(PEI-PC-Leadership)
Rob Lantz will be the next premier of Prince Edward Island after winning the leadership of the Progressive Conservatives.
At a leadership convention yesterday, Lantz took 53 per cent of the vote, while challenger Mark Ledwell won 46 per cent.
Lantz previously held the title of interim-premier after Dennis King resigned last year.
Lantz is expected to be sworn in this coming week. (The Canadian Press)
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(NB-Copper-Wire)
Police in New Brunswick’s capital city are asking for the public’s help investigating a copper wire theft.
Fredericton police say there are at least two suspects involved in the January 17th incident near 400 Cliffe Street.
A K-9 unit traced the suspects’ path to a dirt road in the area, leading police to believe the suspects may have been riding an A-T-V. (The Canadian Press)
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(NL-Plane-Diverted)
An overseas flight from Toronto to London was diverted to St. John’s on Saturday morning due to an unruly passenger.
Air Canada told C-B-C news that there were 368 passengers on board flight AC858 when it left Toronto late Friday.
The airline says authorities met the plane when it landed in Newfoundland.
The remaining passengers were sent back to Toronto and rebooked on future flights. (CBC)
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(NB-Liquor-Sales)
Sales of non-alcoholic beverages at N-B Liquor have almost doubled over the last year.
The provincial agency says it has sold 1.43-million dollars worth of zero-per-cent products, up from about 750-thousand at this point last fiscal year.
The agency says the stats aren’t complete as other retailers also carry non-alcoholic products.
Statistics Canada says alcohol sales were down about 3.8 per cent nationally in 2023-24, the biggest drop since it began tracking sales in 1949.
(CBC News)
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(NS-Impaired-Driver)
A 41-year-old Halifax man was arrested on Thursday after police say he registered high blood-alcohol readings on a breathalyzer.
R-C-M-P say they were called about a suspicious vehicle parked on a residential street in Cole Harbour, east of Dartmouth, where officers found a man inside a Kia Rio sedan.
Mounties allege the man showed signs of impairment and twice failed a roadside breath test.
The man was arrested for impaired driving and is scheduled to appear in Dartmouth Provincial Court at a later date. (The Canadian Press)
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(NL-Gander-Heritage-Minute)
A pair of Newfoundland and Labrador filmmakers will be shooting a Heritage Minute to mark Gander’s contributions on 9/11.
Thousands of passengers ended up stranded in the central Newfoundland town when flights were forced to land suddenly.
Brothers Peter and Rob Blackie have put out a call for as many as one-thousand background actors to play locals, as well as international passengers and crew of the flights.
Filming is set for late March at Gander International Airport.
The 25th anniversary of 9/11 will be marked this year. (The Canadian Press)
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(Atlantic Update by The Canadian Press)
