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Health Canada and the Public Health Agency have found a replacement tuberculosis vaccine for the Sanofi Pasteur BCG vaccine that was recalled in June, said Amy Lee, communicable disease consultant for the GNWT Department of Health and Social Services.

The made-in-Japan vaccine will be distributed across Canada beginning with First Nations and Inuit communities, because the virus has a high infection rate in those populations. The vaccination of 126 babies in the NWT should be completed by mid-December, Lee said.

Local health centres will be contacting those waiting to get vaccinated to schedule appointments.

- Svjetlana Mlinarevic

Police arrest child pornography suspects

A Fort Resolution resident was among 21 people arrested recently as part of Operation Snap Shot, a nation-wide RCMP crackdown on child pornography offences.

Cpl. Barry Ledoux said Operation Snap Shot began on June 12 to target predators in the NWT, Nunavut, Manitoba and Saskatchewan suspected of using peer-to-peer online networking to exchange child pornography. Of the 21 arrested, 16 were charged with sexual assault, invitation to sexual touching, and distributing and possessing child pornography. The Fort Resolution resident was arrested on Oct. 9 but police wouldn't give further details. No arrests were made in Nunavut.

- Svjetlana Mlinarevic

MS education

The Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada will hold an information session at the Baker Community Centre on Monday with Dr. Bert Witt, an Edmonton-based neurologist who specializes in MS.

"He'll give an overall of what MS is and the path of it and he'll open it up for discussion and questions," said Laurie McLean, group facilitator for the MS community group in Yellowknife. The free event will take place from 7 to 9 p.m. Refreshments will be provided.

- Svjetlana Mlinarevic Spooky skate

The Shorty Brown Arena at the Multiplex is hosting a free Halloween Skate on Wednesday evening, according to the City of Yellowknife's website. Skaters are asked to dress up and participate in the costume contest for the scariest, brightest, and most creative costumes. The event will run from 6 to 7:15 p.m.

- Svjetlana Mlinarevic

The dawn of music

Four new guitars have been donated to New Dawn house.

Devonian Metals Inc. gave the instruments to the residence after representatives from the company heard the students from Wrigley and Jean Marie River were interested in having guitars.

Trent Cli, 16, said his housemates are enjoying having the instruments. "We just play around with them," Cli said.

NWT blows past emissions target

The GNWT has exceeded its greenhouse gas target, with lower than expected emissions.

Four years ago, the territory set out to reduce emissions from GNWT operations to 10 per cent below 2001 levels by 2011. In reality, reductions were 30 per cent lower. The next goal is to stabilize emissions at 2005 levels by 2015.

"This achievement gives our government confidence that we know what actions to take to meet, and potentially exceed, our next target to stabilize greenhouse gas emissions from all of the NWT," said Environment and Natural Resources Minister Michael Miltenberger in a news release.

Fire chief awarded

Fort Simpson's fire chief has received an NWT Fire Service Merit Award. Roger Pilling was among five firefighters who were awarded for going above and beyond the call of duty while protecting residents across the NWT.

"Firefighters provide an essential service in all communities across the NWT, and in many cases they put themselves at risk to protect residents and their homes," said Robert C. McLeod, minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. "Many firefighters volunteer their time to not only fight fires in our communities but also to educate residents on fire prevention and safety. These awards help recognize those important contributions."

Virtual petitions

The legislative assembly has launched an ePetitions site after a successful pilot project.

The site, which was made available Oct. 10, allows users to add a petition or sign any existing petitions on it. Currently, a petition has been started to urge the government to expand the midwifery program to more NWT communities. The virtual document had 49 signatures by late Monday evening.

Jackie Jacobson, Speaker of the legislative assembly, said he expects the service will be beneficial to many residents.

"By providing this service, people can sign petitions easily even if they live in remote communities," said Jacobson.

Food bank reopens

After a successful food drive over the weekend, the shelves at the Inuvik Food Bank are restocked and open Wednesdays from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m.

The food bank had been closed since Sept. 9, when it was broken into. Cans of spaghetti sauce were thrown and shattered and most of the food was destroyed.

Since then, three youth – two females and one male – have been charged with breaking and entering, said RCMP Staff Sgt. Jerry McKenna. The three are due to appear in court in December.

Pudding for all

There's a little bit of laughter coming to the Inuvik Regional Hospital today.

From 10:30 until 11:45 a.m., diabetes nurse educator Sue Schaefer, from Victoria, will be performing as her alter-ego Mrs. Pudding.

"She's a comedian and puts on an educational, but great, show," said Crystal Navratil, a community health representative.

The community is welcome to attend the event, which is being held in the multi-purpose room at the hospital.

Heritage days postponed

The Inuvik Heritage Festival has been postponed for 2012.

After the pre-festival meeting on last Thursday, it was decided that the festival wasn't going to be a possibility for this year.

"It usually costs a few hundred bucks each for food," said Tony Devlin, director of community services. "Some of the key groups just couldn't do it this year."

Without some of the groups, Devlin said they could have held sort of a half-festival, but the Middle Eastern and Filipino food is usually one of the main draws.

"It's the kind of thing people don't get a chance to try very often," he said. "We'll look at it again maybe in January or February."

Lost and found

For anyone looking to hone their navigation skills, a GPS course is being offered at the Midnight Sun Complex in the Sun Dog room on Saturday. Starting at 9 a.m., participants over the age of 16 will be taught the basics of using a GPS unit. The course is split between indoor and outdoor training and there were seven spots available by press deadline.

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