#rcmp officer 2

[systematic-and-somehow-tragic]

was this actress also in the pilot episode? as RCMP Officer #2?

I tried to check imdb and there is a Jennifer Parsons listed in the cast for the pilot (as RCMP Officer #2) and a Jenny Parsons listed for The Ladies' Man (as Jocelyn Kerr) which does match the end credits of these episodes

I realized that she looked familiar while watching this clip, I went back and clipped the pilot (post here) and I am pretty sure this is the same actress!

At first I thought this was Fraser masking and not masking at all.

But then I saw him do his self-soothing sway and I realized that actually, he's just put on another mask in the second one.

[terracebatman]

RoboCop stands outside RCMP detachment in Terrace BC

[propicsmedia]

Headlines Dec 03 LIVE Replay TODAY'S HEADLINES - LIVE REPLAY DEC 03, 2024 Leduc RCMP Officer, Const. Bridget Morla Charged With Se_ Assault2 Canadians Charged in Attempted Murder of California Couple After Online Gaming SessionsTrump Threatening More ViolenceMexico President Responds to Trump Threats of Soft Invaision #Mexico #Hamas #MiddleEast #RCMP #AlbertaCrownProsecutor #OfficerCharged #MexicoPresident #Canada #Crime #OnlineGaming #lawandorder #lawenforcement #SanJose #Airdrie #Israel #hostages #trumpthreats #tariffs #politics #news #headlines #Worldnews

[pettyrevenge-base]

Make my life difficult for nearly a decade, I'll make you look like an idiot.

When I first left home to go to university, my parents co-signed a mortgage for me on an apartment style condominium in a small Canadian city. This was 20 years ago, so it came in at a whopping $52,000. They thought that this was a much better and economical choice than trying to find an apartment and deal with landlords. I loved the idea and moved into my new home.

The building was almost entirely populated by the 65+ crowd. It was small and only had 24 units split into 2 halves. I had a basement condo. It was a nice place, nothing fancy, but amazing for a student. I was young (19) but I was quiet, kept to myself and didn't do the whole party thing.

I got along with most of my neighbors, I'd help them out moving heavy things or carrying groceries upstairs. I was acutely aware of the age gap and the general image of a university student, so I made sure to be just an all around great guy to avoid conflict.

The one person I could never see eye to eye with was my upstairs neighbor. For a 70 year old woman that couldn't have weighed more than 100lbs, she walked like a damned elephant. She'd have gospel music on her TV at max volume at 5am on Sundays, she'd make remarks about "that damn kid" whenever something was left out of place. She even went so far as to accusing me of breaking into her car and making a police statement saying she saw me do it. Unfortunately for her, I was out of the country on an internship at the time, but still she persisted being a pain in my ass. I'd tried to approach her about the TV issue, and her response was to make sure that it was no longer just Sunday. After a couple of years of attempted diplomacy, it was clear that nothing I did would make things better.

Others in the building probably knew she had it out for me, but why would this adorable little old lady try to lie and get me thrown out of the building by the condo board? (She tried at least 11 times while I lived there).

7 years into my time living there, I was at my job with an Ambulance service just north of the city. I got called to a shooting. Guy shot his neighbor in a land dispute. The neighbor survived, but there was of course going to be a police investigation. The investigating officers called me to get a statement and offered to just come over to do it, rather than have me travel. One of them was a constable I'd worked with quite a bit, so I said sure. We set a time for about an hour after I'd get home from work.

I was just getting out of the shower when they buzzed to get into the building, I said "come in, I'll be out in a second". I hit the door buzzer and quickly grabbed some pants and a shirt. I heard them come in, and then walk upstairs. As I'm trying to throw on clothes, I hear them knock....on my upstairs neighbors door. They introduce themselves as being from RCMP Major Crimes division and that they were looking for me...balls. She says "oh, he lives downstairs, what do you want with him?". They thanked her and informed her that they couldn't say, as it was an active investigation. My heart sank....but then I had a thought.

It only took about 15 minutes to do my statement and they went on their way. And then the fun began. I knew the rumour mill would be starting. She would tell everyone that would listen that Major Crimes was looking for me and that I must be some sort of criminal. I decided to see where this went. Pretty soon I'm getting side eye in the hallway, neighbors are steering clear of me, so I know she's been talking. Turns out I've been arrested for robbery and kidnapping and must be out on bail according to her.

I found this out when one of my neighbors who was on the condo board showed up with a letter demanding an explanation and threats to have me kicked out. I asked him what this was all about, and he said "Well, Linda (not her name) sent us a letter about what had happened and we had to have an emergency board meeting because people don't feel safe with you here". I said that per the by-laws of the condo board, before any action could be taken, I could request a meeting to review and provide a defense. Linda was on the board, so I know she'd be there. They set a date for a week from then, but I was given a caution that it didn't look good for me and that I would have to do a lot of explaining.

The meeting day comes. Linda is sitting smugly looking at me, the other board members are giving me dirty looks. The board president asks what I have to say in my defence. I stand and quietly distribute a letter on RCMP letterhead, signed by the regional superintendent that says"Mr. Zenmedic is not under suspicion of any crimes, past or current and has not been arrested, detained or questioned as a suspect in any criminal matter. His duties as a Paramedic will often require him to make statements in regards to ongoing investigations, and in this instance on (date), investigators had gone to obtain a statement about an ongoing investigation for which he was professionally involved. At no time did the members discuss, disclose or in any way indicate that he had any involvement in any wrongdoings. I am deeply saddened by the necessity of this letter and we will be reopening an investigation into a previous incident regarding false statements made against him".

You could tell when people read and understood it. The dirty looks shifted from me to Linda. She exclaimed that it must be a forgery, she witnessed me being led off in handcuffs. She pleaded that they should believe her. It didn't help her. I stood and addressed the board and outlined the years of abuse and harassment, including the false accusation of break and enter to a vehicle. I informed the board that on advice of my lawyer that I do not discuss the matter further with any member of the board, as Linda being part of it and using her position for the purposes of harassment opened the board as a whole to litigation and I was still weighing my options.

The next day I had a knock on my door. The board president had informed me that Linda was removed from the board and that she was given warning about her conduct and that any further harassment could result in proceedings to have her removed from the building.

She also had a visit from police with a summons for providing a false statement and obstructing a peace officer. She had to attend court. She pled guilty to both and was given a suspended sentence and 1 year condition not to harass, threaten or intentionally inconvenience me in any way. If she abided her conditions, she would receive an absolute discharge (meaning it would be removed from her record, like it never happened).

I moved to another province before her year was up, but for a brief period of time, I actually got to sleep in on Sunday mornings.

Source: reddit.com/r/pettyrevenge

[alexandramrobertson]

Mountie on the...St. Roch?: The Cabins

Part 2 of ?

At the St. Roch exhibit at the Vancouver Maritime Museum, you don't just walk inside the ship - you can also go inside it.

The RCMP Schooner St. Roch could carry up to forty people, with the crew sleeping in shifts in the 8-bunk forward cabin squeezed into the bow (!!!) The exhibit reflects what the ship might have looked like during the 1944 Northwest Passage voyage, with vintage uniforms, books, and gear strewn about.

Meanwhile, the Captain and other senior officers slept in the upper cabin on the main deck. This was Captain Larsen's cabin, with room for his commissioned officer's uniform and his skis.

Of course, the officers' larger cabins were also their workplace. The captain had a desk and charts, while the wireless operator had radio equipment from floor to ceiling.

And, for the Due South fans: the famous brown uniform!

There was one group that didn't sleep in the cabins. On the 1944 Northwest Passage voyage, an Inuit family of seven (husband, wife, grandmother, and four children) and their 17 sled dogs joined the crew for six weeks. The husband, Joe Panipakuttuk, worked as guide, interpreter, and hunter. While on board, the family lived in a tent on the deck. Luckily, it was summer!

This is Part Two of my St. Roch series. Read Part One here.

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

So, I'm performing stand-up tomorrow. And lately my material that's been working best has been jokes about Justin Trudeau, but I can't do those 2 days after we elected someone else. No one's thinking about Trudeau right now.

Here are my ideas for Mark Carney jokes, all based around the fact that in 2015, there was a major CBC news anchor named Evan Solomon. I listened to every episode of his show, which ran 5 nights a week, called Power and Politics. He reported on all the major domestic and international stories, interviewed MPs and other major players, it was a flagship show for political news. Evan was a big deal.

Then one day, it was all over Canadian news that Evan Solomon had been very suddenly fired from the CBC, because he brokered a very expensive art deal between two people he'd interviewed on his show, and because he took a cut of the profits, this became a conflict of interest. The person who bought the art was governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney.

This set off a huge debate across Canadian media about journalistic ethics and integrity. There were major theories that Evan's firing was part of some conspiracy to cover up a story he was covering, or retaliation for the way he'd been critical of the RCMP's handling of the Parliament Hill shooting. There were also theories that he'd been fired as a CBC scapegoat, to make them look clean in the face of much bigger scandals by reporters who got to stay at the CBC. A whole lot of people started discussing the minutae of journalistic rules, to work out whether he'd even broken them.

The federal election (the one where Trudeau first got elected, against incumbent Stephen Harper) was happening at the time, and all major party leaders were asked what they thought of the CBC firing controversy. The other leaders all gave rehearsed answers about the importance of journalistic transparency and the CBC's ethical standards, but Justin Trudeau replied, "All I know is that I've never bought art from Evan Solomon", the implication being "[and therefore my hands are clean enough for you to elect me as Prime Minister.]" Lots of headlines followed that comment, because when a politician makes a half decent joke, that's a news story.

There's a joke in that now, right? That people made all that fuss in 2015 about it, but now it turns out that actually, "never bought art from Evan Solomon" is not, in fact, a requirement to be Prime Minister. "Hey guys, remember that guy who bought a painting from Evan Solomon and got him fired? I hear he's running the country now."

At a debate in that same 2015 election campaign, Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe was saying something about interest rates and discussing the Bank of England, and accidentally said "Art Carney" instead of "Mark Carney". And the papers ran with that for ages. This was before Trump had ever been president, so basic professionalism was still an expectation of politicians, and "Minor party leader misspeaks" was hilarious headline news. McLeans famously did an article fact-checking the debate, and one of their fact checks was "Art Carney is not the Governor of the Bank of England."

But at the time, I don't remember seeing a single person make a joke connecting those two stories, calling him "Art Carney" because he bought art from Evan Solomon. Is that joke still on the table, ten years late?

To add to all this, Evan Solomon did a few years in the figurative wilderness, then started up an independent podcast called Everything Is Political, which was pretty good and began many years before Alastair and Rory started their thing. I listened to that podcast for a while and then lost track of Evan Solomon, though I know he worked at CTV as well. And then this year, he suddenly announced that he was quitting his media career to run for office for the first time. In the election a few days ago, he won his seat in Toronto, and he's now a Liberal MP.

So of that art deal that got Solomon in so much trouble ten years ago for being some big ethics violation, two guys from that deal are now MPs, and one is also PM.

...Absolutely none of this is usable, I know. I think there could be good jokes in this, but only for people who happened to be closely following CBC politics ten years ago. I'll probably just do my Nickelback joke again.

[beardedmrbean]

An Alberta RCMP officer has been charged with sexually assaulting two males in an Airdrie hotel room in 2022.

Leduc Const. Bridget Morla faces two counts of sexual assault. Morla was off-duty at the time of the alleged assaults, according to the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT).

ASIRT announced the charges Monday following a two-year investigation.

Morla, 39, has been a police officer for 13 years. She has been suspended with pay since the investigation commenced in late 2022, according to RCMP spokesperson Fraser Logan.

Two male victims

Court records show the two alleged victims are males.

The alleged assaults took place on Dec. 3, 2022, "while a group of people were socializing," according to ASIRT.

The civilian oversight agency was directed to investigate the matter on Dec. 13, 2022.

ASIRT sent its investigative findings to the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service, which determined that the case met its standard for prosecution.

Morla was released from custody and is set to make her first court appearance in Airdrie next week.

ASIRT investigates incidents involving police that result in serious injury or death, as well as allegations of police misconduct.

[angelsonthesideline]

I got a lot for you haha

6. What are you excited for?

22. Would you ever want to swim with sharks?

28. What was the last thing that made you laugh?

50. Ever used a bow and arrow?

56. Occupations you wanted to be when you were a kid?

57. Do you believe in ghosts?

78. Who would you like to see in concert?

Ask as many as u wish!!

6. I’m dealing with a depressive dip rn, so that is more of a “nothing” answer… but I do have 2 weeks off starting the end of June, so we’ll go with that

22. Nope, never, I’ll admire from afar. I have major water issues so swimming with goldfish is also a nope. I CAN swim, but I am good with staying on shore where sharks live… it’s their home, and I don’t need to visit.

28. I dunno.. yesterday was a very dark place.. probably something at breakfast the day before with my sister (before I slept for 17 hours)

50. No, but I really want to take archery lessons

56. Rockstar, veternarian, RCMP mounted police officer, professional show jumper

57. Absolutely, I don’t see them but I can feel them, sometimes hear them. I have lived in haunted homes.

78. I’ll take this as bands I haven’t seen yet, and not ones I will see over and over… I still haven’t seen a full Slipknot concert, so they top the list (last time I went, my date got roofied and kicked out, then when I had tickets again, Covid hit.. I didn’t buy any for this summer cuz it feels more like I’m not supposed to see them yet). Motionless in White (my goth bf), In This Moment, Bring Me The Horizon, Asking Alexandria, Seether, Jelly Roll, NF, Lø Spirit, Citizen Soldier.. there are a few and numerous I will see again. There are also bands I love, but know that they can’t hold their sound well live, so I don’t plan to see them..

I do need a plus one for my Thirty Seconds to Mars tickets in August… still haven’t figured out who to take..

[systematic-and-somehow-tragic]

1 Actor, 2 Characters - Due South : Pilot

Inspired by my realization that RCMP Officer 2 (Pilot) and Jocelyn Kerr (The Ladies' Man) are both played by Jennifer (Jen) Parsons, I decided to check the cast list from IMDb and see if there were any other actors who appear as 2 (or more) different characters in the due South universe. To my surprise, there are several from the pilot alone! Many of these characters lack readily available screenshots (and some I couldn't identify by name alone) so I went through the episodes to compile this side-by-side list.

I may continue this search through the rest of the episodes, mainly relying on cast information from IMDb, the credits of the episodes themselves, and these wonderful annotated transcripts. And since some characters are unnamed and/or uncredited, maybe I'll even spot some new ones! Also, I am 100% open to contributions and/or corrections, so if anyone has anything they'd like to add, I'm all ears!

Without further ado, listed by actor and mostly in order of appearance...

Paul Gross - I almost skipped PG before remembering that he has indeed played another character on dS! So here's PG as Benton Fraser (Pilot) and as Frannie's German fiancé (Dead Men Don't Throw Rice, S4E5)

2. Kimberly Ange - RCMP Officer 1 and also appears in Victoria's Secret Part 2 (S1E21) as an attorney named Boswell (credited as Kim Ange)

and

3. Jennifer Parsons, the one who started it all - RCMP Officer 2 and also appears in The Ladies' Man (S4E3) as Jocelyn Kerr, who wants to have bark tea with Fraser (credited as Jen Parsons)

4. Scot Dentor/Denton - RCMP Officer 4 (credited as Scot Dentor in the pilot but listed on IMDb as Scot Denton). IMDb also identifies Scot Denton as the uncredited actor who plays Pierce (the ambassador targeted in The Edge, S2E9)

5. Barry Kennedy *** - This one I'm not so sure on. Barry Kennedy plays a character called Bert Jenkins in the Pilot but as far as I could tell, no character is called this aloud in the episode itself. Working backwards from Kennedy's other dS credit (Sgt Eddie Polito in The Ladies' Man, S4E3, uncredited, per IMDb), I still struggled with a definitive ID. Based on the annotated transcript of TLM, I believe the man on the right in TLM screenshot below is Kennedy's character Polito. Based on this, and the fact that the supporting characters seem to be credited roughly in order of appearance in the Pilot, my best guess is that Kennedy's dS Pilot character is the pilot who talks to Fraser about the lack of geese and beavers. They look like they could possibly be the same guy?? Maybe?

6. Philip Williams - Herb Lantrell, the pilot who gives Fraser the list of American dentists who'd been hunting in the Pilot, also appears as the arms dealer Lloyd P Nash (the P does not stand for pertinent) in Bird in the Hand (S2E4).

7. JD/Jack Nicholsen - the unnamed Airport Hustler (credited as such even though he does return the money to Fraser at the end of the Pilot) is also 2 other characters: Caulfield (one of the bad guys stealing pets in The Wild Bunch, S1E15) and Joey (Denny Scarpa/Lady Shoes' trigger man in Odds, S4E6)

8. Gene Mack - the Chicago Desk Sergeant in the Pilot is also credited as Mason Dixon, the associate of Devlin (the boxing trainer in Mountie & Soul S3E7). Mack is credited as Chicago Desk Sergeant but does have a name tag in the Pilot, although it is quite blurry.

9. Dan Lett - Dr. Weingarten (the dentist in the Pilot) is also Carver Dunn (the creepy fan who uses blackmail to barter for the singer Tracy's stockings in Mountie Sings the Blues, S4E7)

10. Ramona Milano - Francesca Vecchio! And also appears as Deputy Bernie in Dr. Longball (S4E1).

Dr. Longball of course has other main cast members playing different characters, but I plan to cover those as I make my way through the episodes chronologically in the hopes that it'll help me keep track of which actors/episodes I've checked.

11. Sandi Stahlbrand - TV Reporter Shelley Perry from Channel 6 News in the Pilot and TV Reporter Tracy Wightman (apparently from Channel 7) in Red, White, or Blue (S2E17)

12. Kevin Rushton - an honorable mention! I didn't think to include Rushton until I saw the IMDb trivia point him out in the bar scene in the Pilot. Rushton does stunts on the show and presumably appears in several episodes, which I think thereby technically meets the brief of playing multiple characters (unless there is a case to be made that Rushton plays a recurring character role? which could be an interesting take). But either way, shout out to all the dS stunt folks!

IMDb specifically credits Rushton for appearances in Diefenbaker's Day Off (S1E2), A Cop, a Mountie and a Baby (S1E9), You Must Remember This (S1E11), and One Good Man(S2E8).

[newsbites]

News from Newfoundland and Labrador, 14 July

1. Police continue to investigate stabbing in St Johns in Topsail Road.

A 34-year-old man was seriously injured in a stabbing in the west end of St. John’s.

The assault took place between Bay Bulls Road and Topsail Road.

Police are urging anyone with information or video footage of the area during the specified time to come forward.

2. A man from Bell Island is facing charges after being caught on 12 July with drugs in a car which was pulled over for speeding.  He was driving while his licence was suspended and showing signs of driving impaired.

3. Near miss at Braya refinery.  A Stop-work order has not been issued by the department. 

Occupational Health and Safety is investigating a "near-miss" incident at the Braya refinery in Come By Chance, involving drilling on a repurposed line that had previously been in nitrogen service.

The line was not in service or under pressure at the time of the incident, and internal analysis was conducted before sharing the findings with OHS and employees.

This incident comes almost a year after a fatal explosion at the refinery, which resulted in a criminal negligence investigation by the RCMP.

4.  Clean-up underway after an unexpected tornado in Half Moon Bay.

5. Electrically-serviced campsites in loops A and B of Newman Sound Campground in Terra Nova Park are currently without power.

6. Oceana Canada is concerned about DFO’s failure to close Capelin Fishery [via VOCM].

OC says that the Canadian government, specifically the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), is not effectively incorporating climate change data and research into fisheries management decisions, which is exacerbating the depletion of fish stocks.

7. Candidate Tony Wakeham is releasing his healthcare plan for connecting residents with a primary provider for healthcare.

Tony Wakeham's health care plan focuses on improving access to timely care in Newfoundland and Labrador by connecting every resident with a primary health care provider and establishing family health care teams.

The plan prioritizes job offers to health care professionals at the beginning of their training to address the shortage of healthcare providers in the province.

Wakeham emphasizes the urgency of addressing the lack of access to health care and believes that waiting for the long-term vision of the Health Accord is not feasible for the province.

8. Musgrave Harbour failed to respond to two access to information requests, the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner has found [per VOCM].

9. It is peak tourism for Newfoundland and Labrador right now. Business has picked up but the sector still faces challenges, including air access [per VOCM].

Small businesses in the hospitality industry, such as restaurants and tour companies, are relying on a busy summer season to help cover costs and repay loans taken out during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Staffing shortages, inflation, and rising food prices are adding to the challenges faced by businesses in the summer, but increased tourism can help offset these difficulties.

Business owners are implementing strategies such as menu changes, hiring immigrants, and raising prices to adapt to the current economic conditions and make the most of the summer season.

[charlesandmartine]

Thursday 15th June 2023

After Cockerel Gate, the latest challenge was access to Tofino. The problem lay with connections through Port Alberni on Highway 4. A forest fire has caused a lot of damage with landslides and the need for a safety survey of trees lining the roads. We called into the Tourist Information office to get advice. It was rather like approaching one of those guys in B&Q that have 'Can I Help' on their back, when you know full well the answer is most definitely, probably not. Our TI girl fell into that category, so we went to find a Royal Canadian Mounted Police person. They always get their man! Well we found a very nice lady in the RCMP station and she told us we probably could get to Tofino via a 2 hour bumpy ride on gravel roads being sure to keep out of the way of constant logging trucks and queuing for single track creek bridges. Well none of that sounded too attractive and I'm sure Mr Alamo would not approve, so with the only alternative available being to catch a seaplane or waiting a month for the road to reopen, we gave up and last minute booked Airbnb at Sooke thanks to the brilliant assistance of Reese Witherspoon and her team at the Lake Cowichan library. They were so pleased we had found somewhere and they thoroughly approved of Sooke. Fair swap, but disappointed we shall not make it to Tofino.

We felt honoured however to find that we are the very first guests in this brand new Airbnb property and very nice it is too. We have panoramic views across the ocean to the USA.

Our trip here from Lake Cowichan took us through Port Renfrew, which was very photogenic but mainly famous for its pub apparently. It's possible we saw a seal but it equally could have been seaweed. Were this not enough to pull people into this rather remote location, it does have a circular botanical trail through the forest and along the beach. How could we resist the challenge and possibility of a bear encounter! The notice announced that bears have been spotted today!! Very nice walk but no bears so we continued our journey along the south coast of the island to Sooke. We shall have to review tonight what exciting things there are to do here on this uncharted and unscheduled stop. Apparently there are such things as the Sooke Pot Holes. I'm just hoping these are more impressive than Gloucestershire pot holes.

Our host tells us bears have been spotted in their neighbour's garden. We shall keep a look out, although we are beginning to think this bear thing is all made up!

[productofnfld]

What Was The Bell Island Boom?

Sunday, April 2, 1978, began as quietly and ordinarily as any other day on Bell Island, NL.

It was cold, with a light freezing drizzle, but the waters of Conception Bay lay still. Across the island, families were preparing for church. Then, at around 11 a.m., without warning, a tremendous boom shattered the morning calm. The explosion was so powerful that houses in St. John’s shuddered from the shock waves, and the thunderclap was clearly heard as far away as Harbour Grace and Cape Broyle.

The epicentre of the mysterious blast seemed to be Lance Cove, on the southern edge of the island—where the ‘boom’ was more than just heard. It left behind plenty of physical evidence.

At the home of Jim Bickford, the strange explosion caused a fuse to shoot 20 feet out of the fuse box, chased by a streak of blue flame. Outside, a shed attached to his barn was blown from its foundation, killing several of his chickens. A short distance away, large holes—two feet deep and three feet wide—were blasted into the ground. “It was as though you’d thrown a bomb in there,” reported one investigating RCMP officer.

Other homes experienced strange electrical disturbances—lights flickered on by themselves, wiring was scorched, and appliances were destroyed. “The whole place lit up,” said Wabana Town Manager Edward Kent. “And this, combined with the tremendous noise, frightened and upset a lot of people.”

As bizarre as the destruction was, it was the visual reports that truly caught everyone’s attention.

“I heard a rumbling noise, and then I saw a big ball of fire,” recalled Carol O’Brien. Another witness, watching from across Conception Bay, described seeing a beam of light shooting toward the sky.

These accounts paled in comparison to that of 12-year-old Darin Bickford.

Bickford was outdoors on his bicycle at the time of the blast. His vivid eyewitness account captivated everyone. Years later, he recalled the event for the TV program Weird or What:

“All the birds stopped chirping, all the dogs stopped barking. It just went so still. And then it was boom. It’s like a shotgun blast, followed by a ball of light, and then immediately after, a second ball. The ground shook underneath me.”

He continued:

“It was hovering off the ground when it appeared out of thin air, and beautiful colours of blue made up most of the center of the ball. Outside of the blue, there was orange and yellow, mixing together. And then—just like that!—the ball of light disappeared into thin air. I was terrified of what it was, but I was transfixed by it.”

Searching for Answers

Almost immediately, the official explanation was lightning. Given Darin Bickford’s description, many speculated that it must have been ball lightning—a rare atmospheric phenomenon in which a glowing sphere appears close to the ground during a thunderstorm. However, ball lightning is not well understood.

Not everyone was convinced. If it had been a lightning strike, as one newspaper noted, “it could be regarded as a freak one, since weather conditions at the time were not those normally associated with lightning. No other thunderstorms were reported anywhere across the province that day.”

This led some to look for other explanations.

Meteor strikes and satellite crashes were quickly ruled out. Then, rumors began to swirl that the event was not natural at all, but human-caused. Speculation intensified when two scientists from the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory in New Mexico—John Warren and Robert Freyman—arrived to investigate. They had detected the event via the Vela satellite system.

Because the Vela satellites were designed to detect nuclear detonations and monitor the Soviet Union, people wondered if Bell Island had been inadvertently caught in some Cold War experiment.

One theory suggested that Bell Island’s rich iron ore deposits had attracted some kind of atmospheric energy wave—possibly related to the mysterious Soviet “Woodpecker” signal, a powerful radio transmission detected worldwide in the late 1970s.

The rumours weren’t just confined to conspiracy theorists. The Western Star even ran a front-page headline:

This theory came from the Planetary Association for Clean Energy in Ottawa. Its director, Andrew Michrowski, proposed that the explosion was caused by an Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) radio wave that “probably interacted with an iron-ore body on Bell Island.”

Michrowski claimed that since 1976, the Soviet Union had been experimenting with ELF waves of up to 40 million watts. He suggested that a Soviet station in Gomel (in what is now Belarus) was transmitting these waves, possibly with cooperation from a station in Havana, Cuba. He argued that Bell Island lay directly between the two, making it a possible target.

According to Michrowski, one property of ELF waves is that they can cause electrical breakdowns in areas with smooth reflective surfaces—such as a dense iron-ore deposit. Some witnesses had reported a loud hum preceding the explosion, a characteristic of such a breakdown.

However, the scientists from Los Alamos arrived at a different conclusion. Freyman and Warren decided that the boom had been caused by a superbolt—an extremely powerful lightning strike.

The Superbolt Theory

At the time, superbolts were still an emerging field of scientific study. In fact, the Vela satellites had played a key role in their discovery.

Superbolts are extraordinarily intense lightning strikes, 100 times more powerful than regular lightning and lasting twice as long (about one millisecond). They are exceedingly rare, making up only one-thousandth of one percent of all lightning strikes, and are more common over water than land.

History

Perhaps supporting the lightning theory, Bell Island had experienced at least one other strange lightning event in the past. On November 11, 1896, at around 9:30 p.m., residents witnessed a flash of lightning that reportedly lasted an impossible five seconds. The Daily News described it as the “most powerful ever experienced” and speculated that Bell Island’s immense iron ore deposits might have been responsible.

There were no reports of damage from the 1896 strike, but it must have been a spectacular sight.

Loud as a Legend

Whether sparked by lightning or something more mysterious, the Bell Island Boom remains one of Newfoundland’s most intriguing strange truths—a phenomenon so loud, it’s become a legend in itself.

The Bell Island Boom is one of those mysteries that’s too good to let go.

For more info and sources visit: https://www.productofnewfoundland.ca/articles/the-bell-island-boom

[didierleclair]

QUICKLY A FEW WORDS BEFORE GOING TO VOTE!

Ontario Premier Doug Ford is sending us to the polls on February 27. It’s a snap election. He triggered them on January 29, 2025 and we will close everything quickly. Move on, there is nothing to see.

With the harassment of Donald Trump and his tariffs as well as the federal elections in Canada, we do not have the impression that Ontario must choose a new provincial government.

However, there are crucial issues in these elections. The housing crisis is one. The Conservative leader has promised one and a half million new housing units by 2031. We are waiting. There is the family doctor crisis. According to a recent survey, more than 2 million Ontarians don't have any. Then, we can talk about transport infrastructure. In Toronto, the 19-kilometer Eglinton Crosstown LRT line, which is to run from Pearson Airport to Scarborough in the city's east end, has been under construction for 13 years. We can discuss full hospital emergency rooms, the repair of school buildings in poor condition, like our roads. I have not even begun to address the issue of French services, which are far from satisfactory since the elimination of the Office of the French Language Services Commissioner.

But let’s recognize that Doug Ford’s government has not stood idly by. He lowered the price of beer, he allowed the construction of condominiums in Toronto in highly congested areas, which added to the city's insurmountable traffic problems. The Conservatives still canceled license plate registration fees, reduced the tax on the price of gasoline by 5.7% per liter and made two toll highways free. That's great, but we're not all truckers and we don't live on beer. In this regard, the price of this drink will rise according to the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO), probably to thwart Mr. Ford's intentions to further reduce the price of beer. So, all that for that?

And then there are the unpredictable decisions of the Ford government. He will redevelop Ontario Place, a vacation spot. He never asked the opinions of Ontarians. In addition to a large park, he will add a Spa and the costs have risen to more than 2 billion dollars. Additionally, Doug Ford decided to close the Ontario Science Center without consultation. The place was very popular with educators and parents who took their children to see fun and educational science experiments. The Conservatives plan to open a smaller science center in the complex that will replace Ontario Place. But what does he have in store for us at the site of the old center? Another Spa or luxury condominiums?

This government loves condos, beer, free highways and free license plates. As for emergency departments, Doug Ford suggested that one of the reasons causing overflow in emergency rooms is the mania of patients with mild health problems running to the emergency room. These patients should use walk-in clinics, according to him.

We come to a subject that Doug Ford doesn't want to hear about. The “greenbelt” scandal. It is a protected area comprising more than 800,000 hectares of land and extending 325 km from the eastern end of the Oak Ridges Moraine in the Peterborough region to the Niagara River in the west.

The Conservative government had promised not to touch this belt. In 2022, he changed his mind. The province has identified 15 areas, nearly 3,000 hectares, to be removed from the greenbelt to build housing. The reason? The housing crisis of course. Bad luck for Mr. Ford, smart journalists learned that real estate developers, donors to the Progressive Conservative Party, were going to take advantage of this opportunity.

Doug Ford has since backed down and promised not to touch the greenbelt. However, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) still opened an investigation to see who in the Ford government intended to benefit financially from this project. Two of Mr. Ford's ministers have already resigned because of apparent conflicts of interest with real estate developers.

Nevertheless, many specialists in Ontario politics are wondering if this quick election, which comes well before the end of Ford's mandate, is designed to ensure winning the election before the end of the RCMP investigation.

In June 2025, Mr. Ford will have been Premier of Ontario for seven years. The man with endless pharaonic projects wants to last in power as long as his expensive work. Perhaps only a corruption scandal will make him resign.

Didier Leclair, writer

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