Historic Newspaper Launch

Three historic Shelburne newspapers will be included on a website featuring 19,000 pages of digitized newspapers. Nova Scotia Historical Newspapers will be officially launched this Friday, April 23. To coincide with the launch, events are being held across the province to celebrate with different regional focuses. The three historic Shelburne newspapers that have been digitized are The Port-Roseway Gazeteer and the Shelburne Advertiser, The Nova Scotian Packet and General Advertiser, and The Royal American Gazette. The Shelburne launch takes place at McKay Memorial Library, 17 Glasgow St., Shelburne, beginning at 2 p.m..

Earth Day at NSCC

It's Earth Day at the Nova Scotia Community College Lunenburg Campus. The school on High Street in Bridgewater is hosting events all day long. Students will be staffing a booth with environmental information on things such as soil amendments, tree planting tips, benefits of bat and owl houses which will be given away to winning ticket holders. They'll also perform a soil testing exercise on the area where a flowering shrub will be planted to mark the beginning of a garden to attract birds and butterflies. If you bring your own mug you'll be able to buy a coffee in the cafeteria for less than half price. A major area cleanup, led by the students in the Women Unlimited program, will see students from all programs picking up trash and sorting where possible.

Attracting Immigrants

The Lunenburg/Queens Regional Development Agency is actively working to attract immigrants to the area. Corey Pickens the Immigration Navigator for the LQRDA says they currently have about 95 active client files. His roles is to make available to newcomers, information regarding housing, language services, employment opportunities and even school information. Pickens says in terms of the RDA's goals and objectives for creating development within the region, a navigators position is critically important. He says communities can host a "Newcomers Reception" to welcome the immigrants into the neighbourhood to make them feel a part of the community. The LQRDA deals mainly with the provincial nominee program to attract skilled worker and business class immigrants .

FREE Breakfast

You can enjoy a complimentary breakfast this morning(Thurs.,April 22)and hear all the latest success stories on growth and development in Bridgewater. The breakfast is being sponsored by the Bridgewater Development Association and is on from 7:30 to 9:30 at the Michelin Social Club on Logan Road. There will be a number of presentations and trade show displays set up. The BDA is the lead development agency that has been behind many of the initiatives and work that keeps Bridgewater's growth at the forefront.

Debt Collection

The province is in the process of setting up a debt collection system on behalf of municipalities. Amendments have have introduced to the Municipal Government Act to give the province the legal authority to collect debts owed to municipalities for public utility bills or by-law infractions. There is about 8 million dollars in outstanding fines owed to municipalities. The Region of Queens would like to see the legislation go a step further. Mayor John Leefe says in the event a person does not pay their fine, the municipality would be able to put a lien against any real property owned by the person until the judgement is satisfied. The Region is asking the Minister of Service Nova Scotia to approve its amendments to be included in the MGA. There is about 8 million dollars in outstanding fines owed to municipalities. Each year, the debt collection unit of Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations collects over 15 million on behalf of provincial departments and agencies.

Bridgewater Draft Budget

The Town of Bridgewater hopes to table its budget and set the tax rate by May 10th. A draft copy was released at Council's briefing session Monday night and is proposing a hike in both residential and commercial tax rates. The current residential rate is set at $1.628 per one hundred dollars of assessment while the commercial rate is $3.72. Council is encouraging public input on the draft budget and there are still a couple of meetings before the figures are finalized.

Earth Day Challenge

Tomorrow is your chance to make a difference as the earth day challenge returns.

To participate all you need to do is register your team by calling the Lunenburg Regional Community Recycling Centre or the Municipality of Chester.

Call 543-2991 (Lunenburg Regional Community Recycling Centre) or 275-3554 (Municipality of Chester) or visit http://www.modl.ca/recycling_-_home/index.html

N.S. Gun Amnesty

There is still time to turn in unwanted guns and ammunition to the police during the province's gun amnesty this month. Until the end of April RCMP will pick up unwanted guns and ammunition in a step to make Nova Scotia a safer place.

For residents in the Bridgewater area you can contact your local RCMP detachment at 527-5555

Child Abuse Investigated

Queens County RCMP are investigating a possible case of child abuse involving a 5 year old girl. The incident is alleged to have taken place in Liverpool during the week of April 12th. A 19 year old Liverpool man was arrested over the weekend and released on conditions he remain away from the alleged victim while the Mounties continue their investigation. No charges have been laid to date. Community Services and Child Welfare have been notified.

Senior's Friendly Initiative

Plans are in the works to help make Bridgewater a "Senior Friendly" Town. Beth George works with the Bridgewater Police Service as a Senior Safety Coordinator. In a recent presentation to Town Council, George says she's worked to pull together a group of people from the community to form a committee to help drive the senior friendly program forward. George says she wants to promote seniors inclusion and contribution to all areas of community life. About 20 percent of Bridgewater's population is over the age of 65. The public is invited to hear more about the voluntary program from the Coalition for an Age-Friendly Community this Thursday morning at 8am at the Wildwood Cafe on King Street.

Tax Rates Rise in Region of Queens

Tax rates in the Region of Queens are going up slightly. Residential rates are rising by 2 cents while commercial rates go up 5 cents Mayor John Leefe says with the lost of 1.5 million in Nova Scotia Power revenue over three years, Council had no choice but to increase the rates. Residential rates in District 13, the former Town of Liverpool are set at $1.87 per 100 dollars of assessment while commercial rates are $3.01. For the rest of the Municipality, Districts 1 through 12, residential rates are 90 cents per 100 of assessment and $2.04 for commercial rates. The total budget for the Region of Queens Municipality is 16.7 million dollars. Capital Projects including the Queens Place Recreation Facility total 13.4 million. Included in the budget, 46 thousand 500 dollars in grants to organizations. Grants ranged from 500 dollars to the Mersey Band Society up to 10 thousand dollars for Privateer Days.

LCLC is a go!

All systems are a go for the Lunenburg County Lifestyle Centre.

Today it was announced by both the Town of Bridgewater and The Municipality of the District of Lunenburg, that the centre will be constructed on Wentzell drive in the Bridgewater Industrial Park.

The centre's capital cost is at approximately $32 million and will house an indoor aquatic centre, one NHL sized rink, a new library, multi purpose and active living space.

Early Childhood presentation

Canadian Research Chair in Population, Dr Clyde Hertzman will be visiting the South Shore this evening.

At 7pm at the Oak Island Inn, in Lunenburg County, Dr. Hertzman will be hosting a presentation and discussion.

The presentation will be on the importance of investing in the early years of childhood development and why that matters for Canadian and Nova Scotia society.

RSVP to Register at tmgriffin@eastlink.ca

For more information please contact Theresa Griffin
902-830-7558

LCLC Meeting today

A joint council meeting will take place at 12pm today to deal with municipal contributions to the Lunenburg County Lifestyle Centre project.

Both Councils from the Town of Bridgewater and the Municipality of the District of Lunenburg will meet at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 24 at noon today.

The public is welcome to attend.

CKBW will have the results of the meeting this afternoon.

Education Week Awards

Two South Shore area teachers the recipients of Education Week awards. Todd Symes of Chester Area Middle School and Julie Ramey of North Queens Rural High School will be presented with the awards at a reception this afternoon at the Black Cultural Centre in Dartmouth. Symes and Ramey were selected by a committee of their peers and Board Members . Also receiving an award for Education Week is Superintendent Nancy Pynch-Worthylake. The Association of Nova Scotian Educational Administrators Award reflects the theme Equity in Education. Pynch-Worthlake has worked hard as both a teacher and administrator to support this philosophy for students, staff and the community. This year Education Week is celebrated from April 18th to the 24th.

Off-leash Park Planned for Bridgewater

Plans are in the works for off-leash pet park in the Town of Bridgewater. Mayor Carroll Publicover, a long time dog owner himself says they're wonderful areas if managed properly. He says the old dump site off north St. Phillips Street has been designated and set aside for such a purpose. He says it's abandoned and only used occasionally by Public Works to dump unwanted materials. Publicover says there's a large tract of land, about 30 acres with an adequate access road and a good buffer on all sides. He says it has outstanding potential to be a good off-leash dog area. The Department of Parks and Recreation will be working with a committee of interested people and get a budget in place for the coming years then it should go forward.

Strategic Planning

The Town of Lunenburg is embarking on a new chapter with the development of a strategic plan. The process will involve community consultations with the first meeting set for tomorrow night. (Tue.Apr.20). Mayor Laurence Mawhinney says citizens, businesses and organizations in the community are invited to make their presentations at the meeting set for 7 o'clock at the Lunenburg Fire Hall. He says the Town will also accept written submissions with ideas the people may have as to what they would perceive the future for the Town of Lunenburg,and what areas they would like to see addressed, its strengths, its weaknesses and what the Town should be doing for the next 5 to 25 years.

Four Arrested in Chester Basin Stabbing

The Mounties have arrested four people in connection with a weekend stabbing in Lunenburg County.

The RCMP responded to a call at around 1:30 Sunday morning to a party in Chester Basin.

When the Mounties arrived at the residence on Demont Road, they found an 18-year-old man suffering from stab-wounds.

He was taken to the South Shore Regional Hospital for treatment and later transported to a Halifax hospital for further treatment.

Four suspects in the stabbing fled in a vehicle before the police arrived.

The Mounties later located and arrested what they call three "persons of interest" in relation to this incident.

Early Sunday afternoon, the fourth-person contacted RCMP and surrendered to police custody.
---

Seniors Police Academy Graduation

Ten cadets graduated today from the latest Seniors Police Academy.

Mayor Don Downe, Deputy Mayor David Walker, and Chief Brent Crowhurst were on hand to congratulate the seniors and present their graduation certificates.

The six weeks of workshops the graduates had to complete covered
a dozen topics related to seniors safety and wellness.

NSLC Crash

Bridgewater Police are still investigating the accident of a driver who drove a car through the window of the Nova Scotia Liquor Commission outlet on Monday.

There were extensive damages to the store and only minor damages to the vehicle. No one was injured in the accident.

Police are not expecting to lay charges.