The shooting death this week of Narico Downey in Preston has prompted a meeting of the community's leaders to discuss ways to end the gun violence. So many young kids are dying lamented one resident after Sunday night's incident saw the former high school basketball star shot and killed. Reverend Wallace Smith told my News 95.7 radio show yesterday afternoon he and the others are at a bit of a loss right now on what to do. They've marched for peace, held rallies and reached out to the community's youths, but still the gunplay continues. Smith says they've got to find ways to get the guns out of the hands of those only too willing in recent times to use them, but he admits that's easier said than done. There are no simple answers to this issue, but it's good to see the community hasn't given up this fight. As long as people still care, there's hope for change.
Lots of questions about what Nova Scotia's electricity users are getting into with this deal signed yesterday between Emera and Newfoundland's Nalcor Energy. The two companies signed off yesterday on the $1.2 billion project that will see Emera build and maintain a subsea cable between the two provinces to deliver hydroelectric power from the Muskrat Falls project in Labrador. The fact Emera will only own the cable for 35 years before turning it back over to Nalcor is one of the many questions being asked by the project's critics. The cost of the entire project has risen from its initial estimates of $6.2 billion, but no new numbers were provided yesterday. We now know we will be responsible for any cost overruns, but we still don't know the actual per kilowatt hour cost Nova Scotians will pay for the electricity. Liberal energy critic Andrew Younger says we're paying for a project we won't own, we'll pay for energy costs that we don't know what they'll be amd we'll be responsible for cost overruns. "All the risk in this deal has been shifted to Nova Scotia ratepayers," says Younger who adds Premier Dexter made a commitment this project is going ahead, "come hell or high water."
Environmental activist Bruno Marcoccio wonders why we haven't pursued hydroelectric power from Quebec. Hydro Quebec has inked long term deals with Ontario and some U.S. states for a long-term supply of cheap power at a fraction of the cost we pay now here in Nova Scotia. Marcoccio thinks we'd be better off spending the $1.2 billion upgrading transmission lines from Quebec and buying their power at what he says would be in the 4 to 5 cent per kilowatt hour range. Right now we're paying somewhere around 14 cents a kilowatt hour. There are estimates Muskrat Falls power could come in somewhere around 20 cents. Sounds like a no brainer to me.
An online video that went viral shows a man, intent on his texting, walk right off a platform, falling onto the railway tracks below. In London, England, city officials have started putting padding around light poles to prevent injuries as people, focused on their cell or smart phones, smack into them. It's called distracted walking, and the experts say its becoming as dangerous today as texting while driving. The issue is now on Injury Free Nova Scotia's radar screen says its executive director. Shirley Anne Rogers isn't ready yet however to recommend legislation, something several U.S. jurisdictions are now considering. But stay tuned, this will be a big story in the coming months.
I'm glad to see a helping hand being given to a group of fairly recent immigrants to Halifax. They've been tending to a garden this summer in Clayton Park, but Sunday night a group of idiots thought they'd have some fun and ripped the place up, uprooting plants and wreaking general havoc. Most of the garden was destroyed. Local businesses are now pitching in with seeds and transplants to replace the damaged crops and neighbours are volunteering to help. That's all very welcome, but wouldn't you like to get your hands on the yahoos who thought it would be great joy to rip up a garden. Police believe the incident happened sometime Sunday night between 10 and 11. Any information that would help lead to an arrest would certainly be welcome.
Have a great day. Get involved. And if you're not outraged, you're not paying attention.
Rick Howe
