PICTOU COUNTY UNITED WAY PLEASANTLY SURPRISED WITH YEAR’S CAMPAIGN RESULTS
The Pictou County United Way is blown away by the generosity in our local area this year. They’ve raised more than $327,000 with this year’s campaign, an increase of $11,000 from a year ago. Board Chair Richard Carter says 22 local agencies/donees and 26 local programs are being funded this year. That includes: • CHAD Transit – Sunday Drives for Seniors and Those Socially Isolated • Family Services of Eastern Nova Scotia – Family Subsidy Program • G.R. Saunders Elementary (CCRCE) – Food Security Program • Highland Community Residential Services (HCRS) – Out and About Program • Highland Community Residential Services (HCRS) – United in Friendship Program and/or Saturday Respite (program is determined by COVID restrictions) • McCulloch Education Centre (CCRCE) – Food Security Program • New Glasgow Academy (CCRCE) – Panther Pantry Lunch Program • North Nova Education Centre (CCRCE) – Food Security Program • Pictou Academy (CCRCE) – Food Security Program • Pictou County Continuous Learning Association (PiCCoLA) – Improved Literacy Through Nutritious Eating.
MASS SHOOTING INQUIRY NOW TAKING NAMES FROM PEOPLE WHO’D LIKE TO APPEAR
The public inquiry into the mass shooting across Colchester, Cumberland and Hants Counties last year that claimed 22 lives last year is now accepting applications from people who want to take part.
The commission of inquiry, formally known as the Mass Casualty Commission, issued a statement today saying its team has moved into new offices in Halifax and Truro. They say if you want to take part and make a presentation, you can also seek funding, but first, you’ll need to demonstrate a “direct and substantial interest” in the commission’s mandate. Applications can be filled out on the commission’s website and need to be submitted for approval no later than April 6th.
LOCAL PHARMACIES AND DOCTORS’ OFFICES NAMED FOR VACCINATIONS AIMED AT PEOPLE 63 AND 64 YEARS OLD COMING ONE WEEK FROM SATURDAY
Nova Scotians who are 63 and 64 years old will be the first to receive the recently approved Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine starting next week. It was originally planned for people ages 50 to 64, but there are 200,000 people in that cohort, so with 13,000 doses, that’s being curtailed to just 63 and 64-year-olds. The vaccine will be administered on a first-come, first-served basis in 25 locations that are mostly pharmacies, and also a few doctors’ offices across the province, starting one week from Saturday, on March 20th. The locations locally are the Superstore Pharmacy in New Glasgow, the Pharmasave in Pictou and the Truro-Walk-In Clinic and Colchester Research Group in Fundy Trail Centre on Robie Street and Mediplex on Church Street in Antigonish.
Nova Scotia also opened its first prototype pharmacy vaccination clinic yesterday in central Halifax as health officials reported five new cases of COVID-19 across the province. All of the new cases involve previous contacts, three are in the Halifax area and the other two are in the western health region.
PREMIER SAYS THRONE SPEECH SETS THE TONE FOR A NEW GENERATION
Premier Iain Rankin says this week’s Throne Speech is a chance for the next generation of Nova Scotians to put their ideas forward. He says Liberals have managed Nova Scotia’s finances and the pandemic well, and we’re poised for growth as a result. He says that growth will help pay for better health care and other programs that Opposition Leader Tim Houston says are seriously lacking. And despite his satisfaction with the Throne Speech, Rankin is not yet committing to any kind of a time frame for a fall election. (Above, Premier Rankin at Province House, CNS Photo)
MARITIME BUBBLE IN THE WORKS?
Re-opening Nova Scotia’s borders with New Brunswick and PEI could soon be a reality. Premier Iain Rankin says a new set of talks to create a Maritime Travel Bubble are in the works. Those discussions are planned for next week, and will not include Newfoundland, until possibly a later date. Nova Scotia current has the lowest case-counts in the country.
Doctor Robert Strang says there are currently no plans to prioritize COVID-19 vaccines for police officers. The comment comes after Halifax Regional Police told us on the weekend that one of their employees had tested positive late last week. That apparently led to three more employees also testing positive at a single police office – people who are not on the front lines.
MENTORING PLUS IN PICTOU, COLCHESTER AND KINGS COUNTIES MAKING PROGRESS
It has been a full year since The Mentoring Plus Strategy launched, taking aim at matching senior business people with up-and-comers in the New Glasgow, Truro and Kentville areas for life and career advice. Despite the challenges of living and working through a pandemic, the project’s team members are pleased they’ve been able to set up a knowledge exchange with retirees, thanks to partnering with the three towns, Ottawa and Dalhousie’s College of Continuing Education.
Geralyn MacDonald speaks for the project here in Pictou County, and says meeting virtually has actually given retirees the comfort of meeting project coordinators from their own familiar home settings. The Mentoring Plus Strategy wants to get the message out that anyone interested in learning more about career and life mentoring is invited to contact the coordinator in their area. In Pictou County contact Geralyn at (902) 755-5299, and in Colchester contact Sacha at (902) 324-1040.
NSCC OPEN HOUSE GOES VIRTUAL DURING THE WEEK OF MARCH 23RD
Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC) is holding a Virtual Open House from Tuesday, March 23 to Friday, March 26th. During the 4-day, online event, the College will offer a variety of 60-minute, interactive sessions to showcase its programming and provide general information. Each session will be led by the NSCC Recruitment team and faculty members. You can register and find a complete list of sessions at nscc.ca/openhouse Once you do that, you’ll be sent an e-mail showing you how to log in to your session.
ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY FOR KITCHEN PARTY GOING AHEAD AS A FUNDRAISER
The first anniversary of the Ultimate Online Nova Scotia Kitchen Party is coming up later this month…so you know there’s going to an event to mark the occasion! A livestream concert is in the works to raise funds for the Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia. The extremely popular Facebook Group, created by Heather Cameron Thomson when the first wave of COVID-19 forced a complete lockdown last spring, connected music lovers around the world. The online community has more than 250,000 members.
The fundraising concert will be streamed on Saturday, March 20, at 7 p.m. from the deCoste Centre on Facebook and YouTube. It will be free to watch, with donations accepted for the Mental Health Foundation. Starr Cunningham, president and CEO of the Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia, says they are “deeply moved” to be chosen as the beneficiary. Find out more about the event at: https://www.mentalhealthns.ca/kitchen-party
NATIONAL EXPERTS SAY “VACCINE SHOPPING” HURTS US ALL
Experts have been looking at the numbers in detail, and say the approval of a fourth vaccine in Canada should not give Canadians the green light to hold off on getting inoculated, in order to shop around or wait for other doses with higher efficacy rates.
Dr. Peter Liu heads up Ontario’s COVID-Science Advisory Table. He says if Canadians have that attitude, it will only end up lengthening the time it takes to get the pandemic under control.
On Friday, Health Canada approved the use of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine. It is the fourth vaccine approved along with shots from Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca-Oxford.
Despite different efficacies, trials have shown that people who did become infected after getting vaccinated only experienced a mild illness. Dr. Sumon Chakrabarti is an infectious disease specialist in Mississauga, and he says after studying the results so far, he has not been able to find a single hospitalization or death among the thousands of people who received any of the four major vaccines approved in Canada.
PROVINCE IS LOOKING FOR YOUR INPUT ON NEW RULES OF THE ROAD
The province is putting out a call for more input on its Traffic Safety Act draft regulations.
They’re looking for feedback on things as diverse as:
— traffic signals for bicycles and vehicles
— highway marking standards
— modernizing the process for issuing winter parking restrictions
— AND clarifying the rules around impounding vehicles
Nova Scotians can get more information and provide feedback by going to our website link: https://novascotia.ca/traffic-safety-act-public-engagement/
The deadline for feedback is April 2nd.
LOCAL SPORTS
The Pictou County Scotians defeated Eskasoni 6 -5 last night in Junior B playoff hockey action.
The Maritime Hockey League has announced a Crushers game that got postponed from January will now take place this coming Sunday, March 14th. That means the Pictou County Weeks’ Crushers home game with Summerside ow be played at 3:00 o’clock on Sunday afternoon.
