Dexter Stepping Down As NDP Leader

Darrell Dexter is stepping down as leader of the province's New Democratic Party. Dexter submitted his letter of resignation at a meeting yesterday in Halifax. His term as leader will end next weekend. Dexter says it has been a privilege to serve New Democrats across Nova Scotia over the past 12 years. He led the NDP to its first provincial government in Nova Scotia history in the June 2009 election.  However, the NDP fell to third party status in this fall's election, garnering only seven of 51 seats in the legislature. Dexter also lost his riding of Cole Harbour-Portland Valley to Liberal Tony Ince. Maureen MacDonald will be nominated as Acting Leader at a meeting on Saturday in Halifax. A process to elect the new leader of the party will be announced at a future date.

Salvation Army Readies For Local Kettle Campaign

Its a Christmas Season tradition and it'll soon be visible again in shopping areas along the South Shore. Its the Salvation Army's annual Christmas Kettle Campaign. It raises funds to help needy families in the area and it begins next Friday, the 22nd. In Lunenburg County, the Salvation Army's Captain Felipe Vega says despite a sluggish economy in recent years, donations have kept pace.



Vega says money raised through the Kettle campaign goes to help needy families in the area throughout the year, providing food and clothing and helping with heating bills too.

RCMP, Fire Marshal Investigate New Germany Fire

RCMP and the Fire Marshal's office are investigating after a Saturday fire in New Germany. Fire officials from Hemford, West Northfield and New Germany responded to the blaze Saturday morning around 9:20am along Highway 208. Police say there was moderate damage to the home that was vacant at the time of the blaze. There were no injuries.

Hockey: Jacks Lose, Glen Murray Final Set

The Amherst Ramblers dumped the CIBC Wood Gundy Lumberjacks 7-2 Saturday night. The Jacks jumped out to a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes. But Amherst stormed back with six second period goals to take control of the hockey game. Connor Hilton and Ryan Groom scored for the Bridgewater club, who are in Dieppe Sunday for a matinee game against the Commandos.
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It will be an all South Shore final at the Glen Murray Hockey Tournament in Bridgewater. The Park View Panthers will take on Forest Heights in the championship game. Park View defeated Barrington 1-0 while Forest Heights blasted West Kings 8-1 in Saturday night's semi-finals. The championship game is slated for 1:30 Sunday afternoon at the Bridgewater Memorial Arena. 

Ottawa Providing Money For Yarmouth Ferry Terminal

The federal government has announced support for the ferry terminal in Yarmouth. The MP for West Nova made the announcement recently in the town. He didn't provide specific figures on the costs of the upgrades. However, the co-chair of the Nova Scotia International Ferry Partnership says the cost is estimated between two to three million dollars. Yarmouth County's three municipalities will cost share roughly 20 per cent, with the feds providing 80 per cent. The terminal must be divested and will eventually be owned by the Yarmouth and Area Industrial Commission. The chair of that commission and warden for the Municipality of Yarmouth, Murray Goodwin, says they need to do some renovations to the existing buildings.



The province and STM Quest signed a deal last week to operate the Nova Star ferry between Yarmouth and Portland, Maine, beginning May 2014. Goodwin expects contractors to begin quoting the project as early as this week.

Hockey: Jacks Win, Glen Murray Results

A long winless streak has finally been broken for the CIBC Wood Gundy Lumberjacks. The Junior hockey club won their first home game of the season last night, defeating Pictou County 3-2 in a shootout. Connor MacEachern scored the game-clinching goal. Connor Hilton and Shaun MacEachern scored in regulation while Cory Peterson stopped 44 shots between the pipes. The Jacks are on the road tonight for a game against the Amherst Ramblers.

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The Charlie's Pizza South Shore Mustangs play their final round robin game today in Moncton. The Mustangs square off against Notre Dame at 9am this morning at the Monctonian tournament. The major midget club has a 1-1 record heading into the game.

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The Park View Panthers flexed their muscles at the Glen Murray Hockey Tournament. The Panthers shutout the Bridgewater Vikings 9-0 last night. The win moves Park View to 2-0, while Bridgewater fell to 1-1. Both teams are back in action today. Park View plays Yarmouth at 10:45 while Bridgewater meets West Kings at 12:30. Forest Heights wrapped up their round robin yesterday with a 2-1 record. All games are being played at the Bridgewater Memorial Arena.

Mustangs Fall To Moncton At Monctonian

The Charlies Pizza South Shore Mustangs fell to Moncton today in their second game of the Monctonian tournament in Moncton. Keith Getson scored twice and Ty Duffus added another, but the Mustangs lost 5-3. The loss squares their tournament record to 1-1. The Mustangs will play Notre Dame Saturday to wrap up round-robin play.

Glen Murray: Park View, Bridgewater Renew Rivalry

Hometown pride is on the line tonight as a pair of Bridgewater high school hockey teams square off at the Glen Murray Tournament. The Bridgewater Vikings, fresh off a 3-2 win earlier today over Yarmouth, will meet the Park View Panthers following the tournament's opening ceremonies. Both teams are 1-0. Bridgewater assistant coach Michael Hubley says the rivalry between the two schools is strong.



The game is slated for 8pm this evening at the Bridgewater Memorial Arena.

Curlers Hold Bottle Drive To Help Winter Games Push

Got any spare bottles laying around? A group of curlers are looking for your refundable's to help raise money on their road to the Canada Winter Games. A bottle drive will be held Saturday morning at the Bridgewater Curling Club from 9am until 2pm. One of the organizers, Monique Hillier-Conrad, says there is plenty of local kids to support.



Hillier-Conrad is hoping to raise around $700 for new equipment like grippers and broom heads. Both teams are involved in the Elite Six playdowns, which are scheduled for January in Shelburne, February in Bridgetown and March in Halifax.

NDP's Dexter Could Step Aside Saturday

New Democrats in the province may lose their most familiar face this weekend. Leader Darrell Dexter will make an announcement Saturday in Halifax at the party's provincial executive meeting. Dexter's future has been up in the air after the NDP were knocked from power to third-party status in last month's election. He also wasn't able to win his own seat of Cole Harbour-Portland Valley. Newcomer Tony Ince of the Liberals was able to steal away the seat in the October election in which turned to be a tough night for the NDP. Dexter's announcement will be made at MLA Maureen MacDonald's constituency office, who has taken on the role of leader in the house. The Queens County native has been leader of the party 2001.

Lumberjacks Acquire Goaltender From Valley

A frantic few hours for the owner of the CIBC Wood Gundy Lumberjacks. Ken Petrie was left scrambling after goaltender Billy Clarke collided with a player and was injured during the team's practice Thursday night. Clarke is expected to miss the next few games. Petrie had to find another goalie before tonight's game, so he traded a 10th round pick in 2014 to the Valley Wildcats for Jeff Arkin. The 20-year-old Arkin is winless in six games this season with a 3.21 goals against average. He'll be in the lineup tonight for the Lumberjacks game against Pictou County.

Emergency Exercise Planned For Bridgewater

The area around the Bridgewater Justice Centre will be one to avoid Saturday morning. Between 9:30 and 12:00pm, police, ambulances and other emergency groups will be on scene, taking part in an emergency exercise. Bridgewater Police Chief John Collyer says its an opportunity for all agencies to hone their skills at working together and responding to emergency situations.



For motorists, there will be barricades at two locations on High Street so it will be best to avoid the area. Barricades will be up at High and Empire Streets with traffic being detoured east onto Empire Street or north on High Street toward Victoria Road. Also, at High and Anne Streets with traffic detoured southbound on High Street or eastbound on Anne Street back toward Dominion Street. It should be over by Noon.

Update: Sea Trials Expected Soon For Bluenose II

It's another large step forward in bringing Bluenose II back to life. The famous schooner will undergo sea trials within the next month to ensure the vessel is seaworthy after a three year rebuild project in Lunenburg. Heritage Minister Tony Ince says the tests will determine when the iconic vessel will be ready for public sailing tours.



The restoration project is being carried out by the Lunenburg Shipyard Alliance. The cost of the project remains in the area of $16 million.

Higher Gas Prices

New Brunswick's utility regulator decided to only raise gas prices less than half a cent yesterday. However, for some reason in this province, the utility and review board has increased prices overnight by four times as much. Regular self serve is up at South Shore pumps this morning (Friday) by two cents to $1.27.3 per litre. High test has been increased by the same amount to $1.36.3. Diesel is unchanged though at $1.34.4 per litre.

Mustangs Open Monctonian Tourney With Win

The Charlie's Pizza South Shore Mustangs opened up with a win at the Monctonian Major Midget Challenge Cup in Moncton. Scott Perry, Ty Duffus and Alex Nauss scored as the Mustangs defeated Burlington, Ontario 3-1. The Mustangs will play again Friday against Moncton.

Park View Wins, Bridgewater Ties At Glen Murray

Logan Cleveland scored a hat-trick as the Park View Panthers beat West Kings 6-4 to open the Glen Murray Hockey tournament in Bridgewater. Wesley Demone also scored twice while Jeremy Key added the other. In other games, Bridgewater tied Clare 3-3 and Sir John A MacDonald doubled Forest Heights 6-3. A big local match-up Friday night as Bridgewater and Park View square off at 8pm at the Bridgewater Memorial Arena.

Lumberjacks Battle Pictou On Home Ice

A busy weekend for the CIBC Wood Gundy Lumberjacks. They begin a stretch of three games in three days when they host Pictou County tonight at 7pm at the Clearwater Seafoods Arena. They also travel to Amherst Saturday and Dieppe on Sunday.

Bailey Called Up By Mooseheads

The Halifax Mooseheads have called up Lunenburg's Brennan Bailey for the next three games. The captain for the CIBC Wood Gundy Lumberjacks enjoyed a long stint with the Moose last year, that seen him go all the way to a Memorial Cup title with the major junior club. Bailey has two goals and five assists in 20 games with the Lumberjacks this season. The Mooseheads take on Drummondville tonight at the Halifax Metro Centre.

Glen Murray Tournament Opens In Bridgewater

The 11th annual Glen Murray Hockey Tournament starts up Thursday afternoon in Bridgewater. Nine teams are involved in this year's event including Yarmouth, Forest Heights, West Kings and the two-time defending champions from Sir John A MacDonald. The tournament is hosted by Bridgewater and Park View. Panthers Assistant Coach Jeremy Stevens says it's great to be involved in a tournament bearing Glen Murray's name.



Bridgewater will open the tournament at 4:30pm against Clare while Park View meets West Kings at 8pm. All games will be held at the Bridgewater Memorial Arena. A full schedule can be found here .

Area Councillor Reflects On East River Quarry

The councillor representing East River feels there isn't much that can be done about a rock quarry in the area. The province's environment department gave the green light to New Brunswick-based Northern Construction last week. The quarry will be located roughly 300 metres north off Exit 7. Andre Veinotte says the group complied with conditions from the province.



A group called the Chester Area Quarry Community Group is against the development, but there has been no indication if they will appeal the province's decision. The quarry will supply materials needed for upcoming work on Highway 103. Its expected to begin operating in 2014.