SHOOTING SUSPECT’S CAR TURNS UP IN AMHERST – AND HE’S NOW IN CUSTODY
***Updated 12:11 pm, Jan 6th
Alerts have just gone out that the all-clear has been given after a man who shot another man near a Moncton-area high school around suppertime last night was arrested today. Police aren’t ready to release other information just yet, but with his car found abandoned in Downtown Amherst this morning, (Wednesday) people here in Nova Scotia had been asked to be on high alert. 24-year-old Janson Bryan Baker had been involved in a Moncton bank robbery in the past and was also involved with the robbery of a taxi driver. RCMP are confirming he has now been taken into custody. The victim shot in Moncton last night suffered injuries that police are calling “non-life threatening.” (RCMP Photo)
FOX BROOK MAN IN COURT, ACCUSED OF 13 CHARGES IN ARSON VIOLENCE
Police now say Monday night’s fire on the Granton-Abercrombie Road is connected to violence. A 52-year-old Fox Brook man is facing 13 charges, including attempted murder in connection with Monday night’s fire inside a mobile home in Abercrombie. RCMP say a man entered the home and sprayed a flammable substance at a man and three women, then lit the mini-home on fire and took off in a vehicle. The RCMP’s Andrew Joyce says the women did not appear to be physically injured, but the man’s injuries are life-threatening. As a result, 52-year-old Daniel Kenneth Stewart of Fox Brook is charged with two counts of attempted murder, 3 counts of arson with disregard to human life, three more counts of arson causing bodily harm, aggravated assault and other charges that include assault, 4 counts of mischief and being unlawfully inside a dwelling. The case has now begun to make its way through provincial court.
DR. STRANG AND THE PREMIER REVEAL NEW SCHEDULES FOR COVID VACCINATIONS
Dr. Robert Strang says the new normal for COVID-19 in Nova Scotia means intolerance toward people who are rotational workers and people who are actually infected with COVID is not acceptable, nor is blaming and shaming. He says that kind of behaviour drives people underground and pushes them away from treatment options. Strang says with a huge second surge of Coronavirus in the rest of the country, we are bound to have new cases in Nova Scotia. So he won’t feel any relief until we’re a full two weeks past the Christmas and New Year’s season with the kind of low infection rates we’ve had so far this week.
There are 19 active cases of Coronavirus across the province, and Dr. Strang says it’s in every region. And he says one super-spreader type of gathering could reverse all the progress we’ve worked for, in order to keep each other safe. Three new cases were reported in yesterday’s update, so the Premier says that’s good news, but we can’t let up on our State of Emergency behaviour. The latest COVID exposure sites are here. Potential COVID Exposures | Nova Scotia Health Authority (nshealth.ca)
The plan is to have 75% of Nova Scotians vaccinated against COVID by September. So Doctor Strang says we need to use everyone in the health care system, and to train other people outside the system to get 10-thousand people vaccinated each day. Strang says that’s how quickly he’s hoping the vaccines will be delivered.
VACCINATIONS COMING TO VALLEY, CAPE BRETON AND TRURO
The next few weeks are important on the vaccine calendar as new vaccination clinics will start in several parts of Nova Scotia.
— Valley Regional Hospital and Cape Breton Regional will each receive 1,950 doses this week, with clinics starting next Monday, Jan. 11th
— The Hospital in Truro will receive 2,925 doses starting next week (Jan 11th onward), with a clinic starting in Truro Jan. 18th
— vaccinations at three long-term care facilities in the Central Zone – Northwood (Halifax campus), Shannex (Parkstone) and Oceanview – will also begin later this month
TOWN OF PICTOU LOOKING FOR A NEW CAO – DAN TROKE LEAVING FOR VALLEY
The Town of Pictou has announced that Dan Troke will be leaving his job as Chief Administrative Officer in the town effective January 22nd, and will be moving on to take over as CAO in the Town of Kentville. Pictou Mayor Jim Ryan says his town has experienced significant growth in its commercial tax base Troke’s leadership and he wishes him well in the Valley. Pictou Town Council will be appointing an acting CAO for the foreseeable future and has formed a Committee to oversee a search for Mr. Troke’s permanent replacement. (Linked In Photo)
ABUSING 911 SYSTEM NETS VALLEY WOMAN A NEW YEAR’S EVE FINE
A Cambridge, Kings County woman has been arrested after RCMP say she abused the 9-1-1 service.
According to Mounties, she called the emergency line six times for non-emergency reasons on New Year’s Eve.
The 46-year-old from Cambridge was warned with a summary offence after the second call – and after calling 6 more times, was fined $697.50.
Police it’s important to keep those emergency lines free for people who need them, and apparently New Year’s Eve was a bad time for her to test the intentions of Valley RCMP to keep it that way.
FREE TUITION IF YOU GREW UP IN FOSTER CARE AT NSCC
The Nova Scotia Community College says people who were formerly youth in care can now apply to have up to 100 per cent of their tuition covered. The NSCC is the first college in Atlantic Canada to offer a free tuition program, specifically for people who have spent time in foster care or have been helped by other provincially-supported programming. The move follows the lead of Mount Saint Vincent University, which is the first university in Atlantic Canada to offer a tuition waiver program for former youth in care. The NSCC says eligible potential students can apply to have up to 100 per cent of their tuition and fees covered at the college through what they’re callilng the” Post-Care Free Tuition Program.” More information is available at nscc.ca/postcare
