Bridgewater council exploring social media

Bridgewater town councillors could be tweeting or liking statuses in the near future. Staff educated council members about twitter and facebook during their recent discussion session Monday night. Councillor David Mitchell says the time is now for council to get involved with social media.

"I think its one of those things that there's no sense in waiting. Social media is here, its not going away, there's just no sense in waiting, we might as well jump on the ship now."

Mitchell says his attempt to use social media last year to promote council's budget process didn't fly with members. He says social media sites like facebook and twitter would help promote Bridgewater.

NSTU President Slams Education Cuts

The president of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union says funding cuts are changing the way education is delivered. Nova Scotia's eight school boards are bracing for combined cuts of $13.4 million from an overall budget estimate of just over $1 billion. The South Shore, Strait and Cape Breton-Victoria regional school boards are facing the highest cuts at 2.1 per cent. School boards were also hit with a $17.6 million reduction in funding last year. Alexis Allen says teachers are dealing with larger classrooms and heavier work loads. "Twenty teaching positions will not be filled. The minister keep saying they will be through attrition but we're losing teachers on the South Shore and that has to mean larger class sizes. Last year, we lost 343 teachers throughout the province, those are all gone and those people that retired...those jobs were not replaced," Allen predicts the province could lose as many as 300 teaching positions for the second straight year in order to meet budget requirements.

Mustangs Former Coach: Travel main reason why I left

The former head coach of the South Shore Canadian Tire Mustangs says it was a tough decision to walk away from the hockey club. Tim Boyce lives in Halifax and says the daily grind of travelling back and forth to Bridgewater became too much.

"The safety of the highway really got to me, you know, when you're travelling three or four nights a week on that highway as I am from Halifax to Bridgewater and back for practices and games, it's a dangerous stretch of highway, single-lane highway and I'm getting married in the summer and I just couldn't handle it anymore. Every time I got in the car it kind of weighed on my mind."

Boyce says he started having thoughts of not returning in late December. He says he enjoyed his time as coach and had a lot of fun with the team. Grant Johnston was announced as the new head coach earlier this week.

Volunteers request funding from MODL for Maggie's Playground

A dedicated park is expanding and in need of more money. Volunteers with the Vogler's Cove Community Hall have approached the Municipality of Lunenburg requesting funding for Maggie's Playground and Park. The group is hoping to expand its project over the next two years to include a multi-purpose court, mini golf, walking trail and a boat activity centre at an estimated cost of $163,476.21. The park is named after Jim and Jan Moir's daughter, Margaret Timmins, who died suddenly in February 2007 while vacationing with her family in San Antonio, Texas. Jan Moir says the park is a perfect tribute for her daughter.

"Nothing could have been more fitting for my daughter. Her deepest love was for her family and for families to be able to get together and enjoy a place such as we have been creating."

The group is requesting $16,000 from the District of Lunenburg to help with the project.

Chester: Land Purchase Along East River for $60,000

The municipality of Chester has acquired a five hectare piece of land along the East River. The property was purchased for $60,000 from a private owner in a deal finalized this week. The listed value of the property was originally $94,000. Warden Allen Webber says the price was right for a nice piece of land. "It's a very nice piece of property that's right by our trails system and we thought it was some property worth pursuing," The area is bordered by the Chester Connection Trail and is a good spot for fishing, canoeing and hiking.