News
1. Brenda Way
Yesterday I discussed the strange case of Glen Assoun, whose conviction for the murder of Brenda Way is subject of a judicial review. Today Way’s cousin Karen Way tells the CBC that two weeks after the murder, she overheard two men in a bar discussing it. “You should have seen the look on her face when I slit her effing throat,” one man said to the other, according to Way. Way says she told police of the conversation but they were uninterested.
2. Pedestrian incidents
A map of pedestrian/vehicle collisions so far in 2014, in the area covered by Halifax Regional Police. The three-incident location is the intersection of Willet Street and Lacewood Drive in Clayton Park. The two-incident location is the intersection of Victoria Road and Thistle Street in Dartmouth.
The police have released their monthly report on pedestrian/vehicle incidents. It shows a worrying increase in the number of such incidents—70 percent more this year compared to the same period last year—although it’s possible that simply more people are reporting them. “In both 2013 and 2014, the majority of vehicle/pedestrian collisions reported from January to September occurred in crosswalks (60% and 64%, respectively),” reads the release. “Of the 167 pedestrians involved, 52 reported no injury, 88 experienced minor injuries, 18 experienced moderate injuries, six had serious injuries and there were three fatalities.”
Of the 151 incidents this year in the areas tracked by Halifax Regional Police, 58 resulted in the driver being ticketed, nine resulted in the pedestrian being ticketed, four are still under investigation, and 80 resulted in no tickets.
Police just started tracking the incidents last year, so it’s too early to make broad conclusions, but if last year’s stats are any indication, a bunch more pedestrians will get hit in the coming months:
Here’s the full report for the areas covered by Halifax Regional Police, and here’s the report for the suburban areas covered by the RCMP.
The HRP report does not detail the 34 bicycle incidents this year, including one fatality. The RCMP doesn’t count bicycle incidents at all.
Please slow down.
3. Ship of Theseus
Chronicle Herald reporter Michael Gorman unearths a loose connection between the ill-fated Bluenose project and the sinking of the Concordia. In short, there were two possible agencies that could classify the boat: American Bureau of Shipping and Lloyd’s Register North America. But Lloyds, which was the insurer for the Concordia, was so busy dealing with that disaster that it couldn’t give full attention to the Bluenose bid, and so the arguably less-suitable ABS got the contract.
4. Council
I’ll publish a recap of yesterday’s council meeting later today.
5. Peter Kelly
Having settled into his new job as CAO of Westlock County, Alberta, former Halifax Mayor Peter Kelly has sent a letter to all 56 county employees telling them they should consider quitting their jobs and taking a three-months’ severance cheque, reports the Westlock News. It’s a bizarre offer made even stranger by Kelly’s garbled dismissal of a reporter’s reasonable question about how much the offer will cost the county: “I won’t get into any detail,” he said. “You’re basically on speculation of cost, so that’s unfair to the overall process until we know.”
6. Wild Kingdom
“A large female snapping turtle was seen laying eggs next to first base of the Musquodoboit Harbour baseball diamond,” reports the CBC. Hope For Wildlife brought the eggs into the organization’s office to incubate, and when they hatched released 48 baby turtles in the Musquodoboit River.
Views
1. Yeah, Armageddon!
Marilla Stephenson writes yet another column in support of fracking, and once again doesn’t mention climate change.
Government
City
Regional Watersheds Advisory Board (5pm, Helen Creighton Room, Alderney Library)—The final reports on the Sandy Lake and Preston Area Watershed Studies will be discussed.
Province
Legislature sits (2-6pm, Province House)
On Campus
Dalhousie
Today
Physiotherapy Matters (Today, 8:30am, Chapter House, Room 103)—Kim Bayer (Health Services Manager for Med/Surg/Cancer Care, VG site, Rehab and Supportive Care Services), Karen Webb-Anderson (Critical Care Quality Leader), and Deb McLane (Professional Practice Coordinator for Physiotherapy) will discuss “Early Mobility in the ICU Project History and Planning.”
Mental Health Awareness Week (Today, 7:30pm, South House)—a screening of a film, but unfortunately the Dal website doesn’t tell us which film.
Thursday
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Seminar (Thursday, 4pm, Theatre D, CRC Building)—Robert Beiko from the Computer Science department will speak on “Is Microbial Ecology Driven by Roaming Genes?”
ESS Thursday Night Lecture Series (Thursday, 7pm, Ondaatje Auditorium, McCain building)—Ashlee Cunsolo-Willox from Cape Breton University will show her film, “Attutauniujuk Nanami—Lament for the Land,” which documents the effects of climate change on Inuit communities.
Mini Medical School (Thursday, 7pm, Theatre C, Tupper Building)—Mohsin Rashid will talk about “Celiac Disease: A Hidden Epidemic,” and Geoffrey Williams will talk on “Abdominal Moans and Groans, Could It Be Stones?”
Planetarium show (Thursday, 7:15pm, Room 120, Dunn Building)—”Constellations of the Zodiac” by Dan Arsenault. Five bucks at the door.
Science and Society lecture (Thursday, 7:30pm, Potter Auditorium, Rowe Management Building)—Donna Hurlburt from Acadia University will talk on “A Clash in Cultures? Reconciling Aboriginal Perspectives with Conservation in Canada.” Dal explains:
The application of Aboriginal knowledge in environmental decision-making has been the subject of much debate. Some argue that Indigenous knowledges systems are laden with socio-political values and have no place alongside impartial Western science, whereas others beleive that the two bodies of knowledge are complementary. Conservation biologist Donna Hurlburt will highlight the opportunities for reconciling multiple forms of ecological knowledge through her experiences as a Mi’kmaw person with scientific training who has worked extensively on the conservation of Species at Risk in Canada.
Noticed
Yesterday I mentioned Darkside Gallery & Cafe, which is to soon open on Windmill Road in Dartmouth. Beyond an anonymously registered web page and a cryptic Twitter account, I could find no further information about the cafe. That’s because, despite the one-word “Darkside” on the webpage and Twitter account, the owners had registered the company with Joint Stocks as the two-worded “Dark Side.” Coincidently, after I posted yesterday a new registration for a one-worded “Darkside” came online. In any event, Darkside is a real thing, to be operated by Oliver and Megan Mahon.
I’ve seen several businesses that can’t decide what their name is. Take, for example, Rogues Roost. Or potentially, Rogue’s Roost. The menu at the bar uses both spellings, and the company’s Facebook Page has the logo, without the apostrophe, right next to a spelled-out company name, with the apostrophe. These are the things that drive copy editors up the wall.
In the harbour
The seas around Nova Scotia at 6am Wednesday. The blue ships are cruise ships. Map: marinetraffic.com
(click on vessel names for pictures and more information about the ships)
Arrivals
Zim Beijing, container ship, New York to Pier 42
Slotergracht, general cargo, Rotterdam to Fairview Cove
Ruby Princess, cruise ship, Sydney to Pier 22
Carnival Splendor, cruise ship, Portland to Pier 31
Eurodam, cruise ship, Boston to Pier 20
Silver Whisper, cruise ship, Bar Harbor to Pier 23
Singapore Express, container ship, New York to Fairview Cove
Tug Mako w/ Barge Penn 81, Marcus Hook , Pennsylvania to McAsphalt Dock
Departures
Ruby Princess to Bar Harbor
Eurodam to Sydney
Zim Bejing to Kingston, Jamaica
Carnival Splendor to Saint John
Silver Whisper to Sydney
Footnotes
I’ll be on the Sheldon MacLeod show at 4pm, on News 95.7.
Westcliff/Westcliffe is another one. Made it fun when I wrote a story about them.
“I won’t get into any detail,” he said. “You’re basically on speculation of cost, so that’s unfair to the overall process until we know.”
One would think that they would have broken down the potential costs to the Westlock County and have a maximum number if everyone took the payout, 70%, 30%, etc. This just seems odd and almost deceitful. The public should be in the know in a ballpark numbers way.
I guess they are cleaning house. You are either with them or leave but don’t ask any questions.
Re “mean streets” – quite appalling numbers. Was crossing at 5 corners in Dartmouth the other day. Aware how dangerous this intersection is, so was careful, watchful. Still nearly hit by driver making righthand turn around corner from Portland onto Pleasant without even slowing down. She looked right at me as I stood there in the middle of the crosswalk. Thankfully the car coming in the other direction, planning a left hand turn, decided to wait for me to get out of the way….
I think someone should start selling long pedestrian sticks.
If a car driver isn’t paying attention and is inching too close, whack the car with the stick and maybe they will notice, lol.
Seriously though, pedestrians and cyclists need to have some sort of defense mechanism to deal with inattentive and ignorant of the rules of the road drivers.
The Herald is pretty determined on fracking. The number of pro-fracking editorials and columns they’ve written on the subject has been staggering (Surrette being the only nay that I recall). I have never seen anything quite like it. What’s really striking is they’re not reflecting any popular opinion. Nova Scotian’s seem ambivalent or opposed. There is no outcry on the streets or in the media and yet the Herald carries on. They seem to be on a one-paper mission to overturn the ban. Makes me feel like I can’t trust anything they write on the subject. They’re so obviously biased, it’s gross, which is particularly worrisome considering they’re the only large daily we have. So much for journalistic integrity.
I would be curious to know who their investment base is….their board of directors are below. Maybe the board has ties to parties that would be interested in seeing Nova Scotia fracked…
SARAH A. DENNIS Director
MARK LEVER Director
IAN THOMPSON Director
IAN SCOTT Director
MARK LEVER PRESIDENT & CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
IAN THOMPSON ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER
SARAH A. DENNIS CHAIRMAN & PUBLISHER
IAN SCOTT VICE PRESIDENT, OPERATIONS
source: https://rjsc.gov.ns.ca/rjsc/
Search for THE HALIFAX HERALD LIMITED
Buddy over at the University of Moncton – Donald Savoie – is quoted in the opinion article in the Herald about fracking. But if you go to the original article he is actually promoting a post-confederate agenda.
“Our three provincial governments should declare the Maritime region a free-trade zone.”
Free trade zones and export processing zones are hell on earth. When governments hand over their countries to multi-national corporations in the form of free trade zones and export processing zones local environmental protections and labour rights are sacrificed.
Turning the Maritimes into an export processing zone or free trade zone would be great for multinational corporations and bad for the people of Nova Scotia, water sources, and the atmosphere.
Savoie’s fantasy of sacrificing Nova Scotia to the neoliberal globalization project is based on dirty energy and cheap labour. Not only is he is parroting old economic ideas from the 90’s but he has a fossil fuel extractivist mindset that has no place in the future because it is not sustainable.
And take note of the dictatorial tone: “Our three provincial governments should declare the Maritime region a free-trade zone.”
He’s not saying the people should vote on whether or not to turn the Maritimes into a free trade zone, he’s calling for a government declaration that would undermine hard won environmental protections and labour rights.
Check buddy out: http://thechronicleherald.ca/opinion/1239376-now-or-never-maritimes-in-no-position-to-shun-development
Sounds like a new form of separatism.
Peter Kelly
“…more accountability and more productivity, more efficiency and more response to taxpayers”
I don’t mean to give a dog a bad name etc etc….but I wonder how PK’s rep is helping with the implementation of the above…..just sayin’ 😐