Whitehorse Daily Star

December 15, 2008

• Accused loses his quest to have evidence tossed out A Teslin man accused of downloading child pornography has lost a bid to have the bulk of the evidence against him thrown out of court.
• Fentie, Phillips rule selves out of Senate bids Rumours are swirling about who will get the call to represent the Yukon in the Senate after Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced last week he will fill the 18 vacancies in Parliament's Upper House before Christmas.
• I've Got It This magpie
• City gets into the Christmas spirit in a big-time way The Christmas spirit has hit city staff with the annual Christmas Lights Tour and the transformation of the Canada Games Centre into Santa's Playland set for Tuesday.
• 101 Steps For Montessori Students, teachers and parents with the Montessori Borealis Preschool walk 101 steps
• Quest will go on, Yukon director vows The Yukon Quest's local executive director says there is no danger of the 2009 race being cancelled as a result of its Fairbanks office being denied a grant for $20,000 US.
• Three Yukoners honoured in Ottawa The Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) presented its Centennial Awards to 100 special nurses at a recent ceremony in Ottawa.
• Air North pilot aborts takeoff Pilots for Air North's Saturday morning flight aborted the takeoff after a problem with one of the engines, forcing the local airline to switch airplanes for its trip to Vancouver.
• Department officials didn't inform Lang about building mould After his department failed to properly brief him, Public Works Minister Archie Lang was caught unawares in the legislative assembly regarding black mould in the unfinished Watson Lake health facility.
• Death triggers call for nationwide probe The death of Carmacks resident Raymond Silverfox has prompted Canada's public complaints commission to call for a nationwide investigation into the RCMP's treatment of people who are drunk and/or high.
• Airport to be renamed in honour of 30-year MP Whitehorse International Airport will indeed be named after the late former Yukon MP, Erik Nielsen.

December 12, 2008

• That character from Arkansas is legitimate! I have received so many e-mails from people asking if that "short, fat, bald, loveable character from Arkansas" is actually real or just another "character spin" of folklore of the Yukon, I decided it's time to put the proof on the table.
• Examining the Bard in his own time While there are a great many very thick books about the life and work of William Shakespeare, Bill Bryson suggests the slender length of this particular volume is most appropriate.
• Delivering musical nourishment to China Musician Grant Simpson has the red China blues after performing a series of shows for budding jazz fans in the formerly reclusive communist state.
• Marking An Anniversary Mallory Pigage, a Porter Creek Secondary School student
• Filmmaker turns his camera to the meaning of apologies Mitch Miyagawa has heard a lot of apologies in his life.
• Another good reason to keep right on rockin' It may be a difficult pill to swallow, but Canadian music lovers owe a debt of gratitude to those progenitors of cheesy American "college rock", Hootie and the Blowfish. Why you ask?
• The sun's down, but the projector's running The temperature has dropped to bone-chilling lows, and the sun has all but disappeared. What better time to hunker down with a hot drink, a stack of movies and some friends?
• Band society keeps the arts scene vibrant The All City Band Society presented their two evenings of concerts at the Yukon Arts Centre in Whitehorse on Monday and Tuesday.
• Work force larger than a year ago The territory's labour force was 17,964 as of November 2008 - an increase of 828, or 4.8 per cent, compared to the same time last year.
• Three Yukoners sought by authorities The public's assistance is requested in locating three Yukoners wanted as of noon Tuesday.
• Frostbite offers a peek of the lineup for February festival The Frostbite Festival is going back to its roots, in more ways than one.
• First nation hopes for changes in river vessel's operations The Tr'ondek Hwech'in (TH) First Nation hopes Holland America will develop a new proposal for operating its Yukon Queen II on the Yukon River.
• Release all large fish, guide suggests Bernard Stehelin's recommendation to release all big fish in the Yukon hit a wall of resistance at a Tuesday night public hearing hosted by the Yukon Fish and Wildlife Management Board.
• New funding will expand knee surgeries Whitehorse General Hospital has received new funding to increase the number of knee replacement surgeries currently performed there.
• Recycling society welcomes city's help It appears city council was in the Christmas spirit Monday night, offering up a few gifts for the Raven Recycling Society.
• YOOP returns plaque to Forty Mile DAWSON CITY - The abandoned settlement at Forty Mile is noted for a number of firsts.
• Crane helped bring down dangerous tree A 20-metre high spruce tree which had a large crack at its base and was in immediate danger of falling and causing damage in Northland Trailer Park was made safe Thursday with the help of a large mobile crane.
• Icy Waters' rezoning application approved Icy Waters has cleared its most recent hurdle in developing the six country residential lots it's proposing for the Fish Lake Road area.
• Cabinet mute on not appealing court decision Environment Minister Elaine Taylor has thrown in the towel, but neither she or Premier Dennis Fentie will say why.
• The Fruits Of Dedicated Practice The Jazz Bananas, from Vanier Catholic Secondary School
• Sheep need protection, wildlife forum told There's a desperate need to step in and protect a nearby Dall sheep population, says the co-chair of the Lake Laberge Renewable Resource Council.
• Efforts fail to keep daycare centre open A last-ditch effort to keep the Little Paws Daycare open until the end of the month has failed, making today its final day of operation.
• Pitching In Santa Claus signs letters for Amnesty International last Saturday at the Old Firehall in downtown Whitehorse.
• Range Road project site rezoned Developers have the go-ahead to build a 7,500-square-metre building at the end of Range Road off the Alaska Highway, near the Whitehorse airport.
• Older B.C. couple jailed for trafficking in cocaine What might have been a lucrative retirement plan has instead landed two Hazelton, B.C. seniors in the Whitehorse jail.
• Speeding cited in truck rollover A truck left upside down in the middle of Mountainview Drive blocked traffic for an hour overnight.
• Shoppers Drug Marts to butt out of tobacco trade Like many a smoker, a local corporation is making its new year's resolution to no longer sell tobacco products.
• MLAs swallow differences to help food bank It started with the Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition.
• Race relations group enters debate over man's death The Yukon government is ignoring calls for a public inquiry into police dealings with aboriginal people in the wake of Raymond Silverfox's Dec. 2 death in Whitehorse RCMP cells.
• Offender will taste freedom this month The man who brutally raped and tortured a woman in Whitehorse seven years ago will be set free on Boxing Day.
• A Cracking Spectacular Show The Northern Lights School of Dance presented Nutcracker

December 11, 2008

• Victim Services Unit manager was seventh staffer to resign Supposedly created to help the vulnerable in society, the Yukon government's Victim Services Unit appears to have fallen victim to questionable decisions from its overriding department.
• Getting into The Holiday Spirit YTG employees work on the Bare Essentials program
• City will pay $837,510 for carts Residents on the city's garbage and compost collection system are closer to getting carts for pick-up after council approved spending $837,510 on the contract to have the carts produced.
• City contemplates major artwork purchase With a municipal election set for next October, Whitehorse's current city council could spend up to $10,000 on artwork for the city before leaving office.
• YTG invests in fight against breast cancer The government is investing $245,000 annually in a mammography program to protect the health of Yukon women, Health and Social Services Minister Glenn Hart said Wednesday.
• Pour Over Education Options Yukon College hosted 27 universities
• City gains 15.5 hectares of land A total of 15.5 hectares off Robert Service Way is coming to the city for $1 after council approved third reading of the land acquisition bylaw for the property Monday night.
• Safety Drive Driver Monika Hartleb and Emerald Kains, Vanier Secondary School students go for a ride in Sidne
• Professor queries Speaker's ruling Ted Staffen, the Speaker of the Yukon legislature, appears to have overstepped his authority in rebuking NDP MLA John Edzerza for suggesting the RCMP are prejudiced when dealing with intoxicated aboriginal people.
• Territory's tasers will undergo tests With the use of Tasers by law enforcement officers becoming a national hot button issue, law enforcement agencies in the Yukon are handing their stun guns over for testing.
• 'Irresponsibility' sees daycare's abrupt demise What's being called"extreme irresponsibility" on the part of both the Yukon government and the previous board of the Little Paws Daycare will see the closure of the child care centre.