Environment Canada has issued a Winter Storm Watch for Pictou County and several parts of the Maritimes.

Significant snowfall and wind is expected in Pictou County with  20cm or more snow possible, combined with maximum wind gusts of 80 km/h or more.

Snow is expected to begin Monday night and become heavy, at times, by Tuesday afternoon.

Strong northerly winds in conjunction with falling snow may result in poor visibility.

 

 

Nova Scotia Health says an urgent treatment centre is scheduled to be open in mid-January at the Lillian Fraser Memorial Hospital in Tatamagouche.

It says the centre will provide care through appointments and walk-ins.

It says the centre will be available to people with or without a family doctor or nurse practitioner.

Nova Scotia Health says more information will be available at a public information session on December 20th at the Grace Jollymore Joyce Arts Centre from 4 to 5:30 p-m.

The Public Health Mobile Units will be offering COVID-19 testing in a number of communities over the next week, including:

Tatamagouche Fire Hall

202 Main St., Tatamagouche

Tuesday, December 13 from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.

 

 

Christmas tree producers in leading production provinces like Nova Scotia, Quebec and Ontario are feeling the effects of climate change.

Shirley Brennan, the executive director of the Canadian Christmas Trees Association, says farmers in those provinces have also been grappling with the effects of increasingly extreme, unseasonable weather.

While Christmas tree farmers are no strangers to dry spells, Brennan says the difference now is the nature of recent droughts and other climate-related events.

These include intense late-spring frosts in Nova Scotia in 2018 followed by eastern Ontario and western Quebec in 2020.

 

 

New Glasgow fire officials recently marked the ten year anniversary of a special program.

Ten years ago, Doug Dort (New Glasgow Fire Department Chief at the time) and Fire Prevention Officer John Desmond took inspiration from a fire prevention program in Ontario and provided the grade two classes of two elementary schools in New Glasgow smoke detectors to put in their bedroom.

Grade two students were selected because the ten year lifespan of a smoke detector meant they’d have a reliable smoke detector until they finished Grade 12.

 

 

In celebration of the 10th year of the program, the New Glasgow Fire Department paid a visit to some of the grade 12 North Nova Education students that received the first smoke detectors.

Some of Canada’s most promising N-H-L hopefuls gathered in New Brunswick on the weekend.

They’re attending selection camp ahead of the World Junior Hockey Championship, which will take place in Halifax and Moncton later this month.

Canada’s under-20 squad includes Shane Wright, who’s currently on loan from the N-H-L’s Seattle Kraken for the tournament, as well as up-and-comer Connor Bedard who’s widely expected to be a top pick at next year’s league draft.

The World Juniors get underway on December 26th.