Whitehorse Daily Star

December 16, 2022

• Northwestel completes 2022 fibre projects Northwestel Inc. marked the completion of its 2022 fibre-to-the-home projects with community celebrations in Burwash Landing and Haines Junction.
• Telling Tales To St. Nick Santa dropped in to visit with the seniors at their Christmas dinner held Dec. 7 at the Teslin Rec Plex.
• Christmas at Carcross in 1901 Turkey shoot at the Caribou
• Island fun at the MAD theatre .
• NCES celebrates spanking new premises The board and staff of the Northern Cultural Expressions Society (NCES), well-known as the Carving Studio, and their supporters celebrated the opening of their new gallery and studio last Saturday.
• Pillai confirmed as candidate With the candidates’ deadline just three weeks away, Ranj Pillai remains the sole hopeful pursuing the Yukon Liberal Party leadership.
• Plan to help vulnerable Yukoners: government The work plan to address the May 2022 report by the Office of the Auditor General of Canada (OAG) on the state of housing for vulnerable Yukoners is now available to Yukoners.
• Yukoners gather to remember loved ones “To my beautiful son, Ryan, I love you, I miss you, XOXO, your Mom.”
• Preserve staff mourn recent death of third young lynx The last of three lynx born at the Yukon Wilderness Preserve in the spring of 2021 has died.
• Second river crossing to be studied The 2023 capital budget adopted by city council at its meeting Monday includes $100,000 to explore options for a second Yukon River crossing 
in Whitehorse.
• ‘Each one of these deaths is a tragedy’ For the second year in a row, illicit drugs have taken the lives of 25 Yukoners, according to the territory’s chief coroner.

December 15, 2022

• High Honour For Former Premier Tony Penikett, the Yukon’s NDP premier from 1985 to 1992, is seen Wednesday with Gov. Gen. Mary Simon at Rideau Hall in Ottawa after being invested as an officer into the Order of Canada.
• Bid to ban snowmobiles on trail is defeated A motion by Coun. Kirk Cameron to ban snowmobile use on one trail in the Whitehorse North Trail Plan was defeated at Monday’s city council meeting.
• Surveying The Thickness Employees from Cobalt Construction were out testing the ice along the do-it-yourself trail across the Yukon River in Dawson City on Wednesday afternoon.
• Inclusivity advisory committee closer to fruition At its meeting Monday, city council passed first and second readings of the bylaw required to create the inclusivity advisory committee.
• Agreement designed to preserve more wilderness The Yukon and federal governments said Wednesday they have charted a new path with an agreement to help protect and conserve nature.
• Liberals underspent on lot development, committee told Community Services Minister Richard Mostyn has some explaining to do about the Liberal government’s record on developing lots, the Yukon Party says.
• Engine malfunction forces U.S. fighter jet to land here Whitehorse’s international airport saw some harmless excitement earlier this week.

December 14, 2022

• Correction Jason Pedlar, the Yukon Information and Privacy Commissioner (IPC), says the Office of the Yukon IPC did not provide an opinion to the City of Whitehorse nor its representatives that audio recording in taxis can be implemented by the city, as indicated in a city administration report shared with the public and consequently published last Wednesday in the Star.
• Yukoners become finalists for AIP prize money With approximately $3 million up for grabs, the Arctic Inspiration Prize (AIP) has announced eight “by the North, for the North” finalists for the 2022 prize.
• Insurance can cover gender-affirming care in private facilities Access to gender-affirming care in private facilities can now be covered by health insurance in the Yukon, as promised by a policy introduced more than a year ago.
• Archives celebrates 50 years of safeguarding history An open house was held last Saturday at Yukon Archives to mark its 50th anniversary.
• Priorities unveiled for MMIWG2S+ strategy A few more specifics have trickled in to the Yukon’s Advisory Committee’s 15-year strategy on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-spirit-plus People (MMIWG2S+) — a plan that’s been coming together for almost three years now.
• YHC offers advice on treating sick children The territory is grappling with a wave of respiratory illnesses and a family doctor shortage that have both pushed more Yukoners to use emergency departments for medical needs, regardless of their urgency.
• 2015 study found 88 underutilized lots Whitehorse will be looking at what to do about “underutilized” residential properties in the downtown core, says Mike Gau, the city’s director of development services.