Highlights of History from The Whitehorse Star

Explorer's Guides to Yukon Communities

2000

January

• January 18, 2000: Two city councillors have cautioned their colleagues about dismissing the advice the 8-member Heritage Advisory Committee provided regarding the railway roundhouse on the waterfront. The advisory committee met last Thursday and completed its assessment of the building, erected in 1953 between the old Motorways building and the riverfront. The city took ownership of the building when it purchased the former Motorways property in 1994 for $3.4 million. Using the standard criteria, the committee gave the roundhouse a score of 91 from a possible 100, and recommended the building be designated as a municipal historic site.
• January 18, 2000: Many Yukoners, Alaskans and northern British Columbians were rattled and mesmerized by a very bright meteor of the class known as a fireball in the dark morning sky Read the entire article here.

February

• February 1, 2000: A Vancouver resident, whose experience with McDonald's goes back to 1968, will become the owner-operator of the Whitehorse franchise March 1. Terry Mynott, 47, started work as a part-time member of the restaurant crew while attending high school in Surrey, BC.

• February 6, 2000: After becoming lost in the Alaska wilderness after making a wrong turn during the Tustumena 200 Sled Dog Race, rookie racer Rod Boyce remembered survival lesson No. 1: Stay put. Boyce, who disappeared in blizzard conditions during the 300-km race, was found alive Friday afternoon, six days after he was last seen.

April

• April 17, 2000: The deaths of Bishop Thomas Lobsinger and Brother Hoby Spruyt in the crash of Lobsinger's Cessna 172 on Fox Lake have shocked the Whitehorse Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church. Read the entire article here.

• April 18, 2000: Yukoners elected their first Liberal government, with party leader Pat Duncan and 9 of her running mates winning seats. Read the entire article here, and another here.
• April 19, 2000: The body of one of two mountain climbers who disappeared on Mount Logan 13 years ago may have been spotted on Knife Edge Ridge. Read the entire article here.

May

• May 26, 2000: Despite many problems, ocal cross-country skiing coach Rudy Sudrich accomplished an unintentional solo climb from base camp to Mt. Logan in seven days, in time to be the first climber of the year to reach Canada's tallest mountain. Read the entire article here.
• May 26, 2000: Ross Watson became the first blind man to climb Mount Logan, Canada's highest mountain, on May 25th. Read the entire article here.

November

• November 28, 2000: "On the closest Yukon result ever in a federal election, Liberal party candidate Larry Bagnell eked out a 0.58-per-cent victory over incumbent NDP candidate Louise Hardy on Monday." Read the entire article here.

2001

January

• January 5, 2001: The RCMP have arrested two teenagers in conjunction with the $100,000 break-in at Dawson Citys Wild & Wooly boutique, one of the biggest robberies in Yukon history. A statement from the RCMP released this morning says a 17-year-old youth and another 18-year-old male were arrested in conjunction with the Nov. 28 robbery. Both men are Whitehorse residents.

April

• April 28, 2001: "Thousands turned out for royalty. The Yukon's beauty compelled the artist in Prince Charles put paint brush to canvas during his trip." Read the entire article here.

June

• June 6, 2001: There's a gaping hole in the Alaska Highway at Iron Creek, where up until yesterday there laid what was once referred to as the largest culvert of its kind on the globe. Read the entire article here.

September

• September 12, 2001: Police treated a diverted Korean passenger plane that landed at the Whitehorse airport at noon today as if it had hijackers on board, despite reports from Alaskan officials that it was a false scare. Read the entire article here.
• September 12, 2001: Whitehorse's Norman Shorty watched in horror from his Manhattan hotel as the World Trade Center collapsed - one twin tower at a time. Read the entire article here.

• September 14, 2001: Three people are dead following a plane crash approximately 150 km east of Mayo late Thursday afternoon. The two German co-pilots and Swiss passenger in the BeechCraft 18, registration N45N, died on impact. The plane took off from a landing strip at the Rogue River Outfitters' camp but after it was airborne, it veered left, corrected and then nose-dived into Pleasant Creek. The aircraft exploded on impact and a large fire broke out. Read the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) accident report here.
• September 14, 2001: A South African man, Franswa Fernandez, 30, was to be arraigned today on a charge of first-degree assault in the September 1st stabbing of Skagway rail worker David Lehman, 40, in the Red Onion Saloon. Lehman, 40, suffered from two knife wounds and bleeding severely when medical personnel attended, was medivaced to Whitehorse General Hospital, where he was later reported in stable condition.

October

• October 2, 2001: Advertising for tenders to buy new city buses could go Outside. The city was scheduled to buy new buses last year. That was delayed due to the four-month transit strike that began almost a year ago, and the firing of transit manager Jerry Peniuk last November. Exactly how many buses and what size they will take will depend on the bids. The city has budgeted $640,000 for the purchase. In a recent ridership survey, approximately 79 per cent of riders said they support having smaller buses.

2002

January

• January 25, 2002: Desmond Carroll, the 63-year-old former rector at Christ Church Cathedral and chaplain for the local RCMP division, died Thursday in Victoria. In late September, the church threw him and his wife, Marion, a farewell party before the couple moved to Victoria, where they retired.

August

• August 2, 2002: Long-time Whitehorse Star publisher Bob Erlam and his wife, Rusty, have sold their controlling 75-per-cent interest in the Star to managing editor Jackie Pierce, it was announced today. Together with her existing 25-per-cent share of the business, Pierce becomes the sole owner and publisher of the Star, one of five independent daily newspapers left in Canada.
• August 2, 2002: Though there's no direct evidence showing how the January 18, 1999 fire that destroyed Hangar C started, all the evidence points to the two North 60 Petro employees who removed a company sign using cutting torches, the plaintiff's lawyer argued Thursday in closing arguments to Supreme Court Justice Ron Veale. Considered to be one of the Yukon's most expensive fires, the damages are well into the millions of dollars.

December

• December 2, 2002: The Yukon Party caucus was sworn into office November 30th, while the cabinet was unveiled and sworn in that afternoon. Read the entire article here.

2003

January

• January 13, 2003: A proposal by the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation to enter into a joint-venture company with Pelly Construction has been approved by the community, says Chief Joe Linklater. Under the proposal as Linklater explained it last week, the new construction company would purchase several large pieces of heavy equipment.The plan is to move the equipment into Old Crow this winter, either by Cat train — on skids pulled by bulldozers - or on a full-blown winter road that would allow for transport trucks. The proposal now is to finance a Cat-train for $300,000 to $400,000, rather than build a winter road for double that amount. A winter road to Old Crow was last built in 1998 to ship in supplies for a new school, the previous one having burned down in January 1997. A road was also created in 1982 after the then-school was destroyed by fire in December 1981.

May

• May 12, 2003: On Friday, May 9, Yukon Premier Dennis Fentie, along with a number of Kaska leaders from southeast Yukon and northern B.C., inked a deal that the two sides have been working on since the Yukon Party came to power. Since the main part of the deal was to get the Kaska to put aside its lawsuit against the Yukon government and the transfer of control over land and resources to the territory from Ottawa, the deal also paves the way for negotiations to settle a transboundary land claim with the Kaska Dena Council. The deal also includes giving mining rights on traditional land to the Kaska or Kaska business, as well as potential revenue from oil and gas development on Kaska land.

2004

January

• January 30, 2004: Artist Jim Robb was appointed as a member of the Order of Canada this week by Governor General Adrienne Clarkson. Read the entire article here.

June

• June 8, 2004: The Green party has wheeled its way into the federal election with its first-ever Yukon candidate, Whitehorse-based bicycle repairman Philippe LeBlond, 37.
• June 8, 2004: The Rhino party, which ran throughout Canada from 1965 to 1988, tried to make a comeback by running one candidate in the June 28 federal election - here in the Yukon. But when the potential candidate, Big Ben Mahony, went to file the nomination form, it was denied because Mahony did not have a letter indicating a certified accountant would be his auditor. Mahony will take the case to court to try to get included in the election.

2005

January

• January 5, 2005: The territorial government is prepared to help Yukoners wondering about relatives or friends who were in southern Asia when the devastating tsunami hit on Dec. 26. Premier Dennis Fentie said last Thursday, while announcing a $25,000 contribution to the Red Cross' disaster relief effort, that the Yukon will continue working with Ottawa to see if it can asssist in any other way. The earthquake and resulting tsunamis killed at least 139,580 people.
• January 5, 2005: Whitehorse RCMP Const. Craig Thur received a Commissioner's Award for Bravery at the Commissioner's Levee on New Year's Day. Thur saved a youth from drowning in Hidden Lake in Porter Creek last year.

June

• June 16, 2005: "As downtown and Riverdale residents made their way home late Wednesday afternoon under a record amount of rain accompanied by thunder and lightning, Bill Miller was barbecuing at his house in Porter Creek." Read the entire article here.

• June 17, 2005: "Continuing research into a 500-year-old body of an ice man found in August 1999 in northern B.C. has reached some conclusions about his journey and final days." Read the entire article here.

2006

January

• January 30, 2006: Uneasiness mounted along with uncertainty as Sunday's massive blackout grew in length while daylight waned and already-frigid temperatures began dropping further toward the -30C mark. Both Yukon Energy and Yukon Electrical Co, Ltd. continue to ask customers today to conserve energy and forego any unnecessary use of power. Yukon Energy spokeswoman Janet Patterson said late this morning that with two hydro-turbines at the Whitehorse Rapids dam and all nine available diesel generators on line, the total capacity is still below the typical peak load at supper time.

2007

January

• January 3, 2007: The Yukon Centre Mall has been purchased by Northern Vision Development, company president Piers McDonald confirmed Tuesday. Records at the territorial land titles office show the value of the strip mall property at the time the deal closed last week was $6.4 million. The mall was formerly owned by Rick Peterson of West Can Development Corp., an Alberta-based company.
• January 3, 2007: The Skagway road has reopened for a short period today. Three separate avalanches have left the South Klondike Highway closed since Dec. 29, trapping residents from both sides of the border. The largest of the three slides is approximately 10 metres deep and 90 m wide, the largest the Yukon has seen in 20 years.
• January 5, 2007: At an estimated $85,000, the Whitehorse Liquor Store will have a new look and maybe even faster service following the Canada Winter Games. In March, the store will be getting a face-lift that will come complete with a new fifth till in the store. The announcement came following December's release of the store's customer survey. "We learned a great deal through this survey and we will start to apply what we have learned beginning with renovations to the interior of the store," said Jim Kenyon, minister responsible for the liquor corporation.

August 15

• August 15, 2007: "Fear of strong south wind still on resident's mind. After an afternoon of hard work, the breach of the sandbag barrier at Marsh Lake has been contained." Read the entire article here.

December

• December 31, 2007: "Dawson City resident Dick North has been recognized 'for his ongoing commitment to the preservation and promotion of the history of the Yukon Territory as an author, journalist and historian,' reads his brief synopsis on the Order of Canada 2007 members list." Read the entire article here.

2008

January

• January 2, 2008: The Whitehorse Cross Country Ski Club is trying to find out what the intention is behind 85 mineral claims staked in October 2007 over part of its ski trails, says club spokesman Tom Ullyett. Ullyett said today it's not much a surprise that the claims were staked, given the historical context of the Whitehorse copper belt. Rather, it's a matter of uncertainty for the ski club whenever additional interests are expressed in the publicly-owned land on which their trail system is located, he explained.

April

• April 25, 2008: "A bison jaw unearthed last summer on the terrace overlooking the Takhini River has been dated at 7,100 years old." Read the entire article here.

October

• October 17, 2008: In 1975, the Yukon Women's Mini-Bus Society was born out of the Yukon Status of Women Council's transit committee. They began the first bus service in the capital city. More than 30 years later, those women are being honoured with the territory's poster marking Women's History Month.Read the entire article here.

2009

January

• January 8, 2009: The backup diesel generators at the Whitehorse Rapids Dam have been running non-stop to meet increased demand through the persistent cold snap. Yukon Energy spokeswoman Janet Patterson said that in the last two weeks of December the publicly-owned corporation burned 80,852 litres of fuel to keep the generators humming. In the same two-week period of 2007, when temperatures were much less numbing, only 2,200 litres were burned. Diesel generation is required to augment the hydroelectric generation when the demand on the system reaches 57 megawatts. hen the temperature hit -36C on Dec. 21, demand peaked at 63.5 megawatts. With Whitehorse temperatures dipping to -40 this week and Beaver Creek hitting -50, demand peaked Wednesday at 64.73 megawatts.

May

• May 29, 2009: The Yukon's Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods legislation failed its first test in court. The law, known as SCAN, gives the territory's director of crime prevention the power to evict renters suspected of dealing drugs from their homes. Karen Nicloux was one such suspect.
• May 29, 2009: The Yukon will finally see its hydro grids linked with the expansion of the Mayo Dam and construction of the much-talked-about power line connecting Stewart Crossing to Pelly Crossing. Construction work is expected to create between 300 and 350 jobs.
• May 29, 2009: Canada's newest Expedia CruiseShipCenters franchise, a full service travel agency, opens tomorrow. Owned by Erik and Kim Hougen, with a staff of Independent Cruise Sales Consultants, it is located at 21060 - 2nd Avenue.

December

• December 1, 2009: The number four turbine at the Whitehorse Rapids Dam was shut down Monday morning because of a problem with its new digital governor, causing brief power outages in Porter Creek and Riverdale.
• December 1, 2009: Yukon Ranger David Illituk presented The Prince of Wales, Prince Charles, with the traditional Ranger uniform - red-hooded sweatshirt and baseball caps - for his sons, Princes William and Harry, during a brief ceremony held in Ottawa last month. The ceremony marked the Princes' appointments as honourary Canadian Rangers.
• December 1, 2009: In November, Yukon MP Larry Bagnell was the target of a Conservative attack flyer - one of dozens to hit Yukon mailboxes this year courtesy of a loophole in rules governing federal communications with constituents. This morning he received a personal apology from MP Peter MacKay.

• December 31, 2009: At about 6 p.m. on December 27, a man armed with a knife entered the Watson Lake Petro Canada convenience store and threatened to stab the clerk if she didn't hand over the money in the till. The lone employee gave the man the cash and he fled on foot. When police arrived, they had no trouble following the suspect's tracks, which led to a nearby residence, where they arrested Richard Linklater, 27, of Lower Post. BC. He has been charged with armed robbery and possession of cocaine.

Continue to January 2010