Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.
A wood pellet heating system that warms four buildings in Yellowknife has, after a year of operation, helped its biggest client — the territorial government — cut oil-use by 92 per cent. J&R Mechanical, a local plumbing and heating contractor, turned the 390-kilowatt system on in mid-March last year. It heats two of the business's buildings and a vet clinic. But half of its capacity goes into heating one structure: the territorial government's central warehouse on Byrne Road.
