Whitehorse Daily Star

June 13, 2008

• Whitehorse's McIntyre Creek must be preserved It is time for all sides of the fishing and hunting issue to reconcile their differences and work together to save our lakes, rivers and streams from waste before it is too late.
• First Nations Arts Festival to start June 21 Organizers are gearing up for the first annual multi-disciplinary First Nations Arts Festival, June 21-June 27.
• 'We have a lot to contribute': valedictorian This is a poem for you,
• Small miracles are still a part of our lives The toilet roll fairy lives at our house.
• Its future uncertain, Alsek goes out with a bang HAINES JUNCTION - As the snow fell last Sunday afternoon at the Alsek Music Festival, artistic director Richard Godson reflected on this unusual circumstance.
• Cell phones may be even worse than you think There have been concerns about cell phones from their very beginning.
• 'These two boys are representing Whitehorse' One local family knows just how important it is to support Canadian troops serving overseas.
• City to resurface several roads Some roads around the city will be resurfaced after city council approved putting the $300,000 it's not depending on a burner for wood and timber, into improved roads.
• Government launches anti-smoking campaign A new campaign encouraging smokers to avoid lighting up around non-smokers was officially launched by the Yukon government Thursday afternoon.
• Training offered to sound recording professionals Sound recording professionals are being offered specialized training thanks to Department of Economic Development.
• Pair of Yukoners sought by RCMP The public's assistance is requested in locating two Yukoners wanted as of noon Wednesday.
• City puts off decision on bid for four-storey apartments The owners of a Centennial Street property will have to wait at least another couple of weeks to find out if their plans for an apartment building can proceed.
• World Wide Knit in Public Day to be marked in city Mary Bradshaw likes to keep her hands busy.
• MacDonald Road property changes approved One will become two after city council approved the subdivision of the 31 MacDonald Rd. property in Porter Creek at its meeting Monday night.
• Booklet revives the history of the Canol Road project When Pat Ellis first moved to Whitehorse in 1953, the downtown core was mostly an untidy smattering of Second World War army buildings.
• Fentie looks to Ottawa on Senate reform issue Senator Bert Brown was in the Yukon recently to sell provincially/territorially-driven Senate reform, but Premier Dennis Fentie wasn't buying.
• Students drank up no-pop challenge This year, more than 2,000 students from across the Yukon participated in the "Drop the Pop Challenge."
• Super Cities Walk for MS goes Sunday Not long after Samantha John graduated from high school, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS).
• Quartet nabbed in separate incidents Four young men have been arrested and charged with drug possession for the purpose of trafficking within the last week, in two separate incidents.
• Nursing students savoured their Yukon experience Six first-year registered nursing students from Victoria's Camosun College learned a new approach to nursing when they spent five weeks working at Copper Ridge Place and visiting other health care facilities in the territory.
• Board prescribes big changes for hospital The Yukon Hospital Corp. is in the beginning phases of planning for possible major changes to the Whitehorse General Hospital.
• Search starts after man falls into river A 46-year-old man from Whitehorse is currently missing after he fell into the Yukon River on Thursday night and failed to resurface.
• Climb for the Congo to help clinic Employees of the Equinox Rox, located at the Takhini Hot Springs, will donate their time Saturday to help a medical clinic in the Congo.
• Irreverant, fun funeral to honour Bob Couchman Local social activist Bob Couchman, who passed away in May, liked to make up imaginary characters, and on Sunday one of them will be put to rest.
• Quebecers accused of attempted murder Two young men from Montreal have been charged in relation to a stabbing at a hotel in Carmacks that took place early on June 5.
• 'I was watching history,' Yukoner says of apology Roy Johnson had waited more than 40 years for this moment.
• 'Don't surround my house with duplexes' There's a big difference between 19 single houses and 28 duplexes, city planners heard Thursday night as they presented plans that would see six sites opened for single-family lot development in Porter Creek.
• Doctor and patient dispute tubal ligation circumstances A scheduled eight-day civil trial against a doctor accused of assault and battery is underway in Yukon Supreme Court.
• Short notice of blasting angers Lobird resident Blasting for the Hamilton Boulevard extension will resume Saturday afternoon, Jeff Boehmer of the territorial Department of Community Services said this morning.
• Remembering life in 1958 Yukon Ian Tyson is one of my favourite singing storytellers. He always has been, especially when he wrote a wonderful song called 50 Years Ago:

June 12, 2008

• Lightning fires fought in the Klondike Fire officials reported no new activity this morning, but two new wildfires were discovered in the Dawson City fire district late Tuesday afternoon.
• Quarry lease to be signed The city and territory will sign another five-year lease on the McLean Lake Quarry after council passed third reading of a bylaw that will authorize the agreement.
• YTG hosted national marketing conference Two days of interactive sessions and presentations by investment marketing specialists from across Canada formed the federal/provincial/territorial investment marketing managers' meeting on Monday and Tuesday in Whitehorse.
• Kenyon assumes chair of committee Economic Development Minister Jim Kenyon says he is pleased to be assuming the chair of the Committee on Internal Trade and is looking forward to hosting the 2009 meeting in Whitehorse next June.
• Odds were stacked against nesting tern hatching egg A nesting tern near the Millennium Trail, originally reported to be aggressively dive-bombing passersby to protect its single egg, has disappeared.
• Council opts to sever ties with sister cities At the same time as voting to give up on two sister city relationships, city council voted to spend $2,000 on sending local youth to another of its sister cities in Lancieux, France.
• Questions arise over Food and Drugs Act changes Proposed changes to the federal Food and Drugs Act would not only change the face of naturopathic health in the country, but would also take away freedom of choice, says Michael Brine, a local advocate for natural health products.
• Apology 'a long time coming': grand chief It was a sombre atmosphere at the Council of Yukon First Nations (CYFN) building Wednesday as people gathered to watch Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologize to former residential school students.

June 11, 2008

• Engineering student gets scholarship A young woman studying engineering at the University of Calgary became the first recipient of the Rob Harvey Memorial Engineering Scholarship Fund May 22.
• Grants put Yukon artists on the road outside Yukon The first six recipients of the Touring Artist Fund will share $23,460 to assist them with their professional development and enable them to promote themselves outside Yukon, Tourism and Culture Elaine Taylor said Tuesday.
• Arts and cultural projects receive YTG support The Arts Fund is contributing $78,000 toward seven projects to further develop the arts in Yukon, Tourism and Culture Minister Elaine Taylor announced last week.
• Dandelion Wreath to bid Trombetta a fond farewell After spending more than a decade in the Yukon, theatre professional Anthony Trombetta is calling it quits.
• Second fest in as many weeks hits the Junction With barely enough time for the snow which fell on last weekend's Alsek Music Festival to melt, Haines Junction is once again preparing for a weekend of musical bliss.
• High schoolers offered archeological work Yukon College is offering two senior high school students the chance to participate in archeological fieldwork at one of the oldest sites in eastern Beringia.
• 'What an amazing journey this film has been on' In the summer of 2006, a local team of breast cancer survivors banded together to complete the Yukon River Quest.
• Pika populations decimated in Ruby Range If the hamster-like critter known as pikas inhabiting Yukon's mountain meadows could talk, they'd say climate change is impacting their way of life.
• Duplex to become triplex A downtown duplex can now become a triplex after city council voted to approve a conditional use application for the home at 8159 Eighth Ave.
• Walkers help the bereaved through their grief Sometimes you just need to go for a walk.
• Conference was success for territory: Buckway The city's mayor and Association of Yukon Communities (AYC) president is viewing a national municipal conference as a success for the territory.
• Texas firm wins $10-million Yukon government contract Opposition Leader Arthur Mitchell is crying foul after a Texas communications firm announced it has won a $10-million Yukon government contract to install 43 radio sites throughout the territory.
• Ross River Dena Council denied pre-trial hearing The Yukon Supreme Court has dismissed an application from the Ross River Dena Council to hold a pre-trial hearing about the applicability of the Rupert's Land and North-Western Territory Order of 1870 to the first nation's lawsuit against the federal government.
• Institute grapples with technology's social impacts Over Christmas, Jenny Tipper received her first cell phone.
• Council clears enlargement of MacDonald Road parcel A property on MacDonald Road will be a little bigger following a vote by council Monday night.
• Cousins are bound for Inuvik in their trusty Model T Ford Last Saturday morning found two cousins, Dean and Reg Yoder, of Iowa City, Iowa, stopping at a local coffee shop while on their way to Inuvik.
• Porter Creek bench is closer to becoming Whistle Bend City councillor Florence Roberts says she'll miss the Porter Creek bench as it moves closer to being formally named Whistle Bend.
• Sod farmers bring rumours down to Earth When Vanessa Falle first moved to Whitehorse, she learned that there was a very active rumour mill.
• Man given conditional term, told to pay restitution A 22-year-old man from Pelly Crossing received a six-month conditional sentence and eight months' probation in addition to time served Tuesday after pleading guilty to six offences, including break and enter, theft and mischief.
• Tomatoes banished from fast food outlets Due to an outbreak of a rare strain of salmonella in the southern United States, several franchises in Whitehorse have yanked tomatoes off their menus.
• Steam engine spews oily soot on yard neighbour SKAGWAY - White Pass and Yukon Route Steam Engine 69 made a mess of the back of Zack and Chris Ellis's outbuildings, four-wheeler and some plants on the afternoon of May 23. But crews were quick to respond to clean up the mess.