As a Dartmouth senior continues to recover from his scare this week, the young men accused of terrorizing his home were picked up by Halifax police early this morning. All are teens. Two are 16 year olds, 2 are 15 and one is 18. Some quick police work indeed after Wednesday afternoon's incident where an 81 year old man answered a knock at his door only to find himself staring at a gun. He was forced to his basement, pushed to the floor and had his car keys stolen. The two robbers then fled in his car. It was recovered yesterday morning, then around 1 this morning the five teens were arrested.
The senior involved says he'll never open his door to strangers again. A sad commentary on where our society's going these days.
Premier Darrell Dexter had some thoughts yesterday on Halifax auditor general Larry Munroe's report this week. Munroe pointed out he could find no documentation involving the transfer of the Metro Centre box office operations to Trade Centre Limited, a move apparently authorized without consultation or approval from council. Indeed, most councillors appear to have unaware of the transaction. The premier points out the city does have representation on the Trade Centre's board. The mayor and some councillors are members so that's their problem says the premier. But Mayor Peter Kelly says the board never discussed it. City councillor Gloria McCluskey says someone needs to be held responsible for this mess but I wonder if we'll ever get the true story of what happened.
The Halifax waterfront is alive this weekend with some 20 tall ships in port for Tall Ships Nova Scotia 2012. When we last hosted a tall ships festival, back in 2009, it generated nearly $40 million for the economy and brought over 90,000 visitors to the city. Waterfront Development pres Colin MacLean is hoping to at least match that this year. If the weather continues as it has, I'm sure that won't be a problem. The event ends Monday with the Parade of Sail as the tall ships move on to other Nova Scotia destinations.
There was a shark scare at Lawrencetown Beach yesteday. Yikes. CTV's supper hour news reported a suspicious fin was spotted around noon time. Lifeguard Richard MacAulay says they ordered everyone out of the water and closed the beach down for about an hour. He says they weren't sure what they saw was actually a shark, but they didn't want to take any chances it might have been.
Shark experts will tell you there are tens of millions of sharks swimming in the Atlantic off the east coast. I don't think there has ever been however a shark attack on a human here. A little food for thought as you head to the beach for what looks to be another marvelous summer's weekend.
Have a great weekend. Get involved. And if you're not outraged, you're not paying attention.
Rick Howe
