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Newsbriefs: Wednesday, August 9, 2017
Man out on bail for sex assault charged again
A man RCMP stated was of no threat to the public when they were looking for him in March has again been charged with sexual assault.
According to a news release from the Mounties, the alleged assault took place in May but the victim did not come forward until July 13.
Police refuse to say where the assault took place and on what date. The same man was charged in June with sexual assault and forcible confinement. He was out on bail for the same charges when the two other attacks occurred. Peter Tsetta, 48, remains in custody and is to appear in court on Aug. 22.
- John McFadden
Yk receives $5 million from feds
The City of Yellowknife received $5,273,000 from the federal government in July to spend on infrastructure projects.
The transfer is the first of two payments from the federal Gas Tax Fund, which provides money through the GNWT to communities on a per-capita basis.
The GNWT received $7.8 million of its total $15.7 million allocation in the transfer. Projects funded will include upgrades to a water treatment plant in Fort Smith and a solid-waste site in Enterprise.
- Emelie Peacock
Man charged with assault
A Yellowknife man is to appear in court today charged with assault causing bodily harm after an incident at Somba K'e Civic Plaza.
RCMP stated in a news release that officers arrived at the park just before 11 p.m. Saturday and found an assault in progress. The male victim was taken to hospital for treatment.
Police have not described his injuries. Jerry Rogers, 34, is also charged with breaching his probation. He has been held in custody.
- John McFadden
Commissioner to be sworn-in
Margaret Thom, the new Commissioner of the NWT, will be officially sworn-in at a ceremony inside the Great Hall at the legislative assembly on Sept. 18.
The swearing-in takes place the day before the next sitting of the assembly. Thom was appointed commissioner by the federal government on June 14.
She replaced George Tuccaro more than a year after he retired on May 10, 2016.
- John McFadden
Naujaat cleans up the community
Naujaat/Repulse Bay
Community members in Naujaat hit the streets on Aug. 4 armed with garbage bags, gloves, rakes and a goal of picking up as much garbage as they could.
Touted by the hamlet as a way to show pride in the community, the clean-up coincided with a large-item pickup, which hauled furniture, old vehicles and building materials to the dump free of charge. The hamlet also put together a list of prizes for community members who participated in the clean-up, including fox furs, an iPad, an Xbox One and camping equipment.
Firefighters face off
Nunavut
Firefighters from the Kivalliq region joined their peers from across the territory in Iqaluit last week to try out for the Aboriginal Fire Fighters Competition. The tryouts for Team Nunavut took place on the afternoon of Aug. 4. Kivalliq's team included four firefighters from Naujaat as well as Rankin Inlet recruit Catherine Kabvitok, who attended as the only woman trying out for Team Nunavut.
Military exercise set for Rankin
Kangiqliniq/Rankin Inlet
Rankin Inlet is one of two locations where members of the Rangers, Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and Royal Canadian Airforce will converge for Operation Nanook.
The operation is set to run from Aug. 12 to 27 in Rankin Inlet and in northern Labrador. It will involve about 290 members of the Canadian Armed Forces, and 35 members of government departments and agencies such as Defence Research and Development Canada and the RCMP.
The exercise will focus on safety and security scenarios, with objectives of asserting Canada's sovereignty over the North and improving Arctic military operations.
Operation Nanook has run every year since 2007 across the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut. The Canadian Armed Forces describe it as "the largest military presence in Canada's North."
Kivalliq crime declines
Kivalliq
Crime across the Kivalliq region declined in 2016, except for Rankin Inlet, according to statistics released by Stats Canada on July 24.
Nunavut as a whole saw a 3.92 per cent rise compared to 2015. There were 13,272 actual incidents in Nunavut in 2016, up from 12,582 in 2015. For the Kivalliq region, crime rates in Naujaat decreased 13.73 per cent, while Arviat's crime rates decreased 10.28 per cent. Crime in Arviat has been declining for five years in a row. Baker Lake's crime decreased by 5.84 per cent. Rankin Inlet saw a jump in crime of 19.39 per cent in 2016. Statistics for other Kivalliq communities were not available.
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