Net Income Down, Sales Up at Liquor Corporation

Written by Bobby Nock. Posted in Local News

The Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation says net income was down in the last fiscal year.

It says the 238.6 million earned between April 1^st of 2017 and March 31^st of this year represents a drop of 600-thousand dollars compared to the year before.

However, it says the total volume of alcohol sold increased 0.9 per cent in the last fiscal year.

Total sales added up to $625.7 million.

It also says sales of Nova Scotia-produced wine, spirits, and craft beer all increased.

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Sydney-Victoria Has 10th Highest Child Poverty Rate

Written by Bobby Nock. Posted in Local News

The riding of Sydney-Victoria has the dubious distinction of making the top 10 on a list of federal ridings with the highest child poverty rates.

The Cape Breton constituency ranks 10^th out of 338 ridings with a child poverty rate of 33 percent.

The national anti-poverty group Campaign 2000 put the list together.

The group hopes the data will prod the government to approve a soon-to-be-finalized poverty-reduction strategy before next year’s federal election.

It’s looking for the creation of what it calls a federal dignity dividend of $1,800 for every adult and child who live below the poverty line.

It says the move would be like a top up to the GST credit and could help lift hundreds of thousands out of poverty.

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Two Former New Waterford Area MLA’s Have Died

Written by Bobby Nock. Posted in Local News

Two former New Waterford area MLA’s have died.

 James Buddy McEachern died on Friday in Dartmouth at the age of 77 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s Disease.

McEachern won Cape Breton Centre for the NDP in 1974.

He served as interim NDP leader for just over a month before Alexa McDonough became the party’s first female leader in 1980.

And former Cape Breton Centre MLA Russell MacNeil died in Halifax on Saturday.

 MacNeil held the riding for the Liberals between 1989 and 1993.

He was 87.

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Residents share flooding fears at public meeting

Written by Bobby Nock. Posted in Local News

Jackie MacNeil says that when she hears someone mention rain, she gets a knot in her stomach.
The Canso Drive woman was among over a hundred Sydney residents in attendance at yesterday’s public information session on proposed flood control measures for Wash Brook.
Members of the municipality’s engineering department and representatives from engineering firm CBCL were on hand to answer any questions.
Also in attendance were municipal politicians, including Mayor Cecil Clarke, along with provincial MLA Derek Mombourquette and federal MP Mark Eyking.
CBCL engineer Victoria Fernandez says the best solution to mitigate flooding is what’s known as Option 15, which involves adding berms and creating stormwater storage.
The municipality will apply for federal funding in co-operation with other municipalities in the province; the threshold to qualify for the federal program is $20 million.
The municipality’s share of that funding based on project estimates is $3.5 million.

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Student of the Year sentenced

Written by Bobby Nock. Posted in Local News

A Sydney man who was a community college student of the year has been sentenced to 2 and a half years in a federal prison on a charge of break and enter.
28-year-old David Leslie Manning was also ordered to submit a DNA sample to the national registry and is banned from possessing weapons for 10 years.
Manning won this year’s student of the year award at the Marconi Campus of the Nova Scotia Community College.
Several of his instructors filed support letters with the court.
Manning was one of three people charged in connection with a home invasion in April of 2016. The other accused were previously sentenced to federal terms ranging from three to eight years. Manning was facing additional charges but they were dismissed in exchange for the guilty plea.
Defence lawyer Tony Mozvik told the court his client has no problems with drugs or alcohol and until Friday, had no criminal record.
He noted his client was on strict release conditions since his arrest in 2016 and did not record any breach of the conditions.

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