On Monday’s Tantramar Report:
Rachelle Farah has been waiting nearly four years for Canadian immigration officials to grant her husband, Johny Saoud, permanent resident status that would allow him to join her and their two children in Sackville. Local journalist Bruce Wark spoke with Farah to find out more about the family’s plight. More on this story at Warktimes.com
Another resident at the Drew Nursing Home has died from COVID-19. A total of six people have passed away from the disease since an outbreak in the home was discovered on Sept. 13. Two more cases were confirmed on Sunday, bringing the total number of cases to 39, 29 in residents and 10 in staff. There are currently 18 active cases of the disease at the home, 13 in residents and five in staff.
More cases of COVID-19 have been identified at Tantramar Regional High School, and the school will be moved to distance learning until at least Wednesday of this week. A letter to families from the Anglophone East School District confirms new positive cases, but does not specify how many. The district also announced Port Elgin Regional School would remain on distance learning for another week. There are ten schools in the AESD on distance learning today.
With 140 new cases reported Saturday and another 93 reported on Sunday, there are now 759 active cases of COVID-19 in the province. Here in Zone 1, there are 221 active cases, with 62 new cases reported over the weekend. There are 45 people in hospital in the province with COVID-19 and 20 of them are in ICUs.
The RCMP arrested two people on Saturday in the act of stealing a truck and trailer belonging to Portage Pork Plus, a vendor as the Sackville Farmers’ Market. The trailer was stolen in the wee hours of Saturday morning, and recovered on Route 15 with the use of a spike belt by the RCMP. Corporal Brian Villers says he expects numerous charges to be laid against the two men arrested at the scene.
A Sackville couple charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking will be back in court on Nov. 12 to enter a plea. According to a report by the Times and Transcript, Colt LeBlanc and Carrie Ann Sears appeared in Moncton court via telephone on Friday, with their two lawyers present in the court. This the second adjournment on charges stemming from two search and seizure operations on Upper Aboujagane Road in April of this year. More on this story here.
Sackville town council meets tonight to discuss a new business improvement area levy for Sackville, the postponed Pride Parade, and a new recreation subsidy for youth who live inside town limits. Council will also hear a presentation on strategic planning and budget assumptions. The public portion of the meeting starts at 7 p.m. and will be streamed on YouTube and Microsoft Teams. Anyone wanting to attend in person must register in advance with town clerk Donna Beal.
And, finally, on Tantramar Report, we visit the Music Barn, a converted hay barn just off route 940 in Upper Sackville that’s served as a music and event venue for the past 14 years. We’ll chat with brand new co-owner Stacey Read Whittleton about her plans for the Music Barn.