All posts by Fred Valentine

Today

N.B. suspends AIM recycling plant’s approval to operate pending fire review

A Saint John, N.B., recycling plant, which was the site of a massive fire that prompted a city-wide air quality warning, has been ordered to stop operating until a full investigation and review is completed.

Premier Blaine Higgs and Port Saint John CEO Craig Bell Estabrooks said in a news release Monday that a joint task force will be appointed to investigate the fire that broke out last week at American Iron & Metal (AIM).

Port Saint John is also investigating the company’s compliance with the terms of their lease.

The fire at the recycling plant broke out at 1 a.m. last Thursday amid a pile of crushed cars.

Dr. Rita Gad, the acting medical officer of health for the region, said the plume and smoke was likely filled with chemicals and contaminants. Later in the day, the City of Saint John and New Brunswick Public Health issued a shelter-in-place advisory for all of Saint John.
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Saint John Mayor Donna Reardon said last week that the fire was the size of three football fields and about three storeys tall at its peak, leaving an acrid smell in the air.

The fire was contained the next day.

Port Saint John said it has restricted activities at the terminal where the fire took place, and are only allowing emergency operations that are related to stabilizing the site.

“The province of New Brunswick remains committed to ensuring that a full and thorough investigation will take place,” Higgs said in Monday’s statement.
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“We are very thankful no one was injured or hurt at the site during the incident.”

Management from the company issued a statement one day after the fire, saying that the safety and well-being of employees and the public were “paramount” to them.

“We will continue to work with local authorities to determine the cause of the incident and, where necessary, put additional measures in place to mitigate the risk of this happening again,” read the statement.

“We are sorry for this incident’s impact on residents and the community. Our team is committed to keeping residents and stakeholders informed as we move forward.”

Fun Holidays

Pirate Day

International Talk Like a Pirate Day

International Talk Like A Pirate Day is a parody holiday annually held on September 19. Celebrated for the first time in 1995, the fun holiday encourages people to talk and dress like the sea plunderers of yesteryears.

John Baur (“Ol’ Chumbucket”) and Mark Summers (“Cap’n Slappy”) created this holiday on June 6, 1995. Out of respect for World War II’s D-Day, Baur and Summers chose to move the date of the holiday to September 19.

International Talk Like A Pirate Day was a low-key event until 2002 when it received media attention via syndicated humor columnist Dave Barry. Today, it is celebrated around the world as a way to raise funds for charity organizations, such as Childhood Cancer Support and Marie Curie Cancer Care.

 

What to do

  • Dress up like a swashbuckling pirate. Bonus points if you are able to carry a parrot or a monkey on your shoulder.
  • Talk like a pirate the whole day long. Intersperse your speech with grunts and growls and slur your words. Call your friends “matey” and intentionally use bad grammar.
  • Host a pirate themed party and ask your guests to come dressed as pirates.
  • Watch movies and read books that feature pirates as central characters. Some examples include the Pirates of the Caribbean film series and Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson.
  • Read more about the history of piracy and famous pirates.
Fun Holidays

Rice Krispie Treat Day

September 18 is Rice Krispie Treat Day, an unofficial holiday dedicated to the no-bake, quick to make yummy gooey sweet treat.

Homemade marshmallow rice krispy treat in bar form.

Thought to have been invented at the Kellogg Company in the late 1930s, the treats are made of Rice Krispie cereal and melted marshmallows, though sometimes the marshmallows can be substituted with caramel or syrup as the binding agent.

 

Today, any sweet treat that uses Rice Krispies and some form of sweet binding agent is called a rice krispie treat. In Australia and New Zealand, where the cereal is marketed as Rice Bubbles, the sweet treat is called rice bubble slices or rice bubble cakes.

What to do

  • Make Rice Krispies treats and share them with your friends and co-workers.
  • Add gourmet twists to the snack by adding nuts, saffron and cardamom.
  • Make your Rice Krispies treats more colorful by crushing some candies or adding some sprinkles to them.
  • Make Rice Krispies pops. Mold the treat into a shape of your choice, insert a stick in the treat and when it hardens, serve as is or decorate with melted sugar, icing or sprinkles.
  • Staying away from sugar? What about making a savory version of the treat? Just substitute the marshmallows with cheese, flour and butter.
Fun Holidays

International Country Music Day

International Country Music Day

Celebrate all things country on September 17 or International Country Music Day. The unofficial holiday was created in 2003 as a way to bring together musicians and fans of the popular music genre, and to increase the number of country music aficionados around the world.

Country music is a type of music that originated in eastern and southern United States during the 1920s. A combination of several styles, country music grew out of folk music brought to America by European immigrants. Unlike the prevailing European music at that time, however, country music took on a very distinct American flavor when it came to song lyrics. Singers and musicians avoided lyrics about love and romance, and instead sang about the daily life struggles of an ordinary working class person.

What To Do

  • Celebrate this musical holiday by listening to all your favorite country music songs.
  • If you have never been introduced to this genre of music, today is the perfect reason to take some time off, put in your ear phones and discover the wonderful, melodious world of country music.
  • Visit a local country music concert or host a country music party at home. Play country music and have your guests come dressed as their favorite country music artist.