Hurricanes open provincials with win

A good start for the Western Hurricanes at provincials. The local major bantam hockey club earned a 4-1 win over the Newbridge Academy Senators to open the tournament. Isaac Bridge, Matt Quigley, Scott Perry and Ty Duffus scored for the Canes while Aaron Mantle got the win in goal. Head Coach Brad Muise says it was a good defensive effort from his club.

"We played well defensively, all five guys took care defensively in their own zone and battled hard. We limited their chances, so we knew it was just a matter of time for our goals to start coming."

Muise says his club played well despite fighting some early nerves to start the game, outshooting the Senators 25-9. The Hurricanes take on the Bedford Barons Friday at 2pm at Queens Place in Liverpool.

The Best Spot to Celebrate St. Paddy's Day is......

If you're of Irish-descent and looking to attend a party for a short-time and not a long-time, try travelling to one of the key destinations around the world for St. Patrick's Day.
Saint Patrick's Day is on Saturday this year and more reason to get out of town for a couple of days and celebrate the birthday of Ireland's patron saint.
Our travel expert, Brian Simpson of "Travelocity.ca", tells us Toronto, Boston and New York are sure bets for fun times.
But, there are some places you'd never expect though ... like Buenos Aires, Argentina, which has the world's 5th largest Irish population.
Then there's Montreal, with the oldest St. Patrick's Day Parade on the continent.
Simpson says: "Like Buenos Aires, its sort of shocking with it being so French-centric. The people in Quebec say about 5.5 percent of them have some sort of Irish roots ... so again some strong Irish connection to Quebec!"
If you're looking for that perfect Irish getaway this weekend, Brian Simpson has created a list of the best spots for the best prices at "Travelocity.ca".

Minor Damage After Fire at South Shore Concrete Plant

No major damage after a fire at a concrete plant last night on Cornwall Road. More than 30 firefighters from Cornwall and Blockhouse responded to a blaze at Lawrence Veinotte Enterprises around 7 o'clock. Fire Chief Steve Patterson says members were on the scene for almost four hours but were able to contain the blaze quickly. He described damage to the facility as minimal. The fire began in the back part of the plant but its cause is still under investigation. The family owned business has been in operation since 1976 and is located about ten minutes off Exit 11 on Highway 103.

Lobster Fisherman Receives Stiff Fine

Egg Bearing Lobster

A South Shore lobster fisherman has been fined $3,500. for having undersized and egg-bearing lobsters in his catch. Elmer Leon Jollymore of Little Tancook Island pleaded guilty to the offences in Bridgewater provincial court earlier this week.
DFO officers were conducting a routine inspection at the government wharf in Blandford last November 30th, when they found six undersized lobsters in an initial inspection of Jollymore's catch.
A more detailed search of 14 crates uncovered 12 undersized lobsters and two bearing eggs in more than 576 kilograms of lobster.
Jollymore has already paid the fine.

Evergreen Road not suitable for group home: Bridgewater Planning Director

It's a part of town that just isn't feasible. Bridgewater planning director Eric Shaw says LaHave Manor was inquiring about setting up a group home or home for special-care on Evergreen Road. Shaw says the problem is that part of town is classified as low density residential. He adds, since it is a secondary street, there cannot be any institutional-type development to accommodate a group home or home for special-care unless it fronts onto a primary road. Shaw says the town has many other places where a group home could go.

"We pride ourselves very much on being a very inclusive community that accommodates all sorts of different needs and this type of use is permitted you know, I would guess on hundreds, if not, over 1000 properties in town. But on this particular street, in this particular zone, it is not permitted."

Shaw says he would love to explore other options that would better suit LaHave Manor's needs.

MODL sends letter, awaits response on Centre Consolidated takeover

The mayor of the Municipality of Lunenburg says the ball is now in the province's court. Don Downe confirms he has sent a letter to local MLAs, the minister responsible and the premier regarding the takeover of Centre Consolidated. He says the municipality is not accepting the takeover and want to work with the province to come to an agreement.

"We just want to find a better solution than what we've got. We just can't afford, and the taxpayers cannot afford to take these schools and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars tearing them down or millions of dollars renovating them and we don't have the money to do it."

He says the municipality has spent thousands of dollars demolishing the Centre Jail, and have inherited the Blockhouse School and Riverport Community School. Downe says in the letter, he requests a meeting with provincial officials to see what can be done.

Western Hurricanes prepare to host provincials

The Western Hurricanes are out for redemption after losing in the semi-finals of last year's provincials. The major Bantam hockey club is hosting provincials beginning Thursday at the new Queens Place in Liverpool. The team is the number one seed heading into the tournament. But Head Coach Brad Muise doesn't consider his club to be the favourite.

"The difference between number one and numbers three or four or five in this league is minimal and no we definitely don't consider ourselves the favourite, we consider ourselves definitely a contender."

Muise says he likes his team playing on the bigger ice surface at Queens Place because they are built around speed. He says his team will need to be at its best to win the provincial title.

"It's been kind of our trademark all year that we out work a lot of teams and once we do that, it seems our skill level and our systems fall into place and takes care of itself but without that work ethic and desire any team in this tournament is going to be in trouble because its going to be hotly contested championship and the competition is pretty tough."

The Hurricanes face the Newbridge Academy Senators in the tournament opener today at 12 noon.

Full Schedule

Thursday, March 15^th, 2012

12 noon - Newbridge Academy vs. Western Hurricanes

2 pm - Cape Breton Cougars vs. Halifax Hawks

4 pm - Bedford Barons vs. Bay Gulls

6 pm - Opening Ceremonies

6:30 pm - Valley Wildcats vs. Newbridge Academy

Friday, March 16^th, 2012

 8 am - Halifax Hawks vs. Bedford Barons

10 am - Bay Gulls vs. Newbridge Academy

12 noon - Cape Breton Cougars vs. Valley Wildcats

2 pm - Western Hurricanes vs. Bedford Barons

4 pm - Newbridge Academy vs. Halifax Hawks

6 pm - Bay Gulls vs. Cape Breton Cougars

8 pm - Valley Wildcats vs. Western Hurricanes

Saturday, March 17^th, 2012

10 am - Western Hurricanes vs. Cape Breton Cougars

12 pm - Halifax Hawks vs. Bay Gulls

2 pm - Bedford Barons vs. Valley Wildcats

4:30 pm - Skills Competition

Top 4 teams from tournament play advance to semi-finals and are seeded based on tournament play

 Sunday, March 18^th, 2012

 8:30 am - 4 vs. 1

10:30 am - 3 vs. 2

2:00 pm - Championship Game 

MODL Council grants

Light notes from the municipal council meeting Tuesday March 13.

The Municipality of Lunenburg has approved a number of financial contributions for local projects including:

a $1,250 contribution for the Mi'kmaq Acadien Cultural Festival and Reunion on August 17 and 18 at the Fort Point Museum through the Municipal National/Provincial Event Grant Policy;

a $1,000 contribution from the current budget as well as $1,000 from the 2012-13 budget for the Atlantic Regional Firefit Championship being hosted by the Bridgewater Fire Department from July 19-21, 2013;

 a sponsorship banner at a cost up to $350.00 to use at the Atlantic Regional Firefit Championship and other local events.

Gary L. Wentzell hockey tournament begins

The Bridgewater and Lunenburg arenas are about to become a hotbed for minor hockey. Over 500 players will play in the Gary L. Wentzell Hockey tournament, kicking off at 8am Thursday morning. Teams from Queens, Shelburne, Acadia, Western Valley, Yarmouth, Antigonish and as far as New Brunswick will compete in six divisions including Atom 'A', Peewee 'B' and Bantam 'A'. The tournament goes until Sunday.