The majority of Pictou County was without power for several hours yesterday afternoon due to what Nova Scotia Power described as a “Transmission Issue” Power has since been restored to all affected areas, but Mount Thom to Arisaig was affected by the outage.

 

Pictou Landing First Nation is moving to take control of cannabis regulation on its own land.

In a new statement, the community says it’s introducing its own Cannabis Control Law, citing its inherent rights and title, along with the right to self-govern under the Constitution.

Leaders say federal and provincial cannabis laws introduced in 2018 did not properly recognize First Nations jurisdiction.

The new law aims to regulate cannabis within the community, while protecting the health, safety and well-being of its members.

This move comes after RCMP were at shops on the reservation yesterday, but nothing has been stated publicly by the RCMP as of this morning  

 

Nova Scotia Power says it will delete all social insurance numbers from its systems following last year’s major cyberattack.

More than 900-thousand current and former customers were impacted in the breach, which exposed sensitive personal information.

The company has also committed to an external security review, with a report due by the end of October.

Federal privacy officials say the move is a step toward stronger protections, as concerns around data security continue to grow.

 

Provincial regulators have approved Nova Scotia Power’s request for rate increases. Rates will increase by 3.8% in 2026 and 4.1% in 2027 (roughly 8% total). Regulators approved the hike with reductions. Including $8 million annually in expenses and $1.8 million in fuel costs. NS Power must also cut executive pay and scrap the smart meter opt-out fee.

 

Fighting in the Middle East is escalating as Iran rejects a U.S.-backed ceasefire and continues strikes on Israel and Gulf states, including a drone attack that sparked a fire at Kuwait’s main airport.

The United States is deploying more troops to the region, while Israel expands airstrikes on Tehran.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump says the U.S. is in talks with Iranian leadership and has given Tehran five more days to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face possible attacks on key infrastructure. Iran denies any negotiations are taking place.

The conflict, now in its fourth week, continues to drive global instability and raise fears of a wider regional war.

 

Nova Scotia’s legislature is now closed to the public after a protest disrupted debate on the provincial budget.

The move comes after demonstrators in the gallery broke into song Tuesday night, delaying the final vote on the government’s spending bill.

Officials say Province House will remain closed to visitors for the rest of the week, with only MLAs, staff and accredited media allowed inside.

Premier Tim Houston’s government says the controversial budget — which includes more than 300 million dollars in cuts — will still move forward when the House resumes.