A Cole Harbour grandfather's concern about the safety of his granddaughter has prompted the Nova Scotia government to study lowering the speed limit in residential streets. Don Hill wrote an e-mail to the government after his granddaughter was hit by a car outside his home last fall. The speed limit on most residential streets is 50 km/h but Hill says that's too fast, especially on a street with parked cars on both sides of the road and an area where children play. Transportation Minister Maurice Smith has asked the road safety advisory committee to study whether lowering the speed limit would make streets safer. Considering many people drive faster than the posted speed limit anyway, lowering the limit will only help if it's backed up by police enforcement.
A city staff report to council this week says the owner of the Morse's Tea building downtown broke Nova Scotia's Heritage Property Act when the Morse's Tea lettering on the building was painted over with a white strip. Staff calls that a substantive alteration that required council's approval. Starfish Properties and owner Louis Reznick did not get that permission. The city could fine Reznick upwards of $250,000. I urge council to bring the full pressure of the law on the company and send a strong message to developers about their responsibilities when owning heritage properties.
Members of the Dalhousie University women's hockey team will meet with Dal president Tom Traves today, hoping he'll revoke the season long suspension imposed on the team over a hazing incident. I have some sympathy for the players. The events during the September house party that resulted in the suspension, while a violation of the university's policy, were harmless acts that resulted in no harm to any player. A one or two game suspension for the team's captains would have sufficed. A season-ending suspension was an over-reaction. Some of the parents of team members are now involved in fund-raising for a possible legal challenge if today's meeting doesn't go well.
Is it just me, or do you too feel there's something wrong with the MLA's pension plan in this province when longtime Liberal Wayne Gaudet, when he decides to retire, will have a pension higher than his MLA salary?
A man who stabbed his aunt to death last year because he believed she was possessed by the devil could be out soon on day passes from the East Coast Forensic Pyschiatric Hospital. John Jason Salah has a history of mental illness but no criminal record before the April stabbing. Still, letting him out on passes less than a year after the killing would seem to be somewhat of a public safety risk.
Have a great day. Get involved. And if you're not outraged, you're not paying attention.
Rick Howe
