Home » Archives for April 2020 » Page 28
Page 28«..1020..27282930..4050..»
These two professional photographers from the Three Village area have found a way to help those in need during the coronavirus pandemic by capturing precious family moments.
Andrew Theodorakis of Yellow House Images and Ashleigh Malangone of Ashleighs Photo are both raising money for those impacted by the contagion by capturing family photos.
They both are practicing proper social isolation protocols by using long lenses to photograph from afar.
Theodorakis, who lives in Stony Brook, is taking free family portraits through his #PorchProject initiative he just asks those who sign up to donate to his fundraiser that will help feed Port Jefferson hospital workers.
Malangone, of Setauket, and her PORCHrait Project is slightly different. Her photo session is $25 with all the proceeds going toward the Three Village Food Pantry.
The pantry really needed gift cards for families who need fresh foods, said Malangone. My goal is to raise $2,000 for it.
And she is expecting to hit that goal this week.
Its a win-win, she told GreaterPortJeff. I am happy because Im doing what I love. The families are happy because they are getting dressed and theyre having a photo taken. Its such a wonderful initiative.
While she and Theodorakis arent working together per se, they have been promoting each others work.
Andrews photos are so awesome too; its so great that everyone is coming together and lending their time for a greater cause, said Malangone.
Over the last few weeks, the local photographers have photographed nearly 100 families between the two.
Over the Easter weekend, the Stony Brook-based photographer took over 25 pictures.
I really wanted to help raise money for the heroes working in our hospitals, said Theodorakis.
So far hes raised about $1,240 through his GoFundMe page.
To book him, you can visit his site here and sign up for a time slot. For those interested in supporting Malangones cause, visit her Facebook page. Note: Malagone only has a few booking spaces left.
Scroll down to see the photos from each initiative.
Read the original post:
These L.I. photogs are taking family portraits on porches and donating proceeds - GreaterMoriches
Category
Porches | Comments Off on These L.I. photogs are taking family portraits on porches and donating proceeds – GreaterMoriches
Alisa Renee and her son Michael have been checking on her parents daily to make sure they have everything they need. It's been five weeks since they've left their house at all, so on one of Alisa and Michael's recent visits, she found that what her parents needed was to get down with some '90s music. In a video shared to Twitter, Alisa's parents can be seen dancing together on their front porch as "Joy & Pain" by Maze and Frankie Beverly plays from her car in the street.
"My parents are 75 and 84. My son & I do frequent drive-by visits to make sure they have what they need," Alisa wrote on Twitter. "Today, I guess they needed to party."
Don't we all? Watch the full video on a loop above, and in the words of Alisa, "Come on Pop-Pop, boogie!"
Excerpt from:
I Can't Stop Watching These Grandparents Who "Needed to Party" Dance on Their Porch - POPSUGAR
Category
Porches | Comments Off on I Can’t Stop Watching These Grandparents Who "Needed to Party" Dance on Their Porch – POPSUGAR
COLUMBUS (WCMH) Many big events have been canceled because of the COVID-19 coronavirus.
But one Columbus couple isnt letting it stop them from celebrating their special day, just a little bit differently.
Of course, this isnt what the happy couple originally planned for, but they are making the best of it.
Kristen and Jacob Roby just got married on their front porch.
To make sure everyone was social distancing during the ceremony, they put out signs in the yard for the immediate family thats here.
They told neighbors about it, so theyre gathering in their yards to watch too.
Theyre doing everything they can to make sure today is still special.
The Robys were supposed to get married Saturday downtown, but COVID-19 had different plans.
Kristens wedding dress is locked up at the store, so she got a different dress for today.
They also just moved to their home and a neighbor they hadnt even met yet dropped off a card for them.
It hasnt been easy for them since they found out their wedding day wasnt going to be what they originally hoped for, but they couldnt just let this day come and go without doing anything.
I dont think I will ever forget this day for so many reasons, said Kristen Roby. Its very unique that, like, weve hung out all day, which we didnt have planned but we havent seen anyone, seen any of our family, havent been with my girlfriends, had to do my own nails, my own hair.
Instead of walking down the aisle, Kristens father walked her out of the garage. Instead of crowded seats, only immediate family and close friends had spots, measured out for social distancing.There was no crowded dance floor but there was still a father-daughter dance.
Although this wedding was not the one I envisioned or even had planned down to all the special details, its perfect in its own way, said Kristen Roby.
It certainly isnt the first obstacle theyve have gotten over, either. Less than a week after meeting each other, Kristen and her mom were hit by a car.
Im sure spending our third date in the hospital is not something either of us could have imagined having a good outcome, said Jacob Roby.
But it did. Jacobs first time meeting Kristens parents was at the hospital. The relationship has only grown from there.
I vow to be more than just a husband, Jacob Roby said.
Finally, for a moment, it was just about us and our family even with everything going on around us, Kristen said.
After all they know the wedding isnt about the crowd or the venue. Its about the couple and their love for each other.
Falling in love with you has been the easiest part of my entire life, Kristen Roby said. Though weve been through more obstacles than most couples would face in their first year together, everything was always gonna be OK because we had each other.
Were trying to put a little bit of normalcy in life right now, kind of continue with life as we expected it to go, Jacob Roby added. Were trying not to get too wrapped up in everything thats going on and still push forward, but in a safe manner.
Now they do plan to have a bigger celebration once its safe to do so but they are still incredibly excited about today.
Read the original:
Columbus couples wedding takes place on front porch due to COVID-19 shutdown - NBC4 WCMH-TV
Category
Porches | Comments Off on Columbus couples wedding takes place on front porch due to COVID-19 shutdown – NBC4 WCMH-TV
7 Little Johnstons fans know that in the current season of the show, Elizabeth heads toward her prom. In the show, fans know things look rather serious between Elizabeth and her boyfriend Brice, whos also her prom date. Amber and Trent talked to her about it. And, in a clip, fans also saw Elizabeth and Brice talk about their relationship. But due to the coronavirus in real time, Elizabeth spent her prom night at home, on the back porch.
TV Shows Ace reported about Brice and Elizabeth. Recall that she previously dated James Burdette. Heartbroken, she moved on and fell for Brice. On her Instagram, Elizabeth kept fans updated about her new love. Fans got to know Brice a lot better after the March 31 premiere of the new TLC season. One clip showed them really in love as only teens can be. She described him as super sweet, and he feels Elizabeths amazing.
In the clip, it appears that the two of them are obsessed with each other. And, it looks like Brice wants in on their relationship for the long-term. But especially nice for Elizabeth, hes got no hangups about her being a little person. It certainly looks like he loves her for who she is, no matter what. And of course, with prom looming, hes her date for sure. But now, the official 7 Little Johnstons account on Instagram noted the prom never happened as hoped.
So many young people miss out on college and high school graduations this year. The social distancing during COVID-19 makes it impossible for people to gather at public events. In fact, another TLC personality, Hunter Brown from Sister Wives graduated from the Air Force Academy but without the family present. InTouch Weekly noted Janelles mixture of pride and sorrow about that. So, theres bitter-sweet days for many young people like Elizabeth.
The 7 Little Johnstons account shared what went down on Elizabeths prom night this weekend. They posted a photo of Elizabeth in her special dress. The caption read, In honor ofSenior Prom todaywe went ahead, wore the dress & danced on the back porch! One fan said to Elizabeth, My daughter missed her prom too. So sorry you couldnt go but glad you made the best of it! Others noted that at least Elizabeth took the opportunity to wear her dress, and she looked stunning in it.
Many fans hope that in time, perhaps a belated prom takes place. But, at least the 7 Little Johnstons family made an effort for her to remember. Did you miss a special occasion? Sound off in the comments below.
Remember to check back with TV Shows Ace often for more news about the cast of TLCs 7 Little Johnstons.
Woryn is a writer who started a small book publishing company. She wrote three books, one of them published by Domhan. Woryn also writes as Jane Flowers for The Destination Seeker and Blasting News.
More here:
'7 Little Johnstons': Elizabeth Celebrates Her Senior Prom On The Back Porch - TV Shows Ace
Category
Porches | Comments Off on ‘7 Little Johnstons’: Elizabeth Celebrates Her Senior Prom On The Back Porch – TV Shows Ace
VANCOUVER, Wash. When school was let out in March, students didn't think it would be their final goodbye of the year. Mountain View High School choir teacher Jenny Bell wanted to hear her students sing once more. It's not a graded assignment, but a way to bring everyone together through music.
"There was a lot of things we missed about not getting that closure. It's like the end of a really good book that we didn't get to have the ending of and we just missed each other and missed making music together," Bell said.
Students past and present were asked and within minutes Bell had a dozen signed on to perform a song. Some were originals, others were favorites. Think of it as a front porch talent show of sorts.
Senior Sophie Hanson chose "Count on Me" by Bruno Mars.
"I picked 'Count on Me' because it's kind of talking about the friendship and counting on each other during hard times. I figured that was just perfect during a time right now. I feel like right now, people kind of is all we have since there's really nothing else to do besides school work," Hanson said.
Hanson, like every senior, had their final year upended by a virus and will miss out on those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, like prom and maybe even a graduation ceremony.
"I was honestly heartbroken."
Hanson plans to attend Grand Canyon University in Phoenix next year and pursue a biology major with an emphasis on pre-physical therapy.
Hanson also missed her final concert, which would have been a state competition.
"Sophie and I, our quartet made to state for the first time ever for choir. We don't get to go to that either, which sucks," says fellow senior Elin Bertheau.
Bertheau sang her own take on "Yesterday" by the Beatles.
"It made me kind of sad because I was thinking about it because I wish I could go back to yesterday, like when I didn't have to worry about all this coronavirus and canceling everything," she said. "One of the things I repeat is I believe in quarantine, because I know that quarantine is really important for preparing hospitals. My dad's a doctor."
RELATED: Hillsboro police officer plays piano to bring community together
Elin has a full-ride scholarship to the University of Utah. "I just hope I get to go and not start on online classes," she said.
At at time when we are all apart, music might be one of the things that can bring us all together.
"It just brings everybody together when you're listening to a song you were in a different moment. You can kind of go back to that moment and all be there together in sort of the same feeling," Bertheau said.
Sophie Hanson agreed, "I think you have different moods when you listen to certain types of music. I know when I'm listening to music that I know and I enjoy, I can't help but sing along. I know that singing brings joy to me. I know a lot of the people that enjoy the porch concerts, it brings joy to them too."
For Bell, it's a sense of pride in her students and a way to hear their beautiful voices once more.
"They're like my children. I love them very much and I'm very proud of them. It doesn't take the place of them being together. It doesn't take the place of singing with each other."
If you'd like to listen to the songs, every night at 5 p.m. Evergreen Public Schools will upload a different concert to theirsocial media pages.
They will continue this until the end of the year and hope to get more high schools in their district to sign up.
RELATED: Bringing the music to them: Local trumpeter plays for residents from parking lot
RELATED: Opera singer serenades father stuck in coronavirus quarantine
Continued here:
Evergreen students perform individual concerts daily from their porch - KGW.com
Category
Porches | Comments Off on Evergreen students perform individual concerts daily from their porch – KGW.com
RAPID CITY, S.D. From silly to serious, Rapid City area photographers are capturing just how emotional this point in time is for so many- going from the hustle and bustle of daily life to now life standing still.
Front Porch Project, Courtesy Henry Roy Photography
As the saying goes- theres no place like home. And many families are getting a lot more time to be there, staying put is the new normal.
Photographers across the country are capturing this new life in a series called The Front Porch Project, photos of families on their doorstep, showing life in the time of COVID-19.
Front Porch Project, Courtesy Henry Roy Photography
Henry Ulrich with Henry Roy Photography is calling his series the drive by sessions, offering his services for free. Hes using a long lens to stay a safe distance away, knocking out family portraits in about 2 minutes. Hes says it gives families a little something to look forward to in perhaps the midst of the mundane.
Ulrich says, It brings joy to people, it gives them something to look forward to for the day. They go outside and get together with their family and have a little fun for a few minutes.
The project is also giving area photographers something to do while typical business is slow.
Front Porch Project, Courtesy Legacy Photo and Design
Amy Oyler, owner of Legacy Photo and Design says she was overwhelmed by the response she received. In the past 3 weeks she has taken pictures of over 250 families in Rapid City and surrounding communities. She is also taking photographs free of charge and asking clients to simply pay it forward.
Oyler says, I gave no guidance. Ive had everything from wearing their workout clothes and pajama pants to yesterday I had people in suits. And its been the whole garment, some people do funny stuff and some people are taking it really seriously like, this is going on our Christmas card.
Front Porch Project, Courtesy Legacy Photo and Design
Families were grateful for the opportunity to capture this unique moment in time, whatever it may look like.
Oyler says, Some people are talking about, this is going in my kids time capsule like this is a major deal. And this shows, here we are all at home, but still happy and together. It just show a little bit of light and sunshine where it feels really dark.
See the original post here:
Local photographers capture images of families on front porch during the COVID-19 pandemic - Newscenter1.tv
Category
Porches | Comments Off on Local photographers capture images of families on front porch during the COVID-19 pandemic – Newscenter1.tv
Chicago issued citations to a developer and general contractors after a botched smoke stack demolition blanketed a city neighborhood in dust in what the mayor called a "total failure."
Officials also revealed a series of protocol changes, noting the implosion was the first of its kind since 2005.
"There was no separate in-depth permitting process for implosions," Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said, calling news of the damage "utterly" and "completely unacceptable."
A total of 16 citations were issued Friday, including ones to developer Hilco Redevelopment Partners and general contractors MCM and CDI, for a total of $68,000 in fines.
While this situation is one that is extremely concerning even under normal circumstances, the current situation renders this error egregiously unacceptable," Chicago Department of Public Health Commission Dr. Allison Arwady said in a statement. "We will not rest until these developers are held accountable, and the department of public health will continue a robust investigation of the site and examination of all samples.
Hilco's CEO Roberto Perez apologized in a letter Thursday "for the anxiety and fear caused this past weekend" and said its demolition contract did not follow measures that were supposed to be taken to mitigate dust from the implosion.
"We take pride in our track record of exceeding expectations for all phases of our redevelopment projects and this unintended result is not acceptable," he wrote.
The city has placed a six-month moratorium on implosion demolitions with plans to create a specific permitting process "with increased safety guidelines."
"I wouldn't tolerate this in my neighborhood and we're not going to tolerate this in any other neighborhood in this city," Lightfoot said.
Several residents have started searching for answers after a demolition left a large cloud of dust in Chicago's Little Village neighborhood. NBC 5's Lexi Sutter reports.
On Saturday, Hilco Redevelopment Partners conducted a scheduled and previously approved implosion of a smoke stack at the now-closed Crawford Power Generating Station. The smoke stack was successfully imploded, but the demolition released a large plume of dust into the air, which then settled on homes, vehicles and businesses throughout Little Village.
Now facing questions about why the city permitted the implosion to move forward, Lightfoot previously said the company had been issued permits with the expectation that they would control dust at the site, but that they failed to do so.
We are working cooperatively with the City of Chicago to review [Saturday's] demolition event undertaken by our contractor," Hilco Redevelopment Partners CEO Roberto Perez said in a statement Sunday, adding, "We are sensitive to the concerns of the community and we will continue to work in full cooperation.
A group of residents of Chicago's Little Village neighborhood are looking into filing a lawsuit, their attorney says, following the Saturday demolition.
Attorney Frank Avila said Sunday that he will be representing seven clients, all Little Village residents, who were impacted by the demolition as they explore legal action.
Avila said he was "appalled" by the demolition, calling it "environmentally dangerous" and adding that those responsible needed to be held accountable.
The Chicago Department of Public Health said preliminary test results from both dust and air samples in the area following the implosion showed "there was no asbestos emitted from the stack implosion." There was also not detective "of particulate matter in the air," but testing is ongoing.
Since Saturday, the city said it has "taken multiple steps to hold the developer accountable and directed the developer to take swift action to clean and remediate the impacted area around the Crawford site." According to officials, the developer has agreed to the following:
We will continue to fully cooperate with the city of Chicago and will be implementing all of the remediation efforts that have been requested," Perez said in a statement. "The health, safety and welfare of the Little Village community is of paramount concern to us as we work toward completing this project.
Read the original:
Total Failure: City Issues Citations, Changes Protocol After Little Village Demolition - NBC Chicago
Category
Demolition | Comments Off on Total Failure: City Issues Citations, Changes Protocol After Little Village Demolition – NBC Chicago
In as much as the timeliness for this entire exercise is wrong, I am sure and can bet with my very last pesewa that the AMA did not just wake up to demolish this area. The AMA under this current regime wouldn't be such callous and inhumane in doing this at this time. The Mayor appears too intelligent to do this.
Am sure that several eviction/demolishing notices and warnings would have been served those living there over a substantial period of time.
The rains are about setting in folks. Am sure the AMA is currently looking for some temporal place for them and this should happen as soon as possible. They shouldn't spend another night there like this. However, immediately the lockdown is lifted, they should be giving some stipends to relocate to their various regions.
Let's support the AMA to rid Accra of filth and prepare ACCRA for the AfCFTA (African Continental Free Trade Area). There will be too much visitors (Tourism and Business) and Accra got to be as READY AND PREPARED as never before!
Excerpts from the FINANCE MINISTER'S grandiose thought-provoking interview which has gain grounds not only in Ghana;
'' The world is changing. The German chancellor doesnt want to hear about debt-to-GDP ratios. Unthinkable stimulus packages are being announced, trumping orthodoxies and with no talk of a moral hazard: the G20 packages may end up close to $8b. Their generous tool kits are not available to us.
I am green with envy. To be honest, there is a lump in my throat as I think of Africas predicament. I question the unbalanced nature of the global architecture. I have, in one fell swoop, lost more than $1bn of revenue as domestic taxes continue to shrink, compounded by lost productivity and job losses. We still have an obligation to service our debt portfolio''.
Me: A One-Africa, A united Africa, A Free Trade Africa will release our Finance Ministers from sleepless nights in difficulties such as this. Let's create an Africa to become the envy of the West too! YES WE CAN!
SelasiAn Nkruhamist
More:
My Take on the AMA Old FADAMA demolition! - Modern Ghana
Category
Demolition | Comments Off on My Take on the AMA Old FADAMA demolition! – Modern Ghana
Each episode of #blackAF, Netflixs new comedy from Kenya Barris, gets introduced with rapper Jay Rocks Win.
You either with me or against me, blares Jay Rock, as a montage of black luminaries fills up the screen.
Im not against Barris per se, but I am certainly against the myopia of his latest project.
Season one of #blackAF begins streaming Friday on Netflix, one of the projects to come out of the $100 million deal Barris inked in 2018. It stars Barris as himself and Rashida Jones as his wife, Joya, in another comedy culled from Barris own life, this time dressed up in Curb Your Enthusiasm drag. (For the sake of clarity, from this point on, when I say Barris, Im referring to the real-life writer and creator of the show. Ill say Kenya to refer to the character in #blackAF.)
The show takes place in the Barris household, where Drea (Iman Benson), one of Kenya and Joyas six children, is filming a documentary about her family with the intention of including it in her application package to New York University film school.
Upon learning of her intentions, Kenya equips Drea with a studio, copious production equipment and a seven-person camera crew. Through eight episodes (Ive seen five), Drea captures her fathers various anxieties, which he claims stem from one place: slavery.
It becomes apparent that Barris has created a show with no real thesis or analysis, other than tangentially tying his own First World problems to structural racism with the worlds most tenuous spool of string. This is not to say that wealthy black people dont experience racism, because they do.
But Barris insists on branding his show about a narcissistic, malcontent father who obsesses about his blackness and the blackness of his family, as a show about blackness, when those two things arent actually the same. #blackAF isnt a show about blackness, its a show about one persons near-pathological need to keep up appearances. Its a conceit that has legs theres an entire genre of television farces built around that very thing, from Veep to Keeping Up Appearances to Jeeves and Wooster to Avenue 5.
#blackAF struggles to get beyond Barris penchant for self-aggrandizement, even though its supposedly filmed through the eyes of his documentarian daughter, which is how it fails where those other comedies succeed. Its a microgenre that requires an intense level of critical self-awareness, and thats the thing #blackAF lacks.
Take, for example, an episode in which Kenya and Joya cant stop wringing their hands about their 13-year-old dancing with her friends to a City Girls song and posting the video to social media. Joya goes on a didactic tangent about a real issue: the adultification of black girls and the problems that come with it. Joya even throws in a reference to Hottentot Venus. But the show is completely blinkered when it comes to the ways that class gives the Barris family a foot up, and thats where its self-aware shtick begins to fall apart.
As a black girl, you dont get looked at the same as these white girls who have purple hair, Kenya tells another daughter when he sees her at a music festival. It completely escapes him that the problems hes constantly obsessing about dont necessarily apply to the Barris children in the same way that they apply to average black girls. Statistically speaking, most black girls are not worried about whether their parents will burn through their trust funds.
Theres another thing that makes this show a poor facsimile of Curb Your Enthusiasm: Theres no Susie Essman equivalent to remind Kenya that hes full of it. Drea comes closest, but she lacks the authority and perspective of adulthood. Kenyas obsessed with black essentialism, but not enough to realize that its not nearly the problem he makes it out to be. So his random, mundane issues get shoehorned into unrelated things, like Juneteenth. Kenya says that hes constantly thinking about the white gaze, but thats just an excuse to avoid any real self-examination, especially since he never delves deeper into any of the issues surrounding race that he brings up.
Rashida Jones plays Joya, a mom of six children who is married to Kenya Barris.
Netflix
Even with all of these issues, Jones acquits herself as well as she can with a vapid goofiness that mostly hinges on her inability to dance well. Barris, as an actor, is flat on screen. Whats especially frustrating is that these topics are stale Baratunde Thurston published How to Be Black in 2012. Ta-Nehisi Coates excoriated President Barack Obama for his condescension and for trafficking in outdated racial essentialism in 2013.
Black people have moved on. Kenya Barris has not.
The fifth episode is about Barris discomfort with seeking and needing the honest approval of white critics. Barris attends a screening of an unnamed film by a black director. He hates it, and he cant understand why anyone would like it or see it as quality cinema. And the fact that his own family likes the film drives him crazy. After a quick trip to New York to visit Tyler Perry, Barris decides to dismiss critics altogether and convenes a video call with Tim Story, Issa Rae, Will Packer, Ava DuVernay and Lena Waithe to parse his feelings about being publicly honest about film and television made by black people.
How Jalen Greens decision to play in NBA G League could change the gameRead nowThe WNBA is getting more than a star in Satou SaballyRead nowThe murder of Tupac Shakur is a tragedy but the why is not a complete mysteryRead now
We do it all the time with white stuff, he says. Why cant we do it with our own stuff?
Like so much of #blackAF, Barris argument hinges on a straw man. In the case of the fifth episode, where Barris postulates that black artists dont receive an honest critique of their work, he conveniently elides the existence of black critics such as Angelica Jade Bastin, Melanie McFarland, Cate Young, Eric Deggans, Robert Daniels, Candice Frederick, Malcolm Venable, Hannah Giorgis, Doreen St. Felix, Wesley Morris, Jenna Wortham and Joelle Monique.
Before Barris or the character he plays whines about how impossible it is to get an honest assessment of his work from people who look like him, he might want to remember that black critics exist. Whether or not he takes heed of their words is up to him.
Soraya Nadia McDonald is the culture critic for The Undefeated. She writes about pop culture, fashion, the arts, and literature. She's based in Brooklyn.
Original post:
#blackAF is painfully devoid of new ideas - The Undefeated
Category
Cabinet Refacing | Comments Off on #blackAF is painfully devoid of new ideas – The Undefeated
Two weeks into the new fiscal year New Brunswick's planned budget surplus has been transformed into a hefty deficit by the COVID-19 crisis and although Premier Blaine Higgs is not ready yet to reveal how big the financial troubles will be, all signs point to something large perhaps historic.
"We are certainly now in very significant deficit territory and I don't see that changing anytime soon," said Higgs on Thursday during his regular afternoon news conference.
"A surplus and debt payment are now no longer even an option of any kind."
Higgs said both the cabinet and special all-party cabinet committee overseeing the province's response to the pandemic have been briefed on New Brunswick's deteriorating finances and said the public will be updated soon.
Edwin Hunter/CBC News
Still, a growing consensus of private-sector forecasts suggest the impact of the pandemic on New Brunswick's economy will be historically severe, even if mercifully short.
Provinces to slip into 'severe recession'
Earlier this week, the Royal Bank forecast New Brunswick's economy will shrink by 4.5 per cent this year and temporarily shed 43,000 jobs before recovery begins toward the end of summer.
"We now project all provinces will slip into a severe recession," wrote bank economists Robert Hogue and Ramya Muthukumaran in a report looking at the prospects of each province coping with the virus.
"Business closures, massive layoffs and drastically reduced working hours for those still employed generate additional knock-on effects for other sectors leading to further job losses and deepening the economic contraction. The end result will be for 2020 to mark the steepest one-year decline in GDP for all provinces."
It's a gloomy view shared by others.
The Conference Board of Canada, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Toronto-Dominion and National banks have each recently projected a severe economic contraction in New Brunswick this year of between 3.2 and 4.1 per cent.
That's significantly worse than the banking crisis and recession of 2008 when New Brunswick's economy declined by a combined 0.6 per cent over two years.
That downturn had been unforseen in the province's 2009 budget and the deficit that year ballooned $170 million higher than expected, mostly due to increased spending to deal with the recession.
$100M in unbudgeted spending
The New Brunswick Department of Finance has said little so far but does hint the 2008 experience will be at the low end what the province's finances are likely to encounter this time.
"There is an increasing consensus that this crisis will be as bad as the 2008 financial crisis or worse," said finance department spokesperson Vicky Deschenes in a statement to CBC News.
The Higgs government has already authorized unbudgeted spending of more than $100 million to help individuals and businesses survive the pandemic financially. But it's the potential effect on provincial revenues that is likely to pose the larger threat to New Brunswick's budget.
Story continues
Last week, the federal government's independent Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux published an updated "scenario analysis" of the potential effect of the pandemic on Canada's finances.
That modelled a 23 per cent decline in projected revenue from GST and 10 per cent reductions in projected revenue from personal and corporate income taxes flowing from job losses and business closures across the country.
"We stress that this scenario is not a forecast of the most likely outcome. It is an illustrative scenario of one possible outcome," said Giroux's office about the analysis.
Although speculative and not directly applicable to provinces, superimposing similar effects on New Brunswick's projected $3.8 billion in HST and personal and corporate income taxes this year would trigger revenue reductions of $580 million.
That's unlikely since Giroux's analysis is based on a national economic contraction of 5.1 per cent, which is larger than the contraction expected in New Brunswick, but it is illustrative of how much government tax revenue is under threat by the economic upheaval being caused by the virus.
Higgs has said for weeks he will worry about the province's finances after the threat from COVID-19 passess but Thursday did acknowledge restarting the economy and solving the fiscal problem the virus leaves behind will be daunting.
"That's why I'm pleased and excited to be working with the other three leaders because you know this is a situation where fighting the virus is one thing, but managing our path forward collectively so that we all recognize the challenges we're facing is extremely important."
Visit link:
New Brunswick in 'very significant deficit territory' just two weeks into fiscal year - Yahoo News Canada
Category
Cabinet Refacing | Comments Off on New Brunswick in ‘very significant deficit territory’ just two weeks into fiscal year – Yahoo News Canada
« old entrysnew entrys »
Page 28«..1020..27282930..4050..»