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Friday, July 3, 2015
Day parole extended for Giant Mine bomber
Convicted Giant Mine bomber Roger Warren has had his day parole extended for another six months.
Warren was convicted of nine counts of second degree murder in the 1992 bombing at Giant Mine. He was granted day parole in June of last year.
The Parole Board of Canada stated in an e-mail that the decision to extend Warren's day parole was made Wednesday.
It stated that decision was made after the parole board reviewed Warren's progress.
The conditions of his day parole include no contact with the victims' families without prior approval and no consumption of alcohol.
- John McFadden
Twin Pine permit issued
Last month the city issued a development permit for Twin Pine Hill where Det'on Cho Corporation plans to build 126 multi-family condo units over the coming years.
The last day to appeal the development permit is July 8.
Earlier this year, the city approved rezoning the area from its hotel and convention centre with commercial space designation to allow the residential development.
The developer said the plan is to start construction this summer.
- Shane Magee
Lightning causes outage
Northwest Territories Power Corporation states a sudden lightning strike on a transmission line caused Wednesday evening's power outage, which left Behchoko and parts of the city in the dark for about 15 minutes.
Breakers were tripped but were eventually closed remotely by operators and power has been fully restored in areas affected, according to power corp. spokeswoman Pam Coulter.
- Dave Bidini
New vice-principal at J.H. Sissons
Brigitte Rivet - who has been teaching in Yellowknife since 1998 - is taking over the assistant principal's office at J.H. Sissons School, according to a news release.
Rivet became a program support teacher at William McDonal School and at J.H. Sissons School in 2006.
- Evan Kiyoshi French
Thursday, July 2, 2015
Drug charges laid
On June 23, RCMP executed a search warrant in Fort Simpson and arrested three peddlers who have been selling wares off and on since May on 100 Street.
One of the peddlers was subsequently released with no charges. However, 60-year-old James Beck of Calmar, Alta., and 55-year-old Gordon Harrold of Grimshaw, Alta., have both been charged with possession of drugs for the purpose of trafficking, as well as trafficking in a controlled substance.
Both have been released from police custody and will appear in court Sept. 2. The arrests came after RCMP conducted an investigation.
Little spoils for foiled morel pickers
The morel season is petering off after a disappointing start as temperatures in the Deh Cho region remain high and precipitation remains low to nil.
Prices for fresh mushrooms have failed to climb significantly over the month of June, bottoming out at $5 to $6 per pound, depending on the buyer, as of June 22. According to online reports, the price never rose much above $7 per pound for fresh morels. The prices for dried morels have hovered at about 10 times the fresh price. Deh Gah Got'ie Koe Chief Joachim Bonnetrouge reported having at least 600 morel pickers come through Fort Providence
Fire season rages on
Highway 3 between Fort Providence and Edzo closed on June 27 at Kilometre 160 due to a forest fire, re-opening after about six hours.
The highway closed down again on June 28 on the same stretch for a fire operation at 6 p.m. Although it was supposed to remain closed overnight before being re-evaluated, the Department of Transportation announced the highway had reopened at 11 p.m. that evening. There was still heavy smoke on the highway and some delays were expected.
Call for photos
NWT Tourism is hosting a Best of NWT photo and video competition. Entries can be submitted online and over social media and a full list of rules can be found online.
The contest runs until noon on Sept. 8, at which time winners will be selected through public online voting, which will be open until Sept. 27. Prizes include GoPro camera kits and the cover spot on the 2016 Explorers Guide. The contest is open to NWT residents only. For those who do not have a camera, NWT Tourism has provided Fort Simpson with a GoPro camera, which can be signed out at the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment office for a maximum of 72 hours.
Roland to run
Inuvik Mayor Floyd Roland will run for the Conservatives in the NWT in the next federal election, expected this fall.
Roland, a former NWT premier, was unopposed in his bid to seek the nomination.
Roland said that he believes the high cost of living in the North will be one of the major campaign issues.
He is up against incumbent New Democrat MP Dennis Bevington. The NWT Liberal Association is not expected to nominate a candidate until the end of the summer.
– John McFadden
Forest fires on the rise
Hot summer temperatures were punctuated by smoky conditions last week with 35 new fires starting across the territory. Fires burning outside the border in Alaska, B.C., and the Yukon were also partly to blame for Inuvik's hazy horizon and a special air quality statement was released by Environment Canada June 26.
"Smoke from a large area of forest fires in Alaska continues to move into the Mackenzie Delta and southeast along the Northwest Territories coast," the statement read. "Air quality health index values of 8 or more and low visibilities in smoke are expected."
As of last Friday, there were 106 fires in the territory with 1,786.94 square kilometres burned. The Inuvik region had six fires listed with one out of control and 12.6 square kilometres burned.
Drilling plans delayed
Imperial Oil and BP announced last week they will delay plans to drill in the Beaufort Sea off the NWT coast. The $1.8-billion exploration project was originally slated to begin in 2020, but a letter to the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation said there would not be enough time to complete required regulatory processes before that deadline. It is now expected work will not begin until 2028, but the company plans to keep its Inuvik office open in the interim.
Hollywood eyes Inuvik
Hollywood blogger and television personality Perez Hilton featured Inuvik on his celebrity gossip website last month touting its "non-stop sunlight" and "endless summer." Hilton warned vampires to steer clear of the community and shared a photo posted by tourism manager Jackie Challis on Twitter as part of his post. Although Hilton said he enjoyed the idea of tanning possibilities, he wasn't sure he'd want to live here.
"Residents will have to wait until July 20 to see the darkness of night! That's nearly 60 days of continuous light in all!" he wrote. "Don't be jealous, though! From December to January, Inuvik was plunged in complete darkness, another result of its location. Would you want to live there?"
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