Out and about or oot and aboot? (what’s new in the Maritimes, 2026 edition)

Here’s a fine set of stories I came across in the last year concerning my home town (Glace Bay), my province (Nova Scotia), and the region (the Maritimes, with a shout out to Newfoundland).

Like all places, A.I. is having an impact on people in the Maritimes. So much so that Nova Scotia is launching 5-person team to help government staff incorporate AI into their work. That’s not uncommon.  Using A.I. to harvest blueberries…that’s a bit more uncommon.

Speaking of food, I was sad to see that Kay’s Kozy Korner was  closing after nearly 75 years in business. They had a good run. Speaking of cosy (Kozy?), if you are dining on the east coast, consider getting what is considered Canada’s coziest comfort food (hint, it’s not poutine).

In terms of law and order stories, we had the story of a Cape Breton legion having to pay $250 over Chase the Ace regulation violations. A very Cape Breton crime. As is this story of vandalism in Glace Bay. In other violent Nova Scotian news, protesters surround Premier Tim Houston’s car and his windshield was smashed after a speech he made last year.  Such actions may be why the Truro police have add an armoured vehicle to fleet.

Finally when it comes to news from out east, this priest says he regrets comments about ‘residential’ school in Honduras during CBU convocation speech. Yeah, I can imagine.

On the topic of Maritimers in the news, I was sad to see the great Colleen Jones has passed away. Not passed away but passing the baton is ‘Big Jim’ MacLellan, the last of the original performing member of Cape Breton’s The Men of the Deeps. May the remaining Men of the Deeps continue to sing on. As for other Cape Breton singers, this high school choir from Sydney was excited to sing with Foreigner when they performed there. I can imagine!

I’d like to close out this with a few things concerning Glace Bay, my home town:

And lastly this beautiful drone shot of the Bay:

P.S. The building shown is from this piece in Wallpaper*. The link to the Glace Bay drone shot is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYXCjRSYRcI