Local News

The funeral for a former deputy mayor of the town of Port Hawkesbury will be held Friday.

Donald Hector MacInnis died at Dartmouth General Hospital Saturday; he was 88.

MacInnis spent more than 30 years as a member of Port Hawkesbury town council, including a number of years as deputy mayor.

He worked as a lockmaster for the Canadian Coast Guard at the Canso Canal in Port Hastings; he was also a lifetime member of the Royal Canadian Legion (Branch 43) and the Knights of Columbus.

MacInnis will be laid to rest in Port Hawkesbury at 10 a.m.

A former StFX basketball player has been arrested for the second time this week.

Tyler Bradley Richards, 27, of Halifax is charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking, and weapons-related offences; he's scheduled to appear in Halifax Provincial Court Thursday.

Halifax Police say officers arrested two people, and seized cocaine, marijuana, cash and a loaded handgun when they searched a home Wednesday night.

Richards was also arrested in connection with an alleged assault against a 22-year-old woman outside a Halifax bar early Sunday; he's scheduled to return to court on that matter Jan. 30.

He was a four-time AUS All-Star during his time with the X-Men; he received a conditional sentence for his conviction on a single count of assault causing bodily harm in an Antigonish incident that sent a man to hospital in 2009.

Richards is a member of the Halifax Rainmen of the National Basketball League of Canada; team officials suspended him indefinitely earlier this week.

A Knights of Columbus Cape Nova Council member says they were disappointed they couldn't hold their annual turkey wheel draw in Port Hawkesbury.

Peter Chafe says the event at the Port Hawkesbury Centre raises roughly $3,000 for their organization; the money helps buy Christmas dinner for needy families and supports other causes.

He says mall managers told them they'd be charged $75 a day to set up a table this year.

Chafe tells The Hawk it would've cost them $2,200 to set up at the mall for the month, leaving them with about $800 in profit.

"The mall manager went to the phone to plead on our behalf to allow us to be there to no avail," he says.

Chafe says he was extremely disappointed that the long-time tradition would have to come to an end this year; the organization's main fundraiser raised $48,000 in the past 17 years.

He says he has no idea why mall officials would charge them, especially since they're a non-profit group.

The mall is owned and operated by Montreal-based Toulon Development Corp.

Avery Palevsky, the company's president, says there was a misunderstanding in their rental policy.

Palevsky says they do charge rental fees for groups to set up in their malls, but non-profit groups are exempt from that policy.

He says a lack of communication occurred when their short-term rentals person was off work for two months on sick leave.

"The last thing that we would ever do, ever do, is to promote a policy charging people for non-profit," Palevsky says. "I, as the president of the company, deeply regret that this even occurred."

He says members of the Knights of Columbus group should not run into problems next year.

A suspect arrested in connection with the fatal stabbing of a Mabou man in Alberta is scheduled to return to court in the spring.

Cody Kyle Jensen, 22, of Edmonton is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Kenzie John Beaton, 22; he was stabbed to death in a Jasper hotel in Jan. 2012.

Police say the suspect and victim were staying in adjoining hotel rooms; they believe alcohol and noise were factors that led to an altercation.

Jensen was released from custody in May 2012; he elected Queen's Bench trial by judge and jury that July.

His case returned to Jasper court this week; it returns for possible jury selection Apr. 22.