Archive for October, 2020

About Election Night…

About Election Night…

October 21, 2020 at 12:27 pm

The ballots are counted, the verdict is in — and it’s time to wonk-out with the numbers from Saturday’s municipal election in the CBRM! Amanda McDougall won the CBRM mayor’s race on Saturday, with 47.4% of the overall vote (24,319 votes). McDougall carried nine districts — 3, 4, 5, 6,Read More

Membertou Votes

Membertou Votes

October 21, 2020 at 12:25 pm

Membertou First Nation goes to the polls to elect a new chief and council on Thursday, October 22. There are only two candidates for chief — incumbent, Terrance Paul, who has held the office for 36 consecutive years, and challenger Edwin LaPorte — but there are 66 candidates vying forRead More

Sydney’s Casino at 25: Municipal Jackpot?

Sydney’s Casino at 25: Municipal Jackpot?

October 21, 2020 at 12:21 pm

Editor’s Note: Sydney’s casino turns 25 this month and to mark its quarter-century, Rob Csernyik takes an in-depth look at the promises — and realities — of casino gambling in Cape Breton. In Part II, he focuses on the casino’s record for charitable contributions and job creation and explores theRead More

Fall Brings Colors — and Change — to CBRM

Fall Brings Colors — and Change — to CBRM

October 21, 2020 at 12:19 pm

The coming of October goes not unheralded. Its harbingers are glorious – yellow, orange and red. They blaze across the hillside and flame against the sky. While summer, like September, has faded with a sigh. October has a beauty and a splendor that are rare. A crayon-colored prelude to November, bleakRead More

Replacing Racism with Respect

Replacing Racism with Respect

October 21, 2020 at 12:17 pm

Many things about 2020 have been disconcerting, to say the least, but here in Nova Scotia we are faced with other issues of particular social significance – the racism revolving around the fishing industry. As per the Oxford Dictionary: Racism is prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against a person orRead More

Fast & Curious: Short Takes on Random Things

Fast & Curious: Short Takes on Random Things

October 15, 2020 at 12:41 pm

Canderel abandons SHIP? Has Canderel, the Montreal-based real estate development firm founded by Jonathan Wener, cut its ties with Sydney Harbour Investment Partners (SHIP), the firm with the “exclusive” contract to promote a Port of Sydney container terminal? Wener is no longer listed on the “leadership” page of the NovaporteRead More

Civic Centre, CBRM

Voter Help?

October 14, 2020 at 1:51 pm

The problem with the voter assistance “kiosk” established in Eskasoni First Nation is not that it exists — the CBRM’s Alternative Voting By-law gives Returning Officer Deborah Campbell Ryan the power to establish as many polling locations as she likes (provided she has “at least one”) and to determine whereRead More

CRISPR-Cas9 is a customizable tool that lets scientists cut and insert small pieces of DNA at precise areas along a DNA strand. This lets scientists study our genes in a specific, targeted way.
Credit: Ernesto del Aguila III, National Human Genome Research Institute, NIH (Public Domain)

Genetic Scissors: Thoughts on Gene Editing

October 14, 2020 at 1:49 pm

Jennifer A. Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier were recently awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work on the gene-editing tool now known as CRISPR/Cas9. This award has drawn the public’s attention to a technique that has been of interest (and concern) to bioethicists for several years — certainly sinceRead More

Letter to the Editor: Racism on the Water

Letter to the Editor: Racism on the Water

October 14, 2020 at 1:47 pm

On Thursday, September 25, in St. Peters on Cape Breton Island, Gilbert Boucher, president of the association that represents fishers in southern Cape Breton, commented on the Potlotek First Nations intention to begin a moderate livelihood fishery. The Chronicle Herald quoted him as saying “They are just exercising their right,”Read More

Gooseberry Photo: Pavel Leman - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4424742

Go Forth and Multiply: The Art of Propagation

October 14, 2020 at 1:45 pm

Editor’s Note: We’re reaching into Michelle’s Smith’s archives for posts as useful now as when they were first published.   What to do this week Soon the autumn gales will strip the leaves off the trees and shrubs and the cold nights will send them into their winter slumber. ThatRead More