August 2017
Cell service disruption had wide reach: telephones, computers and more
A cell network outage that lasted several hours took many Atlantic Canadians by surprise and its reach went beyond just cellphones or any one service provider. Landline phone service was hit-or-miss. Some areas and businesses experienced computer disruptions. Flights at airports were delayed or cancelled. Banks were affected. The list went on. The official word from Bell was that the outage had been caused by third-party construction work in which two major fibre links were cut. Telus said a cut cable was the culprit. The outage had some people wondering about 911 service. Indeed, so many of them called the emergency number to test the service that police had to remind people not to call 911 unless it was an emergency.
Concern over stability of building prompted closure of section of downtown Yarmouth
A block of Main Street in Yarmouth’s downtown district was closed to vehicular traffic and pedestrians over concern about the stability of a building that was more than a century old. As the barricades went up, the town said it didn’t know if the building might collapse, but it wasn’t taking any chances until it knew the extent of the problem. At the time, Mayor Pam Mood said the town didn’t know how much risk, if any, the building posed, but she said they were being proactive until an inspection of the structure was carried out. Businesses in the affected area were told they had to stay closed until the street was deemed okay to reopen. Said Mayor Mood, “Safety first.”
Police were probing suspicious fires in abandoned, rural buildings
Three early-August structure fires – two in the Clements area, another in Deep Brook – were being investigated by police. Cpl. Derek McAlpine of the RCMP explained why, saying, “The buildings were all abandoned and in rural areas. There is no natural reason a fire would start there.” The first two fires were reported in the earlymorning hours of Aug. 7, the first in Clementsvale, the second in Deep Brook. The third blaze was reported three days later, on Aug. 10, at 1:50 In early August, concern over the stability of this building at 305 Main St. in Yarmouth prompted authorities to close a section of the street. a.m., on Fraser Road, just three kilometres from the site of the first fire of Aug. 7.
Shelburne and Digby welcomed tall ships, ‘red carpet’ treatment appreciated
Tall ships visited Shelburne and Digby and they were a hit in both areas. Darren Shupe, manager of community and economic development with the Town of Shelburne, said the many months that went into planning the event had paid off. He said he was proud of his team. In Digby, it was a similar assessment. Said event spokesperson Saskia Geerts, “I’m happy to see so many people have come out to celebrate this occasion with us.” Digby Mayor Ben Cleveland, her fellow organizer, said, “The weather co-operated, which was really the biggest worry we had.” Those aboard the vessels were impressed too. During the Shelburne visit, for example, Andy Burnett-Herkes, a passenger on the ship Europa, said, “They really have rolled out the red carpet for us.”
Small earthquake was felt by some, described as ‘long rumbling noise’
There was a small earthquake off southwestern Nova Scotia on the morning of Friday, Aug. 25. The quake reportedly had a magnitude of 2.9 and occurred 41 kilometres northwest of Yarmouth. Some Clare residents said they heard rumbling and noticed their power flickering. “I knew I heard something odd,” said Charelle Thibault in Saulnierville. “I was studying and I heard this long rumbling noise. I actually looked out my window and said to myself ‘What the hell was that?’” Allison Bent, a seismologist with Natural Resources Earthquakes Canada, said she doubted this quake would have caused power to flicker, but she said the quake was big enough that people might have felt it. (Other recent earthquakes in the region had been reported July 1, 2015 (3.6 magnitude), June 9, 2016 (3.2) and Dec. 13, 2016 (3.0))
Roseway emergency department closures ‘not acceptable,’ mayor said
Shelburne Mayor Karen Mattatall said the rising number of emergency department closures at Roseway Hospital was alarming and “not acceptable.” Since July, there had been around 94 hours of closures for the Roseway Hospital ER due to physician unavailability. After a reduction in closures earlier in the year, they had gone back up during the summer because of staffing difficulties due to vacations. Fraser Mooney, spokesman for the Nova Scotia Health Authority, said they had done a number of things in the past two years that had “significantly reduced the number of closures at Roseway Hospital,” but he acknowledged that the summer months remained a challenge. Mayor Mattatall was encouraging residents to contact the Department of Health and Wellness every time there was a closure. “We need to start pressuring the government and its opposition,” she said.
Request for radiation services at Yarmouth hospital was to be reviewed
Nova Scotia Health Minister Randy Delorey said a review would be conducted to see if cancer radiation services could, or should, be located at the Yarmouth Regional Hospital. Even if the review determined that such services should be available in Yarmouth, however, the minister said it would still be years away, given cost considerations, staffing requirements and other factors. The minister made the remarks during a visit to Yarmouth, where he met with representatives of the group that had been lobbying for Yarmouth to be a site for cancer radiation services, as well as members of the Yarmouth Hospital Foundation. Yarmouth MLA Zach Churchill, who helped facilitate the meeting, also was present. Delorey was shown a petition with 13,356 signatures supporting the cause.
Police were investigating blaze that gutted Yarmouth eatery
Fire gutted a Yarmouth restaurant and it didn’t take long for authorities to determine the blaze had been intentionally set. Firefighters were called to Chuck’s Diner on the Hardscratch Road at about 5:20 a.m. on Aug. 29 and found the fire fully involved when they arrived. The RCMP and the Nova Scotia Fire Marshal’s Office collected evidence at the scene that pointed to an intentional cause. (On Sept. 1, RCMP said two people had been arrested and charges were pending. Police also released a photo of a white, five-gallon jug found at the fire scene, saying it had been determined the container had been used to transport gasoline. They were asking anyone who had noticed someone filling this type of container prior to Aug. 29 to contact them.) Derek Lesser and Sandy Dennis, members of the Facebook group Western Nova Cancer Support Network, hold binders and pages of a petition supporting the establishment of cancer radiation services at the Yarmouth Regional Hospital.