2007 IN REVIEW: October, November, December

Rodd Hotels and Resorts was considering floor closures in its two Yarmouth lodging facilities, depending on how much business was booked through the winter and early spring. A Rodd spokesperson called the 2007 season “a desperate summer, compared even to the year that the Scotia Prince stopped sailing.”

Others in the accommodation sector were feeling the crunch of the tourism downturn, including the Voyageur Motel, where owner Marianne Carrier had 12 units demolished because of low occupancy rates, and Terry Grandy, owner of the Manor Inn, who cited the lack of transportation services in the Yarmouth area as an obstacle in his efforts to sell his facility.

Discussing municipal amalgamation in an address to the Yarmouth Rotary Club, Mayor Charles Crosby indicated that amalgamation will happen, the question being when.

A new $20-million terminal in Portland was scheduled to open soon and the city was in negotiations with Bay Ferries hoping to secure a long-term contract for use of the facility.

As part of a provincial cabinet shuffle, Yarmouth MLA Richard Hurlburt was given the energy portfolio while Angus MacIsaac, the former transportation minister, was given economic development, Hurlburt’s old portfolio.



NOVEMBER

Despite reports that Nova Scotia was experiencing a relatively good tourist season, the numbers for the Yarmouth area were down significantly. The decrease was not necessarily reflected in provincial government figures because, for the province’s stats, the Yarmouth area was part of a broader region that included the Annapolis Valley, a local industry spokesperson noted.

A coalition of fishermen and processors released a report saying a new Department of Fisheries and Oceans licensing policy would sink the value of lobster, ground fish and tuna licences in southwestern Nova Scotia by $375 million.

The new Tidal View Manor would be too big for TVM’s existing site, according to planners who had looked at the property. Having enough space to expand was a major consideration in the site selection process for a new facility.

Waste Check board members had concerns about a new recycling program designed to collect items like TVs, computers and printers. They felt the program, in its present form, would fail.

People were being advised to watch out for scam artists using fraudulent money orders or cheques in their schemes. The scammers were targeting people selling things over the Internet, a Canada Post official said.

A year had passed since the Yarmouth Regional Hospital’s MRI service became operational and the hospital now had been designated a clinical training site for MRI technologists.

Provincial government funding of up to $50,000 was announced for upgrading of science labs at Yarmouth Consolidated Memorial High School.



DECEMBER

An official with the Ecology Action Centre said the province’s planned highway twinning was inconsistent with efforts to address climate change and that, if anything, it would be harmful to the environment, but Yarmouth MLA and Energy Minister Richard Hurlburt said the idea was not to pursue twinning just for twinning’s sake and that simply completing the 100-series highways would make for a shorter trip between Yarmouth and Halifax, resulting in reduced fuel consumption, which would be good for the environment.

The lobster season off southwestern Nova Scotia was underway, but it had taken longer to get started than originally planned, the season’s opening date of Nov. 26 having been pushed back three days because of forecasts calling for gale-force winds.

The Kaye Nickerson Adult Service Centre, which had been looking for a new location, had decided to stay close to its present site, thanks to a donation of land by the Yarmouth Lions Club. The centre had begun looking for a new home after learning that it was the recipient of a half-million-dollar provincial government grant.

Ownership of the Yarmouth Mariners was changing hands again, the Maritime Junior A Hockey League’s board of governors having approved a deal to transfer ownership from former owner Jack Ross to the minority shareholders. The new ownership group consisted of local people from the business and professional community.

What looked like a flare spotted by fishermen and others in the early evening of Dec. 10 off southwestern Nova Scotia turned out to be caused by an American rocket launched from Cape Canaveral. A U.S. Air Force official said the flash witnesses saw likely stemmed from the separation of expendable components of the rocket from its payload-carrying section and the resulting friction with the atmosphere of the falling parts.