FRIDAY NIGHT VANDALS

Bridgewater Town Police are investigating an act of vandalism.

Sometime overnight on Friday, Sept 10, the windows of an unoccupied home at the top Winburn Avenue were smashed out.

Meanwhile, on the same evening, a vehicle parked at 415 Dufferin Street had both mirrors smashed off.

Anyone with information on these crimes is asked to contact Bridgewater Police or Crime Stoppers.

MAN ARRESTED IN CALEDONIA

A local man is facing charges after Queens County RCMP were tipped off about an impaired driver.

Police received several calls, on Sunday night, from citizens concerned about a man driving under the influence in Caledonia.

Patrols were made and a 42 year old was arrested and lodged in cells.

He is facing charges of impaired driving and possession of a controlled substance.

The accused will appear in Liverpool Provincial Court on November 16th.

Award for Water Plant

The Town of Lunenburg's water supply upgrade has been selected as the Project of the Year by the Atlantic Canada Water and Wastewater Association. The award is to be presented at the ACWWA Annual Conference in Saint John New Brunswick tomorrow . The water utility of the Town of Lunenburg completed a 7.5 million dollar water treatment facility in May of this year. The water utility serves about 25 hundred customers.

Living Well by the Sea..Library Conference

Education Minister Marilyn More will be the guest speaker at the provincial Library Boards Association of Nova Scotia conference this coming weekend in Queens County. Library Staff and Board Members will gather at White Point Beach Resort on September 17th,18th, and 19th. Minister More will address library delegates about the importance of library service in Nova Scotia.

LCLC Looks for Funding

The Lunenburg County Lifestyle Centre Society is hoping other municipal units will contribute to their capital campaign. The 33 million dollar facility to be built in Bridgewater will house an indoor aquatic centre, one NHL sized rink, a new library, multi purpose and active living space. The federal and provincial governments have each kicked in 10 million dollars with the Town of Bridgewater and Municipality of Lunenburg cost sharing a third . LCLC members pitched a proposal to Chester Council last week extolling the virtues of the centre for Chester residents and asking Council for a commitment of half a million dollars. The towns of Mahone Bay and Lunenburg will also be asked to commit funding to the project.

Chester Development Plan for Highway 3

A draft plan on development for the outskirts of Chester will now go to the public for feedback. The consultants plan for development of Highway 3 has been presented to Chester Municipal Council for review. Warden Alan Webber says it's a controversial issue and Council is trying to find a way to balance residential and commercial concerns. Public pressure resulted in Council voting down an amendment to rezone a portion of Highway 3 from the WIndjammer Restaurant to Collicut Building Supplies. Council then decided to undertake a broader planning approach with public engagement.

DEADLY CRASH

A woman from the United States has died on a Nova Scotia highway.

On September 11th, at approximately 3:15 PM, members of the Halifax District RCMP responded to a single vehicle crash which occurred in the 8700 block of Highway 333, Peggy’s Cove Road.

A Peggy’s Cove bound vehicle had failed to negotiate a slight curve in the road and hit the ditch on the right hand side of the road.

A rear seat passenger was thrown from the vehicle and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The deceased is a 62 year old female from the United States.

Three other people in the vehicle were taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

A traffic analyst was called to the scene to complete an investigation but neither speed nor alcohol is believed to be a factor at this time.

WALKING FOR CHANGE

More than 300-thousand Canadians of all ages live with type one diabetes.

Barb Conrad with the Diabetic Walk for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation says fortunately there is a chance to make a difference in our region.

Conrad explains how Roseanne and Mike Tanner of Mahone Bay started the walk three years ago.

"They decided they wanted to see if we could raise money in our local area, Lunenburg County, Queens, to get people together and raise the awareness of juvenile diabetes, " says Conrad

If you missed the the Diabetic Walk on September 19 just drop your bottles off to "Oickle's Bottle Exchange" at 100 High Street in Bridgewater and have donated them to the JDRF account.

THOSE WHO SERVED AT SEA REMEMBERED

The Annual Lunenburg Fishermen's Thanksgiving took place today at 2 o'clock at Central United Church.

The ceremony serves as a time of remembrance and proclaims a note of faith to those who still go to sea.

Mayor Laurence Mawhinney read a Roll of Hounour, including the names of all those fishermen lost in the years ending in zero, beginning in 1900.

Following the service those present proceeded to the waterfront where wreaths will were placed aboard a fishing vessel.

The Clergy will take part in the Prayer of Committal as wreaths were deposited in the ocean in memory of those lost at sea.

In the last century alone, more than 660 fishermen were lost while fishing out of Lunenburg County ports.

LIGHTS OUT, SOUTH SHORE

The lights are out over much of the South Shore.

More than five thousand customers are currently without power.

According the Nova Scotia Power website, the outages occurred shortly after 2 o'clock today.

Customers from various regions including New Germany, East Dalhousie, Springfield, Bridgewater, Lower and South Cornwall and West Northfield are experiencing outages.

As of 4:30 PM, 12101 customers are without power

The cause of the outages is being investigated.

The estimated restoration time for all outages is approximately 5 o'clock today.

For more information follow the link provided below.

http://www.nspower.ca/en/home/residential/outageinformation/liveoutagemap.aspx

First Responders Funding

Fire departments and first responders will once again benefit from improved equipment through the Emergency Services Provider Fund. The 500-thousand-dollar provincial funding program helps fire departments and first responders purchase equipment such as jaws of life, pumps and hoses. The program provides up to 50 per cent of eligible costs to a maximum of 20-thousand dollars for approved projects. The deadline for applications is October 15th. Application Forms are available online at www.gov.ns.ca/snsmr/muns/espf .

Input Sought on Academy Use

The future use of the Lunenburg Academy after it ceases to be used as a school is under review and a task force is seeking public input. Mayor Laurence Mawhinney says on Thursday September 16th, from 7 o'clock on, members of the community are invited to take a walk through the national heritage site. He says it's been well preserved by the Lunenburg Academy Foundation and was well used by Class Afloat when they occupied the space. He says it's quite impressive to see the sparkling condition of the 115 year old Academy.
Mawhinney says the general thrust he's hearing is for the Academy to retain its use as a place of learning. He says that might be a broad range of subject matter that could include cultural, artistic creative fields as well languages or architecture, things of that nature. He says once a review by the community has taken place expressions of interest will be solicited from across the country. Mawhinney says with the help of the Government of Nova Scotia they hope to come up with some creative ways to use the space and to pay for it.

Grand Opening for Chester Daycare

The Chester and Area Family Resource Centre is holding a grand opening celebration tomorrow afternoon at 3 o'clock. The new centre at 188 Pig Loop Road offers 36 licensed child-care spaces for infants, toddlers and pre-schoolers. As well the kid zone program has the capacity for 28 children. The new permanent home for the resource centre will continue to offer licensed spaces, part-day as well as before and after school for children from ages 5 to 12.

MS Treatment Benefit

A benefit auction and dance is being held this Friday September 10th to help raise funds for a Shelburne woman to undergo a controversial medical treatment overseas. The Angela Archer Benefit is to help fund Multiple Sclerosis Liberation Treatment in Bulgaria. The event will be held at the Shelburne Curling Club getting underway at 7 p.m. Further information is available at "Angela Archer Benefit" on Facebook.

Fishermen's Thanksgiving Service

The Annual Lunenburg Fishermen's Thanksgiving is set for this Sunday, September 12th at 2 o'clock at Central United Church. It serves as a time of remembrance and proclaims a note of faith to those who still go to sea. The Roll of Honour will be read by Mayor Laurence Mawhinney and include the names of all those fishermen lost in the years ending in zero, beginning in 1900.
Following the service those present will proceed to the waterfront where the service will continue with wreaths being placed aboard a fishing vessel. Once clear of land, the Clergy will take part in the Prayer of Committal and the wreaths will be deposited in memory of those lost at sea. In the last century alone, more than 660 fishermen were lost while fishing out of Lunenburg County ports.

Drug Trafficking

A Queens County man is facing a charge of possessing marihuana for the purpose of trafficking following a search of a residence in Milton. Police seized a quantity of processed marihuana as well as a substantial amount of cash during the search which was carried out on Monday. A 24 year old male from Milton is scheduled to appear in Liverpool Provincial Court on October 19th

FAKE FIRE

The woods near McGowan Lake, outside Bridgewater will be on fire today.

Three eight-man Instant Management teams will be simulating a real forest fire.

Jim McNaughton, a fire tech with Bible Hill detachment says the training exercise is an important opportunity to improve public safety.

"We're constantly training. And with the Instant Management team it takes a fair amount of planning, bringing in members from across the province. It's designed to improve our skills so we can work more effectively when the real thing does happen, " says McNaughton.

MacNaughton says the members are recruited from various regions across the province so there is less stress put on a single detachment in the case of a real emergency.

The simulation began early this afternoon.

FRASER, SCRAPYARD BOUND

HMCS Fraser is en route to a scrap yard in Lake Erie, Ontario.

The president of the Artificial Reef Society, Rick Welsford, says there is only one thing that could save the vessel from being scrapped.

"Only time. The tow from Halifax through the St. Lawrence Seaway, through Lake Ontario into lake Erie is going to take them twelve or fourteen days. So we at least we have (that time) to try and come to sort of satisfactory resolution on this with the Department of National Defence, "says Welsford.

A federal court has quashed an arrest warrant slapped on the former Canadian Navy destroyer, which means the de-commissioned vessel that called Bridgewater home for a decade can be scrapped.

The vessel was resold to the Department of Defence in 2009 after years of sitting dockside in Bridgewater.

Welsford says his organization will continue to fight,

"There are alot of negotiations going behind the scenes and I would suggest that you'll see both parties back in court, shortly," says Welsford.

Welsford says the scrapping contract will cost taxpayers 2.6 million dollars and an additional 700 thousand for towing it away.

NEW REBATES FOR 'GREEN' HOMES

New Nova Scotia rebate incentives are easy on the wallet and the environment.

Rebates under the PerformancePlus program range from $3,000 to $7,000 for homes with an energuide rating above an 83.

Brian Hayes, an energy engineer with Conserve Nova Scotia, says this is an opportunity for the PerformancePlus program to encourage Nova Scotians to construct greener homes.

Hayes says its important to consider your options before you build.

"To convince consumers to take a real good look a their options while they have the opportunity to do it at the lowest possible cost, which is when they're building. Once homes the are built there are many options that disappear altogether, " says Hayes.

Hayes says homeowners can improve their energy rating by using solar power, improving insulation or by increasing their heating power by using drain water heat recovery systems.

The province says the program is capped at 1,200 homes on a first-come, first-served basis.

THEFT ON WOODLAWN DRIVE

Shelburne County RCMP are investigating a theft.

A 2003, blue Ford F-350 was stolen from Woodlawn Drive in Shelburne, Nova Scotia.

The theft took place sometime between 5:00 AM on September 5th and 5:00 PM on September 6th.

The license plate number is ENS-466.

The RCMP are seeking help from the public with this investigation.

Anyone with information regarding the crime is asked to contact the Shelburne Detachment or Crime Stoppers.