Eighteen months after a public inquiry was established in Nova Scotia to investigate the 2020 mass shooting, lawyers representing most of the 22 victims say they are troubled about its slow progress and lack of witness testimony.  With less than six months remaining before the inquiry is due to submit a final report, lawyer Tara Miller says the inquiry is running out of time, given the amount of evidence that has yet to be heard. So far, the inquiry has heard sworn testimony from 21 witnesses, but only nine have been R-C-M-P officers involved in the 13-hour manhunt for the killer.  The commission has committed to having senior officers testify, but no dates have been set.

 

Pictou County District RCMP are investigating a break-in involving a theft of firearms, an RV and ATV from a property on Shady Lane in Pictou Landing.  Police got the call early Friday afternoon at about 1:15 p.m.  Officers arrived to learn that a number of firearms were taken, including:

• Smith & Wesson Silver .22 caliber handgun;
• Ruger single action .22 caliber handgun;
• Browning .300 Winchester rifle with a dark wood finish;
• Savage 12-gauge pistol grip shotgun.

Other items taken from the residence include a black Stack-On firearms safe, a 60” television, a fridge, a small utility trailer and a significant quantity of hunting and fishing gear.  Two vehicles, a 1999 Dutch Star Motorhome bearing the Nova Scotia camper plate 41 140, and a blue Honda FourTrax ATV were also taken from the property.  RCMP believe that the suspect gained access to the home between May 5 and May 13.

 

R-C-M-P say a 35-year-old Bible Hill man is dead following a head-on highway collision between two pickup trucks. Police say they responded to the crash on Laybolt Road in Onslow Mountain Friday night. The 54-year-old driver of one of the trucks sustained minor injuries and was taken to hospital while the other man was pronounced dead at the scene. The Mounties say they are being assisted in their investigation by the Nova Scotia Medical Examiner’s Office.

 

Nova Scotia’s largest union has a new president. Sandra Mullen replaces Jason MacLean who did not run for another term after six years as president of the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union. Mullen, a licensing officer with the Department of Community Services in Yarmouth, was acclaimed to her new job during the final day of the union’s triennial convention. The N-S-G-E-U represents over 34-thousand workers.

 

The Natural Resources Department says a wildfire near Upper Musquodoboit is contained.  A spokesman said yesterday that a favourable change in weather and an increase in the relative humidity has helped the progress of firefighters.  Meanwhile, a fire near Horseshoe Lake in Yarmouth County also remains under control.  There is a provincewide burn ban in place

 

He was the victim of one of Canada’s most notorious miscarriages of justice.  David Milgaard has died at 69 following a short illness. Milgaard was only 16 when he was charged in the January 1969 murder of Saskatoon nursing aide Gail Miller.  He would spend 23 years in prison on a wrongful conviction until his release in 1992. The high court threw out the conviction and he was finally exonerated in July 1997.