Whitehorse Daily Star

April 18, 2016

• Numbers will be big for contested Liberal nod More than 200 Yukon Liberals are set to select a Whitehorse West candidate for the pending territorial election on Tuesday evening.
• Minister will run in another riding The MLA for Riverdale North is changing ridings, planning to make a run for the Yukon Party nomination in Copperbelt South, which is currently represented by the NDP.
• Evidence supported manslaughter verdict: Crown Crown prosecutor Noel Sinclair says he can’t get into the details of why the Crown accepted a plea of manslaughter rather than proceeding to trial on a charge of second-degree murder against Alicia Murphy.
• Police investigating potential downtown assault Whitehorse RCMP believe an assault may have taken place over the weekend on Main Street, but no victim has come forward.
• Women to gather for a night of politics, leadership Trailblazers and advocates will come together Tuesday evening to celebrate and support Yukon women in politics.
• Premier ‘humbled and honoured’ to pass review The Yukon Party has voted to keep the premier at its helm after his leadership underwent a successful review at the party’s annual general meeting Saturday in Whitehorse.
• Citizens rally for dismissed fire chief It was a polite demonstration.
• ‘I lost a very beautiful daughter’: bereaved mom The mother of Evangeline Billy describes the sentence handed down Friday to the woman convicted of her daughter’s death as only “half-justice.”

April 15, 2016

• Premier tables Income Tax Act amendment The Yukon government tabled a bill Wednesday to amend the Income Tax Act, which will benefit Yukon families.
• Sparse snowfall reduces spring flooding risks Just as Yukon temperature records fell left and right over the past winter, it’s been another below-average season for snowfall across much of the territory.
• City moves funding from 2015 to 2016 The city’s 2016 capital budget has been boosted by more than $5 million.
• A Study In Concentration Eva Zanger performs this morning
• Casino boss unperturbed by project screening Paul West-Sells of the Casino Mine Corp. is not bothered by the decision to elevate the Casino proposal to the first-ever panel screening in the Yukon.
• Alley’s reprieve paves way for another Bowl for Kids Sake Since the Mad Trappers bowling alley didn’t permanently close in 2015 after all, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Yukon has planned its annual fundraiser for this month.
• Well-known musician leaves the territory After about three decades of taking in the talents of musician Paul Stephens,
• Speakers series to end tomorrow Long Ago Yukon,
• Artist contemplates ‘a whole new ball game’ There’s a certain art to changing your career – quite literally for Chris Caldwell.
• Area’s growing pains include construction waste The sun is out, the snow has melted ... spring is here.
• Jobless rate reflected small improvement The territory’s unemployment rate saw a minor decrease March compared to a year earlier as the labour force also continued to shrink.
• More than 40 volunteers help out at PiT count More than 40 volunteers were out in full force over a 24-hour period, which ended at noon Thursday, asking the homeless or those living in precarious housing about their experiences.
• Sears store will close next month The Sears outlet on Ogilvie Street will close May 15, but the retail franchise is looking for an agent to continue serving Whitehorse, says a company spokesman.
• Premier accused of ‘defensive fear mongering’ Both the Yukon NDP and Liberal parties deny they would cancel the continuing care facility in Whistle Bend if they are elected this year.
• MP to seek opinions on assisted-dying bill Larry Bagnell, the territory’s Liberal MP, wants to hear from Yukoners before he decides how to vote on the physician-assisted dying legislation that was tabled Thursday in the House of Commons.
• RCMP knew about officers’ safety anxieties Yukon RCMP were aware that two officers at the Carcross detachment feared for their safety months before one of them went into a rage and beat up an intoxicated, handcuffed man.
• ‘Alicia Murphy has cut a hole in my soul’ It’s been almost eight years since the body of Evangeline Billy was found along the shore of the Yukon River in June 2008.

April 14, 2016

• Water sampling contract awarded The Yukon Chamber of Mines supports the territorial budget tabled last Thursday by Premier Darrell Pasloski, says the chamber’s executive director.
• Stardom On Stage Vancouver musician James Danderfer (left) and Vicente Archer, from New York, perform Wednesday
• Students learned skills in renovating house Eight students at Yukon College’s Dena Cho Kê’endi campus in Ross River learned carpentry, plumbing, electrical and heating system home maintenance skills this past winter and early spring.
• Talent Extravaganza Members of the Extremely Moving Youth Society dance Wednesday afternoon in the Rotary Music Festival.
• Mines chamber content with budget The Yukon Chamber of Mines supports the territorial budget tabled last Thursday by Premier Darrell Pasloski, says the chamber’s executive director.
• Local company ‘clarifies’ statement after suit ended A local technology company released a statement Wednesday seeking to “clarify” comments it made last year on a local radio station. The remarks led to a defamation suit which was dropped six weeks ago.
• Rash of stolen vehicles investigated Whitehorse RCMP are investigating a rash of stolen vehicle incidents that have happened over the past three weeks.
• More cows taken in this year’s bison harvest The number of wood bison harvested this season is down slightly from last year, though the percentage of cows taken is the second-highest on record in the 19-year hunt.
• Climate change mitigation plans called inadequate The Pasloski government must do more to combat climate change, says the NDP environment critic, in light of a report on climate change in the Yukon released in February.
• Premier’s remark was metaphoric: cabinet official NDP MLA Kate White is asking the premier to admit he used tactless language to describe the government’s work in addressing the crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls in the Yukon.