East Side Mario's at Mic Mac Mall closed its doors New Year's Day, for good apparently, and with no notice to its workers, customers or even the management at mall. Some 45 workers are out of a job now and no one seems to know why. CBC reports East Side Mario's parent company, Prime Restaurants, says the group of investors who owned the franchise made the decision to close it, but again no explanation for that decision. It seemed to be a fairly busy restaurant, New Year's Eve the place was packed. Some of the restaurant's workers say there was no hint that night about the decision to close the place and their efforts to contact the general manager have gone nowhere. The decision leaves just one East Side Mario's now over at Bayers Lake and is the latest in a number of recent chain restaurant closings in HRM including Applebees in Clayton Park, Wendy's in Bedford and Swiss Chalet in Lower Sackville.
An update today on the 16 year old arrested after he was found to be carrying a concealed and loaded sawed off .22 rifle at Mic Mac Mall last week. The kid was arrested just outside the mall around 6 Friday night. He's facing several weapons count and in court yesterday was denied bail. He'll be back in court on the 24th. Police Constable Pierre Bourdages told my radio show yesterday at no time did they feel the shopping public was at risk. They don't think his intentions were to harm anyone on a busy shopping night.
Fresh out of a refit, the navy destroyer Athabaskan will be heading back to the shop. The ship's hull was damaged after it broke loose from her tow line last week and went adrift off Scaterie Island. Several holes and dents can be plainly seen. The tow line was re-attached and the Athabaskan is anchored in Sydney right now. She was being towed back to Halifax from St Catherine's Ontario where she'd undergone a refit.
For the 4th straight year, Canada's will not play for gold at the World Junior Hockey Championship. The talented Canadian squad came out flat today and lost 5-1 to the Americans. The USA, despite their two round robin losses to Canada and Russia, rebounded today to move on to the gold medal game Saturday. Led by goalie John Gibson, the Yanks controlled much of the game. Canada will still play Saturday, but for bronze. Sigh!
Have a great day. Get involved. And if you're not outraged, you're not paying attention.
Rick Howe
