Rental scams: a cautionary tale
People posing as legitimate landlords steal upwards of $400,000 from hundreds of different victims in Canada each year, and that number has been on the rise during the pandemic.
This year, Sackville resident Virginie Closson was one of those many victims.
Closson told her story to CHMA as a cautionary tale, to help prevent the same thing from happening to others.
Virginie Closson had been in search for a new place to live for a couple of months when someone suggested she try Kijiji. There was simply nothing being posted in places like the Sackville NB renters Facebook group, of which she is still a member, says Closson.
“Everything was booked solid,” she says. “There were no places available.“
So Closson posted an ad on Kijiji that she was looking for a place to live.
“Within that same day,” says Closson, “I got like five or six rentals all from Sackville. And I was like, oh, they’re coming out of the woodwork.”
Closson was desperate after two months of looking on Facebook and not finding anything. She walked by addresses mentioned by two people who had contacted her as a result of her Kijiji ad.
“One of them was a apartment complex, and the other one was a house just down the street,” says Closson. “And so it looked real.”
Closson pursued the house, but soon found out her potential new landlord didn’t live in town.
The person told Closson they lived in Prince Edward Island with their sick mother-in-law and that they couldn’t come to Sackville, but they could ship the key and the house documents.… Continue
Deus Ex Macina shares their love of coffee Saturday mornings
Alice Cotton and Pete Stephenson are serving up a well-loved treat every Saturday at the Sackville Farmers’ Market, coffee!
Cotton and Stephenson are partners in life as well as business, and started brewing professionally just a few months ago.
Their repurposed Belliveau Orchard truck, named “Beatrice,” can be found next to Pi By Crow on Main Street.
Nearly everything in the truck is upcycled, thrifted, and repaired with love.
They are proud to share their love of espresso under the name “Deus Ex Macina.”
The full conversation with Cotton and Stephenson is available here:
MC: I just figured that I should check in with you both about your new business. Which is, I’m hoping, pronounced Deus Ex Macina [ma-KEE-nah]? Or is it? Do you actually say macina [ma-SHE-nah]? How do you say it?
AC: I will tell you the pronunciation since I came up with the name. It’s Deus Ex Macina [ma-CHEE-na]. So the “CI” is pronounced like a “CH.” It’s a play on words. The theatrical expression is “deus ex macina” [ma-KEY-nah], and the words [ma-KEY-nah] and [ma-CHEE-nah] are from the same Greek roots, which kind of means machine, and “macina” means grinding stone. It’s one of the oldest machines around. So it was a funny play on words. It’s God is coming out of our grinder to save the day, instead of that of some machine from the sky as it would have been in a Greek play.… Continue
Horizon wants travellers to avoid ERs if they can
Horizon Health Network is reminding New Brunswickers that if they have travelled between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, they should not present to the emergency departments of the Moncton or Sackville hospitals for non-urgent health care needs.
Spokesperson Kris McDavid says Horizon is, “asking people to exercise common sense and limit their use of the emergency department in non-urgent situations.”
Instead of going to emergency rooms, patients with non-urgent health care needs are being asked seek alternate options, such as those outlined on Horizon’s website SoWhyWait.ca.
The site is designed to reduce wait times and pressures on emergency rooms, and suggests options such as calling 811, visiting a doctor, asking a pharmacist, or going to an after hours clinic.
Sackville does not have an after hours clinic, though there are several listed in Moncton on the New Brunswick Medical Society website.
If someone has travelled from Nova Scotia and still needs to visit an emergency room, Horizon says they would need additional precautions implemented.
If you have mild or moderate symptoms of COVID-19, Horizon advises against going to the emergency department, and instead recommends completing the online COVID-19 self-assessment or calling 811.
In an emergency, people should call 911 or go directly to the nearest emergency room.
… Continue
Back in the yellow, again
The southeast region is back in the yellow phase of public health restrictions.
Chief Medical Officer of Health Jennifer Russell announced on Sunday afternoon that after a risk assessment, her department supports a provincial cabinet decision to bring Zone 1, the southeast, and Zone 3, the Fredericton region, back into the yellow phase.
This puts an end to the single household bubble rule that has been in effect under orange phase restrictions.
Under yellow, informal indoor gatherings of up to 20 people are permitted. But public health rules do say that close contacts should be limited to a consistent list of family and friends.
Masks are no longer mandatory outside, but remain required in all indoor public spaces, and when 2 metres of distance is not possible, such as at a drive thru window.
Details of the rules are on the New Brunswick government website here.
“I want to be very very clear,” said Russell on Sunday. “The danger of further COVID-19 infections has not gone away. We have not reduced the risk to zero, nor can we.”
Russell said there are still upwards of 300 people self-isolating in zones 1 and 3, as a result of contact tracing. That means more cases could be reported in the coming days.
At Sunday’s conference, CBC reporter Alexandre Silberman asked Premier Higgs about the chances of reinstating the Atlantic Bubble.… Continue
Council meeting slated for Monday, with presentations from Mt. A and EOS Eco Energy
Sackville Town Council will meet on Monday for its monthly special council meeting.
A special meeting means no motions will be voted on, and none of the reports that councillors read from are available to the public. The only publicly released document for monthly special meetings is the agenda.
Monday’s meeting will have special guests. Mount Allison’s vice president of finance and administration, Robert Inglis, is on the agenda, as is Lauren Clark, the Energy Projects Coordinator from EOS.
And at the top of the agenda, an item simply reading “RCMP” seems to indicate that an officer will be presenting, but the agenda leaves out any further detail.
Also on the agenda:
- Council will look at replacing an Arts Wall committee member whose term has expired;
- The policy and bylaw committee looks at a policy related to the the Water and Sewer bylaw, specifically the idea of providing water for purposes other than those listed in the by-law;
- The fire department talks about training equipment, specifically a second generation forcible entry training simulator;
- Treasurer Michael Beal will talk about end of year finance motions;
- And council will talk about a Public Works gate and rental space for community groups.
Fifteen minutes are set aside for a question period at the end of the public meeting, for questions from members of the public.
Then council will go in camera to discuss two legal matters and one property matter.
Council has already had two secret, or in camera meetings this week, on Monday and Thursday, to discuss a human resources matter.… Continue
Dixon thankful for community support, still considering options
The ticket issued to Derrick Dixon of Hounds of Vintage was one of 17 tickets issued to businesses in Zone 1 from November 20 to 28.
At Thursday’s news conference, Premier Blaine Higgs outlined some statistics on the COVID rules enforcement effort by public safety officers, the RCMP, and other police forces in the province.
Higgs’s stats covered the eight day period from November 20 to 28. He said that out of 2500 sites visited, police and public safety officers issued 87 tickets related to what he called “non masking”. About half of those were in the southeast region.
Higgs also said 38 tickets were given to businesses for other COVID-related matters. 17 of those tickets were issued in the southeast region.
And at least one of them was issued in Sackville, to Derrick Dixon, owner and operator of Hounds of Vintage on Bridge Street.
Dixon was visited by two RCMP officers on Tuesday, November 24. The officers issued Dixon a compliance order, requiring him to do things like make sure he has an additional paper copy of his operational plan behind his counter. Then, in the same visit, the officers gave Dixon a ticket, for the same issues identified in his compliance order.
Dixon says the simultaneous ticket and compliance order was unfair, and he felt targeted by the police officers, particularly because the ticket came shortly after he commented that the visit from the officers was “anxiety-inducing”.… Continue
Elections NB reports back on voter interference investigation
The independent investigation into voter interference at the Sackville polling station during the last provincial election is complete.
Elections NB is not releasing the report completed by private investigator Jacques Ouellette, but has released a two-page summary of the findings and recommendations from Chief Electoral Officer Kim Poffenroth.
The summary report says that “confusion, as well as misinterpretation” of the 40-day residency rule and how it applies to student was a major factor contributing to the problems at the polls.
Ouellette “concluded that the issues encountered by students would likely have been reduced through better training of the poll workers,” according to the Elections NB summary.
The summary includes five actions to be taken, including a review of training materials related to the 40-day residency rule, and more training and education, for poll workers, scrutineer volunteers from political parties, and students themselves.
MLA Megan Mitton says the report doesn’t go far enough to address what happened to dozens of student voters in Sackville.
“I think the seriousness of what happened on Election Day does appear to be lost in this summary report,” say Mitton. “It’s important to note there doesn’t seem to be consequences for the scrutineer or anyone who interfered with voting.”… Continue
Santa goes digital
Starting tomorrow some Sackville kids will be embracing a Christmas holiday tradition in a new, pandemic-friendly way. This year, instead of getting to sit on Santa’s knee, some kids will be Zooming with Santa.
Reverend Lloyd Bruce of the Sackville United Church has made arrangements for a Zoom with Santa event on December 3 to 5.
It’s a ticketed event, with proceeds going to the Mission and Service Fund of the United Church of Canada.
More details can be found here, on the Sackville United Church website, complete with outtakes of Santa himself explaining how it all works.
.… Continue
Winter parking ban in effect
Now that we’re into December, the Town of Sackville is sending out reminders that the winter parking ban is in effect.
That means that no overnight parking is permitted on town streets between 1:00am and 6:00am daily.
The town says the measure is necessary to allow for efficient and safe snow removal and ice control operations.
Environment Canada is calling for snow flurries as early as Sunday or Monday.
In addition to the parking ban, cars that are obstructing snow clearing efforts may also be ticketed. This includes cars parked in driveways partially or fully blocking sidewalks.
The winter parking ban continues until May 1, 2021.… Continue
Over 100 Horizon healthcare workers self-isolating
All 12 Horizon Health hospitals are operating on orange level restrictions, now that Zone 3 (Fredericton) is in the orange phase of COVID-19 recovery.
President and CEO of Horizon Health Karen McGrath says over 100 healthcare workers were self-isolating as of late last week.
Out of those 100, McGrath is able to confirm that between “four or five” are COVID-19 positive.
Another 50 staff, she says, were “redeployed from the regular positions to help control the spread of the virus.”
Redeployed staff were sent to areas such as testing sites to help complete more tests after public exposures.
McGrath says that “our healthcare system is in a very vulnerable state.”
“The same issues that threatened our healthcare system before the pandemic… a lack of staff, a lack of beds and limited resources in general, have become even more magnified during the pandemic. With the recent rise in new cases and the increased risk for potential exposure to COVID-19 in our province, this is especially true.”
Due to the reshuffling and absence of staff, some health services have been reduced or cancelled.
Some surgeries are cancelled, patients who visit community health centres (such as COPD or diabetic patients) may miss follow-up appointments, and childrens’ immunizations are delayed.
McGrath is encouraging New Brunswickers with non-emergencies to avoid the emergency rooms if possible.
This includes those with mild COVID-19 symptoms, as they must be treated as “COVID-19 suspect” in emergency rooms, which demands more staff.… Continue