Whitehorse Daily Star

May 8, 2020

• Five winners shared the ice pool victory After some technical difficulties last Sunday and a bit of investigation, confirmation and consultation, the winners of the 2020 Dawson Ice Pool (officially the IODE Ice Guessing Lottery) have been announced.
• Selkirk First Nation chooses a new chief Darren Isaak was elected Wednesday as the new chief of the Selkirk First Nation, with 60 per cent of eligible voters returning their ballots by mail.
• Pandemic Portraits Meshell Melvin is doing a COVID-19 inspired Portrait Project.
• Resident seeks to build suite atop garage A request for a zoning amendment from a Black Street property owner could lead to a much larger discussion regarding the relaxation of setbacks from property lines for garden suites.
• Eliminating A Hazard Yukon Wildland Fire Management conducted a hazard reduction burn last Friday at the Carcross cut-off.
• Thinking about six years of sacrifice The pandemic has made it hard to focus on other things, for people both here in the Yukon and everywhere else around the world.
• Northerners are embracing pin plan A made-in-Yukon initiative to celebrate front-line workers fighting COVID-19 is gaining momentum across the North.
• Keeping The Fun Rolling During the summer months, the Klondike Cruisers have their Cruisin the Dub Wednesdays at the A&W.
• Pick up the phone and communicate, premier urged Kate White, the leader of the Yukon NDP, is looking for more open communication from the Yukon government from now until the reconvening of the legislature in October.
• Chinook numbers were just shy of minimum target The number of Yukon River chinook that made it to spawning beds along the mainstem of the Yukon last summer just missed the minimum target, says the international report released recently.
• Young pilot may have soared into history Champagne and Aishihik citizen Shadunjen van Kampen obtained her pilot’s licence last week, and is now believed to be the first Yukon First Nations woman to be commercially licensed.
• Study was halted over YG’s fear of litigation A study on the effects of warning labels on liquor bottles, conducted in Whitehorse in 2017, found that many people were prompted to cut back on purchasing labelled products.

May 7, 2020

• Yukon Hospitals expands First Nations health services Yukon Hospitals’ First Nations Health Programs is improving access to culturally safe and sensitive care in Dawson City and Watson Lake.
• Premier announces senior appointments Premier Sandy Silver has announced new leadership for the Yukon Liquor Corp. and Lotteries Yukon.
• Municipal staff eye eventual restoration of normalcy City staff are beginning to look at how to go about returning to normal operations, city council was told at its meeting Monday.
• Mining being celebrated this week Mayor Dan Curtis has declared this week as Virtual Yukon Mining and Geology Week.
• Privacy commissioners voice concerns about contact tracing Diane McLeod-McKay, the Yukon Information and Privacy Commissioner, has joined with her colleagues across the country to issue a statement on “extraordinary” government plans for COVID-19 contact tracing.

May 6, 2020

• Virus deals bad hand to Diamond Tooth Gerties The coming summer has seen most of Dawson’s seasonal calendar of events either postponed to the fall or cancelled entirely.
• Carmacks’ unfinished arena under discussion Carmacks Mayor Lee Bodie says the Yukon government is in discussions with the Hamilton, Ont., company building the new community arena to see when they can return to work.
• Person fined for violating act The first Yukoner to be charged under the Civil Emergency Measures Act (CEMA) pleaded guilty Tuesday afternoon and will be fined.
• Critics assail halfway house’s move to jail A new halfway house has been opened at the Whitehorse Correctional Centre (WCC), spurring discontent among advocates about the choice of location.
• Woman rescued from downtown escarpment Whitehorse RCMP and city firefighters rescued a woman from the clay cliffs last Friday evening after they learned she was threatening to harm herself.
• Mounties seize firearms, ammunition A Watson Lake man faces several charges after the RCMP seized firearms, ammunition and other illegal items from his home as they executed a search warrant.
• Cabinet invites parties to budget discussions The territory’s two opposition parties have been invited to ask questions at proposed meetings on the 2020-21 territorial budget in the legislature, the Liberal cabinet said this morning.
• Expectant mothers seeking options to hospitals The COVID-19 pandemic has caused some expectant families to feel wary about planning for birth in the Yukon’s hospitals, causing an uptick in interest in midwifery services.
• Modelling charted up to 7,000 virus cases The Yukon currently has no active cases of COVID-19, but officials are urging Yukoners to remain vigilant while plans for an incremental reopening are underway.