LEGENDARY NOVA SCOTIA MUSICIAN FRANK MacKAY DIES FOLLOWING SURGERY
Nova Scotia has lost one of its best-known voices and stage performers with the death of Frank MacKay following surgery on Wednesday. The Chronicle-Herald reports on MacKay’s life as “One of the province’s original rock and roll and soul music performers.” The New Glasgow-born singer learned to work a crowd when he joined Truro’s legendary dance band The Lincolns, which toured the region through the 1960s, before attracting national attention as a member of the hard rock group Soma in the early ’70s. At that time, Toronto Star music writer Peter Goddard noted MacKay’s road-seasoned voice was “so powerful it could cut through a platinum slab.” Eventually becoming a solo artist, writing his own songs as well as maintaining the interpretive skills he’d honed with The Lincolns, MacKay also made the leap to acting in the late 1970s, most notably with the musical stage show Rock and Roll, written by former Lincolns member John Gray and based on the band’s days of searching for pop success on the back roads of Nova Scotia. The 1985 CBC-TV production of Gray’s play, retitled The King of Friday Night, earned MacKay an ACTRA Award nomination, and MacKay would go on to appear on stages across the country, as well as being a familiar presence in the Maritimes at Neptune Theatre, Festival Antigonish and the Charlottetown Festival. (Story compliments of Herald.ca)
PICTOU COUNTY 2020 BOLD MOVING FORWARD TONIGHT
Pictou County 2020 BOLD says ingenuity is not always easy when you’re creating the county you want to live in. So they’re hosting a brainstorming event this evening at 6:30 at the Nova Scotia Community College Gym in Stellarton. In 2014, hundreds of people came together to create a vision of a healthy, united, thriving and “Bold Pictou County.” These meetings are meant to move things forward. They’re inviting people of all ages to join in conversation about those bold moves (large and small) that people in Pictou County are taking to make our county a better place to live.
SLIGHT UPTICK IN NB GAS PRICES
The price of gasoline is higher today for our neighbours across the border in New Brunswick. Their new top price for gasoline is up by 1.3 cents. New Brunswick diesel prices are down by 7-tenths of a penny. That slight increase may or may not make it into Nova Scotia prices when they’re set at midnight Thursday.
HOUSTON WANTS FORESTRY REPORT BY JUNE 30TH
Provincial Tory leader Tim Houston has introduced a law that he says will help the forest industry thrive in Nova Scotia. It’s a sector worth $2-point-1 billion and more than 11,000 jobs across the province and Houston says it deserves a task force. That task force, if it goes ahead, would be led by a conciliator, and would make recommendations no later than June 30th. With the deadline for the closure of Boat Harbour approaching seven months after that, people in the forestry sector are worried. They say if Northern Pulp has to close even temporarily while a new treatment is built, dollars will be lost. Northern Pulp has now issued a news release expressing frustration that the discussion in the provincial legislature has not included talk of granting an extension to the use of the Boat Harbour Treatment Facility past January, 2020.
Since 2017, the Town of Stellarton has spent about $350,000 to keep its rink open. But Mayor Danny MacGillvary says that can’t continue because of looming expenses needed to bring it up to code. The town says the rink, which was built in 1947, is not used full-time. The town went public with its findings in January and held a public meeting. Since then, a group has been petitioning Stellarton Councillors to reconsider closing the rink until February of NEXT year.
The Former Principal Secretary to Justin Trudeau has testified that the only reason Trudeau shuffled his cabinet in January was that Scott Brison quit politics. Gerald Butts has told the parliamentary justice committee that Trudeau needed an experienced minister replacing Brison as president of the Treasury Board and was concerned about choosing a brand-new Nova Scotia minister without alienating other Nova Scotia MPs. He says SNC-Lavalin was not a consideration. In his account, Trudeau and his aides chose Jane Philpott for Treasury Board because she was already in a related job. That’s how Jody Wilson-Raybould got offered Indigenous Services. Wilson-Raybould said no because she disagreed with the Indian Act. Trudeau apparently thought having a First Nations woman in that job would send an important message about reconciliation.
Raybould told the committee last week that she believes the pressure she faced about SNC Lavalin was inappropriate but not illegal. Both she and cabinet-sidekick Jane Philpott have said they intend to remain in the Liberal caucus.
The province says some long-after changes should soon give municipalities more autonomy and flexibility in how they spend our property tax money. Currently, municipalities can only spend tax dollars on items on a list in the Municipal Government Act. If they want to spend money on goods or services that aren’t on the list, a change in the law is needed. So the McNeil Liberals have introduced amendments this week that will remove the list from the MGA so municipalities can bring their priorities to the top of the list. The Federation of Municipalities is impressed. Group President Waye Mason says the changes introduced on Tuesday will give municipal leaders the tools they need to react quickly and in the best interests of their citizens.
The correctional services an inmate at the Womens’ prison in Truro died in hospital on the weekend. 28-year-old Samantha Wallace was transported to the Truro hospital on Saturday and her family members were contacted. The service says she passed away Monday in the presence of family members, but they haven’t provided details about the circumstances surrounding her death. Wallace had been serving her first federal sentence just over 2 years for extortion, criminal harassment, weapons possession and a string of charges like mischief and disobeying a judge.
There are a number of International Women’s Day events slated for the local area FRIDAY. There’s a yoga class at 10 at The Morrell Dance Company on Archimedes Street. Pictou Landing has an event at the New Glasgow Library at 11 am. There’s a luncheon at Trinity United Church that’s now SOLD OUT. There’s also a presentation and Children’s Reading at the Pictou Library from 3 o’clock to 4:30, and an international food event at Shaun’s Place on Provost Street from 7 until 10 in evening. And there’s also a showcase of artwork celebrating women downtown. It’s being held by local artist, Janet Wallace. The reception on is from 6pm-8pm TOMORROW NIGHT at the Studio Lab Gallery in New Glasgow
Also tomorrow, it’s opening day at the new Big Brothers-Big Sisters building. that’s from 9 until 4 tomorrow at 323 MacGregor Street in New Glasgow.
SPORTS
The Pictou County Weeks Junior A Crushers are in a MUST win situation as they host the South Shore Lumberjacks tonight at the Wellness Centre. This is the last regular season game of 2019. Puck drops at 7 o’clock this evening.
A big congratulations to Stellarton’s Blayre Turnbull and Jill Saulnier on being selected to represent Team Canada at the 2019 Womens Worlds in Finland. That even gets underway next month. All the best, to Blayre and Jill….and good luck to Troy Ryan who will be on the bench as an assistant coach for Team Canada in that major tournament as well.
In Pee Wee C Hockey, the Trenton Steelers defeated The Thorburn Hawks 14 – 1. Scoring for the Steelers was Ethan MacKay with 4, Derrick Mackay with 3, Jake Maloney and Landon Martin each scored twice, Thai Macdonald, Brett Butler and Jesse Arbuckle all added singles. Assists came from Ethan Mackay 3, Ross Swinamer 3, Butler 2, Arbuckle, lane MacFarlane, cole Macgregor, Tyson barteaux and Maloney all with one.
Thorburn’s goal came from Cale Cameron. The winning goalie was Caden Macdonald.
