52-YEAR OLD FOX BROOK MAN CHARGED WITH TRYING TO MURDER OCCUPANTS IN ABERCROMBIE MOBILE HOME MONDAY EVENING

A 52-year-old Fox Brook man has made his first court appearance on charges that include attempted murder in connection with Monday night’s fire inside a mobile home in Abercrombie.  RCMP say a man entered the trailer and sprayed a flammable substance at the man and three women inside, then lit the mini-home on fire and took off.   The women did not appear to be physically injured, but the man’s injuries are life-threatening.  As a result, 52-year-old Daniel Kenneth Stewart of Fox Brook is charged with two counts of attempted murder, 3 counts of arson with disregard to human life, three more counts of arson causing bodily harm, aggravated assault and other charges that include assault, 4 counts of mischief and being unlawfully inside a dwelling.  (Brian Cameron photo)

 

PAIR OF PICTOU MEN CHARGED WITH STEALING PUBLIC WORKS TRAILER IN AMHERST 

A pair of men from Pictou have made their first court appearance after a utility trailer and truck were stolen from the public works garage in Amherst just before New Year’s.

Amherst Police confirm 31-year-old Jeremy Lalonde-Drake and 28-year-old Ryan Mackenzie each face charges of theft of property over $5,000, possession of property obtained by crime over $5000, and possession of break-in tools.

Lalonde-Drake is also charged with breaching a probation order, while Mackenzie is charged with the extra counts of obstructing a police officer and breaching a judge’s orders.

Police found a flat bed trailer and a truck stuck in the ditch on the upper end of Church Street, near Robert Angus Drive, last Wednesday, December 30^th, just up the street from the Amherst Superstore and Walmart locations.

Both Pictou men were arrested with “break-in” tools inside the truck.

Drake and MacKenzie appeared in court on New Year’s Eve and are now facing a 2^nd court appearance next month.

 

SIX NEW CASES IN LATEST NOVA SCOTIA COVID COUNT

Nova Scotia is reporting six new cases of COVID-19 from Sunday and Monday in the latest update, bringing the active case count in the province to 27.

Two cases are being reported from Sunday, one in the Western Zone related to travel outside of Atlantic Canada and the other is under investigation in the Eastern Zone.

Four cases were reported yesterday in the Central Zone, but are not connected to a private school in Dartmouth that turned in 5 previous cases. Premier McNeil and Dr. Robert Strang are expected to update the situation this afternoon. **(There’s important information about two more flights to Halifax from Toronto as recently as New Year’s Eve where COVID exposure is a possibility – and about two Halifax grocery stores at the bottom on this news page)

DELOREY KICKS OFF NEW YEAR WITH BUSINESS PROMISES IF HE TAKES GRIT LEADERSHIP

Provincial Liberal Party leadership hopeful Randy Delorey is pitching a series of policies meant to improve the province’s economy and help Nova Scotians on the other side of COVID-19, including offering free tuition in some cases.

Delorey’s ideas include deferring provincial tax and loan payments for Nova Scotia businesses until after the pandemic state of emergency is lifted. The plan also includes cash flow loans for small businesses, as well as grants for facility upgrades and tourism marketing.

Provincial income tax would be waived until Dec 31st for hospitality and food service businesses, given that they’ve been the most impacted by the pandemic.

 

WARDEN SAYS PICTOU COUNTY HAD UPS AND DOWNS IN 2020

Pictou County Warden Robert Parker says despite the pandemic, growth continues in the local area.  The Warden says people might expect that with a pandemic and the price of lumber being sky high, that the amount of construction in Pictou County would be cut in half from the year previous, but that’s not the case.  The Warden says the numbers for 2020 say it all – with just over $20 million dollars in new construction across the County last year, that’s down by less than 4%  – not the 50 per cent that the County’s senior managers were expecting.

The Warden admits the County’s high-speed internet plans are about two months behind schedule, due to supply chain slowdowns. But Parker says Pictou County is still on track to have the first 1000 homes connected to high-speed by spring. He says people around the council table are also going after federal cash, to allow the municipality to give urgent wireless service to up to 5000 Pictou County homes, hopefully by this coming November. On the issue of mental health services in Pictou County, Parker says local municipal units will have to continue working together to make sure people aren’t left out.

NOVA SCOTIA POLITICIANS APPEAR TO HAVE BEHAVED BY STAYING HOME FOR CHRISTMAS

Unlike their counterparts in other provinces, Nova Scotia politicians appear to have followed public health advice and avoided non-essential travel outside of Canada during the Christmas and New Year’s holiday period.  The story is quite different in other parts of the country…as is evidenced in the spate of stories on that from MLAs and MP’s in Alberta, Quebec and Ontario.   Pictou East MLA Tim Houston, who, as you know is the P-C leader issued a statement saying that if anyone in the Nova Scotia Tory caucus left the country during the pandemic for a vacation or to visit family, “they  QUOTE – would be immediately removed from our caucus.”  He says politicians should set the example, rather than thinking they are the exception to the rule.  Adding “If that’s too much to ask, there are plenty of other jobs they can do instead.”

On the Liberal side of the house, three of Stephen McNeil’s cabinet ministers and four MLA’s travelled outside the province during 2020, but not during the Christmas holidays.  Transportation Minister Lloyd Hines visited both P.E.I. and New Brunswick in August. African Affairs Minister Tony Ince travelled to Newfoundland in November before the Atlantic bubble was burst and Community Services Minister Kelly Regan travelled to Ontario in September.

During that same, lower COVID risk period back in June, Hammonds Plains-Lucasville MLA Ben Jessome travelled to British Columbia. The same month, Clayton Park West MLA Rafah DiCostanzo travelled to Ontario “for compassionate reasons.”

Kings South MLA Keith Irving travelled to P.E.I. and Ontario in July and August respectively.

Liberal leadership contender and Antigonish MLA Randy Delorey travelled to P.E.I. in August.

Timberlea-Prospect MLA Iain Rankin, also a Liberal leadership contender, travelled to the Bahamas on March 13, nine days before the government declared a state of emergency. He returned three days later on March 16^th.

The province says none of the ministers or MLAs was ever in violation of any public health orders.  And the ones who left the Atlantic bubble self-isolated for 14 days when they returned to Nova Scotia.

 

TRURO POLICE INVESTIGATE DOWNTOWN BANK ROBBERY CALL

There’s nothing like trying to rob a bank to get the attention of police. A 40-year-old man has been arrested for armed robbery following an incident at the Scotiabank in downtown Truro yesterday morning.   Truro Police brought out their K9 Unit within moments of that robbery call just before 10 o’clock yesterday morning and began actively looking for the suspect.  He was located in a downtown Truro apartment building, and arrested.

 

COLLISION TIES UP TRAFFIC IN STEWIACKE

RCMP had to close part of the old highway after a two-vehicle collision in Stewiacke yesterday.

Crews were on the scene on Stewiacke Road around 10:30 am, where a 35-year-old driver had to be airlifted to Halifax, while her passenger’s injuries were deemed to be minor, and the driver of the truck also ended up with just minor injuries.

 

SEARCH CONTINUES FOR YARMOUTH COUNTY MAN

Two grocery store owners are each putting up a $1,000 reward in their effort to help RCMP track down a missing man whose 21^st birthday was yesterday. Zachery Lefave of Hebron worked at one of those grocery outlets, and was last seen walking on Highway 334 in Plymouth at around 12:30 on New Year’s Day morning.  That,  after leaving a local gathering wearing a pair of shorts and a shirt.  Police say it appears a person leaving that gathering drove by Lefave as they were driving another person back home from the New Year’s Eve party.  But when they came back to find Lefave, he was nowhere to be found, and hasn’t been seen since.

 

COVID EXPOSURE POSSIBLE ON FLIGHTS FROM TORONTO AND HALIFAX AREA STORES (Updated Tuesday Morning)