Whitehorse Daily Star

February 19, 2009

• Mushers hear of what's ahead in Alaska DAWSON CITY - Mushers have been given the low-down on what to expect heading into the Alaska side of the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race trail.
• Dawson At Last Musher Jerry Joinson and his dog Leroy
• Quest frontrunners take off from Dawson City DAWSON CITY - Nine Yukon Quest mushers are set to resume their journey to the Yukon Quest finish line in Fairbanks after their mandatory rest in Dawson City wraps up today.
• Ailing Companion Yukon Quest William Pinkham pulls into the Dawson City checkpoint with Kayanta in the basket.
• Health care review committee selected Premier Dennis Fentie and Health and Social Services Minister Glenn Hart announced the members of the Health Care Review Steering Committee on Wednesday.
• Yukon Mining Incentive Program: facts, figures Since 2003, Yukon Mining Incentive Program (YMIP) incentives have assisted in locating 20 significant mineral deposits.
• Destination: Dog Yard Yukon Quest musher Dan Kaduce and his handler,
• Readying For Guests Handler A.J. Sutton prepares the camp in the Dawson City dog yard
• Red Cross hosts an input session Canadian Red Cross officials will be asking Yukoners what vision they have for the organization.
• Mining incentives program enriched substantially To stave off an expected downturn in mineral exploration this season, the Yukon government has more than doubled funding to its mining incentive program.
• 'We're not asking for more than anybody else' Citing the need for full control over its education system, the territory's French-language school board has launched a lawsuit against the territorial Department of Education.

February 18, 2009

• Berton House poet regrets early departure DAWSON CITY - Jalal Barzanji arrived in Dawson from Edmonton on a day in January when the temperature had plunged to below -50 C
• Returning to Frostbite's roots in roots music If Patrick Singh gets his way, the Frostbite Music Festival is going to be the coolest place to be next February - no pun intended.
• The icing on winter's Klondike cake DAWSON CITY - As we prepared for the arrival of the Yukon Quest mushers, I couldn't help but wonder what sort of sledding surface they would find when they arrived in the Klondike this year.
• Zoning bylaw passes first reading Proposed changes to the city's zoning bylaw passed first reading from council on Feb. 9.
• Climate change strategy is not ambitious enough, Hardy says The Yukon government's climate change action plan does not set the bar high enough in reducing the territory's emissions of greenhouse gases, says NDP Leader Todd Hardy.
• Secretariat to spearhead climate change battle A new secretariat to oversee the territory's fight against climate change has been announced by Environment Minister Elaine Taylor.
• Council approves first two readings of bylaw The city has moved closer to gaining the formal authority to operate the new wells and waterline it developed in Riverdale.
• Ministers agree to national waste water strategy The country now has a national waste water strategy, one of the few tangibles to emerge from a day-long meeting of Canada's Environment ministers in Whitehorse Tuesday.
• 'Exhausted and happy' Struder wins Quest 300 PELLY CROSSING - Under a nearly starless sky at just past 3 a.m. Tuesday, Crispin Struder rode to the final checkpoint in the 2009 Yukon Quest 300 race.
• City considers resolution on parking for disabled drivers The city could be asking its municipal counterparts to join it in pushing for a change to the Motor Vehicles Act.
• Doing What He Can Doug Grilliot, the race marshal for the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race,
• E-mail scam hits second Yukoner Another Yukon artist has become the target of an e-mail scam, very similar to the one that local musician Gordie Tentrees fell victim to last month.
• Latest power failure explained Tuesday afternoon's system-wide power outage occurred during regular maintenance at the Aishihik hydro plant, says Yukon Energy spokesman Janet Patterson.
• 'To be here for the Quest is very special' DAWSON CITY - "It's an emotional roller coaster," John Overell said Tuesday about being back in Dawson City, the final Canadian checkpoint on the Yukon Quest trail.
• Kleedehn greeted by applause, gold DAWSON CITY - After a few false alarms, it finally happened. The first Yukon Quest musher arrived here late Tuesday night.
• Local students hear the story of Bob In the winter of 1997, Bob McIntosh was a successful lawyer living in Squamish, B.C. with his wife, Katy, and their four-year-old twins, Sam and Emma.
• Oil's collapse may pose budgetary problems for Palin ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's first two years in office have been called a time of milk and honey, when the resource-rich state was flush with wealth from record oil prices.

February 17, 2009

• Tinkling the kalimba in the Klondike DAWSON CITY - Laura Barrett takes the stage in the Oddfellow's Hall ballroom as if apologizing for fooling her audience and begging their indulgence.
• Mushers en route to Dawson City PELLY CROSSING - Four mushers have left the Scroggie Creek dog drop bound for the Quest's halfway point at Dawson City, Quest officials said late this morning.
• Little leading Quest as first musher scratches PELLY CROSSING - After three checkpoints and more than 400 kilometres, the first musher has scratched in the 2009 Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race.
• Yukon Energy launches public blog "Lend us an ear; we'll give you a voice."
• Pelly checkpoint is a familiar favourite PELLY CROSSING - Volunteers at the Pelly Crossing checkpoint made it very easy to stick around, for both mushers and other Yukon Quest trail followers.
• Quest dogs undergoing landmark blood research PELLY CROSSING - A blood work project has veterinary researchers from Oklahoma State University on pins and needles waiting for the conclusion of this year's Yukon Quest.
• Territory hosting Environment ministers Elaine Taylor, the Yukon's Environment Minister and chair of Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME), welcomed federal, provincial and territorial environment ministers to Whitehorse today for the annual CCME meeting.
• The Once-Over Yukon Quest veterinarian Jamie Martinez
• City still leaning toward paring bus service It appears the city will move ahead with cutting transit service, despite pleas from bus riders at a council meeting earlier this month to keep the Friday night buses on the road.
• Utility rates to jump higher than thought Local property owners can expect their water and sewer bills to jump a full 2 1/2 per cent more than the city originally proposed - to 15 per cent over what they paid in 2008.