Community members in Naujaat hit the streets on Aug. 4 armed with garbage bags, gloves, rakes and a goal of picking up as much garbage as they could.

Touted by the hamlet as a way to show pride in the community, the clean-up coincided with a large-item pickup, which hauled furniture, old vehicles and building materials to the dump free of charge.

The hamlet also put together a list of prizes for community members who participated in the clean-up, including fox furs, an iPad, an XBOX One and camping equipment.

Military exercise set for Rankin

Rankin Inlet is one of two locations where members of the Rangers, Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and Royal Canadian Airforce will converge for Operation Nanook.

The operation is set to run from Aug. 12 to 27 in Rankin Inlet and in northern Labrador. It will involve about 290 members of the Canadian Armed Forces, and 35 members of government departments and agencies such as Defence Research and Development Canada and the .

The exercise will focus on safety and security scenarios, with objectives of asserting Canada's sovereignty over the North and improving Arctic military operations.

Operation Nanook has run every year since 2007 across the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut. The Canadian Armed Forces describe it as SA国际影视传媒渢he largest military presence in Canada's North.SA国际影视传媒�

Kivalliq crime declines

Crime across the Kivalliq region declined in 2016, except for Rankin Inlet, according to statistics released by Stats Canada on July 24.

Nunavut as a whole saw a 3.92 per cent rise compared to 2015. There were 13,272 actual incidents in Nunavut in 2016, up from 12,582 in 2015.

For the Kivalliq region, crime rates in Naujaat decreased 13.73 per cent, while Arviat's crime rates decreased 10.28 per cent.

Crime in Arviat has been declining for five years in a row. Baker Lake's crime decreased by 5.84 per cent. Rankin Inlet saw a jump in crime of 19.39 per cent in 2016.

Statistics for other Kivalliq communities were not available.

Firefighters face off

Firefighters from the Kivalliq region joined their peers from across the territory in Iqaluit last week to try out for the Aboriginal Fire Fighters Competition.

The tryouts for Team Nunavut took place on the afternoon of Aug. 4.

Kivalliq's team included four firefighters from Naujaat as well as Rankin Inlet recruit Catherine Kabvitok, who attended as the only woman trying out for Team Nunavut.