Bluenose Academy Public Meeting

The public can find out more about the new Lunenburg Jr. High School at a public information session May 18th. The South Shore Regional School Board will host a presentation regarding the new Bluenose Academy. Architects will be on hand to share details of the new school design and will answer questions from the public. The information session is set for 7pm, Tuesday May 18th at the Lunenburg Community Centre.

Beware of Bears

Homeowners are being encouraged to take the necessary steps to reduce encounters with bears. The animals have awoken from their winter hibernation and need to be discouraged from searching for food in residential areas. Although the numbers of recorded nuisance bear sightings are down this year, homeowners should still take precautions. Those include storing garbage inside or in metal bear-proof containers, and keeping barbecue grills clean and grease-free. To report bear sightings in your neighbourhood, contact the local Natural Resources office. To learn more about how to prevent bear incidents and what to do when seeing a black bear, visit the Natural Resource's website.

New Water Treatment Facility on Line

The water is now running through the new water treatment facility in the Town of Lunenburg. The 7 million dollar plant began pumping water through the distribution system earlier this week. The open reservoir has been taken off line and Council will have to decide what to do with it later. The pre-existing water treatment equipment will be retained for some time to ensure redundancy. Work on the standpipe will soon be completed which will enable the utility to lower chlorine treatment to less noticeable levels, while still meeting treatment standards. Council is looking to hold a public opening ceremony at the new facility in July

Fishmen caught using illegal bait

Two individuals from Port Mouton were apprehended yesterday after being caught fishing with illegal bait.

Fishery officers in Liverpool caught the two failing to release their by-catch and using cod fish and rock crabs as bait.

The two, who can not be named will appear in Liverpool Court at a later date.

For more information on fishing in Nova Scotia visit: http://www.gov.ns.ca/snsmr/paal/fish/paal190.asp

Home Invasion Charges

A Lunenburg County man will remain in jail until May 12th after being arrested and charged in connection with a home invasion last year. Twenty-eight year old Jonathan Joseph Arenburg appeared in Bridgewater Provincial Court Tuesday and was remanded in custody until his next court appearance. Arenburg is charged with robbery and being unlawfully in a dwelling house relating to an incident in West Dublin last September. RCMP say an elderly man was in his kitchen when two people walked into his home demanding money. They allegedly stole cash from his wallet and shoved the 80 year old to the floor before fleeing the house.

Rescue Unit Replacement Requested

The Bridgewater Fire Department is pushing to have a new rescue truck included in this years budget at a cost of 610 thousand dollars. Fire Chief Wayne Thorburne says replacing the truck has been identified since 2000. He says the Fire Department has worked to hold the line on budget and to defer the purchase for another year would only increase the debt load. Chief Thorburne says the truck is going on 23 years old, it's hard to get parts and is a specialized piece of equipment that takes 9 to 11 months to build. The Rescue Unit is used mostly for Mutual Aid. It contains the "Jaws of Life" and is used at accident scenes and as a fire support vehicle. The last new purchase for the Fire Department was a new aerial ladder truck in 2007 at a cost of 951 thousand dollars. The ladder truck it replaced, was 25 years old and was donated to the Nova Scotia Firefighters School in Waverly.

Assessment Roll Numbers

The Town of Bridgewater seeing a 6.3 percent residential increase to the assessment roll for 2010. Commercial is slightly down by about 1.4 percent and within the Town, Business Occupancy with the phase out has decreased about 70 percent. The numbers were made known during a recent presentation to Bridgewater Council by members of the Property Valuation Service Corporation. For 2010, PVSC sent out 36 hundred and 54 assessment notices to the Town. Of that number, 25 hundred and 54 properties are receiving the CAP which is set at zero percent this year. The Property Valuation Service Corporation was formed in 2008 with a mandate to provide market valuation and other property-related services . PVSC which is chaired by Bridgewater Mayor Carroll Publicover is responsible for sending out property assessments to Nova Scotia

Tour for the Cure

The Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation's big pink bus will be making stops throughout the South Shore this month.

Cheryl Hill, Manager of Logistics for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation's Tour for the Cure says the bus will be making its first stop today at the Wellness Centre in Chester Basin.

Visiting the bus will help you learn how to take care of your breasts, talk with you about any concerns you might have and encourage you to book an appointment for a mammogram right away.

For more information visit: http://www.tourforthecure.ca

Fisherman caught with cooked lobster meat

A commercial Lobster fisherman and 3 crew members were apprehended this morning, in the Lockeport area for possession of illegal off shore meat.

A bag of cooked lobster meat and cooking utensils were seized.

Charges are being considered for all individuals.

It's illegal for lobster fishermen to be in possession of any claw, tail or meat that has been separated from the body of the lobster in a lobster fishing area.

Inspiring Lives Award

Hastings Guy Jr. of Shelburne is among the recipients to be presented with an Inspiring Lives Award presented to Nova Scotians living with mental illness. Nominated by Shelburne Mental Health, Guy Jr. spent the better part of his life dealing with a chronic post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of severe childhood trauma-except he didn't know it.
Four years ago, after decades of suffering from low self-esteem and an inability to sustain relationships, Hastings started doing some research. He was able to self-diagnose his illness, which was later confirmed by mental health professionals Since then, Hastings has been faithful in his recovery. He quit using drugs and alcohol and dedicated himself to maintaining good mental health. Each day, Hastings is battling the stigma of mental illness by speaking publicly about his own experience. By sharing his story, he inspires others to persevere in their challenges with mental illness and get the help they need. The awards will be presented to 12 Nova Scotians at the 6th Annual Inspiring Lives Award luncheon this Thursday, May 6th at the World Trade and Convention Centre, Halifax.

Lunenburg Looks to Set Tax Rate in June

Residents of Lunenburg will find out their tax rates for this year in June. Mayor Laurence Mawhinney says Council is dealing with the budget document section by section this month . Council will hold three meetings to receive public input before tabling the budget sometime in June. Mawhinney says staff has been directed to prepare a budget with no general increase in expenditures. However, he says there are certain items the Town has no control over. Costs such as education and policing which are mandated by the province. Despite an increase in assessments last year , Town Council was able to drop the residential tax rate for a sixth straight year setting the rate at $1.30 per 100 dollars of assessment.

Foley Lane Not on List

Once again this year Foley Lane has been left off the capital list of projects in the Town's draft budget. Former Town Councillor and Bridgewater Fire Chief Bill Rhodenizer has been lobbying for the last four years to have the street included for upgrades. Foley Lane located off North King Street is paved but has no storm sewer, sidewalks or curbing. The street was pulled from last years budget when a tender for the project came in almost 200 thousand dollars over job estimates. Mayor Carroll Publicover says a point system is used to determine the urgency of the capital project and Foley Lane keeps missing the cut. He says Council needs another strategy to make sure they're addressing streets to some degree so at least they can get started on some of the needs.

Court date this afternoon for Robbery complaint

The 28-year-old, former Lunenburg County man that was arrested for Robbery with Violence last fall will appear in Bridgewater Provincial Court this afternoon.

The arrest came after a Robbery complaint involving an 80 year old West Dublin man at his residence in September of 2009.

Police believe a second, unidentified male was involved in the incident and are asking for the assistance from the public.

Charges Laid in Last Year's Accident

The R-C-M-P have laid a charge in connection with a traffic-accident last year.
The Mounties have charged a Riverport man following their investigation into a mishap in which a motor-vehicle struck a pedestrian in Rose Bay in December.
The 68-year-old woman was taken to the "South Shore Regional Hospital" and later
air-lifted to Halifax with serious injuries . The 45-year-old man appears in court on July 7th to face a charge of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing bodily harm."
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Historica Fair at Liverpool Regional High School

Students will present projects featuring Canadian history and heritage at the South Shore Regional School Board Regional Historica Fair, at Liverpool High School this Friday.(May 7th). Many students who have been selected from schools across the region will be drawing personal and family links to their topics. About 80 projects will be featured at the Fair. Public viewing is set for 1 p.m. with awards to be handed out at 1:30 p.m

White Point Chef Wins Competition

White Point's Executive Chef is a winner. Alan Crosby took the title honour at the 2nd Annual Taste of Nova Scotia Cutting Edge Culinary Competition held at Saltscapes Expo 2010 over the weekend. The nine competitors were given a "black box" of ingredients and had 45 minutes to create a dish. Marks were given for presentation, taste of dish and entertainment value during the process. Crosby finished with a score of 90.1. Chef Terry Vassallo of Trattoria della Nonna in Lunenburg tied for second place with 87.5 points.

Septage User Fees Stink

Proposed user fees to dump septage at the Whynott's Settlement Waste site stink according to some Lunenburg Town Councillors. The town is one of four partners that manage the site but feel they're being treated unfairly. A new lagoon is set to open at the waste site next January and while Lunenburg will be sharing in the capital cost it will be charged a user fee of 22 dollars per ton for dumping septic waste. That could mean an additional 80 thousand dollars expense for the Town. Mayor Laurence Mawhinney says Council will be looking at what other options are available to the Town including shipping the waste to another facility.

Teen Faces Assault Charges on Child

A Liverpool teen has been charged with assault with a weapon on a five year old. The charge was laid as a result of an investigation into an alleged child abuse complaint involving a five year old girl last month. The male who will appear in Liverpool Provincial Court May 18th. has been released on conditions, including he have no contact with the child.

Body found in Shelburne County

An autopsy is planned for a body that was found last week in the Brier Hill Road area of Welchtown in Shelburne County.

On Friday, April 30th around one in the afternoon, two people were fishing when they discovered the body of a 78-year-old resident of Newelton in a the box of his pick up truck under an ATV.

The RCMP suspect he was either in the process of removing the ATV from the truck or loading it back on when he became trapped underneath.

The Medical Examiners office will be conducting an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.

Bridgewater Man Fined for Poaching

A Bridgewater man has been fined almost 3 thousand dollars for poaching deer out of season. Fifty-six year old Michael Rex Oickle was initially charged with 18 counts under the wildlife regulations and criminal code but pleaded guilty to three offences while the remainder were withdrawn by the Crown. Oickle was fined a little over 24 hundred dollars fro hunting deer during the closed season, 225 dollars for possessing deer parts and 340 dollars for unlawfully having a rifle in a wildlife habitat. Along with the fines Oickle is banned from having a hunting licence for at least five years.