2009-05-28 09:43:13
A reprieve for the Adult High School in Bridgewater. The South Shore Regional School Board has been able to rework its budget and continue to fund the adult program Lunenburg campus. Superintendent Nancy Pynch-Worthylake says the school was on the chopping block because there were not enough funds in the Boards budget to continue its operation. The Board approved a draft balanced budget but has yet to receive its final revenue figures from the Department of Education.
2009-05-28 06:26:11
A 17-year-old has been killed after being struck by a car as he was walking in the Springfield area of Highway 10. Police haven't released the young man's name since family are still being notified. An RCMP news release says the collision occurred at about 3:45 p.m. as the teenager was walking in Springfield, on Trunk Road 10 between Middleton and Bridgewater.
2009-05-28 06:24:32
Three of the four candidates were on hand to offer their views and opinions on a submitted list of questions. The Green Party's Emily Richardson declined to take part. Liberal Mark Furey, Conservative Carolyn Bolivar Getson and Gary Ramey for the NDP addressed the issues of health care, economic revitalization and roads. The topics were put forward by the debates sponsor, the Bridgewater and Area Chamber of Commerce. Other questions from the audience centered on help for low income families,twinning the 103, gas regulation, grants to Michelin and the proposed provincial curfew for teens. It was a mild almost cordial debate with the candidates wrapping up the evening with a pitch why they deserved the voters ballot. Tune in this morning to CKBW to hear what the candidates had to say.
2009-05-27 06:27:40
The Town of Mahone Bay will launch the Pace Car program this Saturday, joining 18 other Nova Scotian communities already implementing the anti-speeding initiative. Residents pledge to become mobile speed bumps and display the Pace Car emblems on their vehicles, helping to slow traffic in their community. The program launch will include an opportunity for residents to sign up for the program, the Mahone Bay and Area Lions Club will be hosting a Bicycle Rodeo and local RCMP members are organizing a guided youth hike during the day.The event is set for 9:30 to noon this Saturday, May 30th at the Mahone Bay Legion Hall, 21 Pond Street. The Pace Car Program is a partnership of the Ecology Action Centre, Canada's home, car and business insurers and the NS Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal.
2009-05-27 06:21:49
It's still not a done deal but Councillors did some bare bones cutting to the proposed Bridgewater budget Monday night. Mayor Carroll Publicover says all were in agreement that there be no increase in residential tax rates. Publicover says pre-approving previous requests has backed them into a corner in some ways. Council still has to finalize the amounts for the Grants to Organizations. A special Council meeting will be held next Monday night, June 1st when the final budget will be tabled and the tax rates set.
2009-05-26 06:35:38
At least five people in the Bridgewater area have been victims of electronic identity theft. In one case, a woman says she lost about $1,000 from her bank account. John Collyer, the town's deputy police chief, says they aren't sure yet if the money was taken through an automatic teller machine or by another means. He won't say if they have any suspects but adds that in past cases they have been able to identify people through video surveillance. Police are advising people to check their bank statements carefully and to notify them or the bank if there are any unusual transactions or withdrawals.
2009-05-26 06:31:24
A busy week for candidates on the south shore as the campaign heads into the home streatch. Chester/St. Margaret's is the latest riding to announce a debate. Tomorrow night at the Chester Legion Hall, the four candidates will be discussing the issues that will decide the upcoming election. Ryan Cameron of the Green Party, Liberal Jo-anne Grant, Denise Peterson-Rafuse of the NDP and P-C Judy Streatch will be in the hot seat. The event is being put on by the Village of Chester Tourism and Development Association. Wednesday night will also see the candidates of Lunenburg West and Queens squaring off in debate. And Lunenburg candidates will be in debate on Thursday.
2009-05-25 06:16:34
Another south shore riding will be giving voters a chance to hear directly from the candidates ahead of the June 9th vote. The South Queens Chamber of Commerce is holding their event on May 27th at the Junior High School Auditorium in Liverpool. Vicki Conrad of the NDP, Wayne Henley of the Liberals and Kerry Morash of the Conservatives will be there and organisers say the Green Party has also been invited. All will be asked six questions that include school board autonomy, government involvement in the economy, support for volunteer fire departments, fiscial responsibility, health care in Queens and forestry growth and protection. And people in the audience will also get to submit questions. That same night, Lunenburg West candidates will be holding a forum at the Michelin hall and the next night, The five Lunenburg candidates will be having their say.
2009-05-22 12:10:11
It's only been four years since they've been charging a tax on every property sold in the Municipality of the District of Lunenburg. And now they are looking at increasing the deed transfer tax. Council is proposing to bump up the rate from three quarters to a full one percent of the value of the property transferred. Second reading of the changes to the Deed Transfer Tax Bylaw will be held in the county council chambers in Bridgewater on June 9th. The tax came into effect in the municipality in September 2005. According to the municipality's figures, the tax earned them $541,554 in the last budget year.
2009-05-22 12:08:22
No housing market crash in this part of the country. Average house prices on the south shore are at a record high according to the Nova Scotia Association of Realtors. In April the average residential price was just under 207-thousand dollars - a five-point-four percent increase over last year. The national average was down 3-point-2 percent. Residential properties on the south shore went up by 11 percent, second only to the Valley Region where prices were 15 percent higher. The Association says the number and value of sales were down in April compared to last year and new listings were also down for the fourth consecutive year-over-year. President of the Nova Scotia Association of Realtors says the bridge between buyer demand and housing supply is continuing to narrow. Linda Smardon says that helps maintain stability in housing prices. The average house price in the South Shore Region is $173,853.
2009-05-22 07:12:26
The Conservatives and New Democrats are kicking off their election activities today (Friday) with campaign statements in Dartmouth. Premier Rodney MacDonald has scheduled a morning news conference at the Dartmouth East campaign headquarters. While the premier speaks, N-D-P Leader Darrell Dexter will talk about the future for young people at the community college's waterfront campus before heading to the south shore. He'll be campaigning with Garey Ramey and Pam Birdsall this afternoon. Liberal Leader Stephen McNeil will spend the afternoon campaigning with Mark Furey in Bridgewater, Wayne Henley in Liverpool and Darian Huskilson in Shelburne. MacDonald is also fanning out with several candidates later today.
2009-05-22 07:11:20
One man was taken to hospital following a fight at the Lunenburg Community Centre earlier this week. RCMP responded to a complaint of a fight between two men just after 5 p.m. Wednesday evening, May 20th. Police and Emergency Health Services also responded and a 19 year old male was taken to hospital with non life-threatening injuries. Preliminary investigation indicates the 19 year old intoxicated man became involved in a fight with a 17 year old youth. The 19 year old fell and struck his head on the pavement during the incident and was taken to Fishermen's Memorial Hospital then to South Shore Regional. The youth as well as witnesses at the scene were interviewed by police who are continuing their investigation.
2009-05-22 07:01:37
A Milton couple is facing charges following a seizure of marijuana and stolen property. Queens RCMP with assistance from the Shelburne and South Shore Street Crime Enforcement Units executed a search warrant on a Milton residence on May 19th. As a result of the search, 31 year old Michael Samuel Fancy has been charged with trafficking in marijuana, possession for the purpose of trafficking and possession of stolen property. Twenty-six year old Tanya Dawn Bent is charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking marijuana and possession of stolen property. About $6,000 worth of marijuana and drug paraphernalia were seized during the search.
2009-05-21 06:31:40
He says by running independently he will be able to work with all of the parties for the betterment of the people in the Lunenburg riding. Municipal councillor Milton Countway is running as a candidate in the upcoming election. And he's doing it without being associated with any of the major parties. Last May, he lost a bid for the nomination of the NDP to Pam Birdsall who is running this time against Rick Welsford of the Liberals and Peter Zwicker of the Conservatives. Countway made his announcement to run as an independent in Lunenburg in front of a group of supporters in the Blockhouse Fire Department parking lot last evening.
2009-05-21 06:29:00
Picton Castle will be returning to Lunenburg this Saturday, having completed a year-long voyage around the Atlantic Ocean. The ship is expected to round Battery Point at about 2 o'clock. After a few weeks refit she'll embark on a nine-week summer program sailing along the coast of the Eastern United States and Canada. In the United Kingdom, the Picton Castle visited ports from the ship's past as a North Sea fishing trawler and World War II minesweeper. Crew members also visited the ship's namesake castle. In Northern Europe, she attended Tall Ship events, then it was on to Sainte Nazaire, France, where in 1942 she was one of a convey of vessels to participate in a successful raid on a Nazi-held shipyard there. That visit was followed by calls in Spain, Portugal, the island of Mallorca, Morocco, the Canaries, Senegal and Cape Verde before making passage to the Caribbean where the Picton Castle has been island hopping for the last number of weeks. The next big adventure for the sail training ship will be fifth circumnavigation of the world beginning in May, 2010.
2009-05-21 06:26:46
Environment and politics, where does the rubber meet the road? For groups like the Atlantic Chapter of the Sierra Club of Canada, they want to hear the position all of the political parties on issues like uranium mining. Gretchen Fitzgerald says the Conservatives had suggested there may be a lift on a ban on mining the radioactive element. She says results from a 22 community tour by Natural Resources seemed to suggest a united public opinion against mining uranium anywhere in Nova Scotia. Questionnaires have been given to all of the parties ahead of next month's election and Fitzgerald says they will be releasing the responses in the next few days.
2009-05-20 06:22:29
Hundreds of Nova Scotia's unemployed older workers will continue to benefit from programming that will help them build skills and find work. The Department of Labour and Workforce Development will continue to support the Targeted Initiative for Older Workers program thanks to a federal/provincial three-year funding extension of 4-point-two-million dollars. Since 2007, 23 projects with almost 300 participants have been completed, with 40 per cent of participants gaining employment or opening their own businesses. Organizations who support older workers are encouraged to
apply for funding.
2009-05-20 06:20:51
It sounds like there have been a few people in the Bridgewater area who have been the victims of a banking machine scam. A CKBW listener tells us she lost a thousand dollars from her chequing account when someone accessed it over the weekend. Neither her purse or her card were stolen, so someone got access to her account somehow. And Bridgewater police are investigating. So far, there's been no release of any information so it's not clear how much they know about the scam. There are people talking about several ATM's that may have somehow been watched or compromised in someway. But which of the banking machines that might be affected isn't being made public at this point.
2009-05-19 06:08:31
Tough economic times across North America are being felt in Chester St. Margaret's. Judy Streatch, Education Minister in the MacDonald Government, says it's unfortunate the housing market has taken a dip in the states and that is being felt here. She says she'll do all she can to help the workers being laid off from Louisiana Pacific in East River. Louisiana Pacific manufactures wood products for export around the world. It's restructuring plan will see the layoffs of 66 employees and four managers.
2009-05-19 06:07:10
A long-promised expansion to a Shelburne county nursing home is now a political plank. N-D-P leader Darrell Dexter pledged this morning to get the additional 50 beds open for those who need them, as soon as possible, regardless of the result of next month's election. The MacDonald Conservatives have delayed the long-promised opening of Bay Side’s expansion by another three years. In 2006, former Minister of Health, Chris d’Entremont, announced that Bay Side’s new beds would open in the fall of 2007. In 2007, the opening date was changed to 2010. Dexter adds Shelburne residents can't afford to wait any longer. He says Rodney MacDonald had a chance to deliver these nursing home beds and failed. He made the comments campaigning with Sterling Belliveau in Shelburne Friday morning.
