A New Year’s Eve fire gutted a mobile home in Dominion. The Dominion Volunteer Fire Department got the call to Lewis Drive at around 9:30 at night and fought the fire for more than 90 minutes. Chief Murray McNeil says there was quite a big fire in the back bedroom. He adds no one was home at the time of the fire. The blaze has been deemed not suspicious and Mcneil says the home was insured.
It looks like Ottawa won’t be stepping in to help with the MV Miner cleanup. Earlier this week, Transport Minister and Whitney Pier native Lisa Raitt said her Department won’t be getting involved because the work on Scaterie Island is not an impediment to navigation. Raitt suggested that the Department of Fisheries and the Coast Guard could get involved after the discovery of contaminants on the derelict vessel. Cleanup crews say they found nearly five times the amount of asbestos as expected and 30-thousand litres of diesel fuel. However, the Department of Fisheries says a surveillance flight didn’t spot any pollution in the water around the Miner so there is no threat to lobster stocks. The federal Department of Environment says it won’t be getting involved because there’s no environmental emergency connected to the cleanup. The province is paying nearly 12 million dollars for the cleanup but that cost is expected to rise after the discovery of more contaminants on the Miner.
Sydney Councillor Ray Paruch says security in Wentworth Park will be beefed up after a new 80-thousand dollar Christmas display was damaged by vandals. The display in the bandshell featuring Santa and his reindeer was damaged early Friday morning. It has since been remove to be repaired. Paruch says they’re going to install security cameras in the area. He’s also calling on the public to help by asking anyone with information on the vandalism to call police or Crime Stoppers. Regional Police are continuing to investigate the incident.
Mayor Cecil Clarke says the Cape Breton Regional Municipality is going to apply to a new federal program to market terminals, ports and airports. Clarke made the remarks yesterday during a tour of the new Marine Atlantic ferry terminal in North Sydney with federal Transport Minister and Whitney Pier native Lisa Raitt. Raitt says she can’t think of a better example than the port of Sydney to put in an application to the fund. She adds there’s $2.2 million in funding available for Atlantic Gateway international marketing projects. Projects can get up to 50 per cent of total funding from Ottawa.
The funeral for Mi’kmaq matriarch and mother of Donald Marshall Junior will take place this morning. Caroline Marshall-Hobbs died on Christmas Eve at the age of 86. Her late son spent 11 years in prison after he was wrongfully convicted of murder in 1971. Marshall-Hobbs is remembered as a fluent Mi’kmaq speaker with a talent for traditional crafts. She was god mother to Membertou chief Terry Paul and designed and made the ceremonial headdress he wears. Her funeral mass will take at 10:30 this morning at St. Marguerite Bourgeoys Church in Sydney. A spiritual event will follow at the Membertou Trade and Convention Centre.