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Northland blames Power Corp. for high power rates Northland Utilities hit back last week accusing GNWT policies and the NT Power Corp. for the power rate dis- parity in the South Slave. See page 2. Wobbly jet stream could be cause of intense re seasons WarmingintheArcticischang- ingtheglobaljetstreampark- ing certain extreme weather patternslikedroughtoverareas for long periods of time. See page 15. TRADITIONAL TANNING Fort Smithers learn the art of moosehide tanning. See page 9. North Slave Mtis ght for right to intervene in trial TheNorthSlaveMtisAlliance wants to prove its distinction from the NWT Mtis Nation through the courts during another First Nations trial. See page 11. Fracking moratorium plebiscite motions voted down by MLAs Motions for a moratorium review and plebiscite on fracking in the NWT were voted down in the legislature last week. See page 7. V IS IT W W W .N O R J.C A A national award winning independent newspaper serving northern Alberta and the Northwest Territories since 1977 1.00 June 9 2015 Vol. 39 No. 6 Joel Gordon of the Hay River Track Club blows past Carson Roche of Deline in the senior mens 100-metre nal at the 25th annual NWT Track and Field Championships in Hay River last week. Gordon placed rst in this and all of his other events. For more photos head to page 8. Fire temporarily closes Hwy 5 to Fort Smith Rain brings short-term reprieve to NWT re crews PhotoMarilynBolt-Marshall By MEAGAN WOHLBERG Hot and windy weather saw a re encroach quickly upon the sole transportation route to Fort Smith on Saturday temporarily closing Highway 5 as crews from both En- vironment and Natural Resources ENR and Parks Canada worked together to protect the road. Rapid action by both agencies saw the highway re-open Sunday morn- ing and rain on Monday granted crews across the Northwest Terri- tories some short-term reprieve according to ENR re operations manager Rick Olsen. The re known as Fire 7 by Wood Buffalo National Park WBNP personnel is a 1400-hect- are re approximately 45 km west of Fort Smith. Though it originally started in the park due to light- ning Friday night it crossed the park boundary into the NWT on Saturday. According to Parks re crews are engaging in facility protection mea- sures for values at risk in the area. Another re Fire 12 is burning 80kmwestofFortSmithabout6km Olsen said the NWT is enjoying a littledownturnintemperaturewhich isassistingallreefforts.Thoughlight- ning has been rolling through there has been some associated rain from While conditions are expected to dry up mid-week Olsen said there mightbemoremoisturecominginto the territory by the end of the week. Overall conditions are fairly calm. Weve got a chance to nish up with the res were dealing with and thankfully weve had no new problem res that we arent able to manage at this point in time he said. Season still well above average There have been 55 res to date in what has been an early and rapid start to the NWT re season. Of those 39 are still burning. More than 100000 hectares have burned since the beginning of May over twice the normal average for this time of year. Typically some 18 res would have burned around 40000 hectares by early June. See Crews wrap up on page 3. westofHighway5withinWBNP.That re is currently being suppressed by re crews and helicopters. Becausetheroadcouldcloseatany timedriversareadvisedtocheckwith theNWTdepartmentofTransporta- tionpriortotravellingonHighway5. Whati to Fort Smith which looks to be expanding west into the Dehcho. It may or may not extend east into Yellowknife and into the East Arm Olsen said. We are expect- ing it will have a little bit of a short- term reprieve this week. Overall conditions are fairly calm. Weve got a chance to nish up with the res were dealing with and thankfully weve had no new problem res that we arent able to manage at this point in time. Rick Olsen Environment and Natural Resources