UP HERE IN THE NORTH 

Hay River’s new women's shelter is set to open soon, after operating out of a temporary location since 2017. The community’s Family Support Centre has spent three years fundraising for a new facility and now has raised $4.4 million in funding, from residents and the territorial and federal governments. (CBC)
 

Yukon has seen the highest population growth in the country, according to a 2021 census. Statistics Canada released its population counts February 9, where it shows the number of people living in the Yukon jumped by 12.1 percent in 2021. The population is now at 40,232 up from 35,874. (Yukon News)
 

However, that growing population highlights the territory’s housing shortage. The average sale price of a single detached house in Whitehorse increased by 15.4 percent over 2021 to $656,900. (CBC)
 

One Yukon family has found a solution though— a traditional Mongolian yurt in the woods. The tent-like structure is made of sheep wool felt, camel hide, horse hair ropes and other mostly natural products. It has no electricity, running water or lights, and is located 20 kilometres south of Dawson City. It’s home to a couple, their son, six sled dogs and one cat, and the family says they love it. (CBC)

A Yellowknife restaurant owner just took home several awards at a powerlifting competition in Alberta. Sousanh Chanthalangsy-Bornilla, owner of One of a Thai, took part in the competition last weekend, where she managed to squat 440 pounds, bench press 231 pounds and complete a 452-pound deadlift. She won gold in the Master 1 division, broke an overall provincial record and gained the titles Best Female in a Master Class and Overall Best Female Lifter. (Cabin Radio)
 

The Yukon Rendezvous Festival is back. Like last year, the event will combine in-person and online events, a fiddle show, a burlesque extravaganza and several online contests. It’s happening now until February 27. (Yukon News)
 

Two Yukon health centres will only be offering emergency services as both are understaffed. On Tuesday, the Department of Health and Social Services made the announcement about health centres in Teslin and Carcross. Regular services are expected to resume February 21. (CBC)
 

Thawing permafrost may be exposing Northerners to higher levels of a naturally-occuring gas that causes lung cancer. A recent U.K. study says permafrost keeps radon—a radioactive gas—locked in the ground. Radon is the leading cause of cancer in non-smokers. (CBC)
 

The 2022 Olympics in Beijing are winding down, but two Nunavut residents will go home with some stories. Rankin Inlet’s Pujjuut Kusugak and David Ningeongan were set up in booths at the CBC Broadcast Centre in Toronto, where they announced all of Team Canada’s Olympic hockey games in Inuktitut. (CBC)

Some Greenlandic Inuit faced a similar fate as Indigenous peoples in Canada who were forced to attend residential schools. In 1951, Danish authorities took 22 children from their homes in Greenland to Denmark, where they were put in a camp and forced to speak Danish instead of their own language. Most were sent back home a year later, but the damage is irreversible. The Danish government only issued an apology in 2020. (CBC)
 

Two United Nations human rights experts are urging the Swedish government not to issue a license for an iron ore mine in Lapland. If granted, the site, which is home to Indigenous Sámi, would face a lot of pollution and toxic waste, the experts say. It will endanger the ecosystem, which includes reindeer migration. The Sámi were not consulted in this decision. (Eye on the Arctic)
 

A large bull moose spent more than an hour attacking a sled dog team in Alaska last week. Even after the musher emptied her gun into the animal, it kept going and didn’t stop until she got extra help. Four of the dogs were injured, but four days later, the animals were luckily on the mend. (Eye on the Arctic)