Cabin Radio’s 10 most northern news stories of 2024

Some news stories are so uniquely northern you just know they’re from the Northwest Territories.

Cabin Radio published more than 2,100 news stories in 2024.

Looking back on the year, we’ve selected 10 of those stories that have the hallmark of being from the NWT – stories you likely wouldn’t find in the pages of the Toronto Star or Vancouver Sun.

Some are odd, some are touchingly heartwarming, and some reflect regular life in the North.

Happy reading, and we hope you enjoyed our news coverage this year.

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A&W says adieu

Pedestrians walk past the A&W on Franklin Avenue. Claire McFarlane/Cabin Radio

A fast food joint closing its doors likely wouldn’t make news in most cities, but that’s not the case in Yellowknife.

Many northerners expressed their sorrow after the owners of Yellowknife’s A&W announced it would be closing its doors at the end of December.

We spoke with some of the restaurant’s patrons about what it has meant to them.

“We need more space like this,” Julie Sangris said. “That’s the reason I picked to come here – to have coffee, to warm up to chat with people, chat with Elders.”

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Zehabesha turns 10

Zehabesha owner Dinku Tadesse. Aastha Sethi/Cabin Radio

In other northern culinary news, beloved Yellowknife restaurant Zehabesha celebrated its 10th anniversary this year.

While it has faced struggles due to the Covid-19 pandemic and last year’s wildfire evacuation, the popular Ethiopian eatery is still standing.

“Most of the people, they like our food. It is nice and tasty. We are proud to achieve that kind of a thing,” owner Dinku Tadesse said.

Wolf bites

Tourists had a close encounter with this wolf near Boundary Creek. Photo submitted by Julian Botnick.

While seeing a wolf in the NWT is hardly shocking, there were some unusual wolf encounters this year.

First, the Department of Environment and Climate Change warned hikers after a person said they were “nipped” by a wolf on Ranney Hill Trail.

Then the department said a tourist was bitten by a wolf near Boundary Creek.

We spoke with the tour operator, who said the encounter was like nothing he has experienced in the 11 years he has been offering tours.

“The first 10 seconds I was like, ‘cool, a wolf,’” Julian Botnick said. “And then, after that wore off, I was like, ‘oh shit, this thing has something wrong with it. This is not normal behaviour.’”

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Anubis

Also not an unusual sight in many NWT communities: red foxes.

But one particularly weird-looking fox spotted in Yellowknife this fall captured people’s hearts and imaginations.

While some people opined the odd-looking animal was a foxyote, jackal or the Egyptian deity Anubis, the NWT government said it was just a regular fox. Later, one wildlife biologist suggested it might be one with a genetic mutation known as a Samson fox.

Aliens visit Fort Smith

Lights in the sky near Fort Smith in September 2024.

It’s a drone, it’s a weather balloon, it’s an … air tanker.

Mysterious lights in the sky over Fort Smith in September had people atwitter about what they could be, with some speculating they were extraterrestrial in nature.

NWT Fire, however, said they were just FireBoss 802s returning from a firefighting mission near Kakisa Lake.

“No invasion evacuations impending – just firefighters doing their jobs,” the wildfire agency said.

Or at least, that’s what the government wants you to think. (Cue the X Files theme.)

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The great pin adventure

Janet Pacey with some of her pins. Ollie Williams/Cabin Radio

Pin collecting and trading has long been a popular sport of its own at the Arctic Winter Games.

Yellowknifer Janet Pacey is well known for her massive collection of pins, but when she travelled to this year’s games in Alaska, her 200-lb shipment of pins was nowhere to be seen.

That’s because they ended up thousands of kilometres away in Memphis.

Thankfully, Pacey was eventually reunited with her collection in the NWT.

“The team at Canadian North worked their butts off and got the pins out of jail,” she said.

Couchgate

The couch gets one final sit, from Collin Stockwell and Jeremy Macdonald. Photo: Jeremy Macdonald

You try to write a story highlighting the importance of keeping the lake clean and it becomes the butt of memes, sigh.

Yellowknife jokesters had a field day after we reported concerns that a pile of stuff, particularly a couch, had been abandoned on Great Slave Lake as breakup neared.

Nevertheless, we persevered and dutifully reported when the couch safely made it to shore and was ceremoniously transported to the dump.

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Couch, we hardly knew ye.

The NWT’s hottest new fashion

Dustin Smith shows off the jackets he's made from liquor store bags in a submitted photo. — Dustin Smith shows off the jackets he made from liquor store bags in a submitted photo.

It may not be Paris or Milan, but the NWT sure has a lot of fashionable folks and talented artisans and designers.

One enterprising young Inuk designer made a splash in the territory’s fashion scene this year with uniquely northern jackets.

Dustin Smith made the stunning garments from iconic NWT liquor store bags, which offer both durability and a beautiful image of the northern lights.

An impromptu jam session

George Grandejambe, Stan Champagne and Linda Duford performing at an impromptu dance for evacuees in Norman Wells. Photo submitted by Linda Duford

There are few things more northern than folks coming together to support one another during tough times and bonding over good music.

After Fort Good Hope residents were evacuated due to a wildfire, musicians put together impromptu jam sessions and a dance at Norman Wells’ town hall for locals and evacuees alike.

“We had children as young as three years old that were dancing. They were running around and visiting with Elders in their 80s that were sitting on the sidelines. That’s really what it’s all about – getting everybody together,” Hay River fiddler Linda Duford said.

The great hand games tournament

A Magoo Crew member shakes hands with a child during a Behchokǫ̀ hand games tournament. Aastha Sethi/Cabin Radio — A Magoo Crew member shakes hands with a child during a Behchokǫ̀ hand games tournament at the Kǫ̀ Gocho Sportsplex in February, 2024. Aastha Sethi/Cabin Radio

From the pounding of the drums to the infectious excitement of players, there’s nothing quite like a hand games tournament.

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Hundreds of people flocked to Behchokǫ̀ earlier this year for the “Stanley Cup of hand games”, including Edmonton Oilers superfans the Magoo Crew.

A team from Wrigley ultimately took home the top $50,000 prize.

“It’s amazing that these tournaments are happening, and I think it’s great that there’s even more happening with passing years. I love these tournaments. I think they’re amazing and the kids should be able to experience them,” attendee Ty Lafferty said.