There was a slight drop in gasoline prices in Nova Scotia overnight, and a small increase in diesel prices. Gas prices went down by 9-10ths of a cent, while diesel prices rose by 1.6 cents per litre. Regular self serve gas now costs 203.7 cents per litre locally, and diesel goes for 197.7 cents per litre.
Nova Scotia’s Chief Medical Officer of Health says he’s optimistic about what the summer may hold as the province makes its way out of the latest Omicron wave of the pandemic. The statement from Dr. Robert Strang comes as the province released its latest weekly update on the virus showing new cases and new hospitalizations continue to decline. The province says there were one-thousand-854 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 40 new hospitalizations for the week ending May 23rd. There were also 13 additional deaths — including 11 people aged 70 and older and seven who were in long-term care.
A retired senior Mountie has described his dismay that it took five hours before anyone told him about eyewitnesses who had encountered a mass killer while fleeing the 2020 shootings in Nova Scotia. Staff Sergeant Al Carroll was called in to the detachment in Bible Hill, where he was the senior officer on duty as an active shooter was on the loose in nearby Portapique. Carroll, who was deploying officers and considering possible escape routes, told an inquiry he wasn’t informed of several significant developments until the debrief in the small hours of the morning. He also disagreed with the suggestion there were “too many cooks in the kitchen” in the early hours of the response.
Pictou County District RCMP have charged a man with breaching a prohibition order that stems from convictions in 2021 for sexual offences. In April of this year, the man was released from custody after having served his sentence on convictions for Sexual Interference and Making and Distributing Child Pornography. As part of the sentencing, he had been placed on a lifetime prohibition order banning him from accessing the internet. On May 9th, Pictou County District RCMP received complaints about the man using the internet contrary to his prohibition order. After an investigation, the 55-year old Pictou man was charged with Failure to Comply with a Prohibition Order.
A warning from New Glasgow Regional Police about an online rental property scam circulating in the community. In the last several days, police received two reports of property scams. In both cases, a fraudulent ad for a rental property was posted on an online kijiji ad. In one case, the victim had reached out to the seller who had posted the ad. The victim then sent a deposit. The victim then visited the apartment that turned out to be fake. They could not reach the person and lost the deposit.
A renovated motel in New Glasgow will offer affordable housing to 36 people beginning July 1st. The province and the federal government are jointly contributing five-million dollars to the project, which is led by the Nova Scotia Co-operative Council. The council, which is an association that promotes co-ops and credit unions in the province, purchased the motel in February and converted it into 36 housing units. Council president Dianne Kelderman says demand for affordable housing far exceeds supply, and the organization will work on a second phase of the project to create more housing at the same site.
