Motorcyclist Funeral

A motorcyclist killed in an unusual and tragic accident will be laid to rest tomorrow afternoon. The funeral service for Gregory Allen Naugler is being held at St. Paul's Lutheran church in Bridgewater. The Captain with the Oakhill Volunteer Fire Department was killed when his bike hit another motorcycle on Highway 325. Two other people, a man and woman also in their 50's are still in hospital. Investigators are still at a loss to explain exactly what happened that night. The collision happened about 8:15 and the bikes were travelling towards each other when somehow Naugler's ended up crossing the centerline. Police say speed doesn't appear to have been a factor. And neither were alcohol or drugs.

History Winners

Two South Shore teenagers have been selected as the Nova Scotia delegation of 8 students to attend the 15th annual National Historica Fair in Ottawa from July 7 to 13. The National Historica Fair will bring together 100 students from across Canada for a week of learning and adventure that includes a public display of their history projects on Thursday, July 9th, at the Canadian Museum of Civilization. Fifteen year old Jean Clarke, , from Lunenburg,has a project entitled Fisherman’s Suits, while 14 year old Haleigh Atwood from Shelburne will be there with a project entitled New France: The Electric City. The 100 National Fair delegates were selected from among the over 250,000 students in more than 1,000 communities who participated in local and Regional Historica Fairs in April and May.

Bike Collision

Questions still remain about what exactly happened to cause a head-on crash between two motorcycles that killed a Lunenburg County man. The accident happened on Friday night on Highway 325 in Oak Hill, just outside Bridgewater. R-C-M-P say a preliminary investigation shows that one motorcycle crossed the centre line and hit the other one. The driver of the motorcycle that crossed over -- a Lunenburg County man in his 50s -- was pronounced dead in South Shore Regional Hospital. He has been identified as Gregory Naugler of Pine Grove. The male driver of the other bike and a female passenger were injured. Their names have not been released yet.

Found Kids

It was a frantic five hours for an Ohio family visiting the south shore. But it ended with the nine-year old boy and five year old girl being reunited with their overjoyed family last evening. Lunenburg county RCMP say the family had just arrived in Rhodes Corner and were visiting with relatives when the kids wandered off from the back yard. They were last seen around 3:30 yesterday afternoon. Family and neighbours spent several hours looking for them before they called the RCMP. That was just before six last evening. A huge effort went into action with RCMP, a police service dog, members of the Lunenburg County Ground Search and Rescue team, Natural Resources workers and a D-N-R helicopter all responded. The kids were found before dark. They were found walking on a woods road about a half a kilometer from the Lunenburg County home. Both the boy and girl were in good condition when they were reunited with their parents just after 8:30 last night.

Farmer's Market

It's the return of the Farmer's Market to Bridgewater this weekend. Councillor David Mitchell says 15 vendors are confirmed and you'll be able to buy meat, produce and breads, crafts, pottery, jams and flowers. The market will be open on the town-leased parking lot on King Street, between Empire Street and Dominion Street. It will open rain or shine. There is no admission fee. The market will stay open Saturdays during the same time frame throughout the summer season, likely until October.

Privateer Funding

While the weather may not look the greatest for Privateer Days, the economic forecast is a little brighter today. Gerald Keddy was on hand for last night's opening ceremonies, and he had more than 20-thousand dollars in federal booty ($20,800). The Conservative Member of Parliament for the area says the Government is proud to support Privateer Days - something that celebrates our shared history. Anne Langille - the Chair of the event this year - says the money will help to bring back local entertainment to Privateer Days and celebrate the history of Queens county and it's privateering heritage. 2009 marks the 250th anniversary of the founding of Liverpool Township. The festival runs right through the weekend.

New Tourism President

A tough job ahead with declining numbers and a struggling tourism economy. A new president is in place for Destination Southwest Nova. Dan Myers of Oak Island Resort has been appointed by the association's board. He's been an active member of the group for the past two years and has been very involved with the marketing committee. Myers chaired the first meeting of the new board saying he believes in a regional approach to marketing the area. And he is looking forward to helping the Association build strong partnerships that will lead to increased visitation. Past President Rick Welsford helped lead the regional tourism industry association through the complicated amalgamation in 2006 but recently stepped down. The board thanked him for his leadership, hard work and commitment to the industry.

Health Workers

Two former recipients of the South Shore Health Bursary Program ,one RN and one LPN, have completed their return-for service agreements and are now working for South Shore Health. The program was established in 2006 and has provided funding to students from Lunenburg and Queens Counties who are interested in pursuing a career. The Bursary Program is funded by the Health Services Foundation and the Queens General Foundation and last year receivedadditional funding from the Fishermen’s Memorial Hospital Auxiliary. Successful recipients are required to enter into a return-for-service agreement with the District equal to the number of years supported by the program. This year, there are 6 recipients graduating from their chosen field of study: 4 RN's; 1 Medical Laboratory Technologist; and 1 Medical Radiology Technologist. Five of the recipients have or will begin their return-for service agreement over the next several months. The District is currently supporting 3 RN's and 1 Physician and hope to support an additional 5 students in 2009-2010.

Pavement vs Classrooms

A South Shore School Board member feels the province is putting asphalt ahead of student programming. Gary Mailman says the former government announced 2 million over 3 years for Parkview Education Centre and almost $250-thousand of that is to be used to construct a parking lot. Mailman says Parkview wasn't even identified as a Board priority, and he feels the money should be put into the Skills/Trades program. Mailman says New Germany Elementary and South Queens Junior High were overlooked by the province even though both schools were on the South Shore School Boards priority list.

Mahone Bay Taxes

An increase in the Mahone Bay's residential assessment means a decrease in tax rates. Overall assessments are up more than five percent to almost 107 million. Most homeowners will pay about the same tax bill as last year. Council was able to drop the residential tax rate down to a dollar 18 cents. Commercial rates increased by nine cents to 2.83 to cover the business occupancy tax phase out. Mahone Bay's budget this year is worth 1.96 million dollars.

Privateer Booty

Federal dollars are being made available for Privateer Days. The funding will be announced on Thursday at the Queens County Museum, just as the festival is getting underway. South Shore St. Margaret's MP Gerald Keddy will be making the presentation on behalf of the Conservative Government.

CKBW's Wiles Winner

Describing it as a junior farm system, Dave Bannerman says CKBW and Acadia Broadcasting are helping young people get into the broadcasting business. Bannerman is an instructor with the NSCC's Waterfront Campus. He says John Wiles has been named National Broadcaster of the year by the Broadcaster Educators Association. CKBW's station manager John Wiles was recently presented with an award recognizing him and the radio station for their continued support of broadcast students. He is a native of Liverpool who has worked in broadcasting in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia over his 30 year career.

Tuition Winners

Four Nova Scotia high school students have each won five thousand dollars in tuition for a Nova Scotia university or college of their choice through the online game Mission Tuition. Mission Tuition was designed to encourage more high school students to plan careers in Nova Scotia, by making them aware of the range of successful business and job opportunities here at home. More than 23-hundred people played the interactive online game on a website telling Nova Scotians about opportunities in growth sectors such as aerospace, finance, skilled trades, IT and health. The four winners are: David Cann, Riverview Rural HighSchool (Sydney); Kelsie Johnston, Sackville High School; Alessandra Pagnottella, Sacred Heart School (Halifax); and Allison Rand, Bridgewater Junior and Senior High School. They were randomly chosen from more than 900 entries.

Health CEO Deputized

South Shore Health CEO, Kevin McNamara, has been appointed acting deputy minister of the Department of Health. Premier Darrell Dexter in making the announced today says McNamara understands the unique challenges of Nova Scotia's health-care system and will be able to help government prepare to address those challenges. The appointment will take effect Friday (July 3rd) and will last about three months.

MLA's Appointed

Two South Shore NDP MLA's among eight appointed to the role of ministerial assistants. They will represent ministers and government to build relationships with important stakeholders, and oversee policy and program development that helps government keep commitments. Lunenburg West's Gary Ramey has been named ministerial assistant to the Department of Health while Queens MLA Vicki Conrad, has been appointed to Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal. Ministerial assistants will not receive additional pay for their role and it is not a full-time position.

Justice Center Opens

Bridgewater's new justice center opens Monday, months later than scheduled and millions of dollars over original budget estimates. The exact cost has not been released by officials but at last count it was close to double the original estimate of 9-point-75 million dollars. The building was supposed to open last November but was delayed another six months because of labour issues according to the Department of Justice. The justice centre includes a centralized court administration area and four courtrooms. The late Michael Baker, who was credited with pushing to have a new court house built in the community, got to tour the building in February.

Justice Issues

Shelburne RCMP say drug charges are pending after a 9-1-1 call to a Parr Street residence. They don't say what prompted the emergency call. But they say when they got there, they found a marijuana grow-op. Officers got a search warrant to dismantle the grow and seize exhibits. They say a large number of plants in various stages of growth were seized.

Chester Mounties are looking into a break, enter and theft in Chester village. Someone broke into Chester Area Middle school and stole a silver Hewlett Packard 15 inch computer monitor. It's believed it happened overnight Thursday.

Furnace Finances

The Forties Community Centre is looking for a lifeline from Chester Council. Warden Allan Webber says they're asking for a $16,000 grant to replace their hot water furnace Webber says the Municipality has been swamped with grant requests this year and there's only so much money to go around. The Community Centre still has four years left on its mortgage and has no additional funding for the emergency cost of replacing the furnace.

King of Pop dies

The Los Angeles County coroner's office has confirmed that Michael Jackson has died.
He was 50. Ed Winter, the assistant chief coroner, confirmed his office had been notified of the death and would handle the investigation. Jackson died Thursday at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. The circumstances of Jackson's death were not immediately clear. A spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department says Jackson was not breathing when paramedics responded to a call at his Los Angeles home about 12:30 p.m California time. The paramedics performed C-P-R and took him to the hospital.The tragedy struck amid a concerted effort by Jackson to resurrect his singing career after years of tabloid headlines. Earlier this year, he announced his impending comeback: a marathon series of massive back-to-back concerts in London.

Back To Work

After dipping his toes into the political pool, the Detachment Commander for Lunenburg County RCMP is expected back in the office soon. Mark Furey went on an unpaid leave of absence back on April 15th when he announced he was running for the Liberal party in Lunenburg West. Staff at the detachment office in Cookville say he is scheduled to be back in his office on Monday. Staff Sergeant Furey is a 29-year veteran of the RCMP. At the time of his nomination, there was no guarantee he'd reclaim the district commander's job or that he'd remain with Lunenburg County's RCMP following election day. New Democrat Gary Ramey was elected as the MLA for the area, defeating former Cabinet Minister Carolyn Bollivar Getson.