternoon, rallying to raise awareness about violence against women.
• Spring In The Yukon Winter seems to be giving us one last kick at the can,
• Hospital addresses overcrowding, patients lacking a family doctor Whitehorse General Hospital will introduce a two-track emergency department model beginning in July to address mounting pressures.
• Taylor would separate portfolios Yukon Party leadership candidate Rod Taylor says he wouldn't be the Finance minister if he becomes the territory's premier.
• Women's groups can't speak at RCMP hearing A consortium of Yukon women's groups are upset by the RCMP's decision not to allow them to participate in the disciplinary hearing of two Mounties accused of sexually assaulting a nurse in the town of Watson Lake.
• Comment period extended on test pit proposal And the waiting continues....
• Official defends school against poor ranking Don't put much stock in Porter Creek Secondary School's failing grade in a recent Fraser Institute report card for high schools in B.C. and Yukon, says Christie Whitley, the assistant deputy minister of public schools.
• Woman's plight could have been fatal: police A chance sighting by a pilot flying a small plane over Lake Laberge likely saved a woman's life early this week.