Local News

Whitehorse Fire Department responds on April 19, 2023. (Dana Hatherly/Yukon News)

Whitehorse offers assistance as Yellowknife is evacuated

Five firefighters bound for N.W.T. capital

Whitehorse Fire Department responds on April 19, 2023. (Dana Hatherly/Yukon News)
A campfire burns at Kusawa Campground in June. The Yukon government will be piloting an online campground reservation system for booking campsites beginning in summer 2024. (Dana Hatherly/Yukon News)

Test campsite reservation system coming to Yukon’s government-run campgrounds

Territorial government intends to pilot online bookings for some spots beginning in summer 2024

A campfire burns at Kusawa Campground in June. The Yukon government will be piloting an online campground reservation system for booking campsites beginning in summer 2024. (Dana Hatherly/Yukon News)
Education Minister Jeanie McLean addresses reporters during a back-to-school update at the Yukon legislative building’s media room on Aug. 17. (Dana Hatherly/Yukon News)

All Yukon classrooms will have ‘bodies’ at the front, school superintendent says

Official suggested combining classes without teachers. His example added up to 36 students per class

Education Minister Jeanie McLean addresses reporters during a back-to-school update at the Yukon legislative building’s media room on Aug. 17. (Dana Hatherly/Yukon News)
Nelnah Bessie John School is seen in Beaver Creek on July 1, 2022. The school opened its doors for the start of the school year on Aug. 7. (Dana Hatherly/Yukon News)

School’s in for summer at Beaver Creek school, Nelnah Bessie John

The school has adopted a year-round calendar to respect hunting and harvesting seasons

Nelnah Bessie John School is seen in Beaver Creek on July 1, 2022. The school opened its doors for the start of the school year on Aug. 7. (Dana Hatherly/Yukon News)
Village of Teslin Mayor Gord Curran, seen in an undated photo, is expressing concern about health centre closures. The Teslin Health Centre is closed for the second time this summer because no nurse is available. (Submitted)

Concerned Teslin mayor calls Yukon’s health centre closures ‘unacceptable’

The Teslin Health Centre has closed for the second time this summer due to having no nurse available

Village of Teslin Mayor Gord Curran, seen in an undated photo, is expressing concern about health centre closures. The Teslin Health Centre is closed for the second time this summer because no nurse is available. (Submitted)
Colleen Kinch forms a heart with her hands in downtown Whitehorse on Aug. 4. She is a housing support worker at the Whitehorse Emergency Shelter. (Dana Hatherly/Yukon News)

Whitehorse Emergency Shelter worker shines a beam of light from the frontlines

Colleen Kinch is a housing support worker with a passion for her job and the people she works with

Colleen Kinch forms a heart with her hands in downtown Whitehorse on Aug. 4. She is a housing support worker at the Whitehorse Emergency Shelter. (Dana Hatherly/Yukon News)
The SS Klondike National Historic Site pictured on Aug. 16, 2023. (Jim Elliot/Yukon News)

Ongoing SS Klondike work set to remove lead paint and support aging vessel

The boat has been dry docked near Rotary Park since the late 1960s. Work is required to keep it there.

The SS Klondike National Historic Site pictured on Aug. 16, 2023. (Jim Elliot/Yukon News)
Members of the Canadian Armed Forces helped out with protection efforts at Marsh Lake during the 2021 flooding in the Southern Lakes region. A 2021 after action review looks back on the Yukon government’s emergency response at the time. (Yukon government/Screenshot)

Largest emergency response in Yukon’s history deemed ‘impressive’ but largely reactive

Perception is changing when it comes to flood risk in the territory due to climate change

Members of the Canadian Armed Forces helped out with protection efforts at Marsh Lake during the 2021 flooding in the Southern Lakes region. A 2021 after action review looks back on the Yukon government’s emergency response at the time. (Yukon government/Screenshot)
Captain Dick Stevenson invented the Sourtoe Cocktail after allegedly finding the severed toe of a frostbitten rum-runner preserved in alcohol. (Submitted/Downtown Hotel)

Famed Dawson City drink hits milestone birthday

The party features door prizes and an ash ceremony for the inventor of the drink, who died in 2019

Captain Dick Stevenson invented the Sourtoe Cocktail after allegedly finding the severed toe of a frostbitten rum-runner preserved in alcohol. (Submitted/Downtown Hotel)
The main causes of unplanned summer power outages in the Yukon include major weather events, equipment malfunctions and loss of supply from Yukon Energy. (Yukon News file)

Yukon suffers increased power disruptions in recent months

June 2023 saw a 27 per cent increase in unplanned outages compared to the same period last year

The main causes of unplanned summer power outages in the Yukon include major weather events, equipment malfunctions and loss of supply from Yukon Energy. (Yukon News file)
Heavy smoke from nearby wildfires fills the sky as sandhill cranes feed with houseboats in the distance in Yellowknife on Wednesday, August 16, 2023. Residents of Yellowknife are being asked to evacuate the city by Friday, Aug. 18 at noon. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Angela Gzowski We

BREAKING: Evacuation order issued for Yellowknife

The Northwest Territories’ capital is to be cleared by Friday at noon due to approaching wildfires.

Heavy smoke from nearby wildfires fills the sky as sandhill cranes feed with houseboats in the distance in Yellowknife on Wednesday, August 16, 2023. Residents of Yellowknife are being asked to evacuate the city by Friday, Aug. 18 at noon. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Angela Gzowski We
Crystal Schick/Yukon News
Garbage Truck Santa gives out a big wave near his truck in Whitehorse on Dec. 17. With COVID-19 precautions in place, Santa was able  to do his annual Whitehorse driving tour for the 29th year.

Yukon artist Jim Robb immortalizes Whitehorse’s Garbage Truck Santa

Robb’s painting of Garbage Truck Santa also features another iconic Yukoner — Andy Hooper

Crystal Schick/Yukon News
Garbage Truck Santa gives out a big wave near his truck in Whitehorse on Dec. 17. With COVID-19 precautions in place, Santa was able  to do his annual Whitehorse driving tour for the 29th year.
Whitehorse RCMP is investigating after someone threw a Molotov cocktail into Tags Food & Gas in downtown Whitehorse on Aug. 10. (Matthew Bossons/Yukon New)

Whitehorse gas station attacked with petrol bomb

The manager of Tags Food & Gas is critical of the RCMP’s response

Whitehorse RCMP is investigating after someone threw a Molotov cocktail into Tags Food & Gas in downtown Whitehorse on Aug. 10. (Matthew Bossons/Yukon New)
A black bear is seen at F.H. Collins Secondary School in Riverdale on Aug. 14. Michel Emery said he’s been working at the school since 2016 and this was the first time he’s seen a bear at the school. (Courtesy/Michel Emery)

Bear sightings across Yukon prompt calls for caution

Reports of bruins coming in from Whistlebend, Porter Creek, Riverdale and Takhini in Whitehorse

A black bear is seen at F.H. Collins Secondary School in Riverdale on Aug. 14. Michel Emery said he’s been working at the school since 2016 and this was the first time he’s seen a bear at the school. (Courtesy/Michel Emery)
An image of the burned area left by the Talbot Creek Fire. (Yukon Protective Services/Facebook)

Evacuation orders lifted for Mayo and Old Crow

Residents begin returning home as fires are calmed

An image of the burned area left by the Talbot Creek Fire. (Yukon Protective Services/Facebook)
The provincial financial crime team in Alberta has charged Dawson City resident Melissa Jensen Webb with six offences, including fraud over $5,000 and unauthorized use of a computer to commit fraud. (Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press)

Dawson resident charged for embezzling nearly $20,000

The former CRA employee allegedly embezzled funds from COVID-19-relief programs

The provincial financial crime team in Alberta has charged Dawson City resident Melissa Jensen Webb with six offences, including fraud over $5,000 and unauthorized use of a computer to commit fraud. (Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press)
An empty classroom at Selkirk Elementary School is seen on Oct. 20, 2022. An Education department spokesperson said schools can adjust learning groups and teaching assignments and use teachers on call to make up for teacher shortages this school year. (Dana Hatherly/Yukon News)

Yukon schools without teachers in classrooms can adjust: Education department

Affected schools told to tweak learning groups and teaching assignments and use teachers on call

An empty classroom at Selkirk Elementary School is seen on Oct. 20, 2022. An Education department spokesperson said schools can adjust learning groups and teaching assignments and use teachers on call to make up for teacher shortages this school year. (Dana Hatherly/Yukon News)
A Yukon Wildland Fire patch pictured on June 9, 2022. (Jim Elliot/Yukon News)

Mayo evacuation order rescinded

Residents who had been evacuated to Whitehorse can return home

A Yukon Wildland Fire patch pictured on June 9, 2022. (Jim Elliot/Yukon News)
The empty space after the wooden structure was removed (Courtesy/Hidden Valley Elementary School)
The empty space after the wooden structure was removed (Courtesy/Hidden Valley Elementary School)
Federal Liberal members of parliament provide the backdrop for a press conference in Whitehorse about money for Indigenous-led tourism on Aug. 9. Yukon Tourism and Culture Minister John Streicker, seen at the podium, said it’s important to celebrate things like Indigenous-led tourism, even while wildfires in parts of the territory burn. (Dana Hatherly/Yukon News)

Federal ministers, MPs retreat to Whitehorse

Mine tour, climate emergency and Indigenous tourism juggled amid travel advisories and evacuations

Federal Liberal members of parliament provide the backdrop for a press conference in Whitehorse about money for Indigenous-led tourism on Aug. 9. Yukon Tourism and Culture Minister John Streicker, seen at the podium, said it’s important to celebrate things like Indigenous-led tourism, even while wildfires in parts of the territory burn. (Dana Hatherly/Yukon News)