Seven Years And Counting: Shelburne Waiting For High Speed Internet

It's been almost seven years and some areas of Shelburne are still waiting for high speed Internet. The Nova Scotia government awarded a contract to Eastlink in 2007 to provide the service province-wide. However, there are still roughly 1,000 people along the South Shore and Annapolis Valley with no service. Municipality of Shelburne CAO, Kirk Cox, says that includes many in the community.



Cox says with seven councillors, the issue comes up at meetings every month. He says it's positive news that the province has given Eastlink a December deadline to complete the work.

Whalen: Gov't Committed To More Education Dollars

Nova Scotia's finance minister says investing more money into education remains a top priority. Diana Whalen says the Liberals will follow through with re-investing $65 million dollars into education during their mandate. During a stop in Bridgewater, Whalen says that will be done over time.



Whalen says the government wants to make sure students have more support in areas such as literacy and math.  She says some new money could also help with ideas coming out of the recently announced school system review.

Blandford: SAR Exercise Planned

There will be a search and rescue exercise Tuesday in Lunenburg County. It's being organized by the Canadian Coast Guard, Department of National Defence, US Coast Guard and RCMP. It will take place near the coastline in Blandford and is expected to begin at 10 a.m. and end by mid-afternoon. Residents can expect to see helicopters, flares and boats in the water. The exercise should take up to four hours to complete.

Chester: Wind Project Enters Sewer Rate Discussion

A Chester councillor feels the South Canoe Wind project could help solve problems with sewer rates. Brad Armstrong suggested the option because five of six sewer systems are in a deficit position. The municipality is proposing a universal tax rate and few councillors seemed to lend an ear to Armstrong's idea. He was under the impression they backed the wind project to help taxpayers in the area.



Deputy Warden Floyd Shatford disagrees. He feels it doesn't make sense to take tax dollars from the wind farm to cover sewer rates.



The issue will be back in front of council next week.

Beware Of Scammers Phishing For Your Personal Info

Visa Canada has a new survey out shedding light on the prevelence of internet phishing scams. The survey has found 92 percent of digitally-connected young Canadians under age 35 have become regular targets of these fraud attacks. They're trying to get your personal information for financial gain. Jill Atkinson of the Atlantic Better Business Bureau says anything emailed by a bank or a company you deal with should be considered "suspicious".



Phishing scams go after information such as your bank account numbers, passwords, debit and credit card numbers and social insurance numbers.

Lunenburg: Fishermen's ER Closure

The ER at Fishermen's Memorial Hospital is temporaily closed today. It shutdown at 7 a.m. and will reopen at 7:30 p.m. A shortage of staff is the reason. If you have an emergency, call 911 or go to South Shore regional Hospital. If you need medical information, call 811.

Region of Queens "Snow" Budget In Good Shape Despite Storms

The Municipality of the Region of Queens may be one of the few districts along the South Shore and elsewhere with a snow removal budget thats still in pretty good shape! However, after a long period of relentless storms, the Region of Queens does have fewer funds left in the budget than usual. Mayor Christopher Clarke says the Region's staff is always prepared.



The Region of Queens does have reserve funds on standby if needed. However, the mayor doubts they'll be needed.

Shelburne: Pot Use Leads To Impaired Driving Charge

A Shelburne man has been charged with impaired driving by a drug after an incident early Friday morning. Police say they pulled over a vehicle around 1 a.m and found some marijuana. The 24 year-old driver was taken back to the detachment and questioned by an RCMP drug recognition expert who determined he was impaired. He was later released and will appear in Shelburne court May 29. The man is facing charges of impaired driving and possession of marijuana.

Mustangs Earn Split In Halifax

The Halifax McDonalds have evened their playoff series with the Charlie's Pizza South Shore Mustangs. Halifax skated to a 4-2 win Sunday to tie the best-of-seven series at one. The Mustangs won game one Saturday night 2-1 in overtime. Alex Nauss scored both goals for the Mustangs, who will host games three and four at the Clearwater Seafoods Arena this coming weekend.

Lunenburg Snow Removal Budget Headed For The Red

Lunenburg's mayor says they will need to look at their reserves to help cover the cost of snow removal this winter. Rachel Bailey says they started the winter with a budget of $106,000. However, that's been whittled down to roughly $3,000 before the last storm hit last week. Bailey says it's been an unusually difficult winter.



She says the town has over $20,000 in reserves and other resources if they end up in the red.