DISCLAIMER: Jodi Bishop has given Friends of Kentville permission to publish this notice. We are publishing it so people can read the document themselves. We are not alleging that the notice was unlawful or that anyone involved acted improperly. We are asking for clarification of the circumstances surrounding it.”

I’ve been digging further into what happened with Jodi Bishop and the Friends of Kings meal at Centre Square on September 22, and there’s one part of this that is becoming increasingly difficult to reconcile.

The RCMP prohibition notice says the incident was September 22 at 4:43 p.m. and prohibits Jodi from Centre Square for a year, from October 1, 2026 to October 1, 2027. But the notice doesn't actually tell us what happened at 4:43 p.m.

It doesn't identify an alleged offence or say that Jodi refused to leave, caused a disturbance, damaged anything, or violated some particular rule. It simply gives the date and time and identifies the Town of Kentville as the occupier/authorized representative.

Then there's the food permit issue.

On September 17 - five days before the meal - Mayor Andrew Zebian emailed Jodi back:

“I know we had spoken two weeks ago regarding you using Town property without a provincial food permit. Were you successful with obtaining a food permit and have you spoken with the Town about possibly booking space?”

So this wasn't something that suddenly came up after the September 22 meal. The Mayor was already telling Jodi that she needed a provincial food permit.

But when I went back to the actual Nova Scotia Food Safety Regulations, I found something pretty important.

The regulations specifically exempt food prepared and served by a not-for-profit organization for functions or gatherings. The exemption has an exception for functions held in conjunction with a fair, exhibition, festival or other temporary food-service event.

Friends of Kings has been doing these community meals at Centre Square for years. This is community outreach - providing a meal and a place for people to gather - rather than a commercial food operation. The group isn't charging people for the food or operating a restaurant out of Centre Square.

And that's important because community spaces are often exactly where this kind of outreach happens. A community meal isn't just about the food. Centre Square provides a place where people can sit down, eat, talk and connect with other people. For people who may not have many other places to do that, the space itself is part of the outreach.

So, based on the regulation and the established nature of these meals, the provincial food-safety exemption appears directly applicable here. The fact that Friends of Kings is an informal local community group rather than a commercial food business doesn't, by itself, take it outside the exemption.

That doesn't mean the Town had to allow them to use Centre Square. That's a separate question.

The Town controls its property and can have rules about who can use it, whether space has to be booked, and what conditions apply. But that's different from saying a provincial food permit was required.

And that's where I think the unanswered questions really are:

Why was Jodi being told she needed a provincial food permit for these meals? And why was she singled out when she only began volunteering in May?

The Mayor's September 17 email is particularly interesting because he mentions the provincial food permit and then separately asks whether she had spoken with the Town about “possibly booking space.”

So even in his own wording, these appear to be two separate issues: provincial food regulation and permission to use Town property.

I don't think we should fill in the missing pieces ourselves.

What we have is a long-running community meal program, a provincial regulation that specifically exempts not-for-profit organizations serving food at functions or gatherings, and a Mayor telling the organizer five days before the September 22 meal that she needed a provincial food permit.

Then, on September 22, something happened at 4:43 p.m. that ultimately resulted in an RCMP prohibition notice lasting a year despite the fact no law enforcement was present for the alleged incident.

What happened at 4:43 p.m., and how did the food-permit issue factor into any of this?

That's still the part the public hasn't been given an explanation for.

Coming for a visit to the area next weekend and want to check out some local beers. Wondering if any are dog friendly? Any recommendations? Thanks in advance!!

A bit late to be posting this, but anyone in the area who is a baseball fan need to come out and support the Wildcats. Two games yesterday that had super high quality, game 5 has the chance to be epic. We'll know if the field is playable by 3pm and an announcement will be made. Sucks that the Sydney boys will have a late night, but it is what it is. Come out and support your local team.

LFG!!!!!!!!!

Listen I know there’s serious problems with downtown kentville that are getting worse. And the way the mayor leads with a “I’m helpless” attitude is obviously not helping. But regardless of where you stand with open arms or the current state of our town. This post is not something a mayor should post. It reads like an unhinged person who has no idea how anything works.

Copied for reference below. I can’t imagine it stays up long:

I have been thinking about this a lot, and honestly, I think we need to start asking some serious questions.

I looked at the publicly available CRA filings for Open Arms Resource Centre. The numbers caught my attention.

Open Arms reported $2,694,901 in provincial or territorial government funding in one fiscal year (2025) and another $1,589,869 in the other (2024). That is $4,284,770 over two years.

That is a lot of public money.

And then look around Kentville.

We still have people sleeping on our streets. We have people struggling with homelessness, mental health and addictions. Our residents and businesses are seeing the impacts every day.

What I find particularly difficult to understand is that there are people sleeping outside who, from what I understand, cannot be admitted to the shelter because of their age or other eligibility restrictions.

At the same time, we are hearing about people being accommodated in shelters who have been charged with serious crimes.

To be clear, being charged with a crime does not mean someone is guilty. But I think it is completely reasonable to ask how these decisions are being made, what the rules are, and why someone who is sleeping outside may not qualify for a bed while someone facing serious criminal charges can be accommodated.

I also hear that there is an outreach team. I personally have not seen that outreach presence out in our community, and I think it is fair to ask what that outreach actually looks like, how often it is happening, how many people are being reached and what happens when someone cannot access a shelter. I will follow up again about that piece.

And then there is the bigger question: who is actually monitoring the public money?

Is the province simply receiving reports from the organizations it funds, or is there independent monitoring to make sure the money is being used as intended and that the services being funded are actually producing results?

Then we read the reports coming out of New Glasgow about a shelter losing provincial funding and the claims being made about why. I don't know all the details, and I am not going to pretend I do. But it certainly raises more questions about how our province is managing the shelter system.

This isn't about saying Open Arms doesn't do good work. There are people working in these organizations who care deeply about helping people.

This is about accountability.

**$4.28 million is a lot of public money.**

When we still have people sleeping outside, when some people cannot access shelter because of eligibility rules, and when there are questions about who can and cannot be accommodated, I think Nova Scotians deserve to understand how these decisions are being made.

We can be compassionate and still demand accountability.

We can support people who are struggling and still expect our public dollars to produce results.

I don't have all the answers.

But I think it is time we start asking the questions.

Especially here in Kentville, where we are seeing the impact every single day.

Hello, I am looking for an excellent physio recommendation in the valley that deals with complex body mechanics/gait issues. I have been to one PT on the south shore previous to this. Thank you!

Hi, I travel frequently on the 101 throughout the valley and encounter numerous dead zones. Is anybody here with Eastlink or Roger's who can chime in with the quality of the cell signal? Currently with Telus which uses all of the same towers as Bell in Atlantic Canada.

Thank you for reading and I will appreciate any info which you could offer.

Work will begin on Friday, August 14, to prep for culvert replacement along Park Street in the West End. The prep work will begin Friday, August 14th and require one lane closure. Traffic control will be in place. The prep work this Friday will cause a water interruption for a few homes east of the project area; those customers will be notified directly by the Town.

The rest of the work on this project is estimated to start next week, August 17-21. This project is large-scale and is expected to take a number of weeks to fully complete. Traffic control using timed lights will be in place 24/7, bringing that section of Park Street down to one lane for the duration of the project.

I have friends visiting from Germany and with all the really great shops that sells pizza and donairs, I can't decide which to order from. I'm interested in who you folks prefer. For the record, I am only entertaining local shops, not chain-garbage.

The top two teams in the league battle tomorrow night at the Mem. Our guys have continued with their ramp-up (for the Nationals in a couple weeks in New Brunswick) in impressive fashion with good results last weekend against Sydney. It's a long week-end coming up, weather should be ok (fingers crossed), and we have 2 great NSSBL teams clashing...what could be better? See y'all at the park.

edit: LFG!!!!!

Why isn't there at the very least a sign on this trail? Its one of the nicest short walks in Kentville that takes you down past the river and its completely neglected.

Does anyone know why the footpath behind the curling rink, on the Harvest Moon Trail, was recently “closed”?

I enjoyed doing the Miner’s Marsh loop and then doing this second loop while out walking.

I'm looking at car at a dealership in Kentville but it has zero service history on the carfax. Does anyone have any recommendations on shops that would do a good pre-purchase inspection to rule out any major neglect?

We're coming up on our second anniversary and got to wondering about our neighbours.

If you own a small business, what's surprised you most since opening? Big or small, just something you never expected.

I thought there was a Montessori school/daycare opening in New Minas across from Running Man. What happened to it? Their FB page is up but doesn’t give much information?

Our Cats are back in action on Canada Day against the Metro Brew Crew. The guys are playing better with both the bats and gloves, continuing their progress towards nationals in a couple weeks. I gotta admit, after Canada beat South Africa, I'll be in a great mood all week, so come out and cheer the lads on, and bring your Canadian flags!

LFG!

Hi,

I recently moved to the Valley from Michigan. I have cerebral palsy (CP), use a wheelchair, and require regular custom leg braces.

Back home, the only professionals legally authorized to provide custom body braces were physical therapists (PTs), occupational therapists (OTs), and Certified Orthotists (CO). If you needed an off-the-shelf, non-custom brace, those could often be fitted by a brace fitter at a pharmacy or medical supply store.

When I started looking for providers in Nova Scotia, I specifically searched for Orthotists because they are generally considered the gold standard for custom bracing. In my experience, PTs and OTs are great for basic, uncomplicated cases, but Orthotists receive the most specialized education and training in custom bracing from head to toe. They often design and fabricate braces in-house, making them the experts in this field.

From my research, there appear to be only four locations in Nova Scotia where you can receive braces from an Orthotist:

- Brackish Biomechanical Bracing – Kentville

- Stride Biomechanical Bracing – Dartmouth

- Advanced Mobility Biomechanical Bracing – Sydney

- NS Rehabilitation – Halifax

This is where things start to seem sketchy and unethical to me.

I've noticed that some individuals with Pedorthic credentials (C. Ped.) appear to be providing braces that fall outside their traditional scope of practice. Pedorthists are specifically trained and qualified to work below the ankle. However, clinics such as Arthritis Injury Care employ C. Peds., refer to them as "Certified Orthopedic Bracing Specialists," and advertise services that include custom everything from leg braces to spinal braces and more.

How are Arthritis Injury Care and other clinics using C. Peds. able to safely and ethically provide these services?

From what I've been able to find, they appear to be doing so because they are not practicing under their C. Ped. credential. Instead, they are using the title "Certified Orthopedic Bracing Specialist." The problem is that I can't find evidence that this is a regulated professional designation. Who certifies these specialists? What governing body oversees their practice? If a patient experiences malpractice or negligence, no action can be made towards the practitioners credentials, but they are not real. How does the Nova Scotia government allow clinics operating under these types of credentials to exist?

Thankfully, Kentville has Brackish Biomechanical Bracing, and my experience there has been excellent. I can't say enough good things about the care I've received.

I would encourage everyone to research the credentials and qualifications of their healthcare providers before seeking treatment. Also stay away from C,Peds for knee braces and other things, unless you need foot orthotics.

Boys are back in action 7:30 Friday night v. Hfx Mets. It's been an inconsistent start to the Cat's 26' season, so this seems like a great time to get back on track and start preparing for Nationals with a total team effort.

$6 a ticket. Clear skies with low humidity.

ps How's the parking situation? Upper lot paved? (was there Mon. night and it was blocked off)

Go Cats!