CBC Maritimes

The registry for people with an autism spectrum disorder in Miramichi could be a first in Canada

The young man was walking in an odd manner in the wee hours of the morning, and anyone might have assumed he was drunk.
That's what police thought when they arrested 18-year old Dane Spurrell in Mount Pearl, Newfoundland, last spring.
Dane had phoned his mother about midnight to tell her he'd just left the video store. But when he hadn't shown up by 1:30am, she began a frantic search.
A few hours later, when she filed a missing persons report with the police, they told her that Dane had been arrested for public drunkenness - which surprised his mother, since Dane doesn't drink.
The police had mistaken Dane Spurrell's autistic behaviour for intoxication.  
It's a mistake that police in Miramichi aren't likely to make. That's because they've teamed up with the local Autism Resource centre to develop a registry of people who have an autism spectrum disorder, which could be the first in Canada.
We spoke with Constable Todd Chadwick of the Miramichi Police Force and  Debbie MacGregor, Director of Autism Resources Miramichi.

Are dairy products getting too expensive to keep on restaurant menus ?
That's what the head of the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association claimed Monday on Maritime noon (see November 30th podcast).
Garth Whyte blamed the Canadian Dairy Commission for setting the price of  industrial milk for products such as cheese for pizza artificially high.
Reginald Perry, who chairs the Dairy Farmers of New Brunswick, responded.
    

There are plenty of ways to get into the news. You can finally succeed in something you've been working on for years - like an electoral victory or a business breakthrough. You could emerge from anonymity to blow the whistle on wrongdoing. You could be in the right place at the right time - or the wrong place at the wrong time. 
Some names are forgotten within days, but others remain - forever associated with a particular story.
Clare Deignan collected suggestions for Maritime Newsmaker of 2009 from people on the streets of Halifax. And then, CBC News Editors Alan White in Fredericton, Angela Walker in Charlottetown and Sandy Smith in Halifax joined us to share theirs and to hear yours.