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Court gets bush less, homeless get nest less

Government property management employees see people sleeping, shagging and swigging in the bushes outside the Yukon Law Court everyday. First thing in the morning, employees sweep up all the glass.
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Government property management employees see people sleeping, shagging and swigging in the bushes outside the Yukon Law Court everyday.

First thing in the morning, employees sweep up all the glass.

And they keep sharps containers in their white pick-ups for broken bottles and needles.

But on Thursday, as the employees in neon orange vests cleared the jungle-like brush surrounding the building on Second Avenue and Wood Street, they said the clean-up was to ease window-washing.

The building gets cleaned every five to 10 years.

“I was told just to get it cleared out for the contractors,” said a government employee who wished to remain unnamed.

He has 18 years of experience doing security for the law court. And he’s witnessed the wildness that goes on in the bushes.

“It’s an ongoing problem but we’re not supposed to talk about it.”

Clearing away the greenery may kick the homeless out of their flower beds, “but that’s not the main purpose,” he said as he stood beside a pick-up filled with leaves and branches.

The security guard in the building, Carl Huff, didn’t know about the activity in the bushes. But he said the maintenance was for window-cleaning, not homeless-clearing.

“It doesn’t have anything to do with that, that I’m aware of.”

The cleanup was done by Thursday afternoon.

Law court employees will soon have clean windows. But they won’t be able to watch the jungle love that used to go on in the bushes outside.

On the corner across from the now bush-less building, a painted sidewalk reads, “You don’t belong here.”

Contact Larissa Robyn Johnston at larissaj@yukon-news.com