Shift (NB)

The Notable Acts festival begins this week with 16 new plays by New Brunswick playwrights.

We speak with artistic director Len Falkenstein for the details. 

A survey of the Chignecto Isthmus found undisturbed forests and some rare plants. We'll speak with the organization that did the survey about what was found and how the information may be used for conservation efforts in the future. 

Much of the world has been dealing with the aftermath of a massive tech outage today. Banks, airlines and health care are among the industries that use Microsoft Windows affected by a faulty update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike. Vanessa Vander Valk spoke with David Shipley, a cybersecurity expert and CEO of the Fredericton based Beauceron Security.

Shift’s resident birder Alain Clavette scours downtown Moncton for chimney swifts.

A blueprint for success for aging in place. We'll hear about a study done in Saint Andrews about the connection between civic engagement and health in older adults.

The Progressive Conservatives are promising to lower the HST to 13 percent over two years if they're re-elected in the fall. They say that will help people deal with the rising cost of living. We'll ask economist Richard Saillant what he thinks of the plan.

Campobello Island and Eastport Maine have once again been connected by boat. We'll learn more about a new ferry between the border communities.

On what's cooking this week, we're headed to St. Andrews where Chef Alex Haun runs the kitchen at Kingsbrae Garden. Like many chefs he likes to use local ingredients, and this week that's lobster mushrooms!

Michael Edwards of Science East looks at advancements in synthetic food. Apparently you really can't believe it's not butter!

Some people living in Uptown Saint John say the homelessness and addiction situation has reached a crisis level. Longtime resident Bob McVicar recently posted online about the issue and wrote to council. We'll speak with him about the response he received.