Jeers: to a roundabout way to make things worse for walkers. Yes, we’re talking about the new roundabout at Rawlins Cross. First off, with the removal of the traffic lights, pedestrians now have to wait for kind motorists to grant the right of way, which can be a long wait. A newlywed Telegram staffer reports standing with his bride — in her wedding dress — as multiple cars sped by, refusing to stop. But if a long wait is inconvenient in daylight, it’s worse at night; it’s a clear danger. The new configuration is going to kill or seriously injure a pedestrian before long. Why? Because cars are flicking around the roundabout faster now that there aren’t traffic signals, and with the general lack of lighting, short sightlines because of buildings close to the road, and the increased speeds, it’s only a matter of time before a pedestrian gets caught square in the headlights — and then the grill — of a roundabouting vehicle.
Cheers: to sour grapes? Twenty-three master sommeliers were stripped of their wine credentials — at least temporarily — until they re-take the tasting part of their exam. Apparently, information about the wines that were to be tasted was leaked to the test-takers. Our tasting notes on the whole scandal? “Slightly bitter, with a hint of soil and a whiff of scandal. We believe this particular whine to be corked.”
Jeers: to troubling change. Hurricane Leslie, which has been chugging around the Atlantic for weeks now, was headed towards Madeira Island in the eastern Atlantic as a tropical storm. Just another day in hurricane season, right? Well, no. Apparently, a tropical storm warning hasn’t ever been issued for Madeira Island — and Portuguese explorers landed there in 1419. That would be almost 600 years without that sort of weather. No, nothing to see here. Nothing unusual about weather patterns and the climate.…
Cheers: to an interesting business venture. The owners of popular Yellowbelly Brewery in St. John’s, Brenda O’Reilly and Craig Flynn, have plans for Harbour Grace. They’ve bought the former Roman Catholic Cathedral in the town. Plans are to restore the building, and develop a new brewery, restaurant, hotel and spa and conference centre. There are a lot of positives to branching out into rural parts of the province, and lots of professional experience backing the plan.
Jeers: to the effective loss of anonymity. If you’re white and of Northern European descent, pretty soon, your DNA is going to be known. Even if you’re not one of the hundreds of thousands of people who have sought genetic information from sites like Ancestry.com and 23andMe, so many people have now sent samples that 60 per cent of Americans can be identified by their genetic proximity to those who have joined up. Within the next few years, that number is expected to reach 90 per cent. Welcome to science fiction.
