New chairman named by Premier to lead job hunt rejects notion he was chosen to fulfill province's demands

Robert Simmonds, the man chosen by Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams to guide the search for a new leader at Memorial University, says the province has an interest in that process.

New Brunswick nurses will take a strike vote next month and could be off the job before Christmas in a dispute the union is calling a matter of respect. ''The bottom line is that government is not willing to address working conditions by improving compensation for nurses working shifts and weekends,'' said Marilyn Quinn, president of the New Brunswick Nurses Union president, during a news conference yesterday.

Prominent Saint John's defence lawyer named new chairman of the board

The Newfoundland government has picked Robert Simmonds, a prominent Saint John's defence lawyer, as the new chairman of the board of Memorial University, a post that will make him a key figure in the school's controversial search for a new leader.

Iceland is not the only Atlantic fisheries-based island economy to have collapsed in modern times (Iceland's Next Saga: The Wounded Tiger's Tale - Nov. 15). Closer to Canada, the self-governing Dominion of Newfoundland went bankrupt in 1934.

The popular musical Anne and Gilbert, inspired by Anne of Green Gables, will return to Summerside next summer with an injection of new funding.The production has run for four years - attracting 7,000 people in 2005 and 20,000 this past summer -but the high cost of staging it had jeopardized its future.

Newfoundland and Labrador plans to hold a party next year to celebrate its newfound status as a so-called have province.A spokesman for Premier Danny Williams says provincewide celebrations are planned for March 31 that will focus on the province's music and culture.

A Nova Scotia man will not spend any time behind bars for shaking his three-month-old baby so violently that she began having seizures and temporarily went blind.Kevin Bernard Kosinsky, 44, of Dartmouth was handed a conditional sentence yesterday in Provincial Court of two years less a day for criminal negligence causing bodily harm to Michaelah Parkyn in 2005. Three years later, there are signs that the little girl may never fully recover from her injuries.

Justin Trudeau, eldest son of the famous former prime minister, got a taste of Trudeaumania on the weekend when he visited Prince Edward Island.About 1,000 people came out to see the newly elected MP for the Montreal riding of Papineau as he spoke Saturday at a Liberal fundraising dinner in Charlottetown.

Moncton lawyer Jolene Richard, who is married to New Brunswick Liberal MP Dominic LeBlanc, was appointed a Provincial Court judge yesterday. Ms. Richard, 49, the daughter of Guy Richard, former Chief Justice of the New Brunswick Court of Queen's Bench, had a large litigation practice with the biggest law firm in Atlantic Canada, Stewart McKelvey. She practised for 15 years and was a partner in the Moncton office.

Death of seven high-school athletes shattered a community in northern New Brunswick

No charges will be laid in a van crash last January that killed seven high-school athletes and shattered a community in northern New Brunswick, the RCMP said yesterday.The decision divided the parents of the victims, with one mother saying the tragedy had been a freak accident but another accusing the driver, school and superintendent of negligence.

Vale Inco Ltd. announced plans yesterday to build a nickel processing plant in southeast Newfoundland following a lengthy process. The plant at Long Harbour will use hydromet technology - considered to be more energy efficient than traditional smelting methods -to extract nickel from Voisey's Bay concentrate in Labrador. The province said it was told Friday of the company's plans to build a commercial hydromet plant rather than a matte plant, which would have seen nickel concentrate shipped to Ontario and Manitoba for smelting. ''Hydromet has always been government's preferred option as it is the processing technology of the future with the greatest economic and employment impact for the province,'' Kathy Dunderdale, the province's Minister of Natural Resources, said in a statement. The capital cost of the project, expected to start next year, is estimated to be $2.17-billion (U.S.).

Nova Scotia RCMP are warning residents in Kings County of a cruel phone scam in which the caller claims to be a police officer advising that a family member has been hurt in a car crash.

Billed as the ''ultimate all-in-one device,'' the new Pomegranate NS08 phone plays music, takes photos, surfs the Web, projects movies and - simply place the device over a mug - brews a delicious cup of coffee.

High global demand for single-malt Scotch puts Nova Scotia at risk of running out of key brands, draining the rest of the East Coast dry

The province may be named for Scotland, but that's not enough to bump Nova Scotia up the queue as demand outstrips supply of the world's most popular single-malt whiskies.

Four days before John McKendy was killed, a relative of the popular sociology professor went to police with concerns about the family's safety.The relative, who police did not identify, had a lengthy interview with an RCMP officer, voicing fears about the danger posed by the estranged husband of Mr. McKendy's daughter.

One province's psychic pain from equalization is another's gain