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News Briefs: Friday, July 19, 2013
New facility announced
AVENS Yellowknife has announced a two-phase proposal that will provide more space for the city's growing senior population, which the organization says will triple by 2026.
The first phase will be the construction of a new 60-bed facility, currently dubbed AVENS Pavilion, which will contain long-term care, kitchen and a centre focusing on palliative care. The second phase is a complete retrofit of AVEN's existing facility, the AVENS Manor longterm care facility, into 30 supportive living units.
The cost of the project is expected to be $33 million over three years.
- Graeme McNaughton
iPads available at library
The library now has two iPads for patrons to borrow. The iPads provide free access to the Aboriginal Language Apps developed by the GNWT along with a wide range of educational apps for all ages.
The iPads are only for use within the library and a valid library card is required.
- Cody Punter
Yellowknife cools off
After a few weeks of warm, sunny weather, Yellowknife cooled off with chilly temperatures and rain earlier this week.
Temperatures dropped to 5.7 C early Monday morning after a few days of rain, but that's still a far cry from the record low for Yellowknife in July: 0.6 C, set in 1951.
John Cragg with Environment Canada said the cool temperatures were caused by low pressure to the east of Yellowknife which dragged down cool air from the high Arctic.
- Daniel Campbell
NTPC outage warnings
Northwest Territories Power Corporation is using a new system to inform customers when their power might be cut due to lightning strikes.
The corporation's 24-hour control centre in Yellowknife will use information from Environment and Natural Resources lightning monitoring system to see when electrical storms in the territory are coming too close to NTPC hydro sites and transmission lines.
Cheryl Tordoff, spokesperson for NTPC, said NTPC is exploring other options to warn the public of outages.
Last Friday lightning strikes knocked out power to Yellowknife twice in the same day.
- Daniel Campbell
News Briefs: Thursday, July 18, 2013
Liidlii Kue First Nation states it is leaving
Dehcho Process in letter
Liidlii Kue First Nation (LKFN) has sent a letter to Dehcho First Nations (DFN) stating it will no longer be a part of the Dehcho Process.
DFN Grand Chief Herb Norwegian confirmed he received the letter dated July 4. Norwegian declined to comment further, saying it was an internal matter and that DFN was waiting for further clarification from LKFN.
Multiple calls to the LKFN office in Fort Simpson for further information were not returned by press time. The letter, signed by Chief Minnie Letcher, states DFN no longer represents or speaks on LKFN's behalf.
New chief elected in Fort Providence
Members of the Deh Gah Got'ie First Nation have elected a new chief and band council.
Joachim Bonnetrouge was elected to a two-year term as chief with 117 votes following the July 15 election. Bonnetrouge received 15 more votes than Berna Landry, who was the acting chief. Former chief Wayne Sabourin, who was removed by a band council motion on May 9, also ran along with Greg Nyuli.
Councillors returning to the band council include Theresa Bonnetrouge, Victor Constant, Jim Thom and Michael Vandell. The new councillors include Xavier Canadien, Eddie Gargan and Samuel Gargan.
Out of 825 potential voters, 333 band members went to the polls.
Earthquake felt in the Deh Cho
An afternoon earthquake was registered in the Deh Cho on July 12.
The earthquake, which occurred at 1:59 p.m., was centred 126-kilometres north-north-west of Nahanni Butte. The quake had a local magnitude of five according to National Resource Canada's Earthquake Canada website.
No damage was reported as a result of the earthquake, which was felt as far away as Fort Simpson.
Village in Buckle Up NWT campaign
Fort Simpson is one of six communities in the running to win a concert starring two NWT artists.
The village, along with Tsiigehtchic, Hay River, Fort Resolution, Fort Smith and Norman Wells are competing in the Buckle Up NWT campaign, an initiative of Drive Alive, the territorial government's road safety program.
The community with the highest percentage of seatbelt usage will receive a concert with Juno-winner Leela Gilday and Yellowknife's Aaron "Godson" Hernandez on Sept. 7. The fire department in the winning community will also receive $5,000.
The winning community will be announced in mid-August.
Vehicle burns
The Inuvik RCMP detachment is investigating a vehicle fire they believe was deliberately set in the early morning hours of July 10.
According to Corp. Barry Ledoux, the vehicle was believed to have been abandoned and was parked close to the Al Forno restaurant. The fire was contained to just the vehicle.
The RCMP is asking for anyone with information to contact the Inuvik detachment or Crime Stoppers.
Faster internet
Northwestel has introduced a new, faster Internet package to Inuvik.
"As part of an ambitious plan to upgrade its network across the North, Northwestel will triple Internet speeds in Inuvik as of July 2," a news release from the company stated. "Inuvik will be the first community to receive Internet upgrades under the modernization plan."
Northwestel has also started work to upgrade its microwave transport along the Dempster Highway, tripling the bandwidth into Inuvik.
Pilot project
The Arctic Energy Alliance has teamed up with Northwest Territories Housing Corporation, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, and the Inuvik Housing Authority to monitor the Inuvik Housing Authority’s Northern Sustainable House in Inuvik.
Spokesperson Kate Thomson of the Arctic Energy Alliance said the Northern Sustainable House has been designed to meet very high energy standards while catering to the comfort of its occupants.
Monitoring will take place for 12 months on the sustainable house as well as an ordinary house for comparison.
It will be monitoring heating, electricity and water use on both houses and the performance of the solar technologies will also be evaluated on the sustainable house.
Taking a paddling
Janet Boxwell, a certified canoe instructor, is offering a canoe course next week for youth.
The course, a Paddle Canada certification offering in tandem canoe paddling and safety skills, will be followed by testing the skills of participants and putting them to work on an overnight trip July 27 to 28 on some local lakes.
Boxwell is also a member of the Inuvik Quyaq Club. She is a certified safety and survival instructor as well.
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