Whitehorse Daily Star

June 9, 2010

• Northern writers explored the frontiers of language The first-ever North Words Writer's Symposium wrapped up in Skagway last Saturday night,
• Community's role in education touted at grad ceremony As usual, there was a full house when the 13 graduates of Robert Service School marched in to their commencement exercises at the Palace Grand Theatre to tune of Gonna Fly Now, the theme from the 1977 movie Rocky.
• Arson victim sent to jail for 14 months A Whitehorse man who lost his home to arson shortly after he was arrested for drug-related charges has been sentenced to nearly 14 months in jail.
• Youth sex education expert advising professionals An expert on sex education for at-risk youth is in Whitehorse this week to provide training to Yukon professionals.
• Keep mentoring program alive, Liberals urge YTG The Yukon government should provide the money needed for a valuable career mentoring program for high school students, say the territory's Liberals.
• Studio's selling opportunity is in jeopardy A plan to sell a monthly $50,000 worth of Sundog Carving Studio-produced artwork every month to a major North American retailer is in limbo after the organization received less than half the territorial funding increase it requested.
• International sociocracy governance meeting set Yukon College will host a public conference June 14-16 on the governance model of sociocracy, also known as Dynamic Governance.
• Fentie welcomes credit rating Standard and Poor's "AA” credit rating for the Yukon is proof, says Premier Dennis Fentie, of the government's "sound and prudent fiscal management.”
• Yukon Energy boss hails project approval Yukon Energy has received the official green light to proceed with its $120-million expansion to the Mayo hydro facility.
• City parking lot would cost at least $1.4 million Developers eyeing up the sale of the city parking lot at Third Avenue and Steele Street for a multi-level parkade can expect to pay more than $1.4 million for the property.
• Seating For All Scott Kent of the Yukon Hospital Foundation is seen with chairs for the Chair-ity Live Art Auction, set for 5 p.m. Thursday in the MacBride Museum court yard.
• Probe of man's death nears end Police in Medicine Hat, Alta. are waiting for a toxicology report and statements from three more witnesses before wrapping up their investigation of Robert Stone's death in a Whitehorse detox facility last month.
• Athletes, groups showered with YTG money The Yukon government announced $935,000 in grants for 27 local athletes and officials and 26 sports and recreation groups Tuesday afternoon.
• Consultant shares taxi industry research There's little doubt in Coun. Betty Irwin's mind that the consultations by Outside the Cube will help the city determine where it wants to go in regulating the local vehicle-for-hire industry.
• Civil liberties group files two complaints over in-custody deaths The B.C. Civil Liberties Association has filed formal complaints with the RCMP's watchdog over the deaths of a man who died in a Whitehorse RCMP cell and another who died shortly after being released from the Mounties' custody.

June 8, 2010

• College student wins national ACCC Award Yukon College Student Services sent one of its students to Niagara Falls, Ont.
• Legion formally opens new premises Members of the 254th branch of the Royal Canadian Legion held a ribbon cutting ceremony last Friday evening, officially opening their newest home at 503 Steele St.
• Students' work to be exhibited in Dawson Over the past four weeks, art students from Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, B.C. have been in Dawson City studying art in the School of Visual Arts (SOVA) facilities and developing site-specific projects around the town.
• Local cadet chosen to hike Mt. Everest Whitehorse army cadet Warrant Officer Cole Hauer has been selected to participate in the 2010 International Army Cadet Expedition.
• Something's Wrong Here Whitehorse resident Lee Stevens discovered and photographed this stretch of Second Avenue early Monday morning.
• YESAB chair welcomes his qualified successor Stephen Mills was elevated Monday to chair of the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Board (YESAB).
• Calling all pets to Whitehorse United Church Come rain or shine, the annual blessing of all pets will be held Sunday at Whitehorse United Church.
• Girl rejoices at happy end to tale of lost teddy bear Ed. note: the Taranaki Daily News in New Zealand kindly made this story available to the Star.
• Correction Last Friday's edition reported Mayor Bev Buckway will attend the Canadian Capital Cities Conference in Fredericton next month.
• Passing Through Two U.S. Air Force F-16 Falcons, a two-seat trainer, left, and a fighter, right
• Remediation work to begin at Faro mine site The Yukon government has issued a contract to Pelly Construction Ltd. of Whitehorse for early remediation work to address potential environmental risks at the Faro mine complex this summer.
• Remembering History The City of Whitehorse celebrated its 60th anniversary last Saturday
• Forest fire season rapidly heating up This year's fire season is getting hot as 17 active fires continue to burn across the territory; 62,773 hectares of forest have burned to date and Outside personnel have been brought in earlier than usual.
• Motorcyclist medevaced to B.C. A Yukon man was medevaced to a Vancouver hospital after he lost control of his motorcycle and crashed in the dark hours of Saturday morning.
• City to soon start selling compost For $5, Whitehorse residents may soon pick up a 20-litre burlap sack of the same waste they paid the city to take away.
• Petition for infill referendum is denied The city is denying a Riverdale resident a petition for referendum.

June 7, 2010

• Transit now fully accessible, city says City transit has become fully accessible with the arrival of four new low-floor buses.
• Don't shy away from risk, graduates advised More than 160 Yukon College students representing 32 disciplines celebrated their graduation at the Yukon Arts Centre on Saturday afternoon.
• Thousands lost electricity this morning A problem with a Yukon Energy diesel unit cut power to parts of Whitehorse this morning.
• Lang calls for action to fight obesity Yukon Senator Dan Lang has made a plea to fellow senators to get involved in motivating and inspiring young and older Canadians to become more fit and healthy.
• Hanson Street plan passes first reading City council has moved forward, once again, on making improvements to Hanson Street by passing first reading at its May 25 meeting of a bylaw for a local improvement charge (LIC).
• YTG challenges StatsCan's job figures The government is hitting back at Statistics Canada figures pegging May's unemployment in the Yukon at 9.8 per cent.
• Copper Ridge home owners sue over dumped snow A half-dozen property owners and residents of Drift Drive in Copper Ridge have launched a lawsuit against the city and Commissioner of the Yukon over water over-saturating their properties last year.
• Mine's evacuation called ‘precautionary' The Minto Mine decided today to suspend operations while forest firefighters conduct a back-burn to reduce forest fuels and strengthen the safety barrier around the mine site.
• ‘I nearly cried when I found out that was gone' Thieves in Toronto threw a spanner into Whitehorse band Sanktuary's heavy metal works Friday, robbing the local rockers of several vintage guitars and other equipment worth more than $10,000.