New Home, New Name For Bridgewater Library

Bridgewater's new library is a best-seller. The chief librarian of South Shore Public Libraries is pleased with the amount of public feedback who are happy with the new space. The Margaret Hennigar Public Library features plenty of windows for great scenery and natural light. It also includes an open space concept and new technology. Troy Myers says there's also improvements for people with disabilities.



The library moved over the Christmas holiday from King Street and opened to the public at the beginning of the month. Myers says they still have a few kinks to work out of their system, but encourages everyone to check out their new facility inside the Lunenburg County Lifestyle Centre.

Tri-County: More Than A Year Later, African Seat Settled

It took 15 months, but residents of the Tri-Counties now have a representative serving as the African Nova Scotian member on the area school board. Michael Fells took the seat in a special election on Saturday. He captured 155 votes in the victory. The other contender - Darlene Lawrence - garnered 146 votes. Lawrence won the seat during the October 2012 election, however those results were thrown out in court after irregularities were found through the electronic voting process. Voting in the by-election was done exclusively by paper ballots.

Flood Risk Remains In Lunenburg County

The situation is improving, but the Regional Emergency Measures Organization says Lunenburg County residents aren't out of the woods yet when it comes to flooding. The province's Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal is reporting Lapland Road between Albert Wyle Road and Veinot Road in Hebbville was closed due to flooding. However, it re-opened early this afternoon. Bridgewater Police Chief John Collyer says peak water levels should have been reached within 24 hours of this weekend's rain. However, the concern now is with melting ice or ice-jams. He says people should report local flooding.



Collyer says REMO has contingency plans in place if the situation gets worse.

Liverpool Prepares To Welcome Thousands Of Junior Curlers, Families, Coaches & Followers

The countdown is on to the start of the M & M Meat Shops Canadian Junior Curling Championships in Liverpool. Mayor Christopher Clarke says is an event that will be remembered for years ahead, not just for the championships themselves but the community as well.



The Mayor also says the championships will generate close to 3 million dollars for the local economy and not just to the local hospitality industry, motels and the like.



The championships begin on Saturday at Queens Place-Emera Centre and the Liverpool Curling Club.

Brothers, Joyce Qualify For Women's Curling Nationals

Heather Smith's curling rink out of Mayflower has won the 2014 Nova Scotia Scotties Tournament of Hearts championship. Smith scored three in the final end to top Dartmouth's Kelly MacIntosh 6-3 in Sunday's final. Smith finished the Sydney event with a perfect 8-0 record to claim her 5th Nova Scotia title. The rink, which includes Liverpool native Jillian Brothers and Luneburg native Blisse Joyce, will head to Montreal for the Canadian Scotties Championship starting February 1st.

School Review Public Meeting Tonight In Bridgewater

Public meetings studying the school review process across Nova Scotia are being held and there will be a session tonight in Bridgewater. The consultations committee, headed by Bob Fowler, will hold a total of nine meetings across the province. They're designed to look at ways of improving the process and examine how schools dealing with issues such as declining enrolment are closed. Fowler says the meetings have been engaging.



The session in Bridgewater will be held at Park View Education Centre at 7 o'clock this evening. Another one is set for Tuesday night in Yarmouth.

LCLC Aquatic Facility Pegged To Open This Spring

Things are coming together for the new aquatic facility at the Lunenburg County Lifestyle Centre. General Manager Kevin Benjamin says a crew of more than a dozen workers have been putting in a lot of hours to move things along. He says there is lots of tiling happening along the floors and pools. Benjamin remains optimistic things will continue to move forward smoothly.



The aquatic centre hasn't opened because at least one of the three pools was losing water. However, Benjamin doesn't anticipate any further delays or problems with that issue.

Barrington Takes Lohnes Lumbermen Tourney

The Barrington Bay Lightning have repeated as the Lohnes Lumbermen hockey tournament champions. The Lightning defeated AuCoin Locksmith from Halifax 6-5 to win the Labatt's C+ division. The Spry Harbour Whalers won the Buck's Home Building Centre 'C' division with a 4-3 win over the local Eclipse Physio Rusty Blades. This was the 30th year for tournament. Games were played all weekend in Bridgewater.

Bridgewater: Fire Destroys King Street Home

Dozens of firefighters got an early wake-up call following a house fire on North King Street. The blaze broke out near Mainline Market just before 4 a.m. According to the Red Cross, two people were able to get out of the home safely. They were taken to hospital as a precaution. Fire Chief Michael Nauss says flames were roaring out of the home when they got on scene.



Nauss says the home is completely destroyed. He says they will begin an investigation later today to determine its cause.

Wind & Rain Storm Pounds Region

Nova Scotia Power crews are working to get the lights back on for a few thousand customers still reeling from last night's wind and rain storm. The largest outages being reported in Halifax, Dartmouth and Bedford/ A few hundred residents in Queens county are also waiting for power. Areas affected include Camperdown and Lapland. Streets and driveways were littered with tree branches, compost bins while flooding was reported in a number of areas. Environment Canada had issued wind and rain warnings, but they were lifted earlier this morning. At the height of the storm, nealy 18,000 homes were in the dark.

Shelburne: Medical Clinic Gets Much-Needed Funding

It appears the Shelburne Medical Clinic has gathered enough funding to expand. South West Health was facing a $441,000 deficit in their $1.4-million budget to retrofit the current facility. The CAO for the Municipality of Shelburne says council has agreed to pony up $250,000 to help the health authority. The contribution comes three years after the municipality approved $200,000 for the clinic. Kirk Cox says they hope to find the new financial commitment from this year's existing operating budget.



The Roseway Hospital Charitable Organization also increased its contribution to $300,000 while the province has set aside $658,000. A meeting will be held January 17 to discuss the next stage of the project.

Scammers Target Winter Vacationers

January is a perfect time for many South Shore residents to skip the cold and snow and head "south"! Its also considered by scammers as the perfect time to fleese vulnerble traveller wanna-bees. The province's Better Business Bureau says South Shore residents and other Nova Scotians have been getting calls offering free cruises if money is provided to collect the prizes. Jill Atkinson of the BBB says be wary of such offers.



She also says don't be fooled by familiar names being used by scam callers to lure you in ... names like Carnival Cruise Lines or Disney. Atkinson says these companies do not offer such prizes.

Former Lumberjack Butterworth Traded To Valley

Jeremy Butterworth is now a Valley Wildcat. He was traded from the Brooks Bandits of the Alberta Junior Hockey League for future considerations. Butterworth had 45 points in 49 games and was named Bridgewater's rookie of the year last season. He traveled to the United Staes Hockey League and spent time with the Fargo Force before he was traded to Brooks earlier this season.

LaHave Ferry Could Be Out Of Service Longer Than Expected

It might be a few weeks before the LaHave River ferry will be back in service. The cable-powered vessel broke free during last Friday's blizzard and ended up grounding down river on Oxner's Beach. Three people on board were not hurt. The vessel was towed off the beach on Monday and berthed in LaHave. Now, Pam Menchenton of the Department of Transportation says there was damage to the ferry's cable hydraulics which need more assessment and repairs.



When in operation, the ferry runs daily between LaHave and East LaHave.

Luke Warner Returns To South Shore; Traded To Mariners

A familiar name is coming back to the South Shore. Luke Warner has been traded by the Dieppe Commandos to the Yarmouth Mariners for future considerations. Warner spent two-and-a-half seasons with the Lumberjacks, posting nine goals and 17 assists in 131 games. He was traded by the club early in 2013 to Summerside where he won a league championship before he was dealt to Dieppe.

Education: Meeting To Discuss School Upgrades Planned

School board officials on the South Shore want to meet with the province to discuss their funding applications for upgrades to rural schools. Park View Education Centre is the only school in the region identified to receive money for improvements this year under the Nova Scotia governments capital priorities list. Schools in New Ross, both facilities in New Germany and the proposal for a new school serving Petite Riviere and Pentz were passed over for upgrades. Superintendent Geoff Cainen says he would like to know if there are gaps in their applications.



Meanwhile, Park View will see $13 million in new upgrades. Cainen is hoping the meeting with the province happens by the end of this month.

Lohnes Lumbermen Hockey Tournament Back For 30th Year

Three local teams will try their luck in winning this year's Lohnes Lumbermen hockey tournament, which kicks off tonight in Bridgewater. The Barrington Bay Lightning are one of them. They are back to defend their championship title from last year over the Aucoin Locksmith Blues, who are also scheduled to play this year. Other local teams include the Motor Inn Leafs and Eclipse Physio Rusty Blades. Games start tonight at 7:15pm and continue all weekend at the Bridgewater Memorial Arena and Clearwater Seafoods Arena. This is the tournament's 30th year.

South Shore Curlers On Top Team At Provincial Scotties

Mayflower's Heather Smith leads the way after two days of action at the Provincial Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Sydney. The Smith foursome, which includes South Shore natives Jill Brothers and Blisse Joyce, has a perfect 4-0 record after a 6-4 win last night over Mary Sue Radford. Defending champ Mary Anne Arsenault of Mayflower and Kelly MacIntosh of Dartmouth are next with 3-1 marks. Jocelyn Nix and Sarah Rhyno are still alive at 2-2. Round robin action in the eight team event continues through Saturday followed by tiebreakers and playoffs. The championship final is set for Sunday at 2pm. The winners will represent Nova Scotia at the Canadian Scotties in Montreal in early March.

Big Rainfall On The Way

Here we go again! The weather has been up and down all winter so far! Minus 20 one day ... plus 10 the next! Snow one day ... rain the next! After a low of close to minus 20 last night, we will see temperatures jump as much as 30 degrees by Sunday. Environment Canada is calling for heavy rain overnight Saturday into Sunday. Residents along the South Shore are being advised to check rain catch-basins outside and clear them of ice and snow to avoid flooding.

Substantial Drop In Gas Prices

The utility and review board has set the coming week's gas prices. They've been lowered almost 5 cents a litre. Regular self serve is selling this morning at South Shore pumps for $1.31 per litre. High test down also to $1.40. Diesel is down by about 4 cents as well.