Highlights of History from The Whitehorse Star

Explorer's Guides to Yukon Communities

2020

January

• January 2, 2020: The City of Whitehorse is making it easier for you to pay your parking ticket by introducing an online payment option. Expired meter penalties of $25 can still be reduced to $10 if paid within 24 hours or the next business day of the ticket being issued. Read the entire article here.

• January 3, 2020: The first members were inducted into the Order of Yukon New Year's Day at the annual commissioner's levee. Read the entire article here.
• January 3, 2020: Deputy Judge Heino Lilles as ordered Capital Towing Services Ltd. to pay half of the repair costs of George Bahm's vehicle. Read the entire article here.

• January 6, 2020: A Whitehorse man has died after rejecting out-of-territory hemodialysis treatment. Terry Coventry, 74, died in his sleep early Friday morning after four weeks in care at Whitehorse General Hospital. Read the entire article here.
• January 6, 2020: Yukon First Nation leaders met with bankers in Toronto last month to try to persuade them not to invest in energy development on the range of a vital caribou herd. Read the entire article here.

• January 7, 2020: With a new record for consumption of electricity in the territory being set on Sunday, Yukon Energy is asking consumers to be wise with their consumption. The Crown corporation would like Yukoners to avoid adding to the load during periods of peak demand at breakfast and dinner times. Read the entire article here.
• January 7, 2020: The Yukon government opened a public engagement Monday on seasonal time change. Yukoners are being asked whether they want to keep the twice-annual time change or permanently adopt a single time. Read the entire article here.

• January 8, 2020: Major reconstruction of the Alaska Highway through the Hillcrest and airport area, spurring property relocations, is scheduled to begin this spring, says a senior government official. Read the entire article here.
• January 8, 2020: A local troupe of philanthropists raised $1,514 for the Mae Bachur Animal Shelter through an appetizer and dessert sale last month. When the shelter was threatened with closure in November 2019 due to mounting debts and unpaid veterinary bills, the Humane Society Yukon's financial woes were widely reported. Read the entire article here.

• January 9, 2020: The Yukon government has increased resident psychiatric support to improve patients' access to care. There are now three resident psychiatrists working in the territory, based out of a new private practice in Whitehorse. Read the entire article here.

• January 10, 2020: Now several months behind schedule as the result of over 200 change orders in the project, the city is not expecting to move staff into the new operations building until late March, says city engineer Wayne Tuck. While the construction portion of the overall budget has increased to $43.6 million from Ketza Construction's original bid of $39.3 million, the project is still coming in under the overall budget of $52.4 million. Read the entire article here.

• January 13, 2020: Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in Chief Roberta Joseph says the decision to open up a hunt on the Fortymile caribou herd was premature, and should not have been made without completion of the joint harvest management plan under development between the government and the First Nation. Read the entire article here.

• January 14, 2020: Dan Vandal, Canada's minister of Northern Affairs, spent a day in Whitehorse this week as part of his grassroots approach to becoming acquainted with the constituency. Read the entire article here.

• January 15, 2020: Two trappers have been rescued in eastern Yukon after their snowmobile broke down, stranding them for several days in temperatures hovering around -45 C. Read the entire article here.

• January 16, 2020: The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in December was 4.5 per cent, a full percentage lower than the rest of Canada. The Yukon has seen the lowest unemployment rate in Canada for 38 of the last 39 months. Read the entire article here.
• January 16, 2020: As the new decade dawns, a discouraging number of Yukoners continue to drive while impaired - with a range of nonsensical reasons for doing so. Read the entire article here.

• January 17, 2020: A Yukon judge has convicted former Tagish kennel owner Shelley Cuthbert of one count of violating the territory's Environment Act, and ordered that she pay $2,000 in restitution to the Yukon government. Read the entire article here.

• January 20, 2020: Key players, movers and shakers in the negotiation of the Yukon's land claim settlements came together over the weekend in Whitehorse, to boil down the 292-page Umbrella Final Agreement (UFA) to a nine-page summary of the key principles contained in the agreement. Read the entire article here.
• January 20, 2020: The federal government is investing $500,000 in an Invest Canada North initiative at a large prospecting convention this spring. Yukon MP Larry Bagnell made the announcement on behalf of the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency (CanNor) in Vancouver over the weekend. Read the entire article here.

• January 21, 2020: RCMP in Inuvik have arrested Timothy McKay, 21, one of two suspects linked to a series of armed robberies and a break and enter last Saturday morning in Whitehorse. Read the entire article here.

• January 21, 2020: With the growing popularity of motorized electric bicycles, clarity is needed from city hall regarding what exactly is a bicycle, says Keith Lay, a member of the Active Trails Whitehorse Association. Read the entire article here.

• January 22, 2020: City council might want to tread softly when it comes to promoting densification of neighbourhoods, Coun. Dan Boyd cautioned at Monday night's meeting. The councillor said densification makes the city more affordable but it also has other ramifications, such as pushing more parking to the street. Read the entire article here.
• January 22, 2020: The ice bridge that connects downtown Dawson with the residents across the Yukon River has entered its fully functional phase. The first phase was the DIY (do it yourself) trail, which locals began to use on foot and with light vehicles about four days after the river ice stopped moving on Remembrance Day. The Yukon government's contractor, Big Ice, was hired to improve that early route and did so over the next several weeks. The result is that this trail, with a maximum load capacity of 5,000 kg, was declared officially open on Dec. 23. Read the entire article here.

• January 23, 2020: Farmers, ranchers and food processors in the Yukon and northern British Columbia may soon have more local customers. The two governments plan to connect to build food security and increase the supply and production of local food in the North. Read the entire article here.

• January 24, 2020: Annette King, the Yukon Child and Youth Advocate, is conducting an independent review of the barriers to school attendance in the territory. Read the entire article here.

• January 27, 2020: Whitehorse RCMP are looking for a man after discovering a vehicle that had been shot at on Friday, near the Centennial Street-Wann Road intersection. "The incident is believed to be targeted and related to the illicit drug trade and organized crime." Read the entire article here.
• January 27, 2020: The Association franco-yukonnaise (AFY) and the Yukon government have partnered to present a French language tourism marketing campaign for audiences in Quebec. Read the entire article here.

• January 28, 2020: Monday's Yukon government land lottery for 55 single-family lots in phase four of the Whistle Bend subdivision drew 244 applications. Read the entire article here.
• January 28, 2020: The South Klondike Highway, south of the Canadian border, is experiencing a prolonged closure due to an avalanche risk and a collision that caused a diesel fuel spill last Saturday. Read the entire article here.

• January 29, 2020: A semi-truck carrying approximately 48,000 litres of fuel slid into the ditch and spilled some fuel near Pelly Crossing last Saturday to avoid slamming into a moose. Read the entire article here.

• January 30, 2020: The Yukon's premier and MP are remembering the life of Pearl Keenan, a beloved Teslin Tlingit Council elder who died this week in Whitehorse at the age of 99. She had lived her final years in a local care facility. Read the entire article here.

February

• February 3, 2020: Air North has scaled back its regular air service to Watson Lake due to security concerns with the community's airport. Read the entire article here.

• February 4, 2020: The Yukon government is studying the jury recommendations stemming from the recent inquest into the death of Cynthia Blackjack. Her 2013 death was unanimously ruled an accident last Friday afternoon. Blackjack died on Nov. 7, 2013, while being medevaced from Carmacks to Whitehorse. Read the entire article here.

• February 6, 2020: Linda Benoit, a candidate for the leadership of the Yukon Party, received a high-profile endorsement today. Jonas Smith, the Yukon's Conservative Party of Canada candidate in the 2019 federal election, is throwing his support behind Benoit. Read the entire article here.
• February 6, 2020: Zero Waste Yukon is gearing up for its seventh annual indoor community garage sale and repair cafe. "It has really become a highly anticipated wintertime event. With close to 1,000 attendees and over 40 vendors each year, we're highlighting the tremendous value of the local reuse economy." Read the entire article here.

• February 7, 2020: Justice Suzanne Duncan of the Supreme Court of Yukon reserved her decision on several issues argued last week regarding the bankrupt Wolverine Mine. The Yukon government is asking the court to find the government does have a case to claim $35.5 million through bankruptcy proceedings to cover the government's cost if has to ultimately reclaim and close down the mine site.Read the entire article here.
• February 7, 2020: Yukon First Nations Wildfire (YFNW) was awarded more than $1 million for their Resilience Training and Healing Program at the Arctic Inspiration Awards in Ottawa on Wednesday night. Read the entire article here.

  

• February 12, 2020: Brent Sass, 40, from Eureka, Alaska, won his third Yukon Quest yesterday, coming across the finish line with 11 dogs. Read the entire article here.

• February 19, 2020: Maurice Byblow, a former territorial cabinet minister who helped forge the Yukon New Democrats into a powerful governing force, died Feb. 11 in Whitehorse. Cancer claimed the businessman and educator at the age of 73. Read the entire article here.

March

• March 6, 2020: Sunday's seasonal time change will be the last. The "What We Heard" report shows that 93% of the 4,800 Yukoners who participated in the survey conducted in January and February want seasonal time changes to stop. Of those, 70% are in favour of permanent Pacific Daylight Time.
• March 6, 2020: The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) wants to hear from anyone who may have witnessed a Porter Creek incident that led to an RCMP officer discharging a weapon Monday. It occurred during a confrontation with a 54-year-old man who was not injured and whose name has not been released.
• March 6, 2020: The territorial government has signed a letter of intent with the BC Renal Agency to maximize prospects for Yukoners to receive home hemodialysis in the Yukon. The dialysis issue gained a heightened profile in November 2019, when longtime Yukoner Terry Coventry said he was prepared to die in Whitehorse rather than move to Vancouver for the dialysis treatment he needed. In early January, he died at Whitehorse General Hospital at the age of 74.

  

• March 23, 2020: The COVID-19 pandemic has reached the Yukon.

April

• April 3, 2020: Fines and jail are possible for violations of regulations meant to curb COVID-19 in the Yukon.

May

• May 19, 2020: Yukon College became Yukon University today, with more than 50 degree, diploma, certificate, trades, and university prep programs. Serious study of becoming a university began in 2012.

2021

June

• June 30, 2021: Former Whitehorse mayor Bill Weigand died last Sunday at the age of 92. Weigand served one term, from 1991 to 1994. He was the first full-time mayor for the city. Read the entire article here, and his obituary here.

July

• July 9, 2021: Rising lake levels have resulted in evacuation alerts being issued for the Marsh Lake area. Residents are sand-bagging to protect their homes, and volunteers' help is being requested at Marsh Lake, Tagish, Carcross, and Lake Laberge.
• July 9, 2021: Paul Birckel, the well-respected former chief of the Champagne-Aishihik First Nation, died yesterday in Whitehorse. He was born on the shores of Kluane Lake on October 25, 1938.
• July 9, 2021: Lori Schroeder, a 54-year-old plant ecologist specializing in rare plants, died Monday when her vehicle rolled on the Campbell Highway west of Watson Lake.

• July 12, 2021: Two federal ministers have asked the Yukon ministers of justice, and health and social services, to ban conversion therapy.
• July 12, 2021: The future Yukon University, soon to be Canada's first university North of 60, has unveiled its new identity, leading up to the official university transition celebration in May 2020.
• July 12, 2021: Thirteen Yukoners, one program, and a four-legged friend have been recognized for their efforts to prevent crime and foster community safety.

• July 30, 2021: A 7th person has died from COVID-19. The person was not vaccinated and died in hospital. There are now 77 active cases, with 7 new cases in the past 24 hours.
• July 30, 2021: As election fever mounts in Ottawa, Minister of Transportation Omar Alghabra, along with Yukon MP Larry Bagnell and Highways and Public Works Minister Nils Clarke, announced approximately $180 million for work on the North Klondike Highway.
• July 30, 2021: Michael Healey won $1 million in the June 18th Lotto Max draw. He was the third million-dollar winner in the Yukon so far this year.

August

• August 13, 2021: Last week, with no fanfare and no hint of a public announcement, the YG snuck in a change of policy that was one of Kate White's and the NDP's most popular promises during the spring election campaign. It's once again THE Yukon. The "The" was removed in 2003 by the Yukon Party led by Dennis Fentie.
• August 13, 2021: Jim Robb was wondering where a piece of his art commissioned by the Yukon government back in 1983 had gone to. The longtime Yukoner said his painting of Sylvia Williams' trapper's cabin in Whitehorse was missing for years. On Monday, he received a call that the 18- by 24-inch water colour had been found. Read the entire article here.
• August 13, 2021: COVID-19 case numbers in the Yukon have jumped, with nine new cases of COVID-19 were discovered from noon Wednesday to noon Thursday. The number of active cases is now at 45. As well, 11 new positive cases were reported Thursday in Haines, Alaska, bringing the total up to 57.

October

• October 8, 2021: Mayor Dan Curtis has cherished his nine years on city council, he said in an interview this week on the eve of his retirement from the mayor's chair after three terms. Read the entire article here.

• October 18, 2021: The three political parties in the Yukon legislature argued last Wednesday about the new government ban on single-use plastics. As of January 1, 2022, single-use shopping bags will be banned in the Yukon. Read the entire article here.

• October 29, 2021: The community of Faro held a vigil Wednesday evening to remember the two people killed and one injured in Tuesday's shooting rampage. RCMP arrested Ralph Bernard Shaw, 61, on Tuesday afternoon. They have charged him with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted murder and two counts of aggravated assault.
• October 29, 2021: Two men are in custody in Whitehorse after shots were fired in the city overnight Wednesday. One of the men arrested had injuries assessed after police used a non-lethal intervention option during the arrest. A bag of RCMP equipment is missing after the incident, and the public is asked to watch for the missing items.
• October 29, 2021: Yukon MP-designate Brendan Hanley has been keeping a low profile since winning the federal election five weeks ago, but says he's been busy in the meantime.

November

• November 5, 2021: The average sale price of a single detached home in Whitehorse in the third quarter was $656,800, an increase of $87,800 or 15.4% over that period last year. The average of the 7 country residential properties was $852,200, an increase of $128,000 or 17%.
• November 5, 2021: The Claim, formerly The Chocolate Claim, closed its doors unexpectedly last Friday. Glynnis Baltimore has operated it since 2002. She told The Star it's getting harder and harder to find qualified employees, and at 63 she's tired.
• November 5, 2021: Behavioural problems are increasing in Yukon schools, with incidents at Jack Hulland the focus of discussion in the Legislature on Wednesday.

• November 12, 2021: Wednesday saw Premier Sandy Silver in an uncharacteristically aggressive mood in the legislature over the petition organized by Jonas J. Smith and presented on Nov. 1 by the Yukon Party, opposing the government's mandatory vaccination mandate for public service workers.
• November 12, 2021: There was general agreement at city council's meeting Monday that the rate of property crime in the city is rising, and various measures to combat that were discussed.
• November 12, 2021: COVID-19 once again resulted in very different Remembrance Day ceremonies across the Yukon, with smaller and/or outdoor ceremonies.

• November 22, 2021: The Yukon Film Society is launching a five-month trial reopening of a re-imagined Yukon Theatre on Wood Street. Both Yukon theatres were sold a few months ago by the Landmark corporation to a numbered corporation in Richmond, BC, with local ties.
• November 22, 2021: The inaugural Yukon Prize for Visual Arts, worth $20,000, has been won by Yukoner Joseph Tisiga.
• November 22, 2021: The Council of Yukon First Nations (CYFN) and Yukon Imagination Library have announced a new collaboration that will see a Yukon First Nation book sent to all children registered with the library program. The new Han language children's book distributed as part of the collaboration is called Shëtsey (My Grandpa).

2022

February

• February 25, 2022: Put on your dancing shoes. And then there were three. Beginning March 4, the Yukon government and public health officials will drop most of the COVID-19 health restrictions. The government is leaving mandatory masking in indoor public places in force for the foreseeable future along with the vaccine mandate for public servants and the vaccine certificate system.
• February 25, 2022: A Whitehorse businessman has taken all his money - approximately a million dollars - out of three local banks due to concerns over the financial provisions in the federal government's Emergencies Act. He had donated $100 to the truck convoy earlier in February, he said.
• February 25, 2022: Another Yukon Quest, albeit a strange one, is in the books. This year's race featured a Yukon Quest (YQ) 350 and YQ200 in Alaska, followed by a YQ300 and YQ100 in the Yukon, as opposed to the usual 1,000-mile race between the two jurisdictions.

September

• September 2, 2022: Yukoners aged 18 and older will soon have access to a Moderna bivalent COVID-19 vaccine. The doses are anticipated to arrive in the territory later this month. They will then be made available to Yukoners as soon as possible.
• September 2, 2022: ATCO Electric Yukon's proposed rate relief measures fall short of what Yukoners are expecting, the territory's NDP said Tuesday. "After six years of over-earning millions of dollars, ATCO is still planning to keep hundreds of thousands in extra profits every year - in addition to the millions of dollars from the previous years," the party said in a statement.
• September 2, 2022: Four canoeists are safe after their boat capsized Aug. 24 on the Yukon River around Five Finger Rapids near Carmacks, the RCMP said Thursday. At approximately 8:30 p.m. on that date, police were made aware that a canoe had capsized on the river, with one person unaccounted for.

  

• September 30, 2022: An RCMP officer involved in Wednesday night's shooting in Porter Creek remains in hospital in critical but stable condition. The suspect, Sheldon Lawrence Keobke, 35, of Whitehorse, also remains in hospital with serious injuries. He has been transferred to a medical facility outside the territory.
• September 30, 2022: Yukon firewood producers and those who burn wood as their main source of heat have been pleading with the government to get firewood-cutting permits out the door, and to plan for harvesting areas, the official Opposition said last week. "The Yukon is heading for another winter where firewood delivery will be scarce."
• September 30, 2022: The latest figures on the population of the Yukon indicate the territory's population boom continues. The estimated population on March 31, 2022 was 43,744; an increase of 743, or 1.7 per cent, compared to the figure for March 31, 2021 (43,001). Comparing March 31, 2022 to March 31, 2012, Yukon's population increased by 7,856, or 21.9 per cent.