Amber Bernard and Justin BrakeAPTN NewsA 31-year-old Inuk from Nunavut was found dead Tuesday morning in Ottawa’s east side.Ottawa Police responded to a call early Tuesday morning and found Kenneth Ammaklak’s body behind a dumpster outside an apartment building shortly after 6 a.m.They are calling the death suspicious.Daniel Toolooktook, a homeless Inuk in Ottawa from Baker Lake, Nunavut, told APTN News he was friends with Ammaklak.He said Ammaklak, who he met on the streets, was from Arctic Bay and had been living in Ottawa for at least 10 years.Toolooktook said Ammaklak had finally found a place to live just days before his death.He said he heard through a mutual friend that Ammaklak was stabbed to death by someone Ammaklak knew.(The area behind the east end apartment in Ottawa where Ammaklak’s body was discovered Tuesday morning. Photo: Justin Brake/APTN)Ottawa Paramedics Services would not confirm if Ammaklak died from stab wounds but did say he “died of traumatic injuries.“His death was obvious and he was pronounced dead on scene,” said Marc-Antoine Deschamps, a public information officer with Ottawa Paramedic Services.Gabriel Qitsualik, who was also a friend of Ammaklak’s, told APTN Ammaklak also lived in Hall Beach, Nunavut.Quitsualik, Toolooktook, and another of Ammaklak’s friend’s, Anita Anoojak, spoke highly of the young man.Anoojak said she knew Ammaklak for two years.“He was my best friend. He was outgoing. He liked people. He welcomed people all the time,” she said.(Gabriel Qitsualik says he was a friend of Kenneth Ammaklak and was shocked to hear of his death. Photo: Justin Brake/APTN)Qitsualik said he met Ammaklak through one of Ammaklak’s family members, also on the Ottawa streets. He describes Ammaklak as “very friendly, very friendly and caring.”Qitsualik said he was shocked when he found out on Wednesday about his friend’s death.“I had no words for hours,” he said. “Not even to some of my closest friends.”Qitsualik said Ammaklak “was so excited, he was just getting a new place. It was better than where he was staying.”Multiple sources told APTN that Ammaklak moved into his apartment in Ottawa’s Vanier neighbourhood days before his death and that he was receiving support under a disability program that placed him in Ottawa Community Housing.“He’d give you his smoke, sometimes even his last smoke,” Qitsualik recalled, describing Ammaklak’s generosity.Ottawa Police say Ammaklak’s death is still considered suspicious and would not comment further since the investigation is ongoing.They are asking anyone who has information to contact police.abernard@aptn.ca – @abernardnewsjbrake@aptn.ca – @justinbrakenews read more

August 31, 2017This week our construction manager led a trip of workshop participants to Sedona Recycle Inc to drop off a load of recyclable electronics, plastic, and styrofoam and tour their hard working facility.Our tour guide was incredibly helpful, taking the time to explain how they process each different material and type of material. She even showed us where they have to exclusively separate cat food containers from other metals. Sedona Recycle Inc uses an industrial baler to condense the materials they collect into manageable sizes. Here their cardboard and paperboard have already been processed through the baler, and the numbers spray painted onto them indicate each bundle’s weight.They have a machine that mixes the different styrofoam pieces up and compresses the beads into dense logs. Construction Intern, Du Hao, shows off their condensed styrofoam.Workshop participant, Richard, and Eli from the construction crew stand beside the stacks of aluminum and steel cans that have been processed by the baler.The crushed cans together create a beautiful and serious reminder of how much waste Americans produce.In true devotion to “reduce, reuse, recycle,” Sedona Recycles Inc has this whimsical dragon at the entrance of their facility to show off the creative possibilities of our waste. (photos and text by Shannon Mackenzie) read more

Barack ObamaFormer US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama have unveiled plans to make films and TV series with Netflix.The Obamas have established a company called Higher Ground Productions as the entity through which they will produce content for Netflix. Under this banner, they will produce a mix of content, including scripted series, unscripted series, docu-series, documentaries and features. These projects will be made available to the 125 million member Netflix households in 190 countries.Commenting, the former US president said: “One of the simple joys of our time in public service was getting to meet so many fascinating people and helping them share their experiences with a wider audience. That’s why Michelle and I are so excited to partner with Netflix – we hope to cultivate and curate the talented, inspiring, creative voices who are able to promote greater empathy and understanding between peoples, and help them share their stories.”“Barack and I have always believed in the power of storytelling to inspire us, to make us think differently about the world around us, and to help us open our minds and hearts to others,” added Michelle Obama. “Netflix is a natural fit for the kinds of stories we want to share, and we look forward to starting this exciting new partnership.”Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos said: “Barack and Michelle Obama are uniquely positioned to discover and highlight stories of people who make a difference in their communities and strive to change the world for the better. We are proud they have chosen to make Netflix the home for their formidable storytelling abilities.” read more