Riverport: New Fire Hall has Community Support

A new fire hall has strong support among residents of Riverport. A community group is leading efforts to develop the former Riverport Elementary School property. The Riverport School Site Committee met with about 50 residents last night to discuss potential future use for the old school property. Spokeswoman Debra Hofrichter says their proposal has enough support to move forward and submit the draft plan to the municipality. The group is also pitching the idea of a constructing a skilled trade facility, multi-use civic centre or creating greenspace. Hofrichter says the committee will send out surveys in the near future to gauge which proposal has the most support. The group would need to acquire the property from the municipality and the school would then be demolished. However, she says the entire plan is contingent on an environmental assessment of the property.

Casey Calls For Education Review

Liberal MLA Karen Casey

Nova Scotia's education system is in dire need of over-hauling and not for the sake of finding ways of cutting back.  Thats how Liberal education critic Karen Casey sums up the situation and the impact of budget cuts following a public meeting in Bridgewater last night.  Casey, Liberal leader Stephen McNeil and health critic Leo Glavine hosted the event.  Following the session last night, Casey tells CKBW/Hank-FM News, she's more determined than ever to strive for a better way of making the system more affordable.  She says: " we have a situation where we need to look at a review of the whole public education system: what we deliver, how we deliver it, the models that we use and make sure that we protect what is working and protect what is necessary for our students to be successful."  Liberal leader McNeil says his party wants to formulate a strong education plan, geared more toward students and their families.  The meeting last night in Bridgewater was the first of several the Liberals are holding around the province in the coming weeks.

One Dead, Three Injured In Yachting Incident Off Cape Sable Isle



One person is dead and two injured after a yacht broke down and was drifting about 128 kilometres south of Cape Sable Island.  A Cormorant helicopter is looking for three other people who are in the water.
Three other people were taken off the vessel by a passing tanker and are en route to Saint John, New Brunswick.  The rescue centre says nine people were on board the vessel and early indications are they are foreign nationals.  There is no information on whether the three missing people are in a life-raft. The two injured and the body of the dead person were being airlifted to a hospital in Yarmouth.

Men Rescued From Yarmouth County Lake

Five men were plucked last night from the cold waters of a lake in Yarmouth County.  The Halifax search-and-rescue co-ordination centre says a Cormorant helicopter flew to Great Pubnico Lake after receiving a call at 9:30 last evening that the men were in the water.  The helicopter reached the scene in about 25 minutes.  The men were hoisted out of the water and treated for hypothermia. The rescue centre says they're in good condition despite their ordeal.  The boat they were in ...sank.

Bridgewater Woman Found Guilty of Aggravated Assault

A Bridgewater woman has been found guilty of stabbing her former boyfriend ... a dozen times on New Years Day 2011.  Although Katelyn Leigh Whitney-Joudrey claimed self-defence, saying she feared for her life, Judge Jim Burrill found she was not under threat of grievously bodily harm or death when she drove a knife into Kiel Naugler's neck so deeply it went into his vertebrae.  The 22-year-old Whitney-Joudrey was found guilty yesterday of aggravated assault by trying to end Naugler's life, aggravated assault for wounding him and assault with a knife, though the judge will consider staying the last two charges during sentencing in June.  The judge described the couple's relationship as one of "co-existence with one another in scoring their next hit of drugs.''  Whitney-Joudrey will be sentenced June 4th.

Liberals Formulate Education Plan, Starting On South Shore

The state of our education system was front and centre last night at a public meeting in Bridgewater.  Nova Scotia Liberal Leader Stephen MacNeil, education critic Karen Casey and health critic Leo Glavine were hosts.  McNeil says his party wants to formulate an education plan thats geared more toward students and their families.  In a CKBW and Hank-FM News interview, McNeil says: "as we've had successive budgets where this government has been cutting from education, we want people to express how thats been impacting on their children and schools and also help us form a plan for the future of education in Nova Scotia."  Similar meetings are planned right across the province.
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Meanwhile, getting back to last night's meeting, education critic Karen Casey says she has found in talking with many South Shore parents they are still smarting from the elimination last year of the reading recovery program in area schools. She tells us: "(They feel) there did not seem to be any rationale for taking away a program that had already been researched based proven as one-on-one intense instruction to help our struggling readers learn to read."

Zellers leaving Bridgewater?

If Zellers is leaving Bridgewater, its news to the property manager of the Eastside Plaza. Jim Chambers of Chambers Developments says Zellers has approximately 10 years left on their lease. Chambers says nothing has been said to indicate Zellers is leaving.

"We have no information whatsoever that they intend to leave. It's their lease, they will tell us if that's what they want to do, but we have had no information to that effect whatsoever. They have an operating clause that says they're going to operate, so this could go on for a long time."

He says there are many rumours floating around the town.

"The truth is that out of 280 stores, Zellers has sold the leases to all of them, except for about 50 or 60, so its only allowing us to assume that they may want to sell this lease, but we have had no information whatsoever."

He says Zellers will continue to operate until the tenant and landlord make an alternate agreement.

Bridgewater Mayor welcomes buyer for former Post Office

The mayor of Bridgewater welcomes a new tenant for the old Canada Post building. CKBW and HANK-FM News first reported the potential sale of the property last week after a company spokesperson confirmed negotiations are underway. Carroll Publicover says its good news for the town.

"I think it would be wonderful to see the building put back into use, you know, it's an historical icon; 109-years-old, it's one of the most outstanding visual properties on King Street."

There's been no word on how negotiations are going. Publicover says he doesn't know who the buyer is or if anything will happen to the building.

Martin finishes 4th at Florida event

A solid result for Olympic hopeful Jenna Martin. The defending 400 metre Canadian Champion finished 4th over the weekend at the UCF Invitational in Orlando, Florida. Martin finished less than a second behind Mary Wineburg of USA, who was ranked in the top ten in the world in 2011. The Bridgewater native competes again April 6 and 7 at the Florida Relay's at the University of Florida.