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.

Health Minister Applauds Recent South Shore Radiothon

Recently, the Health Services Foundation on the South Shore raised tens of thousands of dollars to help purchase a new piece of medical equipment for the South Shore Regional Hospital. The province's health minister is applauding the campaign and others across the region which Leo Glavine says is becoming the "norm".



Glavine says the South Shore's annual funding drive and others across the province won't be touched during reform of the health care system.



The Valentine's Day Gift For The Heart Radiothon raised more than 103-thousand dollars for a new portable X-ray unit at the South Shore Regional Hospital in Bridgewater.

Mustangs Score Overtime Win Over Halifax

The Charlies Pizza South Shore Mustangs drew first blood against the Halifax McDonalds. Jordan Messenger scored the overtime winner as the Mustangs defeated Halifax 2-1 Saturday night. The win gives the Mustangs a 1-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series. Alex Nauss also scored while Colby Muise stopped 36 shots in the win. Game two goes Sunday afternoon in Halifax

High School Hockey: Panthers, Falcons Meet For First Place

In boys high school hockey, Park View doubled up West Kings 6-3 on Saturday night. The win gives the Panthers a shot at first place overall in the Valley High School Hockey League. However, they will have to play a team that is undefeated so far in the regular season. Park View will meet the Forest Heights Falcons at 5pm Sunday evening at the Bridgewater Memorial Arena.

Lunenburg: ER Closure At Fishermen's

The emergency department at the hospital in Lunenburg will be temporarily closed this afternoon. The closure will began at 2:00p.m. It will reopen at 7:30am Saturday morning. Residents needing emergency care will need to go to the regional hospital in Bridgewater or call 9-1-1.

Mustangs Open Series Against Top-Ranked Halifax

The Charlies Pizza South Shore Mustangs will play their first semi-final series in 12 years. The Mustangs open up their best-of-seven series against the top-ranked Halifax McDonalds this weekend. The Stangs are coming off a series win over Valley. However, they were winless against Halifax in five games during the regular season. Assistant Coach Don Dodman says the team is ready for the task.



Game one will be held Saturday night at 7pm at the Halifax Forum. The two teams will also meet Sunday afternoon at 12:30 at the Forum before the series shifts to Bridgewater for games three and four March 1 and 2.

Will New Yarmouth Ferry Service Meet May 1 Startup?

Will the Yarmouth to Maine ferry service be able to meet the May 1st startup date? That question is haunting business and politcal leaders in Nova Scotia now that the province has been asked for financial guarantees for refunding cancelled trips. The ferry operator, Nova Star Cruises, has even removed passenger fare information on the route from its webside. Progressive Conservative House Leader Chris d'Entremont says the government needs to clarify whether or not May first is in jeopardy.



d'Entremont says if the province looks after the refund, will that be in addition to the 21-million dollars already guaranteed as backing for the service? He also says a problem like this, so late in the game indicates to him, closing the deal last fall with ferry operator, Nova Star Cruises, was a rushed job.

Chester: Worms Could Become Future Composting Source

The future of large-scale composting in Chester could be in worms. A group of students from Dalhousie University introduced vermicomposting to the municipality, which uses worms to consume organic waste. Councillor Andre Veinotte proposed the idea. He challenged the students to find a less labour-intensive operation.



The students have designed a machine and are looking to begin testing in early March. Veinotte says it could be a good fit, but they need to make sure it makes sense.



The municipality currently spends $200,000 a year to deal with organic waste. Vermicomposting would cut down that cost and make its way to Kaizer Meadow.

Higher Gasoline Prices

Gas prices have increased overnight. Regular self serve is actually past $1.40 now, selling this morning for $1.40.2 per litre. That's a jump of almost three cents. High test is at $1.49.2. Diesel has increased about a cent. It's selling this morning in some places along the South Shore at $1.48.7 a litre.

Shelburne: RCMP Search Home, Issue Charges

A Shelburne man is facing more charges after he was caught with marijuana in addition to breaking conditions related to his house arrest. Police say they searched a home Monday night on George Street. The house was empty but some grass and drug related property was seized. Police tracked down the person they were looking for about two blocks away. They seized roughly 30 grams of pot in total. Vincent William Buchanan is facing new charges and was taken into custody. The 34 year old is due in Shelburne court in April.

Land Clearing Halfway Done For South Canoe Wind Project

Over half the land needed for the South Canoe Wind Project has been cleared. Representatives with Nova Scotia Power and Minas Basin Pulp and Power met with Chester council Thursday to give an update on the project. Land clearing began towards the end of January for the 34 wind turbine project in the New Ross area. Community relations manager for Minas Energy, Mary-Frances Lynch, says they have lots of work coming up.



Looke CanCut of Barss Corner was hired to complete the land clearing. Lynch says they're working on developing a local route to deliver the turbines near the Lake Lawson Road and the New Russell Road. However, it still needs final approval from the province. A project office for South Canoe has also been set up on the Forties Road in New Ross at Cottage at the Cross if people are looking for more information.