Listen to Tantramar Report for the following stories:
Mt A returns to full capacity classes, 98 per cent vaccination rate on campus
Mount Allison students finished classes last week and started their winter exam period which ends this Saturday, Dec. 18. When students return to start their winter term on Jan. 10, things will be a little different. Mount Allison recently announced its plans for January, and they include a return to regular capacity in the university’s classrooms.
Tantramar Report called up Mount Allison’s Vice President of International and Student Affairs, Anne Comfort, to find out more about the university’s plan.
New foundation funded by local consultants hands out first grant
A new foundation funded in a unique way has made their first funding announcement, and Sackville’s EOS Eco Energy is the beneficiary. The Aster Foundation is granting $2,000 to EOS to help the organization monitor the green roof on Sackville’s Town Hall building as well as food forests at Port Elgin Regional School, Dorchester Consolidated School, and Tantramar Regional High School.
The foundation is funded in part by donations from the Aster Group Environmental Services Co-op which gives 10% of its profits to the foundation. Several familiar Sackville faces are members of the coop, which delivers environmental consulting services. Margaret Tusz-King, Sabine Dietz, and Eric Tusz-King are all Aster members.
Tantramar Report called up Aster Foundation chair, Raissa Marks, to find out a bit more about the work it will do.
Three school buses suspended and Port Elgin School on operational day
Tantramar region students who take one of three school buses are being asked to stay at home Monday due to a “positive COVID situation”, according to one local principal.
Principals from local schools alerted families Sunday night that buses 212, 214, and 215 would not be running Monday, and any students who take those buses should stay home and await further instruction from their school administration.
Over at the Port Elgin Regional School, all students will be home today as the school goes into an operational day. Staff will report to the school.
Potential exposure at Sackville McDonald’s in November
Public Health has added a new potential public exposure to its list located in Sackville, but the exposure happened 15 days ago.
Anyone who was at the McDonald’s on Main Street on Sunday, Nov. 28 between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. should be monitoring for symptoms. If symptoms develop, Public Health recommends making an appointment for a PCR lab test as soon as possible. Anyone fully vaccinated does not need to isolate while awaiting results, but anyone not fully vaccinated must do so.
People without symptoms can use a point of care or rapid test, being distributed by Horizon in Sackville on Tuesday at the Civic Centre, from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., or until supplies run out.
Over the weekend, New Brunswick reported 238 new cases of COVID-19, with 56 of those cases in Zone 1. 41 of Zone 1’s new cases are under investigation. The active case count is now over 1,000 province-wide, with 184 in Zone 1.
Sackville town council preview: flyers bylaw gets final reading, Climate Change committee appointed
Sackville town council meets tonight at 7 p.m. for its regular monthly council meeting and its last meeting of 2021.
Council will be asked to authorize the purchase of kayaks for a rental program at Silver Lake and new bunker gear for the fire department.
Staff are also asking for approval of a street closure for fireworks during Winterfest which is slated for Feb. 10 to 13, 2022
Council will also appoint 10 members to the Climate Change Advisory Committee, the next incarnation of the Mayor’s Roundtable on Climate Change. The committee;s purpose is to “embed climate change review and action within Council and staff’s decision making.”
Council will also have second and third reading of a new flyer distribution by-law which would make it an infraction to deliver flyers to a home with “no flyers” signage, and require flyers to be delivered to front steps instead of being placed in driveways.
Sackville ER closed early Saturday due to sudden staffing issues
The Sackville hospital emergency room was closed unexpectedly on Saturday afternoon, “due a sudden unavailability of physician and nurse coverage.”
The ER is currently on reduced hours, open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., seven days a week, but Horizon Health Network announced the early closure on Saturday at about 1:30 p.m.
Listen to the Tantramar Report below: