If your young child's in need of care at the IWK, be prepared to bring your own diapers. In a cost saving move, the children's hospital says as of September 1st parents of patients admitted to the hospital will be required to provide their diapers. The hospital figures it will save it upwards of $20,000 a year. A spokesman says they don't see the move as overly harsh and they hope parents will understand. The parents I've talked to about the policy are shaking their heads in astonishment. What's next they wonder, bring your own nursing staff? Tory health critic Chris d'Entremont says perhaps cutting a couple of costly administration staffers might be a better way of saving money.
It will be a few more weeks yet before Metro Transit's new Dartmouth bus terminal can officially open. It was set for this coming Monday, but that's been postponed now until September 17th. A city hall spokesman blames some of the delay on a shortage of labour. With lots of construction going on in the city these days there's apparently not enough skiller labourers available to meet Monday's target. Construction on the nearly $15 million terminal at the Dartmouth Sportsplex started nearly a year ago.
If he can't be helped, what kind of future's ahead for a 14 year old boy now facing 18 charges for incidents in the Spryfield area? The youth faces charges including car theft, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle and possession of stolen property. Police say he entered cars seeking change or electronics and allege on at least three occasions he drove off with the vehicles. You've got to wonder what kind of upbringing the kid had.
Hey, just like the old days. Raw sewage is again flowing into Halifax Harbour. Problems with a controversial pumping station in south-end Halifax are blamed for the situation. Simply put, it's not working. The city has yet to take ownership of the pumping station because of concerns with its operation. Dexter Construction and Degremont, the consortium that built the city's sewage treatment system still own it and are responsible for the cleanup. A court battle's likely.
Enough is enough says Port Hawkesbury mayor Billy Joe MacLean. He's been a strong supporter of Pacific Western's bid to buy the town's NewPage paper mill, but even MacLean now thinks the BC-based company has gone a step too far. The company has asked the Nova Scotia Supreme Court to cancel a tax agreement the former mill's owners struck with Richmond County. Pacific Western wants to pay only one-sixth of the municipal tax that agreement spelled out. The company's already received concessions from the union representing workers at the plant and this week it received both a break on its power rates and a nearly $125 million provincial bail out package. And now it wants more. The annual $2.5 million in taxes to Richmond County from the mill makes up about 15% of the municipality's tax base. The question is, how much further do we go to accomodate this company and save a few hundred jobs???
Have a great day. Get involved. And if you're not outraged, you're not paying attention.
Rick Howe
