More folks lace up for Walk to Tuk
The 2018 Walk to Tuk will see an 19 per cent increase in participants over last year, say organizers.
More than 4,380 people on 324 teams from 30 communities had registered for the popular physical activity challenge, as of closing deadline Monday.
Walk to Tuk is the largest and longest physical activity event in the NWT, stated a news release.
Over 17,400 participants have taken part in Walk to Tuk since the challenge was started in 2010. Each team will do their best to walk a total of 1,658 km between Jan. 2 and Feb. 28, 2018.
– James O'Connor
December drunk driving blitz nets 25 charges
An RCMP campaign aimed at combating impaired driving led to 25 drunk driving charges in the territory during the month December, stated a news release.
Dubbed Operation Gingerbread, the initiative saw police stop 1,960 vehicles at 163 check stops throughout the NWT. RMCP handed out 20 three-month licence suspensions, 47 violation tickets and 12-24 hour suspensions. Drivers were also issued 233 warnings.
Operation Gingerbread netted three more impaired driving charges than the previous year, but about 500 more vehicles were stopped during the 2017 blitz.
– Brendan Burke
Crowdfunding effort to keep sauna dream afloat
The Great Slave Sauna Society, a recently formed non-profit group, wants to establish the northernmost community sauna in North America – but extra cash is needed to keep the dream afloat.
The organization, made up of project managers and architects including Thomas Sven Whittaker, Peter Fredrick Kelly and Tyler Fissel, hopes to launch a free-use community space, dubbed The Great Slave Floating Sauna Project, for Yellowknife, Ndilo, and the surrounding area.
A GoFundMe campaign will kick off on Jan. 31, with organizers looking to reach a goal of $20,000 by May, stated a news release from the group.
– Brendan Burke
Snowkings winter fest unveils full schedule
With Snowkings Winter Festival set to open its snowy doors for the 23rd time in March, organizers released the event's full schedule. A performance from Kids Sing youth choir will follow a ribbon-cutting ceremony when festivities kick off Saturday, March 3 at 12 p.m.
March 7 will feature showings from the Dead North film festival selections, while Sing Pop Yk will lead guests in song during a popup choir on March 8.
Other highlights include the King's Comedy Night (March 21), a magic show with Tim Flynn and a performance from rockers Priscilla's Revenge (March 24), and Frosty's Children's Theatre (March 25).
– Brendan Burke