Whitehorse Daily Star

January 22, 2015

• Literacy coalition plans special day Sunday The Yukon Literacy Coalition will celebrate Family Literacy Day from 12:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Canada Games Centre.
• Entrepreneur Boot Camp to kick off Friday Whitehorse’s first Artist Entrepreneur Boot Camp will take place Friday through Sunday at the Gold Rush Inn.
• Pivot Festival Continues Claire Ness, left, and Andrea McColeman open for Christine Fellows, Leanne Zacharias and Alex McMaster Tuesday evening at The Old Fire Hall.
• Slides close South Klondike Highway Rock slides have prompted the closure of the South Klondike Highway.
• Digging Out A City of Whitehorse Case skid steer clears the sidewalk
• College to offer new supply chain management program A new diploma training program at Yukon College will help the territory’s businesses be more competitive, according to the Whitehorse Chamber of Commerce’s president.
• French-language education, judicial bias discussed before top court The Supreme Court of Canada has reserved its decision in a case involving the Yukon’s francophone school board and the territorial Yukon government.
• I had the fright of my life, sergeant testifies “I was shook up. It was the most scared I’d ever been,” Dawson RCMP Sgt. David Wallace told a Yukon Supreme Court jury trial Wednesday.
• Premier, NDP trade blows over fracking Premier Darrell Pasloski is accusing the NDP and Liberals of trying to stifle the territory’s oil and gas industry even before a final determination on fracking has been made.
• Alliance seeks direct vote on fracking issue The Frackfree Yukon Alliance wants to hold a referendum on whether fracking should be permitted inside Whitehorse city limits.

January 21, 2015

• Government’s stance will emerge, minister assures The Yukon government’s response to the report from the legislative committee on fracking will become clear in due course, says the senior Yukon Party committee member.
• Pivot Festival Continues Christine Fellows, left, and Leanne Zacharias perform Tuesday evening at The Old Fire Hall as part of the Nakai Pivot Festival.
• Accused recruits a lawyer The man charged in connection with Tanner Sinclair’s death last summer has retained a lawyer for his upcoming bail hearing.
• Beauty In Music Leanne Zacharias performs Tuesday evening as part of the Nakai Pivot Festival at The Old Fire Hall.
• Figure skater makes history with gold medal win Whitehorse figure skater Rachel Pettitt is a Canadian champion.
• City staff recommend moving ahead with budget The city’s $69-million operating budget for 2015 – including a 1.7 per cent increase to property taxes – could be adopted as early as next week and without any major changes.
• Yukon is running an economic treadmill The Yukon’s economy is “treading water,” largely due to mining inactivity, according to a government economist.
• Jury selection clears way for accused’s trial Jury selection was nearly complete by about 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, the second day of Mark McDiarmid’s trial, in Dawson City.
• Government lacks support for fracking: Mills Optimism is flowing from Monday’s report on fracking in the Yukon, says a spokesman for Yukoners Concerned About Oil and Gas.
• Weather delivers royal kick to snow castle, slide Giant blocks of snow will once again be transformed into detailed works of art for festival goers attending the annual Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous event next month.

January 20, 2015

• Police investigating vehicle fire as arson Whitehorse RCMP are investigating a vehicle fire in Takhini over the weekend as arson.
• Fire chief clears hall during Dawson jury selection Jury selection for the trial of Mark McDiarmid entered its second day today.
• Groups weigh premier’s revamped cabinet Groups speaking for a broad swath of Yukoners responded as diversely as the people they represent to the rejig in the Yukon cabinet announced last Friday.
• Mangled Metal A police officer and a paramedic work Monday afternoon
• Simultaneous elections could save the city money The next federal election has the potential to save the city up to $80,000.
• ‘I think we have awakened a sleeping giant’ NDP members of the legislative committee on fracking say the committee was divided along party lines when it came to the question of whether the practice should be permitted in the Yukon.
• Late artist knew importance of spreading happiness “He was just so intensely in love with what he did — he loved art so much it made you want to love art as well.”
• Repair timeline, students’ destination unknown The Ross River School’s structure is in critical condition, likely due to shifting permafrost, according to an engineering firm that assessed the building last week.