Residents of the Salem area will soon have access to quality water.

Councillors for the Municipality of Pictou County have accepted a tender bid of $2.3 million from BD Clifton to complete the Salem Water Project.

Four companies bid on the project with BD Clifton submitting the lowest bid.

The project will be funded using the Federal Gas Tax Reserve.

Residents of the Salem area have long struggled with poor water quality which caused discolouration and damage to appliances in their homes.

Council had initially hoped to be able to extend both water and sewer lines to the area, but a funding request to the province was denied.

However, because Council felt it was such an important project, it decided to proceed with the water extension into the area with its own funding.

Work is expected to get underway in late summer 2023 with a goal to have the project completed by the end of the calendar year.

 

 

The Nova Scotia government chose to replace the judge overseeing the Lionel Desmond inquiry because Warren Zimmer’s final report was taking too long.

That’s according to Premier Tim Houston, who says his government took action because it wasn’t clear if the report would ever be finished.

The inquiry was created five years ago after Desmond, an Afghanistan war veteran, killed three members of his family before taking his own life in rural Nova Scotia in January 2017.

Zimmer was set to retire as a provincial court judge in March 2022, but his term was extended four times to allow for him to finish the report.

 

 

Additional support is being offered to those residents impacted by the Tantallon area wildfires.

Nova Scotia Health’s Mental Health and Addictions Program is offering drop-in sessions this month and next month at St. Margaret’s Centre in Upper Tantallon.

Those who drop in will be able to speak one-on-one with a community outreach worker.

The Halifax-area wildfire destroyed roughly 150 homes and forced some 16-thousand people to flee the area in May.

 

 

Earth’s average temperature remained at a record high Wednesday, after two days in which the planet reached unofficial records.

The average global temperature was 17.18 Celsius according to the University of Maine’s Climate Reanalyzer, a tool that uses satellite data and computer simulations to measure the world’s condition.

It follows highs of 17.01 Celsius on Monday and 17.18 Celsius on Tuesday.

Scientists have warned for months that 2023 could see record heat as human-caused climate change, driven largely by the burning of fossil fuels like coal, natural gas and oil, warmed the atmosphere.

 

 

On Wednesday, members of Pictou County Law Enforcement and Michelin employees took part in the annual Special Olympics Torch Run.

The Torch Run is held to provide awareness about Special Olympics.

The kick off was at the Michelin Plant in Pictou County with the Run finishing off at the New Glasgow Regional Police building

 

 

There’s something new to see in the Downtown.

Some pianos have been generously donated by community members and then painted by Big Brothers Big Sisters of Pictou County and the Town of New Glasgow’s summer students.

They’re located at Rotary Park, the gazebo on the corner of Dalhousie Street and Riverside Parkway, and the Farmer’s Market.