Yellowknife is creeping closer to a solution to cleaning up downtown of drunks and vandals.

That task really involves offering people services to help themselves clean up.

After a couple of high profile inquests into death by drugs and alcohol last winter, a public meeting in May revealed an increasing problem of crack cocaine on the streets and the addiction and child prostitution that comes with it. Out of that meeting was born the Yellowknife Community Wellness Coalition.

Around the same time, RCMP and other agencies journeyed to Anchorage, Alaska. That city has dealt with similar problems by cracking down on bars, using a medically-supervised sobering-up or transfer station rather than a drunk tank, and a group home where alcoholics take responsibility for themselves.

Now Yellowknife RCMP are starting to apply the lessons learned. A full-time police officer will coordinate the local Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program, parent discussion groups and anti-bullying programs in schools.

Commanding officer Insp. Paul Richards will launch a community consultation group, and a program is to be targeted at First Nations youth.

In October, the Coalition will present a proposal for a sobering-up or transfer station.

Arlene Hache, the executive director of the Centre for Northern Families, who earlier this month called the trip to Anchorage "ridiculous" and the wellness coalition a waste of effort, has wisely re-considered and signed on.

Welcome first steps which must be followed by concrete action, always the hardest part of any recovery.

As hundreds of city children prepare to pull on new clothes and runners and head back to school, police have issued some scary statistics.

The number of motor vehicle accidents rose 11 per cent in April, May and June. During the same period, 14 people were hurt or killed in crashes, up from eight in the same period of 2002.

Those numbers are anywhere but reassuring now that schools are coming back into session.

Yellowknife Catholic schools resumed classes today and Yellowknife No. 1 (public) schools re-open Sept. 2.

The number of vehicles and pedestrians will jump dramatically -- and so will the possibility for tragedy.

So please, drivers, be extra cautious during the coming days and weeks. Let's not start the new school year tragically.

It's hard to believe that six months ago I made my first real trip to Eastern Canada.

For most Southerners a trip east means Toronto, Montreal or Halifax. I guess, I am not most Southerners. My first trip east took me a little more to the North, landing me in Iqaluit.

Three months later I came here to Rankin.

The experience is hard to sum up in just a few words.

I have been absolutely amazed by the diversity and richness that I have found in the Eastern Arctic.

I have been exposed to a new culture and languages and very different way of life than I was accustomed.

If you'd asked me two years ago if I was ever planning on going to Rankin or Iqaluit I would have said no.

But, now, I believe everyone should experience first hand what life is like in the North.

For me it was fascinating, and a real eye-opener.

Northerners, both Inuit and white, create harmony where many cultures might clash.

They make the best of what they have around them and they have a strength that only a harsh and difficult environment can provide.

On Friday I got on a plane back west to Yellowknife. Still a Northern community it is much more Southernized than communities in the East.

It wasn't something I really understood until I lived here.

My experiences here will stay with me for the rest of my life.

I learned a lot. I think the way I see the world and my place in it has also changed somewhat because of what I have seen here in Nunavut.

I know that I won't take things as much for granted as I once did.

I also know that there is much I haven't seen in Nunavut and much that I still want to do.

Six months goes by very fast perhaps I will get a chance to come back and do some of the things I didn't get the opportunity to while I was here.

It has been fun and challenging working here, but the people and their kindness and willingness to accept others has made it an easy transition.

I admit I will miss it here in Nunavut, but as the new sports editor for News/North, I am sure a sporting event will bring me back this way at one time or another.

Thanks for everything.

Editorial Comment
Terry Halifax
Inuvik Drum

What a difference a coat of paint makes, or in our case, a coat of black top.

The downtown core looks so much better after that new paving job and it's already inspired some business owners to spruce up their own properties.

Some shops and building owners are paying the extra to get their lots paved, while the crew is in town and I notice some real pride being taken in other areas.

There's a shiny new front on the drug store building and a much-needed new coat of paint was applied to the Boreal Books building.

These things on their own are not huge accomplishments, but when viewed in the big picture, it exhibits much more.

When people live in a nice looking place, they tend to have more respect for it and in turn more pride in their own actions. Be it in terms of painting their house, mowing their lawn or even just in terms of dropping litter in the street.

If people feel like they live in a dump, they'll treat it like one. If they see their neighbours cleaning up and renovating, they'll be more inclined to do so as well; if not out of pride, out of guilt.

So kudos to the town for paving and the crew who're doing a great job, and to all the businesses who are doing their part to make this a nicer place to live.

Wild in the streets

I was out on the rove in the Rav Monday night, hunting for a candidate for this week's Sports Card and drove over to my usual hunting grounds at the rec centre and ball field.

The ball field was vacant and the rec centre locked up tight, but I heard a great commotion to the north of the building and went to check it out.

I saw about 20 kids aged from about five years to 13, who had scaled the barbed wire fence into the construction compound of the new family centre.

The scene was surreal; children ripping open bales of styrofoam insulation, breaking the sheets up and throwing them in the air, at each other and around the lot.

I quickly changed lenses and ran towards the wilding bunch, clicking photos as I advanced.

As soon as they saw me, they turned tail and ran, that is, the ones big enough to scale the fence.

I confronted the group of little criminals and asked why they couldn't play in the playground, but got no response.

"These guys are trying to build you kids a pool and all you're doing is slowing them down," I scolded.

It brought to mind the actions of another brainless bunch who had ripped the flowers from the planters at the Semmler Building last summer.

A friend of mine had suggested then that Inuvik needs a curfew and as opposed to a police state as I am, I really have to agree.

Certainly their parents can't or won't discipline them, so I suppose it's up to the bylaw and RCMP.

Outside of a curfew and taxing our already over-taxed law enforcement, I'd propose a citizens on patrol program, where people could take a walk around town to keep these little reprobates in line -- or at least take pictures of them.

Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum

There's been ample international media coverage of the California governor recall election and the celebrity candidates in line to try to take incumbent Gray Davis's place.

We live in a cult of celebrity. It shouldn't come as any surprise that California, the land of Hollywood, attracts so many actors to politics. In addition to Arnold Schwarzenegger campaigning for the governor's seat, Gary Coleman (Arnold from Different Strokes) is also on the ticket.

Remember that California once made Ronald Reagan its governor. His claim to fame was acting in old western movies.

At a municipal level, California has had some famous mayors, too. Clint Eastwood presided over the town of Carmel while Sonny Bono (best known for his duets with Cher, such as I've Got You, Babe) was the candidate of choice in Palm Springs.

But California doesn't stand alone. Jesse Ventura, a former professional wrestler, closed out his term as governor of Minnesota last January.

There are still a few elections to come in the Deh Cho. If we could get an amendment passed, maybe we could overcome the residency requirements and get a Canadian icon to run for MLA or mayor of Fort Simpson. Imagine some of the possibilities...

How about Rick Mercer for starters? If we have to listen to rants, well, they might as well be his, at least they're entertaining.

Red Green would be another humourous candidate. But would his duct tape hold together a Mackenzie River bridge or a pipeline?

From the sports world, it would be great to have a retired athlete like Lanny MacDonald or Guy Lafleur. Either one of them would be highly coveted in an MLA all-star hockey game.

For telling it like it is, nobody could beat Mayor Don Cherry (and you think there's too much swearing at village council meetings now?)

If we're looking for someone with political experience, there's always Kim Campbell. Canada's only female (and short-lived) prime minister could use an introduction to consensus-style government.

Even if she were the least qualified, Shania Twain would likely fetch her fair share of votes -- reasons for supporting her may vary.

In reality, a big star is not going to step into the political fray here. Then again, who would want someone completely unfamiliar with the issues representing local people? Sure most celebrities are good looking and have charming personalities, but what makes them qualified to govern?

California can have its Hollywood luminaries in office. We'll stick to watching them on the tube or the big screen.

The Peter Ross who died earlier this month was not from Tsiigehtchic, as reported in News North, Aug. 18, in the story "A cancelled celebration", but from Fort McPherson.

We are sorry for any confusion this may have caused and express our deepest sympathy to the family.