BBBS Golf Event

No major rain, but it was a perfect day for support to pour in for South Shore Big Brothers and Big Sisters. The organizers held their eighth annual golf tournament yesterday. The event this year was held at Richard Homburg's Sherwood Golf and Country Club on a misty Thursday afternoon. And after expenses, the event raised 15-thousand-250 dollars. 28 teams participated with the winners - Sun Life - coming in at 13 under par. Big Brothers and Big Sisters needs to raise 80 percent of its funding requirements through events like their golfing and bowling events. Sheldon wants to thank his teammates John Collyer, Earl Lantz, Jason Mailman and Mike Dunham. We finished four under - with credit going to Big Mike for the loooong ball.

Natural Resources Panel

A dozen Nova Scotians have been appointed to guide the development of a new natural resources strategy for the province. The appointments were recommended by a steering panel chaired by former Chief Justice Constance Glube. The four expert panels will soon begin the job of consulting with stakeholders, and their findings will be reported to the steering panel late this fall. Jonathan Porter, of Liverpool, the manage of Forestry and Fibre Resources, Abitibi Bowater has been appointed to the Forestry Panel as has Donna Crossland, the senior park warden of Kejimkujik National Park.

Furey Returns

His journey from top cop to politician and back again is completed. RCMP Senior Management have officially returned Mark Furey to the job of District Commander for the Lunenburg County RCMP. He officially started his duties as Staff Sergeant on Monday. Furey left his job on April 15th on unpaid leave to run as the Liberal candidate in Lunenburg West. He finished third with 25 percent of the popular vote in the June election where Gary Ramey was elected MLA. Two-term MLA Carolyn Bolivar Getson finished second. Furey is a 29-year veteran of the RCMP and is back in the saddle again.

Jubilee Accident

One person was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries and another is facing charges after an accident on Jubilee Road. Bridgewater Police say it happened just before nine last night. A vehicle was overturned with two people in it. Fire Chief Wayne Thorburne says they were out by the time their trucks rolled up. A news release from police says the passenger was taken to South Shore Regional and the driver was treated at the scene. They say the 21-year old man was then released into police custody. He is charged with impaired driving and impaired driving causing bodily harm. He has a court date set for September 23rd in Bridgewater. The 20 firefighters were on scene until around 11:30 last night.

Lumberjacks Chugging

It might be the middle of summer but Bridgewater's Junior A Hockey team continues to chug along. The Nauss Timbermart Lumberjacks have announced a couple of major events for next month. The club will host a golf tournament at Osprey Ridge on August 20th and they'll be conducting a summer hockey school at the Bridgewater Arena during the final week of August. Training camp will open for the Jacks' on August 29th and their first exhibition contest will be against the visiting Yarmouth Mariners on Monday, August 31st. Newly-hired coach and GM Jim Bottomly says players not willing to give one hundred percent commitment to winning will not make his squad. Bottomly has also hinted that a trade or two might take place prior to training camp.

No Plea

A Bridgewater man facing a number of charges relating to a series of hit and run crashes in April still hasn't entered pleas. Forty year old Stephen Richard Burton appeared in Bridgewater Provincial Court yesterday and his case was set over to August 12th. His lawyer says he's still awaiting outstanding disclosure from the Crown. Burton is charged with impaired driving, dangerous driving, failing to stop at the scene of an accident and one count of property damage. The charges were laid following a string of collisions in Bridgewater back on April 22nd. That night around 9 p.m. a grey Chev Cavalier struck a vehicle on LaHave Street. An RCMP officer off duty at the time approached the driver of the Cavalier who fled the scene. The Mountie followed in his own vehicle. The Cavalier then struck another vehicle on Aberdeen Road, turned onto Hirtle Drive and ended up smashing into a residence on Hollingsworth Drive and damaging a car that was parked in the lot at Eastside Apartments. The Cavalier eventually went off the road on Streatch Drive where the driver ditched the car and fled on foot. Burton was arrested at his residence a short time later.

Shelburne Job Concerns

Union members with Shelburne Ship Repair have started a petition to gather public support as well as taking their concerns to local politicians in Shelburne county. Municipal Warden Sherm Embry says council has written to Irving Shipbuilding and the Premier's office to ask for help in resolving outstanding issues. Embry says the municipal interest is advocacy for jobs in the Municipality of Shelburne. Irving currently leases the property in the Shelburne Industrial Park from Nova Scotia Business Inc.

Mahone Bay Parade

Mahone Bay's Classic Boat festival is coming up on the first weekend of August. And again this year, there will be some traffic issues in and around the community for the street parade. Clearway street will be shut down from 10 until 11:30 on Saturday August 1st as they line up for the annual trek through town. And Main street will shut down to traffic between 11 and noon. Side street traffic will also be held back until the event finishes.

Fraser moves in pictures

Thanks to Karen Thorburne Holland. More pictures available here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=289058&id=895730153


And as she was turning downriver in Dayspring:







Visit our photos page for more images. http://www.ckbw.ca/ckbw/1148/PHOTOS

Fraser Moving Day

After a dozen years in the same spot, it kind of becomes part of the landscape. This morning, two tugs will pull up and get ready to start hauling the retired Naval Destroyer Fraser down the coast to Halifax. Lt. (Navy) Al Blondin tells CKBW it will be a daylong job leaving around 8am and arriving in Halifax at about 8pm. This will happen after a ceremony this morning officially transferring ownership of the vessel back to the Canadian Government. Rick Welsford of the Artificial Reef society says he'll be close by for that part of the process. The future of the vessel still hasn't been settled officially with previous discussions suggesting it will become a museum or sunk to create an underwater diving attraction.

Queens Place Pool

Queens Place is coming, but with changes.. Mayor John Leefe says Council made a decision to move forward to the design development phase of the recreation complex including all original components except for the aquatics centre. Leefe says Council had to make a decision on moving forward with Queens Place so they decided to remove the swimming pool from the construction plan. Leefe says Queens Place will be sited and designed so a pool could be constructed at a later date.

Camp Outbreak

Summer camps in Ontario aren't the only ones seeing an increase in the numbers of swine flu or H-1-N-1 Influenza. South Shore Health officials say there have been several cases reported in Lunenburg and Queens counties. And that includes infections reported at a summer camp in the District. It was only last week health officials confirmed the first case in the county saying the person was recovering and didn't need hospitalization. And just like that case where the health district held back the gender and community they were from, they aren't saying where the summer camp is that is dealing with the new swine flu cases. The Medical Officer of Health for the district says prevention is the best way to stay healthy. Dr. Richard Gould says wash your hands thoroughly and often, cover your coughs and sneezes, and clean and disinfect common surfaces and items such as doorknobs and counters frequently.

For more information on swine flu:
http://www.gov.ns.ca/hpp/cdpc/h1n1-influenza-groups.asp

Doe, a Deer

If you wanting to hunt antlerless deer - or does- in certain sections of Lunenburg and Queens counties this fall, you won't be required to apply for a special permit to do that. The Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) says antlerless deer permits will not be required in Zone 2A, a result of the province’s efforts to reduce deer populations in that district. Zone 2A takes in an area that stretches roughly from East River westerly to the Medway River and inland from the Atlantic Coast to a multi-line power transmission corridor that runs from Halifax to Queens County.

Fraudster in Lunenburg

It's an age-old scam. But that's probably because it still works. A Lunenburg woman was taken in by a scammer last Tuesday according to RCMP. They say she was called at home by a man who told her he was with Internal Security from a local bank. He told her there was an internal theft investigation underway and that he needed her help. She was told to go withdraw a large amount of cash and meet him at a location uptown. She did. And then he told her to go home and not discuss the matter with anyone else for a few days. When the woman got back home, he called her again and asked her to do the same thing. The third time, she was told to go to a bank in Bridgewater. She met him in the mall parking lot this time. And that was the last she heard from him. She later was told by her bank she was the victim of a fraud. RCMP are telling you about this so you don't fall for the scam.

Motorcycle crash

A motorcyclist had to be taken to the Q-E-2 in Halifax after crashing in a residential area of Bridgewater. Police say it happened around nine o'clock Friday evening. The driver lost control of his bike on Empire Street near the intersection of Queen. His injuries were described as non-threatening. He had apparently been thrown quite far when the bike hit the curb. Police say he was taken to South Shore Regional before being transferred to Halifax. The cause of the crash is still being looked into.

Shipped Out

After more than a decade tied up alongside in the LaHave River, a tentative date has been given for the removal of retired Naval Destroyer Fraser. All indications are that tugs will arrive to start towing the ship out towards the ocean starting Tuesday morning. She will be moved at High tide which is at around 8:30 that morning. Staff with the Department of National Defence will be releasing details of the move after the ship is purchased from the Artificial Reef Society of Nova Scotia. That official process won't happen until the tugs are alongside. Fraser has had its supporters and detractors over the years after several ambitions plans were scuttled by battles over assessments and court challenges. The future of the vessel still hasn't been settled officially with previous discussions suggesting Fraser will become a wharfside museum somewhere or possibly even sunk to create an underwater diving attraction. The ship, a St. Laurent Class destroyer commissioned in 1957 was brought to the port of Bridgewater in 1998 after it was declared surplus by the Navy.

H-1-N-1 Update

Swine flu continues to make the headlines with the latest outbreak spreading through three summer camps in Ontario. Here in Nova Scotia there have been 358 confirmed cases of H1N1, human swine influenza. There has been one confirmed case in the South Shore Health District, however, the person did not require hospitalization and is recovering. South Shore Health will not be releasing the person's gender or any other details. Meantime, Communications Director Theresa Hawkesworth says the District H1N1 readiness planning committee is meeting weekly to get provincial updates, share information and discuss current local concerns and questions.

First Nation Funding

The Mi'kmaq and Acadian Festival and Reunion getting a helping hand from the federal government to the tune of 64 hundred dollars. South Shore St. Margaret's MP Gerald Keddy announced the funding during a visit to the Mi'kmaq/Acadian Burial Ground in Petite Riviere yesterday. Ellen Hunt, head of the Mi’kmaq Burial Grounds Research and Restoration Association says the funding will help make the festival and reunion larger as it helps us to promote and share the heritage and culture of the Mi'kmaq/Aboriginal and Acadian Cultures and traditions. Hunt says they'll be able to have a website, more advertising, a genealogy site, and bring in traditional elders to teach more of the culture and traditions.The Mi'Kmaq and Acadian Festival and Reunion will take place at the Fort Point Museum, LaHave, August 21st and 22nd.

Still Working

There's work going on behind the scenes now that a wrench has been thrown into plans to relocate Bridgewater's post office to North Street. Council rejected a developer's building plan because it was too close to the neighbouring apartment building. Genevieve Latour with Canada Post says there's nothing that would keep them from having their operation outside town limits. But she says they are trying to stay in Bridgewater's perimeter and the North Street location was the one they were pleased with. But she adds they have nothing to do with the town and its bylaws since they will only be renting part of the building. So far, there's been no comment from the developer about their plans for 131 North Street since council rejected the appeal for a varience from the town's planning guidelines.

E-I Fine

A hefty fine for a Lunenburg man who defrauded Employment Insurance over a 20 month period. Thirty-nine year old Leonard Clarke pleaded guilty to 39 counts of EI fraud between October 2004 and May 2006. He was fined $200 on each count for a total of $7,800. Clarke was also placed on house arrest for 6 months as part of a conditional sentence. Authorities say Clarke also received Workers Compensation benefits and was working some of the time he filed for unemployment. EI is recovering the fraudulent payments internally, and Clarke has already repaid more than $6,000.