Whitehorse Daily Star

February 19, 2024

• Battery plant expected to pare pressures on busy power grid Yukon Energy’s new battery plant is poised to come online this autumn, and it’s going to come with some benefits to the over-burdened power grid.
• Yukon Rendezvous events are running along smoothly Yukon Rendezvous 2024 is continuing to pick up speed this week as events continue.
• Forum delegates reviewed several major issues The first Yukon Forum of 2024, held Friday, saw participants discuss a variety of pressing matters.
• Police investigating complaints about gun Whitehorse RCMP are looking into reports of someone leaning out of a vehicle waving a gun on Feb. 11.
• Audience turnout strong for film festival The Available Light Film Festival ended on a high note with strong audience turnouts.
• Stressing The Need For Inclusion W. Wilberforce Ogaba spoke about human rights and racism last Thursday at the Yukon International Conference on Diversity and Inclusion 2024.
• Watermain network in Crestview to get work The watermain network servicing the Crestview subdivision will be upgraded starting this year, with the goal of providing a more reliable service for residents.
• Public comment wanted on inclusion changes, YG says The Yukon government wants public feedback on its plans to update legislation to better reflect how people name themselves,
• Group to bolster handling of elk conflicts The Yukon Fish and Game Association is continuing its efforts to handle the ongoing conflicts over the reintroduced elk in the Yukon, specifically in the Ibex Valley area.
• Speak up for pharmacare, federation urges public Teresa Acheson, the president of the Yukon Federation of Labour, is speaking out on the urgent need for pharmacare legislation as the enabling federal legislation looms.

February 16, 2024

• Riverside Arts Festival will return The Yukon Riverside Arts Festival will return this summer for a 2024 edition in Dawson City, the Klondike Institute of Art and Culture (KIAC) announced last Friday.
• Yukon Digital Theatre work can now be watched Acclaimed Yukon creators have launched two innovative digital theatre projects – Mapping My Journey to Home and The Investigator.
• Yukon Party calls for Firearms Act to protect citizens’ rights The Yukon Party is calling on the territorial government to protect the rights of hunters and other firearms owners by developing a Yukon Firearms Act.
• Book Emerging On Monday Elisabeth Weigand will release her latest book, When We Walked on Frozen Rivers, this coming Monday at The Old Fire Hall in Whitehorse.
• Health system staffing ‘dangerously low,’ YEU says The Yukon Employees’ Union (YEU) is calling on the territorial government to address what it calls “the chronic, ongoing, dangerously low staffing levels within the Department of Health and Social Services.
• Owner remembers sad loss of historic hotel More than three years after an historic central Yukon icon burned to the ground, no charges have been laid.
• Léger poll has YP far ahead of Liberals A Léger opinion poll commissioned by the Yukon Party has found support for the territorial Liberals “is sinking even lower with a new leader at the helm,” the official Opposition said Thursday.
• Plan for your emergency “In the Yukon, we tend to go straight from flooding season to fire season,” Emergency Measures Organization planner Shane Skarnulis said Thursday.
• Be prepared! Flood risk unknown, but YG ready While it’s too soon to say what the flood risks will be this spring, the Yukon government is urging folks to get ready for a flooding emergency, just as they are.
• Bridge mixup ignites some extremely feisty responses An unexpected announcement Wednesday in Ottawa about a new bridge for Dawson City turned out to be a case of mistaken identity.

February 15, 2024

• New furnaces coming for arena The Takhini Arena will be getting new furnaces sooner than first planned. City council unanimously approved an emergency $385,000 purchase on Monday, for which procurement is already underway.
• New chair named for YESAB Retired Yukon government official Stephen Rose is now the chair of the Yukon Environmental and Socio-Economic Advisory Board (YESAB).
• New pipes coming for CGC aquatic centre City council has unanimously approved an expensive water line upgrade project for the Canada Games Centre aquatic centre.
• More publicity needed to ensure adequate input into landlord-tenant rule changes: NDP The Yukon government needs to do a better job of involving the public in the public engagement on changes to the Residential Landlord-Tenant Act (RLTA), says the NDP caucus.
• New location, new hours for 2024 town square Whitehorse will host another “town square” this summer, this time along Front Street so as to lower disruption to Main Street businesses.