 | Home page |  | Text size |  | E-mail this page |
News Briefs: Wednesday, August 21, 2013
A sombre anniversary
Tuesday marked two years since First Air flight 6560 crashed into a hillside 1.5 kilometres from the Resolute Bay Airport.
Twelve were killed in the crash, including three Yellowknife-based crew members: co-pilot David Hare, 35, and flight attendants Ute Merritt, 55, and Anne Marie Chassie, 42.
The Transportation Safety Board is now in the process of completing its final report on the accident.
Chris Krepski, TSB spokesperson, said there is currently no scheduled release date for the report.
- Laura Busch
No decision yet
Lawyers are still considering how to prosecute Hugues Latour.
Latour was charged with sexual touching and inviting sexual touching of a person under 16 years of age, as well as drug trafficking. His trial was thrown out of court last week after not enough French-speaking jurors were found for the trial, which Latour requested be in French.
Prosecutor Marc Lecorre won't say what options the Crown is considering, but did say a decision is expected from the Crown by the courts on Sept. 6.
Latour is a former school-teacher from Inuvik who now resides in Ontario.
- Daniel Campbell
Fire and smoke conditions improve
Cooler temperatures and rain in the NWT mean a reprieve from forest fires, according to Judy McLinton, communications manager for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
Rain and a shift in wind over the weekend also cleared up the smoke that had been lingering in the capital. With Alberta and Saskatchewan experiencing low fire activity as well, there shouldn't be more smoke in the forecast, McLinton said.
McLinton is still advising people to continue to be careful with fires due to dry conditions.
-- Candace Thomson
Giant backup monitors
Six air quality monitors surrounding the Giant Mine remediation site are working, but backups are needed, said the regulatory manager for the project.
In an e-mail, Adrian Paradis stated two of the monitors have been returned to the manufacturer for repair. A loaner monitor and a repaired monitor were deployed in their place.
Paradis stated there were no periods of data gaps and that the team is in the process of procuring backup monitors.
- Daniel Campbell
Arviat joins Challenge
Arviat
The 2013 Sakku First Avataq Cup champion Team Arviat has accepted an invitation to join the Northern Hockey Challenge (NHC) for the 2013-14 hockey season.
Eastern teams committed to the NHC's second season to date are Rankin Inlet, Arviat, Iqaluit and Kuujjuaq, Quebec.
Confirmed to be returning in the west are the defending champion Yellowknife First Air Flyers, Hay River and Inuvik.
Discussions are still ongoing in preparation for the NHC's upcoming season and at least one more team may yet be added.
Photoshop donation
Arviat
The community of Arviat received more great news on the donation front this past week.
The community learned the Adobe Foundation, through its Adobe Youth Voices Program with Taking It Global, is donating the Photoshop program and Premiere software to both Nunavut Arctic College and John Arnalukjuak High School in Arviat.
Upwards of 18 licences are expected to be donated between the two learning institutions.
Visit from Harper
Kangiqliniq/Rankin Inlet
The community of Rankin Inlet has been designated as one of the stops on Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Northern Tour this week.
Harper's eighth-annual Northern Tour is expected to focus on economic development and Arctic sovereignty.
During the six-day trek, the prime minister will make stops in the Yukon, the NWT and northern Quebec in addition to Nunavut.
Harper will be accompanied by Nunavut MP Leona Aglukkaq, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Minister Bernard Valcourt, Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver, and Yukon MP Ryan Leef.
Run for the Cure
Kangiqliniq/Rankin Inlet
The CIBC's annual Run For The Cure is scheduled to be held in Rankin Inlet on Sunday, Oct. 6.
Samantha Tugak of the Rankin branch of the CIBC also organized a "pink night" in support of raising funds for the fight against cancer earlier this month.
Some prizes were donated by local businesses, with Stephanie Yarema being the lucky winner of the big prize of the evening - two round-trip tickets to Winnipeg with First Air.
Man sentenced
Kangiqliniq/Rankin Inlet
A Rankin man was sentenced to 16 months in jail for sexual assault this past week.
Bobby Adams, 27, entered the bedroom of a sleeping couple at 4 a.m. on May 21 while heavily intoxicated.
He touched the woman inappropriately before the couple woke up and a fight ensued.
The woman hit Adams a number of times with a hockey stick during the encounter.
Justice Neil Sharkey also sentenced Adams to an additional three months in the Baffin Correctional Centre for beaches of bail and probation.
| 
