Today's the deadline for candidates in next month's municipal election to get their names on the ballot, but we still cannot get a straight answer from Mayor Peter Kelly. Kelly was a guest on my afternoon radio show yesterday on News 95.7 and try as I might, I couldn't get him to say one way or the other about his political intentions. Kelly did admit he's getting pressured to run, for either the mayoralty or a city council seat, but in typical Kelly fashion he danced around providing a definitive answer. If I was to choose one or the other, my guess would be Kelly's not running. We'll have our answer by 5 this afternoon.
Two mayoralty candidates dropped out of the race yesterday. Vince Hall and Matt Worona both deny last week's Corporate Research poll played any role in their decisions. Worona had 6% support in the poll while Hall trailed at 3%. Worona says he will dedicate his time now to helping Waye Mason win a council seat in the city's south end while Hall says he's throwing what little support he has behind Mike Savage. Savage, Fred Connors and Tom Martin are the three candidates still in the race.
75 to 80 millimetres of rain was all that was needed to flood homes, businesses and roads yesterday in and around the Truro area. As many as 50 families were forced to leave their homes because of the sudden flooding described as "extensive." The rain storm will pound Cape Breton today with hurricane and tropical storm watches in effect for Newfoundland.
19 year old Leo Jones of Sackville is the man accused of luring a young boy to an upstairs washroom at the Atlantic Superstore on Joe Howe Drive last week. Jones' lawyer was in court yesterday on his behalf, asking that the case be put off until next week for election and plea. Jones is now free on an undertaking until his next court date a week from today. Lawyer Roger Burrill told reporters he has heard the rumours about Jones' mental state but he refused to talk about it. Jones is charged with abduction and sexual assault.
An 18 year old male is in serious condition in hospital today after another shooting in North Preston last evening. Reports indicate he'd been shot at least three times. Police will only confirm he'd been shot several times. It happened on the notorious Downey Road, the scene of several incidents in recent years including the shooting death this summer of 23 year old Narico Downey. This latest incident comes just days after the RCMP opened an office in North Preston, staffed from 8am to 4pm. The shooting took place around 6.
Welcome home to the crew of HMCS Charlottetown. After 9 months away including a stint in the Persian Gulf area, the navy frigate and its 250 crew members will sail into port this morning. There's talk of retiring the Charlottetown's hull number to mark the ship's time away from home. It would be an honour well deserved.
Have a great day. Get involved. And if you're not outraged, you're not paying attention.
Rick Howe
