The public health requirement for social distancing to fight Covid-19 can create a variety of social and emotional challenges. Now there’s a new, free program, “Cyber Social,” to provide education on how to maintain or improve health during this time through one-on-one telephone or video calls over a privacy-compliant health care platform.
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By Amy Collett
The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected countless nonessential small businesses. Now that the government has started to open things up again, owners might be wondering how to navigate the next few months while keeping their employees safe and increasing sales. The following resources will help getting through the transition of reopening.
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By Jude Major
As the weather suddenly took a turn for the better and the warmer, so too did the plots in the Musquodoboit Harbour Community Garden. It’s amazing what a little sun and warmth will do for growing green things and for improving a mood.
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By David Shuman
The Musquodoboit Harbour and Area Chamber of Commerce and Civic Affairs (MHACCCA) has released a program supporting COVID recovery for the area’s small businesses called “Chamber Bucks.” The Chamber used $5,000 of its own funds and created vouchers that people can use at some local businesses.
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Lands and Forestry has no rehabilitation program for orphaned black bear cubs: it kills them. The cruel policy recently made waves nationally with the death of an orphaned cub left at Hope for Wildlife. The centre legally had to notify L&F, which collected the cub immediately and killed it. There is a change.org petition to change this policy to one of rehabilitation.
Thanks to a quick response from Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency and Lands & Forestry, and favourable winds, emergency responders were able to contain a large brush fire in a heavily wooded area of Porters Lake. The first report of the fire came in at approximately 12:30 pm on Saturday, May 23, on a weekend in which a provincial fire burn was in effect. The total area covered by the fire was roughly 50 hectares, and there were no injuries or damages to homes.
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By Richard Bell
We have been getting questions from readers about the unsolicited appearance in their mailboxes of an 8-page version of the newspaper called The Epoch Times, claiming that the Chinese government was responsible for the COVID-19 virus. We had also been seeing a sudden burst of advertising videos on Facebook urging people to subscribe to the paper. There are news reports about this 8-page subscription solicitation showing up in mailboxes elsewhere in Canada.
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By Richard Bell
Complaints about poor or non-existent high-speed Internet service in rural HRM are legendary, but not new. The Covid-19 lockdown has brutally demonstrated just how damaging this lack of access can be, from businesses that can’t reach their customers to all the out-of-school children who can’t participate with any form of online learning.
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By Richard Bell
The COVID-19 pandemic has created a surge of support for adopting a minimum basic income (MBI) for all Canadians. In a stunning example of how fast support for an MBI is growing, on April 21 2020, 50 Senators sent an open letter to the Prime Minister, the Deputy PM, and the Finance Minister calling on them to implement a minimum basic income to replace the government’s short-term Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB).
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By Karen Schlick
Gardens are timeless; subject to the seasons, the weather and ever-changing conditions, but nevertheless timeless. I place a seed in the ground. The tiny packaged genetic code unlocks a chain of events leading to a carrot, lettuce leaves, or more zucchini than I can eat.
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