Whitehorse Daily Star

April 7, 2006

• The Colourful Five Per Centô Thistle Creek Dredge has long history Jon Wilkie says this is the Thistle Creek Dredge. This excellent photograph is by him.
• Calendar to include students' art Premier Dennis Fentie announced the publication of two Whitehorse youths' drawings in the 2006 Northern Forum calendar.
• Uffish Thoughts Raven showdown on Seventh Avenue A true tale of northern hardship:
• Bookends Who's afraid of the big, bad wolf? If you only know about Alex Cross from the movie versions of Kiss the Girls or Along Came a Spider, in which Morgan Freeman portrayed the psychologist/detective then the central character of James Patterson's nursery rhyme titled series (other titles include Four Blind Mice, Mary, Mary and London Bridge) may come as a surprise to you.
• Project's planning, design cost $1.56 M It seems there's something of a windfall going on with Watson Lake's new multi-level care facility, says Whitehorse architect Charles McLaren.
• Help sought for two fire victims Local artist Raymond Shorty had been set to hold a show of his work in May before he and his son, Durrand Henry, lost everything when his Porter Creek mobile home burned last month.
• Gas prices jump overnight The local price of regular gasoline jumped overnight to about $1.19 a litre, up substantially from yesterday, when prices had already begun to rise at some stations.
• Whimpers led woman to abused puppies In an action that can only be called deplorable, city bylaw officers are investigating an incident involving the dumping of four puppies in a Schwatka Lake garbage container which resulted in the deaths of two of them.
• Games mural pondered City council is considering having a 2007 Canada Winter Games mural placed on the exterior of city hall.
• Affordable homes could be compromised: realtor The city's new green-space bylaws, if and when they're approved, could lengthen an already cumbersome development process and make the cost of 'affordable housing' unaffordable.
• Hardy questions sole-sourced contracts Opposition Leader Todd Hardy wants to know if the new Health minister has any concerns about the level of sole-source contracts for multi-care facility in the premier's riding.
• MLAs favour green space, Kenyon says Porter Creek North MLA Jim Kenyon says he doesn't support development in greenbelt areas in his riding.
• Witnesses saw dog being dragged behind vehicle City bylaw officials are seeking to ban a Whitehorse resident from owning a pet for two years after a dog was tied to the bumper of a car and dragged down the Alaska Highway.
• City fees called flawed The city's policy of charging development fees for Whitehorse residents who subdivide their property is flawed and is costing residents more money than should be collected.
• Shopping spree snared meth's ingredients It's all in a day's shopping trip.
• Man's hearing can proceed, judge rules Yukon Supreme Court Justice Leigh Gower has dismissed an application by the territorial government that would have delayed the hearing of Dominic Alford.
• Yukon MLAs to sit next week The Yukon's 18 MLAs will continue to meet on the floor of the legislative assembly next week.
• Government quizzed on school's fate The opposition parties are asking why there isn't money in this fiscal year's budget for the new Copper Ridge school promised during last November's byelection by the Yukon Party.
• Supreme Court orders offender to be freed Yukon Supreme Court Judge Leigh Gower has vacated a March 24 order by Justice of the Peace Dean Cameron which detained John Scurvey in custody.
• Another business to migrate toward the Chilkoot Centre A new Mark's Work Warehouse is likely to be built at the Chilkoot Centre in conjunction with a new Canadian Tire store, says a Mark's executive.
• Repeat remarks outside house, MLA told The Yukon government has not engaged in any impropriety with regard to a Porter Creek development proposal.
• New trustee gets acquainted in Dawson DAWSON CITY There was a passing of the torch here this week as former trustee Ray Hayes conducted his replacement, Leo Chasse, to the Klondike capital to introduce him to folks and show him the scope of the job Chasse has taken on.
• Local man awarded patents for invention Earl MacLeod is a happy guy, having just received six U.S. patents for tools used in the autobody field.
• Accuseds' trial set for Oct. 10 The trial stemming from a major grow-op bust last September in Whitehorse is scheduled to get underway on Oct. 10.

April 6, 2006

• Floats would be sold around the world An aerospace company is set to invest millions of dollars in Watson Lake where it plans to manufacture airplane floats for distribution to world markets.
• Safer communities law formally tabled Legislation was tabled in the legislative assembly Wednesday to provide communities with new tools to combat substance abuse in their neighbourhoods.
• Dog, handler prove popular draw During their short visit to Porter Creek Secondary School, a Medicine Hat, Alta. police officer and his canine friend have been 'swamped with kids' wanting to hang out with the chocolate Labrador who's part of the Dogs for Drug Free Schools program in Medicine Hat.
• Parties jostle for credit for legislation Disagreement on who is responsible for getting the ball rolling on the implementation of the Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Act was apparent at the legislature Wednesday.
• Dawson sewer, water bills would escalate: MLA Dawson City residents can expect to pay a third more for water and sewer services if the Yukon government builds the type of sewage treatment system it has planned.
• Deal reached The territorial government and the Yukon Teacher's Association reached a tentative contract agreement in collective bargaining Wednesday.
• YTG open to land transfer proposal: Lang The Yukon government will work with Whitehorse municipal authorities and abide by any decision city council makes on land disposition within city limits.
• Mock election dead; citizens' group lives on DAWSON CITY The Dawson City Citizens' Action Committee is expecting to cancel its plans for a mock election in the town, originally scheduled for April 20, now that the government has announced there will be elections here no later than June 15.
• Bridge building event scheduled for Saturday The 13th annual Bridge Building Competition will take place Saturday in Porter Creek Secondary School's gym.
• Beetle-killed wood to be cut The Champagne and Aishihik First Nations and the Yukon government have accepted a recommendation for the harvest of up to one million cubic metres of beetle-affected timber over the next 10 years in the first nations' traditional territory.

April 5, 2006

• Three-dimensional exhibits dominate arts centre gallery Spring has arrived, and with it four new exhibits which opened at the Yukon Arts Centre last Thursday. Taken together, they are a brave new combination of visual, multi-media experiments.
• Let city control Crown lands: mayor The process for dealing with applications for private land development within the City of Whitehorse is subjective, unfair and a recipe for disaster, say members of city council.
• Man with long record is found guilty of fraud An $800-dispute has landed a Watson Lake man in jail to finish a 7 1/2-month sentence.
• Premier mute on bid to adjourn house The Yukon Party has put forward a motion asking the legislative assembly be adjourned from April 6 to 18.
• Lang quizzed on role in land debate The appropriateness of cabinet minister Archie Lang handing a Yukon Party supporter permission to pursue a private land development arose Tuesday in the legislature.
• Bars plead not guilty The Capital Hotel and Joe's Redneck Saloon have become the latest bars to fight the city's smoking bylaw.
• Live life for happiness,' says revered elder CHAMPAGNE 'Got to work hard and then play hard' is the recipe to long life in the Yukon, according to Alex Van Bibber.
• Some council members are biased,' developer declares A private developer seeking to build 44 lots in a Porter Creek greenbelt is asking the mayor and 'biased' members of city council to step away from the table when his development goes to city council for a vote.
• Fifty more pregnant caribou spend time in wilderness pen Another 50 pregnant caribou cows from the Chisana transboundary herd have been captured and placed inside a wilderness pen.
• MP gives speech a failing grade Yukon MP Larry Bagnell says the Conservative government's first throne speech isn't good for the North.
• Lagoon passes tests but has no home DAWSON CITY The aerated sewage lagoon the territorial government calls the answer to the town's sewage treatment dilemma has passed all the project tests that were set for it and has done better than anticipated.
• School's budget is out of control: MLA The Yukon government has lost control of its budget for the new Tantalus School in Carmacks, says independent MLA Eric Fairclough.