Whitehorse Daily Star

June 27, 2004

• Fire burning out of control The Alaska Highway is open again after being closed for much of the weekend, but firefighters continue to battle a 160,000-hectare blaze that has already engulfed one small community and threatens another.

June 25, 2004

• Yukon artists' projects receive grant money The award is for arts activity in performing, literary or visual arts for personal artistic development.
• In downtown Whitehorse our buskers have a lot of class! It was the blue extension cord that caught my eye at first.
• Classical concert in Dawson City celebrates centennials DAWSON CITY If you've been in Dawson City over the past decade, you may have seen Konrad Pluta in a number of settings and heard him play in a variety of styles: show tunes at the Palace Grand; Cancan and burlesque at Diamond Tooth Gerties; lounge piano at several of the Dawson bars; rock and country at the Pit.
• Here's hoping for gentle cool breezes DAWSON CITY The gods must have been bowling in the Klondike Valley last Tuesday afternoon.
• A different sort of gargoyle stalks evildoers in book by Kurtz Katherine Kurtz is best known for her Welsh inspired tales of the Dernyi, a race of mystic kings who hide their true abilities among their non-magical subjects in the way that Harry Potter is supposed to hide his powers when he's not at Hogwarts.
• Bad road damaging man's business When Marijke Spilman and her husband arrived at Muktuk Kennels earlier this week from California, the drive down the territorial government road to the property was so dusty her husband's asthma began acting up.
• Offender shattered bottle in man's face A man who breached his bail terms after smashing a whisky bottle on another man's face and slamming the fellow's head into the side of a car has been released from jail on a conditional sentence.
• Lightning forecast for Whitehorse Forest fire conditions near Swift River have stabilized for now; the Alaska Highway remains open; and a microwave tower essential for all of the territory's north-south communication stands at low risk, says a spokesman with the territory's Emergency Measures Organization.
• Festival to start this evening Lillian Grubach-Hambrook, who's co-ordinating the annual Yukon International Storytelling Festival, wants spectators to have a good time at this year's event.
• River no place to be without a life-jacket Last Sunday evening along the Yukon River, a Whitehorse woman lost her life while another woman's life was changed irrevocably.
• Candidates face small forum crowd Last night's CBC radio candidates' forum was a little different than those of past years.
• Bagnell: You can affect the decisions' Here and on the next five pages, the Star profiles the Yukon candidates in Monday's federal election.
• Taxi taken on unplanned ride Early this morning, a man apparently decided to cut out the middle man and take a taxi ride with himself at the wheel.
• Boyde: Nice guy is not all an MP is about' More than 30 years after first driving the Alaska Highway to the Yukon, Pam Boyde wants to go back and forth from the territory to Ottawa as the voice of Yukoners.
• U.S. passports stolen An American family visiting the Yukon is missing seven U.S. passports after a break-in to their van at the Miles Canyon parking lot.
• CHP's Capp: We're a centrist party' The Yukon's candidate for the Christian Heritage Party believes a vote for any party other than his means those people are not putting their trust in God.
• Accused out on bail An accused killer has been released on bail some four months after her boyfriend was stabbed to death in Pelly Crossing.
• Davey: the Hill needs more honesty While other election candidates have been pounding the pavement during the dog days of this campaign, one entrant has been pounding nails.
• Historic properties stabilized Seven projects will receive $74,993 under the Historic Properties Assistance Program, the Yukon government announced Thursday.
• Hartle: Grits' approach a false economy' A truck driver from Watson Lake wants to haul enough support in Monday's election to transport him all the way to Ottawa.
• Games may take city employees City employees could be getting a break from their usual duties after council adopted the secondment policy for the 2007 Canada Winter Games at its June 14 meeting.
• LeBlond: Greens not just tree huggers' Philippe LeBlond was really looking forward to voting Green.
• Rafters heading for insurance turbulence Local whitewater rafting companies are concerned insurance costs will shoot through the roof because liability waivers have been outlawed by an act of Parliament.
• Accused now residing at a halfway house A man who's been ruled fit for trial after he spent a month in a Saskatchewan forensic psychiatric hospital has been released to live at the Salvation Army's halfway house.
• Vote looms on boulevard cost improvements issue Any more expansions to Hamilton Boulevard after the territory finishes its work planned for the road would be paid for by the city.
• Gas prices come under candidates' scrutiny With people shelling out more at the pumps this summer, gasoline prices have found a place in local election candidates' platforms.
• Insurance reps met here Whitehorse hosted the Lutheran Life Insurance Society of Canada sales meetings occurring from Monday to Thursday.
• Tomorrow is National Lifejacket Day Saturday is a Canadian Red Cross day to honour and encourage lifejacket use among boaters.
• Family's citizenship dilemma resolved A family that arrives in Canada together will become citizens together after all.

June 24, 2004

• People are going to drown again,' man warns after rescue A pair of young girls had a close call on the Yukon River Wednesday evening in nearly the same spot a young woman drowned last Sunday.
• Pathetic,' Rhino says of court rejection The Rhino charge to halt the election in the Yukon was shot dead Wednesday.
• Councillors move against PR boondoggle' Councillors Dave Austin, Yvonne Harris, Mel Stehelin and Dave Stockdale aren't letting a little 'ole defeated motion stand in their way.
• Disappearing fish still a stumper The mystery of the missing northern pike in Watson Lake continues, says the local conservation officer with the Department of the Environment.
• Fire jumps highway; residents brace for worst While residents of Swift River remain on evacuation alert this afternoon, smoke from the nearby forest fire continues to threaten a second closure of the Alaska Highway in less than a day.
• Idiocy abounds as campfire site found Despite public appeal, fires burning across the territory and record-breaking hot and dry temperatures, a local firefighter came across an abandoned campfire inside city limits Wednesday.
• Dawson advisory committee stocked DAWSON CITY Five Dawson citizens have been chosen by Community Services Minister Glenn Hart to advise the town's government-appointed trustee, Ray Hayes, and chief administrative officer David Skidd.
• Homeowner jailed, facing charges A homeowner is in custody and facing drug charges following a police raid on his house last week after officers spotted marijuana plants on his windowsill.
• Nearly 1,000 people have already voted The number of Yukoners who voted in the advance polls last weekend was up by close to 20 per cent over the 2000 election.
• Fentie to prod B.C. into claims talks Premier Dennis Fentie says he'll continue to seek B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell's participation in transboundary land claim negotiations with various first nations.
• Birthday benefit set for tomorrow Local musicians are joining together to bring their talents to the stage for a birthday dance and benefit for longtime Yukoner Merv Bales.
• Caribou surface on election menu The fate of the Porcupine caribou herd is an issue being served on the federal election menu.
• Disaster! Dawson City Flood The swollen Yukon River broke free of it's icy mantle and poured into Dawson City.