Aberdeen Road property owner fires back at Town

The building owner at 99 Aberdeen Road is disgusted with the lack of police presence in Bridgewater. Frank Rhyno says his building has been broken into at least 40 times, there's been thousands of dollars in smashed windows but not one criminal conviction. He says the days of him pumping more money into the property are done.

"I pay a lot of taxes and what do I get in return for that; vandalism, break and enter. What do I get for convictions and restitution; nothing."

He says he's fed up with people smashing windows and not facing criminal punishment.

"You get tired of this after a while. This is not the first time with Bridgewater's police and their negligence as far as I'm concerned. Why the mayor and the councillors want to dig at me on this, I don't know, but I think they need to clean up their own departments first before getting on my back."

Rhyno says he does care about the building, but is tired of spending thousands of dollars on windows that continually get smashed. He says town council should leave the matter alone for now, because they're hurting the potential sale of the property.

White Point announces Design team for Rebuild

Call it an early Christmas gift for the people at White Point. The owner of the Queens County resort, Robert Risley, announced Thursday that he's hired a team to move forward with designing and building the new main lodge. Risley tells CKBW/HANK-FM News that it's great news six weeks after a devasting fire destroyed the historic lodge.

"The more I thought about it and the more I talked to our own team and just about a ton of people from all over the world, the more you realize how important White Point is to everybody and it really spurs you on to get this thing gonig and get it back in business."

Risley has hired WHW Architects as their architectural firm, Design 360 as interior designers and J.W. Lindsay Enterprises as the construction manager. Risley says their budget to rebuild is around $4-million. The public are being invited to participate with their design ideas as well. Submissions are being invited at www.whitepoint.com/blog/.

BREAKING: Chester Council to Expropriate Land in WIld Rose Park

For the first time in decades, the municipality of Chester is taking action to acquire private land within Wild Rose Park in Western Shore. Council voted this morning to expropriate a dozen properties, giving the park complete public access. CKBW/HANK FM's Steve MacArthur was in Chester for the meeting. "It was a unanimous decision on behalf of the Municipality of the District of Chester today to expropriate the twelve pieces of private land within Wild Rose Park. A standing room only crowd packed the council chambers to hear the decision. Many of them where pleased to finally learn this issue will come to a head - its been ongoing in the community for more than 15 years. The Western Shore and Area Improvement Association purchased the land back in 1996 for $1.00 but never legally acquired the private land within the park so that's what brings us here today. Now, its a matter of the municipality entering into negotiations with those land owners to work out a dollar amount for their land," Warden Allen Webber says the municipality has approximately $200,000 in a reserve fund to purchase the land. Negotiations will begin almost immediately. Should there be a dispute on the monetary value of the land, the matter would be turned over and settled through the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board.

New Russell home destroyed by Fire

A couple escaped serious injury but lost their home and belongings to fire early this morning near New Ross. A mobile home was destroyed around 3:30 a.m. at 301 Clearwater Drive in New Russell. New Ross Fire Chief Scott Reeves says the cause of the fire looks to be electrical.

"The fire started behind a sofa in the livingroom where there was an electrical outlet and some power cords."

Several fire departments were called to the blaze including Kentville, Chester Basin and Windsor.
Reeves says the home wasn't insured and the family dog died during the fire.

Kettle Campaign Needs Help

The Salvation Army is hoping a final push helps their annual Christmas Kettle Campaign. Donations in Bridgewater haven't been as strong this season compared with previous yearly totals. Captain Stephen Holland is hoping folks dig deep over the next few days. He says part of the money raised is used to provide children and families along the South Shore with the basic necessities of life. "This last week is are big drive and we're down a little bit from last year....we're actually down about $9,000. I'm hoping this week we'll be able to pick it up and have that money available to provide for families or individuals with any emergency's they may have," The Salvation Army also uses money from the kettle campaign to provides shelter for the homeless and rehabilitation those dealing with addiction. Members will be around town collecting kettle donations until Christmas Eve.

Mustangs take on Panthers in Annual Alumni game

It's a game featuring some of the best hockey players of years gone by.The South Shore Canadian Tire Mustangs annual Alumni game will be played Friday night at the Bridgewater Memorial Arena. This years fundraiser will see Mustang Alumni take on Park View Panther alumni. Former players including Jacob Conrad of the Gatineau Olympiques is expected to suit up. Game time is 7pm Friday night in Bridgewater. Proceeds of the game will go towards both teams.

Thursday: Chester to Discuss Wild Rose Park

The future of Wild Rose Park will be a lively agenda item around the council table in Chester this morning. The public park was constructed in 1996 by the Western Shore and Area Improvement Association, however the group never legally acquired the private land within the park. Now, some of the private land owners are looking to develop their land. Warden Allen Webber says council is faced with a decision on whether or not to keep the park fully accessible. "What council has to do is determine in their own minds, whether or not there is sufficient public interest in maintaining or preserving Wild Rose Park as it exists today or whether there is insufficient public interest and therefor walk away and it will cease to exist as we know it today," Webber says council has a numbers of avenues to consider and expropriation is an option they will explore. The public meeting will be held at 8:45AM from the municipal offices in Chester.