The 70 Mile Coastal Yard Sale continues today in southern Queens and Kings counties. 

You are asked to be careful while driving in the Trans Canada Highway area and other routes in that part of the province with a lot of people taking part in the event. 

The final Downtown Charlottetown Farm Market is on to mark the end of the season.

There will be over 80 local vendors, live entertainment and lots of pumpkins on lower Queen Street.  

It goes from 10-3 today.

Damage from Fiona, September 24, 2022

Sunday marked  the first anniversary of Hurricane Fiona hitting PEI which caused widespread damage to trees, crops and buildings. It also destroyed a large part of the north shore beaches and forests. 

Power was out for days and in some cases up to two to three weeks from the powerful storm that hit the Maritimes, especially PEI and Nova Scotia.

It resulted in months of clean up around properties and roof and home repair that has lasted several months.

The highest winds were 220 kilometres per hour or 140 miles per hour. 

Total damage was over 3 billion dollars for the region making it the costliest tropical cyclone ever in Canadian history.

29 people died as a result of the storm including one person in PEI. 

ACOA has announced funding totalling nine million dollars to help community facilities that can offer refuge for people in future storm events. The money will be used to buy generators, satellite phones, blankets and cots and other necessities. The deadline for applications is on November 17, 2023.

A pair of serious motor vehicle collisions on Saturday. 

Traffic was backed up on the Trans Canada highway after a collision in Mount Albion. Police and emergency vehicles were on the scene as traffic was redirected.

There was also pick-up truck and motorcycle collision on Route 2 at Fredericton Station Road, last night.

No other details available.

Artist and performer Becca Griffin finds herself increasingly grappling with the weight of climate change. She finds solace in leaning in to Mother Nature, even when it's scary.

It may have come a week later than scheduled, but the annual 70-Mile Yard Sale couldn’t have come at a better time with the high cost of living.

It’s officially fall.   

Autumn began at 3.50 our time this morning.

It’s expected to be a warmer fall with average rainfall for PEI after a wet end to summer.

This weekend marks the first anniversary of the devastating Hurricane Fiona that hit PEI and the Maritimes last September. 

Communities hit last year by Fiona can access up to nine million dollars in federal funding to help bolster facilities that can offer refuge to residents.

The money will help designated facilities purchase things like power generators, satellite phones, blankets and cots, and make necessary improvements to serve the public.

Applications received by November 17th will be given priority consideration in funding through ACOA.

PEI is one of the jurisdictions this applies.

Post-tropical storm Fiona brought sudden and dramatic change to P.E.I.’s North Shore last September, but researchers are already seeing some significant recovery.

Higher grocery prices have been a significant driver of inflation over the last two years on P.E.I., but there are ways of getting around the worst of it — with some careful shopping.

The Western Hospital emergency department will be closing early on Saturday and Sunday this weekend due to a lack of staffing.

The emergency department hours of operation this weekend will be:

• Saturday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Sunday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The emergency department will resume regular hours on Monday at 8:00am.

There will be a school board by-election this fall to fill a trustee vacancy in the Public Schools Branch zone 7, but not for the French Language School Board zone 2.  Friday at 2pm was the deadline for nominations, and two candidates, Jocelyne Ludgate and Adam Drake, are registered as candidates for the trustee vacancy in Public Schools Branch zone 7.  Andre Doucette was the only candidate to register for the French Language School Board zone 2 vacancy and was elected by acclamation.

Five community groups on P.E.I. have signed a letter to school and police officials asking them to denounce what say is an increase rise in hate on the Island.

The chair of the English department says having this upgraded space means a lot for the students and the program.

Some Prince Edward Islanders are still waiting on insurance claims to go through and repairs to be made on damage done by post-tropical storm Fiona a year ago.

Three separate Charlottetown Police Street Crime Unit operations this week will lead to drug charges against four people, and weapons charges against three of the four. 

The emergency department at Western Hospital in Alberton, P.E.I., will be closing early on Saturday and Sunday.

'We care about the environment so much, and so many trees are not with us anymore, so we wanted to plant one,' said student Tianna Benoit.

Opposition MLAs encouraged Prince Edward Islanders to inform themselves better about guidelines for respecting gender identity in schools, following protests attended by 100s on Wednesday in Charlottetown.

Bring the kids. This will be fun! Sept 23 (Saturday) Noon at Beaconsfield Historic Site, Charlottetown.

Be part of a new Tree Story as we plant (and document) a new post-Fiona chapter in Island history!

There was a big drop in the price of gas on P.E.I. Friday morning.

The Provincial government is offering a suite of workshops to help seniors brush up on their financial know-how. 

The workshops will help seniors learn about scam and fraud prevention, and about federal and provincial benefits that may be available to them. 

The province’s Seniors Navigator will lead the workshops. 

They begin on Tuesday and run until November 27th, with dates and locations across the province.

As PEI farmers prepare for the potato harvest, many are wondering what all the rain this summer is going to mean for this year’s crop.
Greg Donald with the PEI Potato Board says harvesting will be difficult this year due to excessive moisture, and rainy weather may have damaged the crops.
He says the wet conditions could affect the bottom line for farmers, should they need to cull the damaged potatoes.
In 2018, there were seven-thousand acres of potatoes left in the field as the cold and rain that year put an early end to the harvest.

Provincial parks’ staff were awarded the 2023 Agency Award of Excellence from the Canadian Parks Council this week at the Council’s Annual General Meeting in St. Andrews, New Brunswick.  PEI Parks received the award for its outstanding teamwork, diligence and immediate action to restore provincial parks in the province after Hurricane Fiona. In total, over 500 truckloads of debris were removed from the province’s eight provincial campgrounds and 12 day-parks. 

Nearly a year after the P.E.I. government introduced regulations for electric kick scooters, officials and business owners are still coming up with ways to get more people to follow the rules. 

Late Wednesday morning, the Charlottetown Police Services Street Crime Unit led the execution of a search warrant at a home on St Peters Road.

The search resulted in the seizure of a quantity of fentanyl; hydromorphone pills; cocaine; weapons including a cross bow, switch blade and numerous other knifes, and imitation firearm;  $3,500 in cash and other drug paraphernalia associated to drug trafficking.

A 36-year old woman and 32-year old man face several drug and weapons charges.

The Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission approved a decrease of 8.0 cents per litre in gasoline prices overnight.  Including taxes, pump prices for regular self-serve gasoline now range from 181.6 to 182.7 cents per litre.  There’s no change in diesel or furnace oil prices.  Diesel prices remain in the range of 212.1 to 213.2 cents per litre.  The maximum price for furnace oil is 164.7 cents per litre.  Propane prices increased by between 2.8 and 3.2 cents per litre, putting them at 82.2 to 83.3 cents per litre.  

John Vanderzwaag has been found not guilty of two counts of sexual assault dating back more than 20 years, after a jury in Charlottetown deliberated for more than nine hours. 

RCMP on P.E.I. say they're getting more calls about people driving off without paying for their gas.

Officials with the federation told provincial MLAs population growth and lower taxes in rural areas have led to too much development outside municipalities, cutting into farmland.

The Charlottetown Islanders open the 2023-24 season this weekend. Head coach Jim Hulton joins CBC News: Compass host Louise Martin for a preview.

Charlottetown police say they've launched two investigations connected to Wednesday's demonstration. This year's Take Back the Night march has been postponed due to safety concerns.

A P.E.I. judge spent two hours instructing jurors in the John Vanderzwaag sexual assault trial on Thursday morning, before sending them off to start their deliberations.

In the year since Fiona struck the Island, UPEI's School of Climate Change and Adaptation has seen a big jump in inquiries from waterfront property owners as well as potential buyers wondering about the risk level — and what they can do to lower it.  

Two P.E.I. MPs are getting behind a Liberal Atlantic MP caucus proposal for an increased Climate Action Incentive Payment for rural Canadians.

Charlottetown’s Public Works Department is advising residents that effective next Tuesday, September 26, Passmore Street will be officially converted from a two-way traffic street to a one-way traffic street.  The change comes as part of the Passmore Street Reconstruction project that has been ongoing throughout the summer.  Once converted to a one-way street , traffic on Passmore Street will only flow in the eastbound direction from Queen Street toward University Avenue.

A small group gathered outside Montague-Kilmuir MLA Cory Deagle’s office in Three Rivers Wednesday in an effort to gain the attention of the provincial government to the homelessness problem in the area.

The PEI Humane Society says it has had to make the difficult decision to pause construction of its new animal shelter because of significant unforeseen cost increases.  The project is being put on hold until funding is secured.  The Humane Society says that with inflation and a shortage of skilled tradespeople causing prices to soar, the budget for the project has inflated beyond expected increases — so it’s pausing construction so that the project’s costs do not impact any of its other operations.  Officials say the pause will not impact shelter operations.

On September 24, 1998 the federal government officially proclaimed the last Sunday of September of every year as Police and Peace Officers’ National Memorial Day. It’s an opportunity each year to formally express appreciation for the dedication of police and peace officers who made the ultimate tragic sacrifice to keep communities safe. On Sunday, which is September 24th, at 2:00 p.m. Islanders  can attend the 2023 Police and Peace Officer Memorial Service. It will be held at Holy Redeemer Church, 3 Pond Street in Charlottetown.

Starting this semester, all new UPEI students are required to complete a mandatory non-credit course, Preventing Sexual Violence at UPEI. While the course is a graduation requirement for students starting programs in the Fall of 2023, all other UPEI students are encouraged to complete it and earn a badge on a voluntary basis. 

The course consists of five modules: Consent, Consent at Work, Recognizing Sexualized Violence, Interrupting Harm, and How to Respond to a Disclosure at UPEI.

It takes approximately one to two hours on average to complete the course, and it does not have to be completed all at once. 

The potato harvest is just about to get underway in many parts of P.E.I., and many Island farmers are wondering what all the rain this summer is going to mean for this year's crop as they head out into the fields.

Animals at the P.E.I. Humane Society will have to wait a little longer to move into their new digs.

Trans and gender-diverse children 'all have rights and they should be respected,' says P.E.I. child and youth advocate Marvin Bernstein.

Lawyers have wrapped up their arguments in the John Vanderzwaag sexual assault trial, taking place in Charlottetown.

A new federal party is entering the fray and is hoping to gain support from voters unhappy with the federal Liberals and Conservatives.

Health PEI is creating a navigator program for children with complex needs and their families living on PEI.  The need for this program was strongly voiced by respondents in a survey.  It showed that more than 1 in 6 children under 18 on PEI have complex needs and an overwhelming majority of their families have difficulty accessing health services. Data has shown that approximately 84% of PEI children with complex needs have experienced difficulties accessing required health services in the past 12 months.  A resounding 97% of the caregivers of children with complex needs expressed interest in services that would help them find and organize care for their children.

Events are being planned across Canada Wednesday to counter anti-L-G-B-T-Q rallies that are being held across the country.  Counter-protests are happening countrywide  as a group called “1 Million March 4 Children” organizes its own rallies.

Posters created by the group say rally participants are – quote – “standing together against gender ideology in schools.” 

One such rally and a counter-rally were being held over the lunch hour in Charlottetown outside Province House.

Two groups of protesters are gathered outside Province House in downtown Charlottetown, shouting at one another and leading police to shut down the intersection in front of the Cenotaph. 

Starting early next year, P.E.I.’s busiest street could have a new look.

On Monday night at 10:30 pm, the Charlottetown Police Street Crime Unit arrested a 43-year old Charlottetown man after a targeted traffic stop on St Peters Road.  The search resulted in police seizing 42 grams of cocaine, a BB gun, and drug paraphernalia.  The man has been charged with Possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking and possession of a weapon while bound by a weapon/firearm prohibition order.  He’s been released with conditions and will appear soon in Provincial Court.

City councillors voted last month to mow Michael Ross's lawn for him, with a bylaw stating grass can't be higher than 150 millimetres. Ross said he is ready to take legal steps.