Happy Halloween: scary costumes, a scarier audit
Plus highlights from Cabin Radio's Adult Spelling Bee and YK Burger Week
Happy Halloween everyone!
This is Emily, Cabin Radio’s assistant editor.
I hope your day is filled with fun costumes, decorations and delicious candy. If you’re going out trick-or-treating in the North tonight, make sure to bundle up and stay safe.
In Yellowknife, students from École St Patrick High School will be collecting non-perishable food items for the Salvation Army on Finlayson Drive. Starting tomorrow at 5pm, Yellowknife’s Pumpkin Lane will return outside City Hall.
Just in time for the holiday, the Auditor General of Canada released a terrifying report. It found the total cost of the NWT government’s project to revamp the territory’s biggest hospital has ballooned 62 percent from the $750 million originally projected in 2015 to an estimated $1.21 billion. The finance minister says the government has made improvements to its procurement process and infrastructure planning since that project was greenlit.
In other horrifying news this week, we spoke to residents in Norman Wells about how skyrocketing fuel prices connected to barge cancellations are affecting them, while the NWT Power Corporation is seeking to increase rates by 25 percent year-on-year.
In lighter news, we crowned our first Adult Spelling Bee champion and announced prize winners for this year’s YK Burger Week, which raised $6,092 for the Yellowknife Food Bank.
IN THIS NEWSLETTER
Our most important stories
A spelling showdown
What we’re reading
Stories to catch up on
1. Body-worn RCMP cameras ‘rolling out this month’ in NWT
Body-worn cameras for police officers are being introduced to the Northwest Territories this month, the NWT's premier said, starting with Yellowknife.
2. Six takeaways from a review of Yellowknife’s Street Outreach
A new report sets out how Yellowknife's Street Outreach program could do more for people without homes and how it might be funded. Here's what you need to know.
3. How Google Translate learned Inuktut
Google Translate can handle Inuktut now. What does that mean if translating Inuktut is your job, and what had to happen to make the software work? We asked.
4. Zehabesha celebrates 10 years in Yellowknife
Yellowknife Ethiopian restaurant Zehabesha has weathered a pandemic, an evacuation and more since 2014. Owner Dinku Tadesse is "proud" to still be on the scene.
5. Aklavik opens emergency women’s shelter inside its wellness centre
Aklavik's wellness centre becomes an emergency women's shelter each weekend, an arrangement designed to keep programs running while offering a safe space.
6. Aurora College’s polytechnic transformation ‘hasn’t been halted’
The president of Aurora College said there was no halt to its process of becoming a polytechnic university, but said a 2025 deadline had not been "realistic."
7. Yellowknife MLAs release healthcare survey findings
Two Yellowknife MLAs say the NWT's healthcare system is "on life support." The health minister says she is working to address territory-wide issues.
8. Missing laptop leads to integrity ruling against councillor
A Yellowknife city councillor borrowed a laptop during 2023's evacuation. Its subsequent disappearance led to a court case and an integrity commissioner ruling.
9. Internet access, coming to a remote grader shed near you
If there's trouble on an isolated stretch of NWT highway, the question is less "who you gonna call?" and more: how? Parks Canada and the GNWT have one solution.
10. Yellowknife man takes donations for wheelchairs needed in Mexico
Yellowknifer Barry Talbot's mission is helping residents of Mexico access wheelchairs. He says almost 3,000 have made their way to people in need.
Adult Spelling Bee grand final
Katrina Leonardis, Kristie Leach and Jacki McKinnon went head-to-head-to-head in the grand final of Cabin Radio’s Adult Spelling Bee. Watch the final in full above.
What we’re reading
Today’s Scariest Movies Are Canadian
There are few things I love more than a good (or bad) horror movie. For The Walrus KC Hoard writes about scary movies from a new class of independent Canadian filmmakers.
The 17 Best Horror Shows to Binge for Halloween
If you’re looking to settle in for a longer watch than a movie, Wired has released a list of 17 horror shows they say are worth binging.
Snakes on the Plains
For Up Here magazine, Page Burt writes about the red-sided garter snake, northern reptiles living on the edge.