Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston and Queens MLA Kim Masland will be speaking at a luncheon in Liverpool on Feb. 7. (Tim Houston Facebook page)
By Rick Conrad
Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston and Queens MLA Kim Masland will be speaking at a luncheon organized by the South Queens Chamber of Commerce on Feb. 7.
The two-hour event is being held at the Best Western Plus in Liverpool. The chamber says it’s a “prime opportunity” for Queens County’s business leaders and others to talk with the two politicians about the area’s future.
Houston and Masland, who is also Nova Scotia’s minister of public works, will speak about rural economic development. In addition to the speeches, the event will feature success stories from local businesses.
Attendees will get to ask Houston and Masland questions in a Q&A session. The chamber wants questions submitted no later than Feb. 1 to secretary@southqueenschamber.com.
RCMP are looking for a suspect in thefts in Digby and Queens County. (RCMP photo)
RCMP in Queens County and Digby are looking for a person of interest in a break and enter at two businesses.
On Jan. 23, at 11:37 p.m., Digby RCMP responded to a commercial alarm on Prince William Street in Digby.
Somebody broke into the business through the front door and drove away in a blue Mazda with $8,000 in merchandise.
On Jan. 24, at 2:10 a.m., somebody stole a black and yellow 2004 Ford truck from R & C Weare Logging Ltd. in Harmony Mills, Queens County. Shortly afterward, the truck was found undamaged.
RCMP say surveillance footage from the area shows a man wearing a hat, a dark hoodie with CAT on the front and rubber boots.
RCMP are looking for a suspect in thefts in Digby and Queens County. (RCMP photo)
Anyone with information or who can identify the suspect is asked to contact the Digby RCMP Detachment at 902-245-2579 or Queens District RCMP at 902-354-5721. Or you can call Nova Scotia Crime Stoppers, anonymously and toll-free, at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). You can also submit a tip at www.crimestoppers.ns.ca.
The cast of Follies rehearses at the Astor Theatre in Liverpool. (Rick Conrad photo)
By Rick Conrad
Liverpool will soon get a chance to see the first adult musical at the Astor Theatre since Rock of Ages in 2018.
The Astor and Winds of Change are co-producing the Stephen Sondheim musical Follies. The Tony-award-winning show features elaborate costumes and big musical and dance numbers.
Set in 1971, in a decaying and haunted Broadway theatre, Follies tells the story of a reunion of former showgirls through their memories and their enduring friendships.
It features more than two dozen cast members from around Queens and Lunenburg counties, ranging in age from 14 to 77. That’s in addition to the many other people behind the scenes.
Cast and crew have spent hours each week over the past two months in vocal and dance training, as well as regular rehearsals.
Ashley-Rose Goodwin, director of Follies at the Astor Theatre. (Rick Conrad photo)
Director Ashley-Rose Goodwin estimates she’s spent about 50 hours a week with individuals and the full cast in preparing the show. The company has also partnered with Kinship Performing Arts Centre in Bridgewater to include some of their dancers in the show, and to help train cast members.
We talked to some of the people behind the show as they ramp up rehearsals in preparation for opening night on Feb. 22.
The emergency department at Queens General Hospital in Liverpool. (Rick Conrad photo)
By Rick Conrad
The emergency department at Queens General Hospital in Liverpool will be closed today from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Nova Scotia Health gave no reason for the temporary closure. This will be the 13th time this month that the emergency department has been closed for all or part of the day.
A Nova Scotia Health official told QCCR last week that the ER has a “significant” staff vacancy rate and needs to hire 10 more nurses. She did not know how many more doctors are needed.
The emergency department at South Shore Regional Hospital in Bridgewater is open. Or Nova Scotia Health suggests calling 911 if you have a medical emergency. For general health advice and information, call 811.
Patients of Queens Family Health can also call the same-day clinic at Queens General at 902-354-3322.
If you’re on the Need a Family Practice Registry, you can access VirtualCareNS.
Region of Queens councillors are looking for ways to improve safety at the intersection at Main and Market streets in Liverpool. (Rick Conrad photo)
By Rick Conrad
Councillors at the Region of Queens want something done to address pedestrian safety at the three-way stop in downtown Liverpool.
The intersection at Main and Market streets has seen its share of collisions and close calls.
On Monday, a 79-year-old woman was hit in the crosswalk and taken to South Shore Regional Hospital in Bridgewater. RCMP said her injuries were not life-threatening. A driver was charged with failing to yield to a pedestrian in a marked crosswalk.
The incident reignited concern in the community about the safety of that intersection and others in town.
At its meeting on Tuesday, council voted to have staff review previous studies and reports and come back with recommendations to make the three-way stop safer.
“I understand the frustrations,” Mayor Darlene Norman said Wednesday in an interview.
“Over my years of driving, I have been on both sides of that coin,” as a pedestrian and as a motorist.
According to minutes from a July 2019 meeting, the previous council had rejected the idea of crosswalk lights. It would have cost $27,000.
Then-CAO Chris McNeill told councillors that it was staff’s opinion that installing lights “will not improve safety or eliminate pedestrians’ inattention when crossing the intersection”.
Instead, councillors at the time decided to post a “no left turn” sign for post office parking, remove any trees or shrubbery obstructing visibility, and asking the Queens District RCMP to step up enforcement, including traffic stops during peak hours.
A 2015 study by Insight Traffic Engineering recommended changing some signage, moving the stop sign and crosswalk from the western approach on Main Street, and moving the sidewalk shrubbery and furniture.
The study concluded that existing traffic control wasn’t an issue.
Leanne Arnott, owner of nearby Five Girls Baking, said this week after the most recent incident that pedestrian-controlled lights should be installed.
“In other cities where I have lived with pedestrian-controlled crosswalks they seem to have been very effective and very useful and I think that in this situation that would be a good thing to have here.”
Arnott said she’s happy that council is going to address the issue, but that they should also involve the community in their discussions.
Norman said Wednesday that councillors have heard many ideas — from full traffic lights to having orange flags available at each corner for pedestrians to carry as they cross.
She said they will consider all options and wait for staff to come back with a report.
“Council places public safety first. I do not believe this council would ever make a decision not to do something because of the cost.”
She said she personally supports installing accessible pedestrian signals, which include lights and sound when a pedestrian chooses to cross. But it is ultimately council’s decision.
Still, Norman said, it’s the responsibility of pedestrians and motorists to be careful in all intersections.
“So while council can do everything in its power, be it installation of traffic lights, basically it boils down to pedestrians and those driving the vehicles using safety as a No. 1 factor when going through intersections.”
Norman said they’ve heard from residents about other areas in Liverpool where safety is a problem, such as the intersection at Queens Place Drive.
And in November, residents of Main and School streets submitted a petition to council, urging the region to lower speed limits in the area and to create a four-way stop at the intersection.
Councillors also asked staff to study those and other areas that need attention.
Tim Nickerson, Lyn Oakley and Rosalee Smith at the Seaside Centre in Beach Meadows on Tuesday. (Rick Conrad photo)
By Rick Conrad
For Lyn Oakley, having more fish farms near her home boils down to one thing.
“My biggest concern is poop,” the Eagle Head resident says, referring to the fish waste produced at the facilities. “There is no way that the ocean with its tides is flushing that area. It’s not capable of doing that.”
Oakley was at the Seaside Centre in Beach Meadows on Tuesday with other residents working on their letters to the Nova Scotia Aquaculture Review Board to oppose a proposed fish farm expansion in Liverpool Bay.
The review board will hold a public hearing on an application by Kelly Cove Salmon to expand its current fish farming operation off Coffin Island, near Liverpool, from 14 pens to 20. It also wants to create new sites off Brooklyn and Mersey Point. The new locations would add another 40 pens to their operation.
The hearing begins March 4 at the Best Western Plus in Liverpool.
If successful, Kelly Cove would farm up to an estimated 1.8 million salmon at the three sites. It currently raises about 400,000 at its location near Coffin Island.
The grassroots group Protect Liverpool Bay is one of five groups granted intervenor status at the hearing. The others are the Region of Queens, the Brooklyn Marina, a group of 23 lobster fishermen and Kwilmu’kw Maw-Klusuaqn, which is representing the Acadia First Nation.
As part of the review process, anyone can submit comments to the board by Feb. 12. But they must address at least one of eight factors the review board considers under the province’s aquaculture regulations.
That’s why some residents gathered on Tuesday to make sure their letters were in a format that would be accepted by the review board.
Oakley said the session was helpful to learn from other community members.
“These kinds of information sessions make sure that my objections are going to be accepted into the record and my voice will be heard.”
Rosalee Smith, who also lives in Eagle Head, said it’s important for the community to be heard.
“I think numbers speak. The people on the ground, the people who are gonna live next to this, the people who will have to look at this, the people who will be suffering because of this I think need to speak up and say, ‘No, we don’t want it.’”
Protect Liverpool Bay has been fighting the fish farm expansion since 2018. It was on hand to offer any other information to residents about the review hearing process.
Beach Meadows resident Tim Nickerson said he’s working on his own letter, but also wanted to help others with theirs.
“I just think that the ask for the bay is just excessive. It’s just too much for that space to handle.”
Local residents say they are worried about the fish farm’s effects on the lobster fishery, the area’s beaches and other uses of the bay.
They’re also concerned that more fish in more enclosed spaces will mean more pollution, pesticides and antibiotics released into the ocean. They point to sea lice infestations, fish escapes, equipment debris and fish kills.
There are two more information sessions planned at the Seaside Centre, on Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m. and Saturday from noon to 4 p.m.
RCMP were at the scene of a crash in the crosswalk at Main and Market streets in Liverpool on Monday morning. (Rick Conrad photo)
By Rick Conrad
A 79-year-old woman was taken to South Shore Regional Hospital on Monday morning after she was hit in the crosswalk at Main and Market streets in Liverpool.
The collision occurred at 11:21 a.m., an RCMP spokesman said. The woman’s injuries are not life-threatening.
Police have charged a driver with failing to yield to a pedestrian in a marked crosswalk.
The three-way stop at the corner of Main and Market streets has seen collisions and close calls before.
Leanne Arnott, owner of Five Girls Baking, said she has witnessed some of them.
“In fact, I myself have had a very close call,” she said Monday. “That was a couple of years ago and I was three-quarters of the way through the intersection when somebody decided not to stop and I actually had to put my hands on the hood of their car and jump back before they ran me over.”
She did not see Monday’s incident, but noticed emergency personnel tending to the woman, who was lying on the street.
Arnott said the intersection is unsafe and the municipality should install pedestrian-controlled lights to help alert drivers.
“As a business owner, watching this intersection daily, it is not safe. And I think if you were to ask anybody who lives around here, walks around here or even drives through the intersection on a regular basis, you’ll be told that this intersection is absolutely not safe.”
She said she’s worried more people will get hurt if something isn’t done soon.
A spokesperson for the municipality was not available to comment Monday.
Region of Queens Municipality administration building. (Rick Conrad photo)
By Rick Conrad
Fire trucks and Airbnbs are on the agenda as Region of Queens council meets Tuesday evening in Milton.
Council has four meetings a year in a community facility in a different part of Queens County. Tuesday’s meeting begins at 6 p.m. at the Milton Community Hall, 168 Tupper St., Milton.
Councillors will discuss a policy to help the county’s five fire departments with vehicle purchases according to a set schedule.
The current schedule expired last year. And council will be discussing a new timetable that will expire in 2035.
The Mill Village fire department has asked the region for $275,000 in loan payments over 10 years toward a new $711,810 fire truck.
Under the proposed new funding arrangment, the maximum amounts available to fire departments for the next two fiscal years for new equipment would remain at $275,000 for pumpers, tankers and aerial trucks and $100,000 for rescue and utility vehicles.
From 2026/27 to 2034/35, those amounts would increase to $425,000 for new trucks and $200,000 for rescue vehicles.
The amounts would be reviewed with fire chiefs every two years.
Also on council’s agenda Tuesday evening, owners of short-term rentals in Queens County may get a chance to have their say on a tourism accommodation levy.
The Nova Scotia government made it possible in 2022 for municipalities to tax all tourist lodging up to a maximum of three per cent.
Since last April, all short-term rentals must sign up with a provincial registry. They must also follow municipal land-use bylaws.
According to a staff report to council, a three per cent levy could raise about $240,000 per year. The extra revenue would go toward boosting local tourism efforts.
But first, staff is suggesting that the region consult the owners of such properties.
An augmentative communication device for children with autism. (Communications Nova Scotia)
Nova Scotians who have a child with autism can now apply for up to $3,000 to cover costs of equipment, supplies and other expenses.
The Autism Family Support Fund is open to lower-income families with an autistic child 16 years old or younger.
The provincial government announced the funding Monday.
Some examples of equipment eligible for funding include door alarms and minor home improvements, educational materials, respite costs, travel, or programming such as camps or tutoring.
The province says families should apply by Feb. 23 for the one-time grant.
Loblaw, the company that owns Superstore, confirmed earlier this week that it would stop offering discounts of up to 50 per cent on foods that are near their best before dates.
Instead, they said they would mark them down by 30 per cent. Late Friday afternoon, though, the company said it would keep the 50 per cent discount.
The change to the lower discount hadn’t happened yet at the Superstore in Liverpool. Discounted food items there were still at 50 per cent off.
But we asked shoppers in Liverpool what they thought of the possible change. Here’s what they had to say.
Charges have been laid in last spring’s Barrington Lake wildfire. (Communications Nova Scotia photo)
By Rick Conrad
A 22-year-old Shelburne County man has been charged in last year’s historic Barrington Lake wildfire.
Dalton Clark Stewart, of Villagedale, was charged under the Forests Act on Wednesday. He is accused of lighting a fire on private land without permission, failing to take reasonable efforts to prevent the spread of a fire and leaving a fire unattended.
Stewart is scheduled to appear in Shelburne provincial court on March 7.
These are not criminal charges. Police have said they don’t plan to pursue criminal charges in the wildfires. The Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources and Renewables investigated and laid the charges.
In a news release Thursday, the department said it is still investigating the wildfire in Tantallon last spring. It has two years from the date of an offence to lay charges.
The maximum penalties under the Forests Act are a $50,000 fine and/or six months in jail.
The Barrington Lake wildfire began on May 26 and burned 23,379 hectares. It was declared under control on June 13. The Tantallon wildfire began May 28 and burned 969 hectares. It was declared under control June 4. Both fires were extinguished on July 26.
The Barrington Lake fire forced the evacuation of more than 6,000 people and destroyed 60 homes and cottages, as well as 150 other buildings. The Tantallon fire razed 151 homes and forced more than 16,000 residents to flee the area.
The wildfire that spread through Shelburne County was the worst in the province’s recorded history.
Staffing shortages are once again being blamed for ongoing temporary closures at the emergency department at Queens General Hospital in Liverpool.
Darlene Davis, the executive director for community and rural health for Nova Scotia Health’s western zone, said Thursday it boils down to not enough doctors or nurses, despite hiring efforts to bolster the Queens ER in the past year.
“We have seen more frequent closures than we’d like to see in the ED department, certainly,” she said in an interview.
“We’re constantly in a position of recruitment. And it is a challenge to try to keep staff onboarded. People leave for a variety of reasons, so whether it’s retirement or they’re relocating or just looking for other opportunities.”
The ER was closed from Wednesday morning at 11:30 to Thursday at 8 a.m. It closed again later Thursday at 1:30 p.m. and will reopen Friday morning at 8. It will remain open until Sunday at 5 a.m., when it will close until Monday at 8 a.m.
According to numbers provided by Nova Scotia Health, temporary closures affected the Queens General emergency department for 13 days in November, 15 in December, and 10 so far in January. Those were usually closures for part of the day, but some were full-day closures.
Davis said nurses are a key component to keeping the ER open. Queens General needs to hire 10 more in its emergency department alone. She didn’t know how many more doctors are needed.
“We have a significant vacancy rate there. We do add folks and we’ve got people who are leaving at the same time, so the bottom line is we need to continue to put our efforts toward recruitment and that’s our highest priority right now.”
Davis said ER schedules are planned at least four to eight weeks in advance, but they’re addressed on a daily basis.
“We certainly don’t plan to be closed. We plan to be open. And our goal is to provide as much reliability consistency as we possibly can to the community. So we’re striving to fill those shifts every day. Our goal is to be open seven days a week.”
People who need emergency care can go to the ER at South Shore Regional Hospital in Bridgewater, or call 911.
Patients of Queens Family Health can also access the same-day clinic for certain conditions by calling 902-354-3322.
The Mental Health and Addictions crisis line is available 24 hours a day at 1-888-429-8167.
Abigail Smith, 16, of Brooklyn, stands with her coach Jason Scott, displaying one of the two bronze medals she won at the Elite National Championships in Edmonton on Jan. 13 and 14. (Photo via Abigail Smith)
By Rick Conrad
Abigail Smith credits a lot of people for her success so far and so young in national and international judo meets.
Her parents, her coaches, her teammates, her teachers.
But what really gets her into a competitive frame of mind is some good ol’ country music.
“A lot of people like to listen to pump-up music before a fight, but I like to listen to my country music to keep my calm and not thinking about judo before I do judo. That helps me to not think about what I have to do and then do it.”
So far, listening to the likes of Sam Barber and Luke Combs has helped keep the 16-year-old Brooklyn resident on the straight and narrow.
She won two bronze medals at a national judo meet in Edmonton last weekend, just before her 16th birthday. And in November, she captured silver and bronze at the Pan American Cup in Montreal, her first international competition.
The medals at the Elite National Judo Championships in Edmonton were especially sweet, she says, because it featured the top judo athletes from across the country.
“This is the biggest event in Canada. It’s a lot of work to get selected. So this year this was my favourite medal. Of course, I’m never happy with a bronze medal but this medal meant something to me so I was very happy with that. It means a lot.”
In Edmonton, she had her sights set on beating a rival judoka she hadn’t defeated yet. When they met in the U-18 division on Saturday, Smith lost to her. But on Sunday, in the senior division, Smith came back with a vengeance.
“She was my first fight and I had a very hard fight but I beat her, so winning that bronze medal meant a lot to me because I had been training specifically to beat that one person. So it was a big moment, we’d been working a while for that, me and my coach.”
Smith has been working at judo for 11 years. Based at Nova United Martial Arts in Halifax, she trains three to four days a week for up to two hours each session. That’s in addition to regular cardio and strength workouts.
She said her father Troy Smith first got her interested in the sport.
“My first coach worked with my dad and my dad was like, ‘I have a crazy daughter at home that needs to get some energy out,’ and he brought me to judo with his co-workers.”
Smith, who is in Grade 10 at Liverpool Regional High School, hasn’t looked back. She is ranked in the Judo Canada Top 10 in the U-18 division. Sport Nova Scotia has chosen her to be one of 12 Nova Scotia True Sport Athlete Ambassadors for 2024. True Sport emphasizes fair, inclusive and safe play.
She’ll be travelling to Denmark in early February to compete in the Danish Open.
And she just found out that she was selected to be part of Team Canada at the International Thuringia Cup Judo in Germany on March 23.
Competing nationally and internationally does cut into her school work, Smith says, but her teachers have been very supportive.
“I’m able to do what I’m doing, missing a lot of school because the teachers are very understanding and help me with my work to help me catch back up. So it’s nice to have teachers supporting me.”
She also credits the community support she’s received from the Region of Queens, Folk Law, Main and Mersey, Best Western Plus Liverpool and Sport Nova Scotia, as well as her coach Jason Scott and her teammates.
“People think judo is an individual sport and it is an individual sport, but it’s a huge team sport because you can’t get anywhere without your team, your training partners,” she says. “And having a good team you can rely on in sport and outside of sport is really important and that’s what’s helped me get so far in judo.”
She says she’s learned a lot of valuable lessons from the sport.
“That what you put in comes out. Whatever you want, it can happen. But you just have to put in that work and that extra effort and if you don’t, you’re not going to see the results you want, but if you do, then you’ll see results. And to be patient.”
With that frame of mind, she says she’s on track for her next big goal.
“I always say that I will be competing at Olympics and representing Canada at worlds one day so what I want to happen, I always say is going to happen. So hopefully, it will happen one day, Team Canada and the Olympics hopefully. We’re on track for that now.”
Nova Scotia RCMP say they charged 125 people with impaired driving offences in December.
In the numbers released Wednesday, RCMP said 55 of those charges involved impaired driving involving alcohol and seven were drug-impaired infractions. Fourteen of the charges were refusing the breathalyzer, while 49 people had their licences suspended for driving while impaired.
RCMP say impaired driving investigations can be complex, especially when they involve both alcohol and drugs. Refusing a breathalyser can result in the same penalty as impaired driving.
The Mounties say you should call 911 immediately if you see somebody driving erratically or unsafely.
The emergency department at Queens General Hospital in Liverpool will be closed for certain hours this week. (Rick Conrad photo)
By Rick Conrad
The emergency department at Queens General Hospital in Liverpool will be closed for the second time this week.
Nova Scotia Health sent out a news release at noon on Wednesday. They gave no reason for the temporary closures.
The ER closed Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. and will reopen Thursday at 8 a.m. It will close again later Thursday at 1:30 p.m. and reopen Friday at 8 a.m. It will remain open until Sunday at 5 a.m., when it will close until Monday at 8 a.m.
According to numbers provided by Nova Scotia Health, temporary closures affected the Queens General emergency department for 13 days in November, 15 in December, and nine so far in January. Those were usually closures for part of the day, but some were full-day closures.
The emergency department at South Shore Regional Hospital in Bridgewater remains open.
Nova Scotia Health is telling patients to call 911 if they have a medical emergency. Patients of Queens Family Health can also access the same-day clinic for certain conditions by calling 902-354-3322.
The Mental Health and Addictions crisis line is available 24 hours a day at 1-888-429-8167.
Watch out for the latest phone scam, RCMP say. (Pixabay)
Nova Scotia RCMP are warning people about a phone scam in which a caller poses as a Nova Scotia Power employee.
The scammer wants people to believe they didn’t pay for their smart meter installation, saying that if they don’t pay immediately, their power will be disconnected. The caller also claims that a technician is on his way to their home.
RCMP say it’s designed to trick people into giving out their personal information, like bank or credit card details. They advise that if you have any questions about your Nova Scotia Power account after an unexpected phone call, hang up and contact the company directly.
Liverpool Visitor Information Centre. Photo courtesy Region of Queens Municipality
By Rick Conrad
The Region of Queens is planning a nighttime outdoor party in February and everyone is invited.
Mayor Darlene Norman says the Light Up Queens Winter Night Festival is a free event and open to everyone. It will be held in Centennial Park on the Liverpool waterfront, next to the Visitor Information Centre.
“It is to bring fun, happiness, community, good times all together at a time in the year that is dismal and dark,” Norman said Tuesday. “So it would focus on diversity and culture. It’s planned to be a fun, free night involving all ages.”
Light Up Queens is scheduled for Sat., Feb. 24 from 5:30 to 9:30 pm.
Co-ordinating with the Nova Scotia Lobster Crawl, the event will feature more than 30 stations around the park, offering various artistic, cultural and winter-related activities. The Visitor Information Centre will be open, where there will be a pop-up restaurant, which will also be the site for the event’s “chowder house”, where they’ll be selling fresh seafood chowder.
TideKite, which has hosted a few kite-flying demonstrations in the park, will be on site flying special kites that light up in the dark. And they’ll offer a kite-making workshop.
Bridgewater’s DJ Danimal will be providing the music.
The Royal Canadian Legion across from the park will host a makers’ market featuring local artisans and vendors.
There will be other snacks available at the park, as well as hot drinks.
“So if you don’t want to do something physical, then maybe you want to go sit in one of the community tents and talk about night spirits,” Norman says. “There are all sorts of aspects. And everything is accessible for all of our people.
“It’s an event that’s for young, old, and in between.”
Warming tents or huts will be set up in the park. Free hats and coats will be available for those who need them. And the region will have their Mobi-Mats in the park to help those with mobility issues navigate the winter conditions.
“The idea was we wanted to make this as inclusive as we could,” Norman said. “And as we all know, inclusion also often hinges on a person’s financial ability to take part in things.”
The region is footing the $17,000 bill for the event. And Norman says they hope it will become an annual thing.
The region wanted to time the event for the opening weekend of the musical Follies at the Astor Theatre. And Norman says she hopes it will be a boon for local businesses, who are being encouraged to stay open that evening.
Stephanie Sereda, the region’s community development coordinator, came up with the idea. She says it’s been great to see how everybody has come together in such a short time to help get it off the ground.
“It’s just been a beautiful collaborative effort and everyone’s excited and given the short time frame we’re really happy to leverage the big hearts and passion of Queens.”
Sereda and Norman said the region will be releasing more details in the next few weeks. People should follow the Queens Coast Life Facebook page for more information. They hope the weather co-operates, but if it doesn’t, the event will be rescheduled.
“We just have to hope for that beautiful February night,” Norman said.
Queens Ground Search and Rescue needs volunteers to continue the service. (Rick Conrad photo)
By Rick Conrad
Queens Ground Search and Rescue has an “urgent” need for volunteers.
Brian Hatt, the group’s search manager, said Monday that they can use people in various areas, but the top priority now is for volunteer ground searchers.
“So we want to put our cards on the table and let everyone know that we really need volunteers to keep this thing going,” he said.
“We can’t afford to lose (this group). There’s no replacement. The only alternative to our service would be to bring people from outside, like Halifax, Lunenburg, Barrington. And that’s going to add time to a response which we can’t afford, especially this time of year.”
Queens Ground Search and Rescue has been offering its services in Queens and other counties for more than 50 years. They cover mostly south Queens and help RCMP, other police agencies and the Emergency Management officials with ground searches, evacuations and recovery efforts.
Hatt said they have about 20 volunteers in their search and fundraising teams. He said at one time, they had more than 50 volunteers.
The group provides all the training, everything from ground searching to drone piloting to first aid. Members also receive provincial and federal incentives, such as bonuses and tax benefits, he said. And volunteers are also given a special licence plate to identify them as members.
“But you choose the route you want to take in the team. … And you’re going to be part of a team that’s well received and recognized and really rewarding when you’re on a successful search and you bring someone home to their family.”
He said he’s optimistic there are people in Queens County who want to get involved.
“I think there are some people that have some time out there that would really fit in well and help us keep this valuable service going. And I know the general public really appreciate when we’re working for them to try to find somebody.”
Volunteers must be more than 16 years old and pass a background check with the RCMP. For more information, contact Brian Hatt at 902-350-1413 or by email at brianhatt@eastlink.ca .
Nova Scotia released results of the Healthcare Improvement Challenge on Monday. (Communications Nova Scotia photo)
By Rick Conrad
Better communication with patients was among the 10 most popular ideas from Nova Scotia health care workers in response to a government survey of low-cost ways to improve the health system.
The Healthcare Improvement Challenge contest launched in October. The government was looking for ideas that were easy to implement with little to no funding. Eligible submissions were entered into a random draw for prizes of $1,000.
The contest received more than 2,200 submissions from Nova Scotia health care workers.
Their ideas were narrowed down to a shortlist of 20. The public then voted for their Top 3 from that list, from Dec. 20 to Jan. 8.
“The people who know our healthcare system best told us what common-sense, low-cost and easy-to-implement improvements we could make, and Nova Scotians chose those they felt would have the biggest impact,” Premier Tim Houston said Monday in a news release.
Houston said the 10 ideas are now priorities and the government will work with health-care providers to make them happen, where possible. He didn’t provide a timetable of when these suggestions would become reality.
Here are the Top 10 vote getters.
Set up a text notification system to remind patients of their appointments.
Give patients the option to get appointment letters by email instead of regular mail.
Allow audiologists to send direct referrals to ear, nose and throat specialists instead of making patients go to their primary care provider for the referral.
Reduce pressure on nurses by allowing continuing care assistants to work to their full scope of practice by doing things like taking vitals.
Install monitors in all emergency departments that show wait times and other related information about what a patient should expect in an ER.
Enable hospital caller ID so patients can see when the hospital calls.
Stop using ER for pre-operative bloodwork for patients scheduled for a Monday morning procedure. Instead, offer them priority appointments before the weekend.
Make intake for surgery or specialist appointments faster by allowing patients to pre-register online for their surgery or specialist appointment.
Develop a registration app, where patients can enter their information, generating a QR code. They can then show this code to clerks to scan this on the patient’s arrival, saving time and data coding errors.
If patients book an appointment for diagnostic imaging like an MRI or ultrasound online, give them the optoin to cancel online.
The emergency department at the Queens General Hospital in Liverpool will be closed for parts of next Monday and Tuesday.
The ER will close Jan. 15 at 1:30 p.m. and reopen Jan. 16 at 8 a.m. It will close again at 1:30 p.m. on Jan. 16 and reopen Wed., Jan. 17 at 8 a.m.
Nova Scotia Health gave no reason for the temporary closure.
The government’s annual emergency department accountability report, released in December, showed that the emergency department at Queens General was closed for about 50 per cent of the time in the period from April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023. It was closed for a total of 4,374.5 hours and open for 4,385.5 hours.
The Queens General Hospital has added staff in the past year to help keep the department open more often.
A Liverpool realtor says it’s time to reassess property assessments in Nova Scotia.
Kristopher Snarby says the recent assessment numbers from the Property Valuation Services Corporation are all over the place. And the system needs to change.
“My concern is that there’s just no consistency to any of it,” he said Friday.
“People should be able to understand why their property went up or down. And it’s just completely random.”
Nova Scotians began receiving their assessment notices this week.
The independent, non-profit corporation says 2024 assessments are based on sales and financial data and reflect a market value as of Jan. 1, 2023, and the physical state of properties as of Dec. 1, 2023, including new construction, renovations, demolitions, and impacts from natural disasters.
Nova Scotia’s overall assessments rose by just under 18 per cent.
Residential property assessments in Queens County rose by 25 per cent. The total residential assessment value for Queens County is $1.978 billion, an increase of just under $400 million.
Snarby looked at 10 adjacent homes in Liverpool. He said the increase in assessed value ranged from five per cent to 90 per cent. And the overall average assessment increase for those 10 properties was 44 per cent, he said.
He said house sales in Liverpool rose 20 per cent in 2021/22, but dropped by seven per cent in 2022/23. In all of Queens County, he says they rose by 17 per cent in 2021/22 and dropped by three per cent in 2022/23.
“If they’re saying that the value of a home is based on market sales data, you would think they should rise about the same percentage if nothing has changed with those homes,” he said.
He said even if the PVSC used sales data from 2021/22 which showed about a 20 per cent rise in sales in Liverpool, assessments shouldn’t be going up more than 20 per cent.
“If you have houses that have not been touched, they should all go up by the same amount or down by the same amount.
“It’s completely bonkers the way this is done. There’s nothing that connects it to any hard, real numbers.”
No one from the Property Valuation Services Corporation was available for an interview. But in an emailed statement, a spokeswoman said PVSC uses a standard mass appraisal system, which values a group of properties as of a given date.
She said if homeowners have concerns, they can speak to a PVSC assessor at 1-800-380-7775 or by email at inquiry@pvsc.ca. Information is also on their website at pvsc.ca.
Homeowners can also file an appeal, but Snarby says that’s a double-edged sword because it might result in a higher assessment.
Snarby said the provincial government needs to take a look at the system.
“A lot of people are hurting right now and when the value of your house is suddenly tripled in a year or more, it’s another thing in life that’s super costly and expensive for people to try to cover these bills.”
The deadline for appeals is Feb. 8. Nova Scotians filed more than 13,000 appeals in 2023.
The Seaside Centre in Beach Meadows was one of the community groups last year that received a grant through the operating investment fund. (Rick Conrad photo)
By Rick Conrad
Non-profit groups in Queens County who need help with some expenses can now apply for the operating investment fund through the municipality’s community investment fund.
The deadline for the operating fund is Jan. 31.
The region is also holding an information session about the various funding options available, at the Seaside Centre in Beach Meadows on Jan. 22 from 2-4 p.m. To register, email ssereda@regionofqueens.com.
Under the community investment fund, annual cash grants are awarded to non-profits or societies in Queens County focused on sports or recreation, education, environment, culture, community, heritage or social activities.
Groups can apply under five different categories: capital, operational, event or tournament, training, and travel assistance.
There are three different funding levels in the operating grant category, depending on what the money is used for: Up to $10,000 annually for groups that own their own facility or have a long-term lease where programs or services are well established; up to $5,000 for community groups to offer year-round services; and up to $1,000 for groups to offer new or expanded programs or seasonal services for residents.
Mayor Darlene Norman says it’s a great opportunity for groups throughout the region to help with certain expenses.
“There seems to be the same groups applying year after year and it’s my thought that there may be other groups who are unaware that these grants do exist for them, so I strongly encourage anyone with non-profit organizations who are struggling with their non-profit expenses to investigate this very good grant opportunity which is funded by the taxpayers of the Region of Queens.”
Nine community groups were approved last year for up to $60,000 operational funding.
More information and application forms are available at regionofqueens.com.
Debris found on Beach Meadows Beach in 2021 allegedly from the fish farm near Coffin Island. (Rick Conrad photo)
By Rick Conrad
A group opposed to fish farms in Liverpool Bay will hold a public information session on Saturday afternoon.
Volunteers with the group, Protect Liverpool Bay, will be at Mersey Point Hall from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. to answer the public’s questions about proposed fish farm expansion in the area and an upcoming regulatory hearing on the proposal.
Protect Liverpool Bay has been fighting efforts by Kelly Cove Salmon, which is owned by Cooke Aquaculture, to expand its fish farming operations off Coffin Island, and to create new sites off Mersey Point and Brooklyn.
Protect Liverpool Bay was granted intervenor status at the hearing, along with the Region of Queens, and representatives from Acadia First Nation, Brooklyn Marina and a group of Liverpool Bay fishermen.
