MONDAY, NOV 2ND – NO SAILINGS TO PEI

A note from Northumberland Ferries is that today’s high winds have cancelled all ferry sailings to and from PEI.

 

N.S. TEACHERS’ DEAL OFFERS A 25 PER CENT INCREASE IN MARKING AND CLASS PREP TIME 

Those who’ve had a look at what’s in the new contract for Nova Scotia teachers say it offers raises totalling 7 per cent over four years.  The tentative deal between the province and the NSTU was announced last week, with the union not making a recommendation on whether the membership should vote to approve it.  Town Hall meetings with teachers are in the works over the next few weeks.  The contract also proposes teachers get a 25 per cent increase in the time they’re allotted for class preparation and time for marking students’ grades.

 

ACTIVE COVID INFECTIONS ACROSS NOVA SCOTIA NOW HIGHEST SINCE LAST SPRING

(File photo)

Seven new cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Nova Scotia over the weekend, with no details about how either person got the virus as two of those infections became public yesterday, adding to 5 more COVID infections announced in Saturday’s update.  That brings the total number of active cases to 13.  Both of yesterday’s cases were in the Central Health Zone, with the 5 infections on Saturday spread over a wider area, with two in the Northern Zone, two in the Western Health Zone and one of the Saturday cases in the Central Zone.  Those 13 active coronavirus cases in Nova Scotia mean we’re now witnessing the highest number of ongoing infections we’ve seen since May and June.   By contrast, there was only one new case reported in New Brunswick yesterday, and that was in the Fredericton area. PEI and Newfoundland reported no new infections yesterday.

 

PICTOU COUNTY CRIME SPREE TO KEEP COURTS BUSY THIS WEEK

 

A Pictou County man who barricaded himself in his apartment with a gun and made threats on Friday got lots of police attention, and now the courts will be focusing on the charges against him this week.  With police taking precautions at New Glasgow Academy and the YMCA Daycare, no one was injured in the Friday incident.  When the 66-year-old man goes to court, he’s facing one charge of careless use and one of careless storage of a firearm.

Friday’s other case of violence in Pictou County resulted in two local police officers being stabbed.  Both were treated and released from the Aberdeen Hospital with injuries that, luckily, were not life threatening. That case started with a 26-year-old man on Chisholm Street around 12:35 Friday afternoon.  Police got into a scuffle with him as they moved in.  The man faces a series of serious charges this week.  They include:

• Three Counts of Uttering Threats.
• Two More of Breaching Probation
• Two Counts of Assault with a Weapon.
• Two Weapons Possession Charges
• Two Counts of Assaulting a Police Officer.
• Resisting Arrest.

In that same case on Chisholm Street, a 60-year-old woman from Pictou County is charged with Obstructing a Police Officer.

 

ARSON IN EAST END OF TRURO AS VEHICLES TORCHED ON THE WEEKEND

A 16-year-old boy is facing a judge in Truro Youth Court today.  Police are charging him with setting fire to a pair of cars on Lyman Street Saturday night.

 

QUEBEC CITY SWORD ATTACK LEAVES TWO DEAD

In Quebec City, a man in his 20’s from Ste. Therese, Quebec is charged with stabbing people with a Japanese-style sword over the weekend.  He was dressed as a medieval knight.  Two of his victims died.  The other five, all from the Quebec City area had to be hospitalized. Police identified the two Quebec City residents who died in in the attack as 56-year-old Francois Duchesne and 61-year-old Suzanne Clermont. (Canadian Press Photo)

 

BUS DRIVER THREATENED BY TRUMPERS, OBAMA ATTACKS TRUMP ON COVID AHEAD OF TUESDAY’S VOTING DAY IN THE UNITED STATES

On the U-S campaign trail, bullying on the highway in Texas got some attention.  A group of Trump supporters driving mostly half-ton trucks flying Trump flags surrounded a campaign bus for Trump opponent Joe Biden and tried to force it off the road on the weekend.  Trump told his next campaign rally he loved Texas for what police are now calling criminal behaviour.  Biden’s people are calling Trump’s response to the highway bullying attempt “reckless. “

Meanwhile, Former President Barack Obama has told American voters that if Trump had handled the coronavirus the way Canada has, 140,000 people in the States would still be alive.  Meanwhile, a Stanford University study shows 700 people have died as a result of 18 recent rallies where Trump’s been speaking to people who haven’t been wearing masks.  (Photo courtesy Reuters News Agency)

 

LOCAL SPORTS

The Weeks Crushers opened their regular season on Friday with a 4-2 win over the Valley Wildcats.
The Crushers will be back at it for their Home Opener, this Thursday (November 5th) at the Pictou County Wellness Centre.