Whitehorse Daily Star

July 17, 2006

• Illegal campers raise concerns Scores of American softball players camped illegally in the Takhini North greenbelt over the weekend.
• Latest big power failure explained Whitehorse residents were waiting close to two hours Friday evening to do everything from heating up dinner to buying beer for the weekend when the power went out at around 5:16 p.m.
• CRTC panel heard conflicting views A Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) hearing into a new regulatory framework proposal for Northwestel Inc. ended in clashing opinions last Thursday afternoon.
• What is our community coming to?' For the 2 1/2 weeks leading up to her wedding, Laura Zealand's days were supposed to be filled with the joyous planning of last-minute details and a glowing anticipation of the big event.
• Fight breaks out at dance Two local men found themselves in Whitehorse General Hospital following the annual dance at the Dustball softball tournament over the weekend.
• Time change means longer ski evenings The Yukon's commitment to the new daylight saving time system begun in the United States will mean more sunlight during a warmer part of the day, says a weather specialist.
• Greenbelt tree house is ordered removed The city's Department of Bylaw Services has ordered a tree house removed from a Copper Ridge greenbelt.
• Lightning strikes pierced the territory Close to 2,600 lightning strikes touched down in the Yukon over the weekend, Wildland Fire Management officials said today.
• Gravel pit idea studied The Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board (YESAB) is reviewing a proposal to have a gravel pit on the Mount Sima Road.

July 14, 2006

• Art imitates life in Kiss of the Fur Queen, a tale of brothers Thomson Highway's 1998 novel tells the story of the Okimasis brothers, Champion (or Jeremiah) and Ooneemeetoo (Gabriel). The boys are born on the Eemanapiteepitat reserve in Manitoba, the sons of Abraham Okimasis.
• Weird pop music from Kelley Stoltz and Starlight Mints Below the Branches is an electronic masterpiece entirely written, performed and recorded by one man, multi-instrumentalist Kelley Stoltz.
• Locally-filmed series Northern Town to hit the air soon What began on Jan. 18, 2000, when one of the most dramatic meteors in 10 years streaked across the skies of the Yukon, comes to fruition when the six-part series Northern Town debuts on Monday nights starting July 24 on CBC television.
• Probe of drugs at border continues Beaver Creek RCMP are continuing to investigate and determine if charges will be laid after Canadian border guards seized marijuana twice at the border crossing last weekend.
• Experience leaves taxidermist embittered The federal government is taking the cowardly way out with its decision not to proceed with an exporting charge against taxidermist Chuck Buchanan, says Buchanan.
• It's a great time to apply' to the RCMP academy There hasn't been a better time to join the RCMP, says M Division Const. Calista MacLeod.
• Territory to extend daylight saving time The Yukon will join other jurisdictions in adopting the daylight saving time extension in 2007, Premier Dennis Fentie announced late this morning. The move will give Yukoners an extra month of daylight saving time each year.
• RCMP find stolen items after break-in An entertainment centre, CD players and Walkmen were among the list of several thousand dollars in electronics stolen from Sears early this morning after the glass door to the downtown business was smashed.
• NWTel must raise access fee, commission is told If Northwestel Inc. doesn't charge a higher access fee for long-distance carriers in the North, the rest of Canada will be unfairly burdened with funding the territories' telephone services, says Telus Corp.
• Board reviewing Shipyard's Park The Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board (YESAB) is doing a review in the city's Shipyard's Park.
• Lot cannot be made available to buyers Only 19 lots of a new 20-lot subdivision being built by the Yukon government will go out for public sale.
• Games have transcended old funding formula Ed. note: this is the first of a series of articles the Star will publish during the months leading to the 2007 Canada Winter Games.
• Harley mascot's glare worse than his bite For would-be Harley-Davidson motorcycle thieves, Dozer, the four-month-old British bulldog who hangs out at the local Harley-Davidson shop, probably isn't much of a deterrent.
• I don't see affordable housing' Ed. note: this is the second part of a four-part series, published Fridays, on the changing state of the Yukon real estate market.
• Railway chugs past old record SKAGWAY (The Skagway News) The White Pass and Yukon Route railway carried 6,410 passengers on June 14, breaking the old daily record of 6,251 set on June 17, 2004.
• Crews on top of fires burning in Mayo district More than 1,400 lightning strikes hammered the Yukon on Thursday, resulting in nine confirmed fires.
• Young activist wins elite scholarship It's easy to get apathetic about our run-for-profit world with its endless paths to apocalypse.
• Northern nominations sought for animal award The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) is calling for nominations of northerners for the Animal Action Award and is looking for people who have worked hard to improve animal welfare.
• Inventor inflates hopes for a superior tire Peter Becker, a Whitehorse inventor, seems to have a thing for wheels. He keeps creating new tires and rims capable of doing things no tire or rim could do before.

July 13, 2006

• Latest lagoon proposal is smaller, cheaper DAWSON CITY Going to court was probably the last thing John Steins wanted to do on the day after he was sworn in as mayor of Dawson City.
• Former Yukoner is now wanted by police in Texas A former Whitehorse man convicted in 2002 of sexual interference with a nine-year-old girl is now wanted by the San Antonio Police Department in Texas.
• Proposed higher phone rates called a hardship Northwestel Inc. didn't do any type of demographic study to ensure the North's most vulnerable are not negatively impacted by the company's proposed new regulatory framework, says Roger Rondeau, the president of the Utilities Consumers' Group.
• Cabinet minister seeks second term Highways and Public Works Minister Glenn Hart has been acclaimed to run once again as the Yukon Party candidate in Riverdale South.
• Yukon Party nominates Kluane candidate Former Yukon Energy employee Jim Bowers has won Yukon Party nomination in the riding of Kluane for the pending election.
• Thirteen battling Dawson-area fire Lightning ignited another forest fire in the Dawson City area Wednesday night.
• New bus can accept five wheelchairs The city has a new handy bus.
• Teslin sued by company Deadman Creek Enterprises Inc. is sueing the Village of Teslin, but it's unknown how much the private company is looking for.