Motorist Killed In Fiery Crash Near East River

Mounties say one person is dead after a vehicle crashed into a ditch and caught fire near East River. Lunenburg RCMP say the incident occurred just before 2:30PM Monday afternoon. Police and members of the Blandford Fire Department remained on scene until the early evening hours. Highway 329 is currently open to motorists. The cause of the crash is under investigation and more information will be provided when it becomes available.

Whalen 12th At NCAA Track And Field Championships

A Liverpool athlete has finished 12th at her first NCAA Track and Field Championships in Des Moines, Iowa. Chelsea Whalen, who was seeded 21st for the javelin event, threw a new personal best of 47.44 metres. She was named to the ACC Indoor and Outdoor All-Academic teams as well as an NCAA 2nd team All-American. The sophomore at Florida State University is expected to leave Tallahassee June 24th and head to the 2012 Canadian Track and Field Championships from June 27-30 in Calgary, Alberta.

Province Rejected HRM Input On St. Margarets Bay Connector Road Issue

The Halifax regional Municipality recommended against construction of a road linkling highways 103 and 3 in St. Margarets Bay.  That information is in documents obtained under a freedom of information request from residents of the area.  Bay residents spokesman Sean Kirby says like it did with resident concerns, the province was intent of bull-dozing through any objections to the connector road.



Draft minutes for a January 12, 2011 meeting between HRM officials and Genivar, the engineering consulting firm hired by the provincial government to plan the connector, show that HRM opposed the connector because it will undercut the municipality’s development strategy and result in urban sprawl and higher municipal costs. The Regional Municipal Planning Strategy designates Tantallon and Hubbards as economic and development hubs for St. Margaret’s Bay and seeks to preserve the rural nature of the lands in between. The provincial government announced seven months after the meeting, in August 2011, that it will build the connector halfway between Tantallon and Hubbards, where the regional plan says no development should take place.

The minutes, obtained by residents through a freedom of information application, show that HRM officials said the connector "is contrary to the intentions of the Regional Plan regarding growth.” In a section entitled "Summary of HRM’s position,” the document states that the province’s plans “will lead to additional pressure on development (urban sprawl)” and “place additional pressures on the Municipalities resources.”

HRM officials also said that route option 1 “made the most sense because it provides less potential to develop and would possibly be the cheapest.” The provincial government instead chose route option 3B, a route which opens up much more land for development.

Keji Job Cuts Will Hurt Queens & Annapolis Counties: Mayor

There will be a lot of lost business revenue when Parks Canada reduces staff at Kejimkujik National Park, making it a seasonal operation.  That word from District of Queens Mayor John Leefe.  He's fired-off a letter to the minister responsible for Parks Canada, Peter Kent.  The mayor says the ramifications of cutting 11 jobs and reducing Keji to a five month operation will hurt Queens County and part of Annapolis and be felt elsewhere in the province too.



Mayor Leefe says there's been too much work on everyone's part to make Keji a year-round operation to let it fall victim to what he calls the ruthless work of bureaucrats.  He's pleading with the Parks Canada minister to leave it alone.

Hot Meal Program Set To Launch In Bridgewater

A local church group in Bridgewater will launch a new hot meal program this week. Coordinator Tammy Crouse says a free nutritious dinner will be available once a week - beginning this Wednesday - from St. Paul's Lutheran Church. Crouse says there's a perception that some people only struggle during the winter months - but its not the case.

 

Crouse began organizing the project last summer after she noticed a need for the program.  Volunteers will begin serving meals every Wednesday at 5:30PM. The church will remain open for socializing until 8PM.

Police Forces Promote A Safe Graduation

Its graduation time on the South Shore as hundreds of young people in the area prepare to move-on to the next chapter of their lives.  This is also a time for parents and their children, graduating from high school, to be careful.  The RCMP's School Safety Resource Officer, Cst. Cheryl Ponee, says parents need to discreetly take charge.



RCMP ask parents to consider the following:

• Know what friends your children are hanging out with.
• Know where they will be in case you have to reach them.
• If they have a cell phone make sure they keep it with them.
• Discuss underage drinking and drug use.
• Talk about impaired driving, either by drugs or alcohol. Reassure your kids that they can call home if they are stuck in an unsafe situation where their driver has been drinking.
• Remind your child that pictures taken on their special night may be posted to the Internet or social media sites by those with camera or cell phones. If these pictures depict them using drugs or alcohol this could impact future job applications/opportunities.
• Consider creating a ‘code word’ that can be used in regular conversation if your teen needs to call you to get out of a difficult situation.

For more information on topics and issues affecting teens, visit www.deal.org.

DEAL.org is operated by the Youth Engagement Section of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and is part of the National Youth Services branch of the RCMP´s Crime Prevention Services.

Lunenburg ALS Walk Raises Almost $17,000

It was a walk not even weather could slow down. Roughly 125 people strode the sidewalks of rainy Lunenburg Saturday to help raise almost $17,000 for ALS. Chair of the walk's committee, John Garroway, says they were very fortunate to exceed their goal of $15,000. Sixty percent of money raised will go towards families, while the other 40 percent goes towards research. This was the third year for the event.