Minor injuries after head-on collision in Hebbs Cross

A head-on collision in Hebbs Cross Monday afternoon has left one person with minor injuries. The accident happened along highway 103 just before 3:30pm near the Blarney Stone Restaurant and Naugler Auto. Hebbs Cross Deputy Fire Chief Charles Meisner describes what happened.

"There was a Jeep coming from Liverpool. There was a gentleman that was coming out of Naugler's Service Centre and the Jeep lost control of the road conditions and hit the gentleman that was leaving Naugler's."

Meisner says an older man leaving Naugler Auto in a Chevrolet Lumina van suffered a few cuts to his face and did not believe to have any damage to his legs after they were trapped because of the accident. Officials with the Bridgewater Fire Department were called-in with the Jaws of Life to free the man. He was then taken to hospital while a younger man in the Jeep walked away with no injuries.  Meisner says weather is believed to be the main reason for the accident. The highway was shut down as a result of the accident for roughly an hour.

Suspicious Fire on Big Tancook Island

An investigation is underway into a suspicious fire at a cottage on Big Tancook Island. Chester RCMP and the Fire Marshal's office are looking into what caused the blaze and who may be responsible. The fire broke out last Monday and completely destroyed the cottage. Anyone with information is being asked to contact police in Chester or crime stoppers.

Dexter: Bowater Working on Efficiency Upgrades

Premier Darrell Dexter isn't surprised by the upcoming shutdown at Bowater Mersey. He says the market for paper across the continent remains extremely soft and periodic downtime has to be expected. Dexter says taxpayers shouldn't worry about the province's decision to offer a $50 million dollar rescue package for the mill.  He says the mill will remain in operation and officials at Bowater are still working on installing more efficient machinery. Dexter says those upgrades will help make the mill more competitive and avoid lengthy shutdowns in the future. Resolute Forest Products announced on Friday it will temporarily shut down a number of its operations next month due to poor market conditions.  The Liverpool area mill will shut down for three weeks beginning March 11th.

SSRSB Reviewing Electoral Districts

The South Shore Regional School Board is reviewing its electoral districts. Superintendent Nancy Pynch-Worthylake says the review is necessary after the approved and potential municipality district changes in the South Shore region.

"There have been changes, approved changes, to the Municipality of the District of Queens and the District of Lunenburg has applied for some changes. Our electoral districts are determined, in part, by theirs. Once they have changes to theirs, we need to look at ours."

The School Board is made up of ten district members and two at-large members-one elected African Nova Scotian and one appointed First Nations representative. Pynch-Worthylake says the review will consider lowering the district members between five and 10. The first of three public meetings will be held February 20 from 6-7pm at the School Board Office. Other public meetings will be held Wednesday February 22 from 6-7pm at Forest Heights Community School and Thursday February 23 from 6-7pm at Dr. John C. Wickwire Elementary School. After public consultations are complete, it's expected School Board Member Judith Sullivan Corney will make a decision regarding the number and composition of districts at a Special Meeting Wednesday March 7 at 6:30pm at the School Board Office. A proposal will be made to the Utility and Review Board, who will hold a public consultation and make the final decision.

Health Services Foundation ready for 2nd Annual Radiothon

South Shore's Health Services Foundation 2nd annual Gift for the Heart Radiothon gets underway Tuesday. It will be held on CKBW and HANK-FM this year, in order to raise $244-thousand for a new Echo System. Bernadette Jordan with the Foundation talks about the importance of the system.

"It takes pictures of the heart, it's a non-invasive procedure, so its like an ultrasound but it's strictly cardiac and it will look at valves as well as the heart, and anyone who has any kind of heart issues, or valve issues, the echo is the system they go on."

Jordan is encouraging businesses to challenge each other to see who can donate more, or gather pocket change and donate that way.

"Throw it in a jar and drop it off the day of the event and you know, sometimes people don't realize how much change adds up and it can add up quite quickly and anybody can collect change, I mean, we're talking kids, schools, community groups, everybody can do the change thing quite easily."

South Shore Regional Hospital has the lone echo system from Halifax to Yarmouth. Both radio stations will air the Radiothon from 8am-6pm Tuesday.