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Rumours that a man was beaten to death outside the Gold Range Saturday night are unfounded, according to RCMP.

"We have been hearing a lot of that rumour and it's been going all over town but ... we checked, nobody died," said Sgt. Brad Kaeding, adding he is not sure what started the rumour.

Kaeding said there was a fight over the weekend between two males at the Gold Range, which resulted in a man being taken to the hospital. But the man was treated and released. No charges were laid.

- Miranda Scotland

Teen medevaced to Edmonton

Yellowknife resident Josh Hardy ,18, was medevaced to Edmonton on Monday after being involved in a skateboarding accident.

He remains in a coma with life-threatening injuries, according to sources.

Yellowknife RCMP Sgt. Brad Kaeding said he is aware of the accident but has no case file.

- Sara Wilson

Lightning strikes again

Parts of Yellowknife were without power for 20 to 60 minutes at around 8:10 p.m. on Tuesday after lightning struck the Snare Rapids hydro site.

Bob Kelly, communications manager for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation, said the power source was switched to diesel and hydro power from the Bluefish Dam system while the problem was addressed.

- Lyndsay Herman

New appointment for review board

The Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board announced on Thursday that John Curran has been appointed as a federal nominee for a three-year term.

The federal minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development confirmed Curran's appointment to the review board on Monday.

Previous to his appointment with the review board, Curran was operating a consulting business in Yellowknife, Curran and Associates, and has previously served as executive director of the NWT Chamber of Commerce.

- Sara Wilson

Fire advisory for the Deh Cho

An advisory warning of extreme fire weather was in effect in the Deh Cho effective July 24.

The weather in question included hot, dry conditions, wind from the north and expected severe evening thundershowers.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources is reminding residents to be use caution when lighting or tending a fire.

The Deh Cho is still lagging behind the rest of the territory in forest fire numbers.

As of July 24, the region has had 17 fires, including one that is under control and seven that are being monitored.

The Deh Cho has the lowest number of fires of any region this year.

The numbers range from 41 in the North Slave to 36 in the South Slave.

A new fire caused by a person nine kilometres northeast of Kakisa was being fought on July 24.

AquaVan visits Fort Liard

The Vancouver Aquarium's AquaVan will be in Fort Liard on July 26.

The AquaVan has been touring the territory and was in Fort Simpson on July 24.

The mobile educational program includes live marine species, a variety of props and activities.

The AquaVan will be at the Fort Liard community hall from 3 to 8 p.m.

Pool schedule revision

The Fort Simpson Community Swimming Pool has slightly revised its schedule in a bid to encourage more usage of the facility.

Lane swim will no longer be offered on Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays from 7 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.

Public swim and lane swims scheduled Monday to Friday from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. has also been cancelled.

The two swim periods, which were underutilized, have been replaced with a lane swim from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Mondays to Fridays.

Fiddler lessons in Fort Liard

Fort Simpson fiddler Wesley Hardisty is bringing his talents to Fort Liard.

Hardisty will be offering a fiddle workshop in the community on July 30 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. In the evening, at 7 p.m., Hardisty will be giving a fiddle performance outdoors, weather permitting, beside the community library, which is located in the hamlet building.

Boil water advisory ends

The boil water advisory for the town of Inuvik ended July 21.

After more than a week of the advisory, the "all clear" was confirmed Saturday. The advisory was caused by positive bacterial water samples.

Grant Hood, senior administrative officer, said because of the heavy rains throughout the summer, water levels were high and the water supply was cloudier than normal, making it harder to treat.

The Town of Inuvik flushed the water lines and increased the chlorine levels to clear the water.

Slo-pitch sign up

For about the past 10 years, Inuvik has been hosting the Midnight Sun Co-ed Slo-pitch Tournament.

This year, the tournament runs from Aug. 3 to 6 at the ball diamond. Teams have to register by July 30 at 5 p.m.

Organizer Jeffery Amos said there will be teams from all over the Mackenzie Delta participating in the annual tournament.

"We might even have a team from Norman Wells," he said.

Each team has to have a minimum of three female players.

"There's a beer garden, beverages and a canteen," said Amos.

New youth centre hours

The Inuvik Youth Centre is now open Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 2 to 10 p.m.

On Wednesdays and Fridays, the centre is open to anyone eight years old and older.

Thursdays, the day is split in two. From 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., the centre is open for kids aged eight to 13. From 7 until 10 p.m., the drop-in is reserved for youth 14 and up. Before the additional hours, the centre was only open to youth on Friday evenings.

July 27 is street hockey day at the centre and registration opens at 9 a.m.

Energy research

Employees from Arctic Energy Alliance and the NWT Housing Corporation are in Inuvik this week to install monitoring equipment on the Northern Sustainable Housing Project.

Louis Azzolini, Arctic Energy Alliance executive director, said they are installing monitoring equipment on both the new sustainable house which is designed to meet high energy standards such as well-insulated walls, floor and roof and solar electric and solar hot water panels on the roof, and an older house without the energy efficient technology.

"The reason is to look at both homes and compare," said Azzolini.

"It's setting a base level so we can see where the differences are."

Data from both the houses will be collected over the next year before it is released.

"We'll cover all the seasons and see what the energy usage looks like," said Azzolini.

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