STELLARTON TREE-LIGHTING GOES VIRTUAL, NEW GLASGOW LATEST TO CANCEL CHRISTMAS PARADE AND TRURO’S PARADE GOES “NON-MOBILE”
Hot on the heels of New Glasgow and Westville postponing their Santa Clause parades until next year, while keeping their Santa visits going this coming Christmas Eve, the Town of Stellarton has news on its tree lighting ceremony next week. It will be an online event, with pandemic restrictions still a major concern. Organizers say while they would love to celebrate Stellarton’s tree-lighting in its normal way, health and safety are their top priorities. So they’ll be livestreaming the tree-lighting next Friday, November 27th, 2020, at approximately 5:00pm. Please be advised that Santa will still be visiting the town Stellarton on Christmas Eve with the help of the Stellarton Fire Department, travelling through residential areas, so people can watch from inside, or from a safe distance outside. The same will be true for Santa and his helpers in the Towns of Westville and New Glasgow this year.
In Downtown Truro, they’re taking a different approach, as Christmas Parade floats are slated to remain stationary. That’s for people to come out and walk Santa’s Block on foot to view the hard work that went into those floats this coming Saturday afternoon and evening. So the floats won’t be moving and the spectators will be socially distanced while walking to view them. And that’s in Downtown Truro near the Farmer’s Market this Saturday from 2 pm until 7 in the evening.
TEACHERS VOTE HEAVILY IN FAVOUR OF NEW CONTRACT WITH PROVINCE
Nova Scotia teachers have ratified their new contract. 73 per cent of teachers cast their electronic ballets yesterday and they voted 94.2 per cent in favour of the agreement, which expires in the summer of 2023. The agreement also increases marking and preparation time by 25 per cent, effective August 1st, 2021.
NSTU president Paul Wozney says, “Teachers haven’t seen any increase in marking and prep time for 50 years and this will help to decrease the ongoing demands on teachers’ time.”
SLIPPERY ROADS BLAMED FOR CRASH ON TRENTON CONNECTOR
Ice-covered roads are getting the blame for a single-vehicle crash around 6:10 last evening on a guardrailed section of the Trenton Connector, when a 2008 Ford Ranger lost control and flipped onto its side. Three people in the vehicle were checked over at the Aberdeen Hospital with minor injuries. The vehicle sustained major damage. (NG Regional Police Photo)
GAS PRICES UP IN NB
New Brunswick gas prices are up by just over half-a-cent per litre overnight. Diesel prices in that province are 1.6 cents per litre more expensive this week. Nova Scotia’s new prices are due at midnight.
BIBLE HILL MAN IN COURT OVER CHARGES FROM
CRASH THAT LEFT WESTVILLE WOMAN DEAD LAST SPRING
A Bible Hill man charged with causing the death of a Westville woman in a car crash outside of Tatamagouche last spring is slated to return to enter pleas to the charges against him on January 6th. 37-year-old Jason Edward Alexander is currently serving time in a federal prison on other charges, and made a brief video appearance in Truro provincial court yesterday. The accident in the hamlet of Oliver last April claimed the life of 30-year-old Tanya Rector, a mother of two young children. She died at the scene with the driver and two passengers accused of leaving her alone at the crash site. Police say that was after the pickup truck she was riding in veered off the road at a sharp turn on Highway 246 on the Wentworth Valley side of Tatamagouche.
Across the province, there are 3 new cases of COVID-19 in the latest update. All three are in the Halifax-Central zone, and there’s word none are connected to the pair of cases in Dartmouth-area schools. Public Health has also issued two new potential exposure sites in Bayers Lake: those are a Sportchek location and the nearby East Side Mario’s.
CORONAVIRUS VACCINES RESERVED FOR CANADA IN THE NEW YEAR
The latest news from pharmaceutical giant Pfizer on its new coronavirus vaccine is that it should be available in the U-S next month, with millions of doses coming into Canada between January and March. The same can be said for the Moderna vaccine announced this week, with both being tested at close to 95% effective. Coronavirus experts say it’ll take two doses to protect us, and people with health challenges, health care workers, police and grocery workers should be among the first to get access to it.
SOBEY FAMILY & FOUNDATION PUT FUNDING INTO NEW ART GALLERY OF NS
Pictou County’s Sobey Family and the Sobey Foundation are putting $10-million dollars into a brand new home for the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. The facility will take shape on the Halifax waterfront. The family’s Rob Sobey says it’s been two years in the making and although he had no hand in choosing the building’s new design, the one that’ll be used for the project does happen to be his favourite. (Photo Credit – Global News)
More Nova Scotians opted to enjoy Mother Nature this summer as the pandemic kept people here in the province, safely inside the Atlantic Bubble. The park usage numbers for this year show more than 247,000 visitors at camping parks and over one million at day-use parks run by the provincial government. That’s a jump of more than 10 per cent from last year.
CAR THEFTS RISE ON COLD DAYS – EXPERTS SAY WARMING UP THE CAR MAKES IT WORSE
This is our first really cold morning of the season, and it’s timely that the Weather Network is warning us about cars being more apt to be stolen when you leave one running to warm it up. While nobody likes getting into a freezing car, it’s better than not having a car at all. Crime experts say it can take as little as ten seconds to steal a car – and if you’re leaving your car unlocked and running, you’re only helping the process along. The other issue is that thieves don’t often have time to stop and check out what’s in the back seat. In Mississauga back in 2014, a baby was stolen along with a compromised vehicle. In another case, a dog was inadvertently taken. So the advice from police is….be careful with cold weather warm-ups. (WITH FILES FROM THE WEATHER NETWORK)
