There’s no place like home

the decision. Decades worth of interns wailed in unison – noooooo! I’m afraid so. Dollars speak louder than nostalgia.

We have cherished this historic building owned by the National Park Service. Outside my desk window, tourists pan for gold. Co-owner Gretchen Wehmhoff faced her desk to overlook Broadway (too much of a distraction for me) where she occasionally hangs out the casement to have discussions with passerbys.

There’s a ghost that lives downstairs – a young boy who gets cranky if bookstore clerk Denise Welch doesn’t read the right kind of poetry frequently enough. I don’t believe in spirits but I will tell you that occasionally, the air in the newsroom suddenly changes and there’s a mysterious vibration that I can’t explain.

Speaking of Denise, I’ll miss her candy bowl and folksy talks. She is full of wisdom and love. I’ll also miss the hunter green trim, the wood floors of the newsroom and the steep stairs announcing the rare and random visitor. Sometimes that visitor is former paper owner Jeff Brady, popping into his corner of the office with a generous word of praise or a rough critique. Either way, he’s a valuable resource and we’re lucky he doesn’t move to warmer climates.

There are some things I won’t reminisce about: shoveling those *&#$#@#@ stairs in the winter or jam- ming my noise canceling headphones on at 2 a.m. during the warm months to lessen the din pouring out of Bonanza. I won’t mind being out of earshot of false fire alarms, triggered by changing temperatures. It was an uncomfortable night when I ran through the activated outdoor emergency sprinkler system and waited for the fire department to clear the building.

Many have asked if vacating the newsroom will have a negative effect on the paper. I don’t think so. The Skagway News isn’t a building, it’s the people who persevere to meet the bi-montly deadline. Gretchen and I have carried the News through three arduous years encompassing COVID-19, too many rock slides to count, the death of a child, three moves, spouse job losses and multiple medical emergencies. This community and the paper are tattooed on our hearts.

You will still find us at the grocery store, assembly meetings, burger feeds and chair fitness. The Skagway News endures. The only difference is I’m writing this in my bed, in sweatpants, while my 6-year-old squeezes an entire tube of toothpaste on his toothbrush. I’ll wait to write the more difficult pieces when I’m alone. And when it’s time to do an in-person interview, I’ll put on pants. Until then, there’s no place like home.

Shorter race victory ‘bittersweet’ - Phillips wins Yukon Quest

By Morris Prokop

The Whitehorse Star

DAWSON CITY – Mi- chelle Phillips is the 2023 Yukon Quest champion –and wishes the trail hadn’t ended where it did.

The 54-year-old veteran musher crossed the YQ450 finish line at 1:21 a.m. Feb. 15, and was greeted by a multitude of fans and media. She had departed from the Indian River Time Station at about 7:30 p.m. Feb. 13.

The Ten Mile, Yukon resident said she felt a little stiff and sore, but otherwise all right upon her arrival at the finish line.

Asked if she’d ever had any doubt about whether she would win the race, she replied, “It’s a race, so you never know till the finish line.

“Anything can happen, right? Break your sled, or something can happen. You never know.”

Phillips finished the race with 12 dogs. She said they’re doing well.

“Really upbeat. I wish I could keep going.”

The last leg from Indian River felt pretty fast, she added.

“It’s slow going up the hill, for sure. That’s a long climb. But once we got up there, it felt pretty good.”

Phillips was asked how it felt ending the race in Dawson after having done 1,000mile Quests between Whitehorse and Fairbanks.

“It feels really weird. Yeah, it’s kind of bittersweet. It was like, just going through a lot of memories for me.

“I’ve been running dogs for 25 years,” she said. I’ve run 21 1,000-mile races. So I’ve been participating in this event for a long time.

“And yeah, it was just a whole wave of emotions.

Mushers that are not with us anymore and memories and sadness that the Yukon Quest hasn’t come together again.

“Hopefully we can have another 1,000-mile race. It’s such a cool event. Such a neat thing to travel through such beautiful country, all the history.”

Phillips said she won’t be running in the Anchor- age-to-Nome, Alaska Iditarod this year.

Instead, she’ll contest the Percy De Wolfe race, which will start March 9 and runs from Dawson to Eagle, Alaska and back.

Phillips was asked if her decision not to run in the Iditarod was a result of a controversial penalty she and Mille Porsild incurred last year for sheltering their dogs in a cabin during a vicious storm. The penalty was later rescinded.

“Yeah, just decided to step away from the Iditarod and take a pause and yeah, just need a break,” Phillips said.

The YQ450 began Feb. 11 at Shipyards Park in Whitehorse.

Naloxone overdose kits (name brand NARCAN) have been placed around town to assist in an opioid emergency. They can be found at the following locations:

● AMHS Ferry Terminal

● Eagles F.O.E. Aerie #25

● Elks Lodge #431

● Grizzly’s General

● Skagway Recreation Center

● The Station

● U.S. Post Office

● Wells Fargo Bank

● Two kits are at the school