Puck Drops On Local Hockey

The South Shore Mustangs begin play Thursday afternoon at the 32nd annual Monctonian 'AAA' Challenge. The local major midget club battles the Ottawa 67s in their opening match Thursday before facing off against St. John's Friday and Fredericton Saturday.For updates from Moncton, visit http://www.pointstreak.com/players/players-leagues.html?leagueid=530 . Elsewhere, the CIBC Wood Gundy Lumberjacks meet their South Shore rivals Thursday night in Liverpool. The Jacks meet the Yarmouth Mariners at Queens Place. Game time is 7:30. And the puck drops on the 10th annual Glen Murray Invitational hockey tournament Thursday night in Bridgewater. Twelve teams are vying to be champion. Some of the teams in this year's event are the Barrington Barons, Yarmouth Vikings, Cole Harbour Cavaliers as well as tournament hosts Park View Panthers and Bridgewater Vikings. Games start at 4pm Thursday afternoon, starting with Park View against Barrington. To find scores and schedule, go to http://www.htosports.com/teams/default.asp?u=GLENMURRAY-BESTWESTERN&t=c&s=hockey&p=home .

MODL Seeking Clarity On School Zone Speed Limits

The Municipality of Lunenburg is looking for clarification on new speed limits in school zones. Staff with the municipality are writing a letter to the Department of Transportation to find out how long the limits are in effect. Mayor Don Downe says they want to make sure people understand.



The province dropped speed limits in school zones from 50 to 30 km/h at the start of September. Downe hopes to hear back from the province before the new year.

Queens: Funding For Curling Rink/County Fair

There will be three significant funding announcements on Thursday in Queens County. South Shore-St. Margaret's MP Gerald Keddy will announce new money for the Liverpool Curling Club, Queens County Fairgrounds and the Queens County Museum. The money will be provided through ACOA and  Heritage Canada. It's expected to help with various renovations and upgrades at all three venues. The long standing curling rink on Gorham Street was re-built in 1965 and is in need of a new refrigeration system. The old system broke down last year and left local curlers without a place to play for the season. Meanwhile, the fairgrounds in Caledonia will receive funding to support upgrades around the the popular exhibition grounds in North Queens. The third announcement will help with an expansion project at the Queens County Museum.

Lunenburg: Croft Selected As Deputy Mayor

A veteran councillor in Lunenburg has been selected as the town's new deputy mayor. Danny Croft has nearly 14 years of experience in municipal politics and is the most seasoned politician among the six councillors in the town. Mayor Rachel Bailey called it a good choice.





Croft received the full support of council during a meeting Tuesday night. He takes over the role previously held by councillor John McGee.

PC's Lay Out Economic Vision

It sounds somewhat like an election campaign but the next provincial election likely won't happen until at least the spring. However, the province's PC leader is trying to distance his party from the NDP and Liberals when it comes to economic issues. Jamie Baillie says he'd balance the budget, cut the HST to 13 percent, freeze power rates and kill what he calls labour dis-incentives, like contract arbitration.




Baillie says the other parties would do very little to ease the economic well-being of residents of the South Shore and elsewhere in the province. He says handouts, bailouts and give-away's to create jobs haven't worked and need to be abandoned. (There will be a debate in the legislature this afternoon on the state of the economy and how to grow it.)

Phase 3 Inflow Reduction Over Budget "By a Bit"

The third phase of Bridgewater's inflow reduction project is winding down. Town Engineer Phil Corkum expected paving to be finished on Dominion Street by the end of the week, with the project wrapping up by the end of the month. The work was done to improve underground piping that carries water runoff and sewage. Work on the project started in June before Corkum began working for the town in early September. He says the project is over-budget "by a bit", but couldn't get into specifics.



Mayor David Walker says a report will be issued listing all capital projects approved in the budget and what has been spent so far. He hopes that will shed some light on how to move forward.



Financial details are expected to be given at Bridgewater council's next meeting on November 26.

Confinement Case Adjourned Until December

A Queens County man charged with forcible confinement and sexual assault against a 16 year-old boy has had his case adjourned until next month. David James Leblanc made a brief court appearance this morning in Bridgewater. The 47 year-old is facing seven charges in total in relation to an incident in Upper Chelsea. Leblanc was wheeled into the courtroom with the help of two sheriffs. Defence lawyer Mike Taylor says his client recently had surgery on his feet after suffering frostbite while on the run from police in northern Ontario. The RCMP launched an investigation after a teenager landed at a woman's doorstep claiming he had be held captive for about one week. The case will resume on December 19th. Taylor says he hopes to set dates for a preliminary inquiry.