WOMAN MISSING FROM TOWN OF PICTOU SINCE SEPTEMBER, POSSIBLY NOW IN ANTIGONISH AREA
Pictou County RCMP are asking people to jog their memories as they try to locate 42-year-old Tammy Heighton (Stewart) who was last seen on September 23rd in Pictou. Heighton is white, about 5-feet tall and weighs about 100 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes. No clothing description is available. RCMP say she might possibly be in the Antigonish area. Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Heighton is asked to contact Pictou District RCMP at 902-485-4333. (RCMP Photo of Heighton)
COVID TESTING PROCESS SPEEDING UP IN HALIFAX, COMING TO OUR AREA NEXT MONTH
Starting today, Oct. 28th, online booking for COVID-19 testing appointments is available for any Nova Scotian getting a test through primary assessment centres in the Central Zone, which includes Halifax, parts of the Eastern Shore and Western Hants County. Premier McNeil says it should only take about 10 minutes to book your appointment, so reducing waiting times should be the result. Online booking is expected to be available in the Northern, Western and Eastern Health Zones by the second week of November.
HALLOWEEN FORECAST TO BE CHILLY
The long-range forecast calls for a chilly Halloween Night, with overnight lows on Saturday at Minus 5!! Brrrr.
And it’s been cool already, as most you in this part of the province know. Carrie Smith sent along this facebook photo today of snow on her sundeck in the Durham area. (Just a skiff, but it’s still there!)
NO INJURIES IN NEW GLASGOW CRASH
No injures resulted from yesterday morning’s crash that drew lots of attention on the Westville Road as traffic got clogged up around 930. The collision involved a 2019 Ford Ranger, 2019 Honda CRV and a 2009 Dodge Canavan. Police say the Ranger and CRV suffered extensive damage and needed to be towed from the scene. (Facebook photo)
INDIGENOUS LEADERS AT ODDS WITH EACH OTHER OVER FISHING TALKS
Indigenous leaders in Bear River, Digby County are questioning why the Sipekne’katik band, headquartered near Shubenacadie is jeopardizing their relationships in the commercial fishery by asserting their self-regulated fishing activity on the shores of Digby County’s St. Mary’s Bay. As a result, they want in on talks to solve the situation. Sipekne’katik Chief Michael Sack says even though his reserve is 277 kilometers away from Saulnierville, there have been ongoing ties to the area. Bear River Chief Carol Dee Potter has sent a letter to Federal Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan and the Nova Scotia Assembly of Mi’kmaq Chiefs on the issue. This comes with a story from Saltwire News that as of 2008, Ottawa had already spent more than half-a-billion dollars buying lobster licenses and boats so that Indigenous people could take part in the established commercial fishery. That meant that in 2008, Maritime First Nations, representing about 4,5 % of the population, were in control of 10.5 % of commercial lobster fishing in this region.
STRICT RULES ON RETURN OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS TO NS
International students can return to a number of colleges and universities across Nova Scotia starting early next month. Almost two-dozen schools are expected to be approved for international students who obey the rules and quarantine for 14 days.
The province says it is up to the college or university to provide information on health and travel requirements before the student enters Canada, as well as providing secure transportation from Stanfield airport and accommodations. That includes covering meals during the 14 day quarantine. (Photo courtesy – BING Images)
As public school teachers learn about their new contract offer over the next couple of weeks, there’s renewed hope in the stalemate facing professors at Dalhousie University. Both sides in that dispute are slated to meet November 3rd and 4th, as they try to avoid a strike that could begin as early as November 6th.
TRUMP CAN’T HIDE BEHIND PRESIDENCY IN COURT, SAYS JUDGE
A New York federal judge has rejected a U.S. government request to drop Donald Trump as a defendant in a defamation lawsuit by a writer. The writer for Elle Magazine claims the president’s denial that he raped her in a Manhattan department store a quarter century ago is a falsehood. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan has refused to let the U-S government substitute itself for Trump as a defendant in columnist E. Jean Carroll’s lawsuit. Kaplan’s decision is a defeat for Trump, because dropping him as a defendant would have shielded him from liability and likely doomed Carroll’s claim of defamation. The ruling basically means Trump cannot claim presidential immunity in the case. (Reuters News Agency, Photo- NY Magazine)
Twenty former Republican U.S. Attorneys are now accusing President Donald Trump of threatening the rule of law as they declared their support yesterday for Democratic White House candidate Joe Biden. The former senior federal prosecutors, who collectively served under every Republican president from Dwight Eisenhower to George W. Bush, said in a publicly released letter that Trump treated the Department of Justice as his personal law firm by pressuring government lawyers to protect his allies and attack his political foes. The group is the latest of several Republican-led organizations publicly opposing Trump’s re-election from within his own party.
ANOTHER NEW COVID INFECTION IN NOVA SCOTIA
Nova Scotia has six active cases of COVID-19 this morning. One new infection was identified in the latest update yesterday. The new case is in the Central Zone and is related to travel outside of Atlantic Canada. Health authorities say that person has been self-isolating, as required.
RCMP in the Kentville area say they got complaints about a man not self-isolating after returning to the area from outside the Atlantic Bubble. Officers issued the man a ticket last Friday for $697.50. In addition, the provincial labour Department has begun investigating after workers at the Irving Shipyard stopped work in Halifax this week, saying a contractor from outside the province came into their workplace and did not self-isolate first.
That comes as a member of the Dodgers’ baseball club was pulled out of last night’s World Series win after coaches learned he had been diagnosed with COVID.
Mental health and addiction specialists say the latest alcohol consumption numbers across the province are a worrying sign stemming from the pandemic. Nova Scotians didn’t visit their local NSLC locations between June and September as frequently this year, but when they did go, they spent more each time. In releasing its quarterly financial results this week, the provincial liquor commission posted a 6.3 per cent sales increase to almost $217-million. That puts actual earnings up by 5.4 per cent.
There was a 10.9 per cent decline in the number of transactions, but the average dollar value each time a customer visited a liquor store cash register was up 21.8 per cent.
NS BUSINESS LOSES $100,000 to CYBERCRIME – RCMP POST WARNING
The RCMP’s Commercial Crime Section here in Nova Scotia is seeing more cases of business emails being hacked to re-direct electronic payments. Scammers are hacking business email systems and intercepting emails that contain billing or payment instructions. The scammer then changes the billing information and resends the altered email to the other company – causing future payments to be sent directly to the fraudster. Companies across the Maritimes have been victimized, including a business in Nova Scotia that was defrauded of $100,000.
Cpl Laurie Haines says “These scams are not new but can be crippling to a small business.” And since this is cyber-security awareness month, police have these tips for local business operators:
- Keep computer security up to date with anti-virus and anti-spyware software, and a good firewall. Only buy a computer and anti-virus software from a reputable source.
2. Regularly use your security software to run a virus check.
3. Avoid using public computers or WiFi Hotspots to access or provide personal and security information.
4. Choose passwords and PINs that would be difficult for others to guess. And also, don’t save the passwords on your phone or computer where a stranger could access them.
WESTVILLE BLM LETTERING SCHEDULED FOR TODAY
Following a motion last month by Westville Town council to paint the message “Black Lives Matter” on the sidewalk in front of the town’s post office on Main Street, there’s an update this week. BLM’s local facebook page is confirming the date the actual painting will take place this afternoon at 1 o’clock. (Wednesday, October 28th).
