Mustangs rake in Honours at League Banquet

A good showing for the South Shore Canadian Tire Mustangs at the Major Midget awards banquet. Alex Mann was named the best rookie defenseman while Brennan Bailey and Avery Clarke were named to the second all-star team. Morgan Messenger was named to the league's all-rookie team. The awards were given out recently in Truro.

Bridgewater Police & K9 Unit Called to Parkview School

Bridgewater Police and their K9 Unit were called in to help find a missing student at Parkview Education Centre today. Police received the call from school staff over the noon hour. Constable Will Creamer says police used the opportunity to practice what they call an isolation drill. He says they had all students return to their classrooms for about 25 minutes. Police say they were able to locate the missing student without incident. The isolation drill involved moving students to safe and separate area for a period of time so the dog team could do its work.

New Germany Students Recall Trip to Vimy Ridge



Dana Young, Ben Hannah, Jessica Joudrey and Cody DeLong are four of over 40 students who recently attended the 95th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge in Northern France.

 A group of over 40 kids are back from a historic trip overseas. Students from New Germany Rural High School went back to classes Monday after travelling to Vimy Ridge to mark the 95th anniversary of the great battle in Northern France. Grade 12 student Cody DeLong says it was a chance to see the burial grounds of his great uncle.

"It was powering to be right where he was laid to rest, so my family is proud that I was going over and I was proud to finish his trip and make it back home."

The group also travelled to Anne Frank's home in Amsterdam as well as Munich, Germany and London, England. Grade 11 student Dana Young says the home made an impression on her after reading Anne Frank's diary many times growing up.Trip Leader Hester Gibson says the journey gave students a chance to learn more about the past. The students will now collect their many photos and videos taken and make a presentation for a school assignment.

Property Tax Goes Up In Queens Region

Property taxes in Queens County are going up in an effort to cushion the blow of significant revenue losses in the region. Residential, commercial and resource properties will each face a three cent spike per hundred of assessment in their tax bills for the fiscal year 2012-13. Mayor John Leefe called it the most challenging budget since amalgamation in 1996. Leefe says the region has lost $1.2 million in revenue since Nova Scotia Power properties were reassessed over three years ago. He says a $135,000 tax break for Bowater Mersey has also contributed to a difficult year for the municipality. Council passed the tax increase and its budget at a meeting this morning. Its operating budget exceeds $17.6 million dollars while its capital budget has been set at $3.3 million. The Region also approved the second $250,000 installment of its $1-million dollar commitment to the Queens General Hospital Project.

Bawdy House Was Operating In Apartment Building

Police say a woman arrested in connection with running a suspected bawdy house in Bridgewater has a criminal background. Constable Will Creamer says an investigation into the matter had been underway for months before an arrest was made last week.  He says police believe the 30 year-old Halifax woman acted alone in the operation. "At this time there is one person under arrest, there are no other people arrested from this investigation," Creamer says the suspected bawdy house had been operating out of an apartment building but its location hasn't been revealed. The accused is set to appear in court next month.

Police Investigate Theft of 40 Truck Tires

It's enough tires for 10 vehicles. Bridgewater police are looking for suspects involved in breaking and entering into GCR Tire Center on LaHave Street and stealing 40 truck tires. The alleged theft occurred sometime between Friday night and early Monday morning. Anyone with information are encouraged to contact Bridgewater police.

Katimavik Cuts Disappoint Town of Shelburne

Its a disappointing loss for the town of Shelburne. The Katimavik program was cut from the federal budget last month, meaning the group won't be coming to the community. Jerry Locke, Director of Community and Economic Development, says the spin-offs could have been substantial for the town.

"It was not only a tremendous benefit to the community in terms of the people who would be here and what they would contribute to us, but it would be a chance for us to expand our horizons to get to meet some new people. There also would have been the economic boost of 12 people living here for a year, paying rent for a year, buying groceries; it was probably close to a $500,000 benefit to us."

Locke says the federal funding cut surprised everyone involved and groups have been left scrambling to find other resources. He says people should protest the cuts to their local MLAs.

Province Supporting Isolated Rural Schools

The provincial government is reaching out to help more isolated rural schools. Education Minister Ramona Jennex announced $22-million in funding towards additional programming or teaching resources to 98 schools including 10 on the South Shore. Jennex says she decided to change the funding formula after a number of meetings with school boards across the province. She says there were a number of factors.

"We also looked at the distance children drive to get to school and then, how far it would be from that school to another school, so, from elementary school to elementary school and we've included that in the formula and we've grandparented the small schools that might not be isolated because, as you know, there are increased costs for boards to be heating buildings without the children there."

The funds will be provided to each regional school board, not individual schools. There has been no increase in the local school boards total revenue from the province because of this change.

• For the SSRSB, the following small schools have been grand-fathered and are the basis of a calculation per school in our funding, based solely on the fact that there are fewer than 100 students in each school:

Pentz Elementary


Mill Village Consolidated


Petite Riviere Elementary

• The following schools are small and isolated and the board's funding formula includes a calculation to off-set a portion of additional costs for staffing and property services:

New Ross Consolidated


North Queens Community School


Big Tancook Elementary School

• For the following small high schools, the school board receives funding in the formula calculation to off-set a portion of the cost of staffing (amount varies school to school):

Bridgewater Junior-Senior High School


Forest Heights Community School


Liverpool Regional High School


New Germany Rural High School

Fire Crews Battle Blaze in Fox Point

It took about 50 firefighters to keep a garage fire from destroying a home in Fox Point over the weekend. The blaze broke out around midnight on Friday. Crews from Chester, Blandford and Hubbards battled the fire until 3:30AM Saturday morning. The fire completely destroyed the garage and damage to the home was minimal. Its cause is believed to be electrical.

Chester Clippers are Junior "C" Champs

The Chester Clippers have captured the Maritime North Junior "C" Championship. The top ranked Clippers defeated the Kivallig Canucks 7-3 in the Championship game over the weekend. They were undefeated in the tournament with four wins and one tie going into the championship game. The tournament was held in PEI.

Mahone Bay Mayor re-offering for Municipal Elections

The mayor of Mahone Bay is seeking another term in office. Joe Feeney has confirmed he will re-offer for the position in October's municipal elections. Feeney says he wants to be part of the decision-making process for the next few years.

"I'm still young enough and able enough and healthy enough and interested and eager to try as best I can, with the assistance of whoever is serving on council, to get those decisions made and put in place."

 Feeney says he's not sure if anyone will run against him, but he welcomes the challenge.

"I believe very strongly in government service at any level. I have great respect for people who are willing to accept the challenge and would welcome anybody that wants to come out and participate and give back to their community."

He says he's most proud of the town setting up a water treatment plant and cleaning up the community's harbour. Feeney says he looks forward to the completion of a regional governance study between Mahone Bay, Municipality of Lunenburg and town of Bridgewater. Feeney has been the town's mayor since 2000. Municipal elections will be held October 20.

Power Restored after Car strikes Utility Pole

Power is back on after a car struck a power pole along Highway 10 in Cookville Sunday night. RCMP and Fire Department officials responded to the scene around 6pm. It's not known how many people were affected by the outage. The highway was blocked off for hours so Nova Scotia Power crews could fix the utility pole. Its not known at this time if there were any injuries.

Martin finishes second at Miami Hurricane Invitational

A second place showing for Jenna Martin over the weekend. The Bridgewater native ran 52.22 seconds in the women's 400 metre final at the Miami Hurricane Invitational in Florida. Martin is training to represent Canada at the London Olympics in August. The result eclipses her best time this year of 52.68 seconds. She is planning to take part in Athletics Canada 4 x 400 metre relay camp this week.

Health Authority Puts Focus on Fishermen's Memorial

South Shore Health wants to ensure a hospital in Lunenburg is meeting the needs of the community. The health authority is establishing an advisory committee to look at ways of improving the level of service at Fishermen's Memorial Hospital. Board chair Roxie Smith says the face of health care and demographics have changed over the years and the authority must adapt. She says the goal is to customize operations so they meet the specific needs of area residents. Focus groups will be conducted in the coming weeks with a model that takes into account guidelines established for Collaborative Emergency Centres. An area of interest for residents will be the emergency department at the hospital which has seen numerous closures in recent months due to doctor shortages. The advisory committee will present their findings to the board of South Shore Health by the end of June.

South Shore Surf claim silver at Provincials

The South Shore Surf midget boys basketball team claimed silver at the Basketball Nova Scotia Division 1-A Provincials Sunday. The Surf, who went undefeated in their pool, defeated New Waterford in the semi-final 80-46 but fell 83-80 to the Dartmouth Lakers in the championship game. Adam Fitzgerald of the Surf was voted to the provincial tournament all-star team.

Queens Manor Open for Public Visits

The Queens Manor in Liverpool has re-opened to family and friends of its residents. The manor had been off limits for the past two weeks due to an outbreak of the flu. Officials say no new cases were reported in the last week giving them the ability to open to the public.

Bridgewater Mayor Reacts to Brothel Allegations

Carroll Publicover

Bridgewater's mayor believes the town's proximity to Halifax could be behind the operation of an alleged bawdy house in the town. The community is buzzing after an arrest was made in relation to the brothel. Carroll Publicover is glad police took swift action dismantling the house and making an arrest. He says HRM has grown so much, it casts a 100-kilometre sphere bringing crime to rural areas.

"Its tentacles go out past Truro, out past Bridgewater, down to Kentville; any sort of criminal element that operates in HRM, is operating in that sphere. There's just no doubt about that."

 He notes, Bridgewater likely isn't the only rural community to have a brothel.

"It's not something you like to hear but it's what it is. How many other communities in Nova Scotia have them? They could be in a number of communities, I don't know."

Publicover would like to see more neighbourhood watches created to help alleviate the issue. A 30-year-old Halifax woman has been arrested in relation to the matter and will appear in court next month.

Shelburne Stand-Off Ends Peacefully

Some tense moments on a residential street in Shelburne. Police had to shut down Commission Street around supper time on Wednesday after they received a complaint regarding a man with firearms. Mounties say nearby residents were asked to leave their homes as a precaution until the situation was resolved. No injuries were reported and the man surrendered to police after a stand-off that last about 45 minutes. RCMP say they seized three long guns and a bow and arrow from the home. The investigation is ongoing and charges are pending.

MODL votes against endorsing School Board size

The Municipality of Lunenburg will not submit a recommendation to the Utility and Review Board on the size of the local school board. Council defeated a motion to endorse a nine member plus two at-large representative board put forward by former member Karen Reinhardt. The motion fell by a 6-5 margin. Councillor Sandra Statton says she wasn't convinced by Reinhardt's presentation.

"We're taking one persons recommendation because she did a presentation here and a few signatures and we're running with a recommendation to the URB and I don't feel that we're in a position to do that and I think we are acting out of not having enough information and not doing enough due diligence on this, so I won't be supporting this."

Meanwhile, Deputy Mayor Frank Fawson says the issue of small schools closing has a big impact on the community.

"I certainly think with greater representation there's a stronger likelihood that those schools will be kept open and maintained by the school board, so, I think the option that Karen Reinhardt put forth goes one step further then what the school board put forth and provides the community of interest and the representation, both."

The school board endorsed three options with its first selection being six-members with two at-large representatives. The URB will hold a public hearing on the matter May 2nd at the school board office.

Woman Accused of Operating Bawdy House in Bridgewater

A 30 year old woman has been arrested for allegedly operating a brothel in Bridgewater. Police say the woman is from Halifax and will appear in court next month. The investigation into the suspected bawdy house bust also involved members from the Halifax Regional Police Vice Section. Police have not released the woman's name. The accused has been released and is due in court in Bridgewater on May 30th.