RCMP charge three for drug trafficking in Shelburne County

A trio of Shelburne County residents face charges after police seized a number of different drugs on route to the area. RCMP members from Yarmouth, Shelburne and Halifax intercepted a package from British Columbia going to a Roseway home and found 460 grams of mushrooms, 490 grams of marijuana and roughly 50 grams of hash. Police also searched two homes in Lydgate and Roseway. A 55-year-old woman, along with two men, aged 27 and 28, have been charged with possession of controlled substances for the purpose of trafficking. The woman and 27-year-old man are scheduled to appear in Shelburne Provincial Court March 28th while the 28-year-old man is scheduled April 11th.

Federal NDP Forum held in Tantallon

Denise Peterson-Rafuse

The MLA for Chester-St. Margaret's is welcoming her federal friends for an evening in Tantallon. Denise Peterson-Rafuse is hosting the eight NDP leadership hopefuls at a public gathering at the St. Margaret's Centre. Peterson-Rafuse says its a chance for people to meet and talk with candidates running to replace the late Jack Layton.

"We're not having long speeches by each candidate, we felt the best way for people to have a decision-making option was to have the leaders there that you could personally go up and talk to them and ask your questions."

There are eight remaining candidates including the president of the Sackville-Eastern Shore NDP riding association, Martin Singh, the lone Nova Scotian in the leadership race. The discussion gets underway at 4:30 Saturday evening.

Sea Kayak Festival gains support in Shelburne

The Town of Shelburne will move forward with plans to host its first Sea Kayak Festival this summer. Officials held a meeting earlier this week to see if there was enough community interest to support the event. Organizer Jerry Locke says he was pleased with the turnout and the event looks like it will happen. "So we are starting to take a serious look at it and we're looking at a bunch of possibilities for programming and activities to take place. We're still exploring but I'm quite confident we'll go forward with it," Locke says the organization committee will continue to recruit volunteers for the festival and are set to meet again sometime to February. The event will be held at he Islands Provincial Park from August 17th-19th.

Lumberjacks cut down Crushers

A three goal second period helped propel the CIBC Wood Gundy Lumberjacks to a 5-1 win over Pictou County. The Jacks got some third and fourth line scoring from Cody Coffin, who potted two goals and added an assist. Luke Warner also chipped-in with a goal and an assist while Luc Ramey had four assists. Shawn Boudreau and Brennan Saulnier also had goals while Billy Clarke turned aside 28 shots. The Jacks will head to Liverpool for a special South Shore match-up against Yarmouth at the new Queens Place Emera Centre Thursday night at 7:30.

Police investigating St.Phillips Street assault

Bridgewater Police are investigating an assault on St.Phillips Street near Victoria Road. The incident took place early Thursday evening between two pedestrians and the driver and passenger of a vehicle. Police allege an altercation occurred and Cst. William Creamer confirms one person pulled a knife. The passenger received minor injuries after being assaulted but did not need medical attention. Bridgewater Police brought in their K-9 unit but no one is in custody at the moment.

Weather Closes Schools - Pushes Back Exams

Due to the impending storm conditions (snow and ice pellets), all SSRSB schools will be closed today.  In some schools, this will affect high school exams.   Please note that any exam which was to be written today (Friday, January 27) will be written on Monday, January 30.

Pet Food Drive in honour of Karissa

A young girls love for animals and her aspirations to become a veterinarian are always remembered around this time in January. The 4th Annual Karissa Boudreau Memorial Pet Food Drive goes Saturday and this year the event is helping the Queens County SPCA. Organizer Wendy Whalen says the day is one to reflect, remember and honour Karissa Boudreau.

"It's not a sombre event at all. This is a really positive and happy time for us and it's really an  uplifting and inspiring experience, you know, we'd be happy to see everyone come out and show their support."

People are asked to donate pet food, toys, beds or any other items towards the cause. T-Shirts will also be sold, with funds also being donated. The pet food drive will be held near the Zellers Entrance at the Bridgewater Mall from 10am to 6pm.

VIDEO: Joint Services Meeting held in Bridgewater

A few nay-sayers spoke out during Thursday night's joint services meeting at Bridgewater High School. Several people in the crowd of roughly 30 say they don't believe the report was put together very well and that the towns of Mahone Bay and Bridgewater along with the Municipality of the District of Lunenburg need to work together more before developing a Regional Services Board. Bridgewater resident Mark Furey says he was expecting more from the report.

The last of five public meetings will be held January 30 at 7pm at the Petite Riviere Fire Hall.

VIDEO: SSRSB preparing to decide on School Review

The South Shore Regional School Board has received the school utilization reports. Now, the next step is for staff to prepare the school identification reports for Board Member Judith Sullivan-Corney before the next meeting February 22. At that meeting, its expected Sullivan-Corney will present staffs recommendations on which schools should be reviewed. The board will then respond to the recommendations during its March 21 meeting before school review information has to be forwarded to the Department of Education by March 31. Sullivan-Corney says because there were no schools reviewed last year, she's worried that may hurt the board's chances of receiving any capital funding for 2012-13. The Board has three opportunities to tap into capital funding for 2012-13 to make additions or alterations in schools, capital repairs and any design or scoping work needed. The three capital funding projects total $16-million and all school board's in the province are able to apply for the funding.

No injuries after flue fire in Upper Northfield

No injuries to report after a major flue fire Thursday night in Upper Northfield. Three trucks responded to the blaze from Northfield and District Fire Department shortly before 10pm. The fire happened at 3918 Northfield Road. The house was full of smoke and firefighters fought embers, sparks and cinders from the chimney when they arrived at the scene. Fire crews doused the blaze and cleared the scene in just under an hour.

PLFA Building Membership-Support

The Professional Lobster Fishermen's Association continues to build its membership from the ground up. Approximately 30 fishermen attended a meeting in Chester yesterday afternoon with a majority satisfied with the direction the group is headed. Fisherman Troy Nickerson spoke with CKBW/HANK FM following the meeting. "This is a chance to do something. The big goal is we are looking to next season. We don't want $3.25 next season. It's known that if we don't get our act together that's what going to happen. I'm confident we're going to be able to do it little by little, the old saying taking the land back step by step...well...we're taking the sea back...step by step," The movement began almost three weeks ago following a meeting in Barrington. Since the PFLA formed on January 4th lobster prices at the wharf have jumped from $3.25 to $5.50 per pound. The association now sports close to 600 members and plan to meet again in Liverpool next week.

Massive Wind Farm Planned between Chester and Windsor

Lunenburg County will be soon be home to the largest wind farm in the province. A trio of companies have a proposal to construct the South Canoe Wind Project. The project would consist of 33 to 50 turbines and produce enough power to heat approximately 28-thousand homes. Minas Basin Pulp and Paper and Oxford Frozen Foods have partnered with Nova Scotia Power on the project which will help the province meet its renewable energy targets. John Woods, vice-president of energy development for Minas Basin, says getting the site ready would create about 100 jobs. The project will be located between Windsor and Chester and span 6,400 hectares. The award group will be announced in April while the wind farm will be operation by 2015. A public meeting will be held in Chester in the near future to unveil project details to their residents. Meanwhile, another public forum will be held at the Vaughn Fire Hall on February 11th from 2-5PM.

Joint Services Meeting in Bridgewater

The fourth gathering in a series of five public meetings regarding a joint services report goes Thursday night in Bridgewater. Council members from the town, Mahone Bay and Municipality of Lunenburg are expected to take in the event as well consultants from Marathon Human Resources Group. The public is urged to come to the event and ask questions to help the councils learn more about the report and the impact it could have on the three areas. The meeting gets underway at 7pm Thursday night in the Bridgewater High School cafeteria.

Changes needed to accommodate Bridgewater leash-free dog space

The town of Bridgewater will hold a public participation meeting to discuss proposed amendments to its Municipal Planning Strategy and Land Use by-law for a leash-free dog park. The town approved the Master Plan for Generations Active Park in principle December 12 and are looking to make changes to their MPS and LUB to allow a leash-free dog space in the park. The Planning Department is also hoping Parks, Recreation and Culture will create a leash-free dog park program to address issues like hours of operation, rules for users and fencing requirements. The public meeting will be held February 8 at 6pm in council chambers.

Fisheries Minister Reacts to "No Show" Comments

Fisheries Minister Sterling Belliveau says he's been monitoring a series of rotating meetings but explains he's never been formally invited to attend any of them.  He made the comments after he was accused of being a "no-show" at a recent meeting in Digby hosted by the Professional Lobster Fishing Association. In an interview with CKBW/HANK FM News, Belliveau says the industry faces some serious challenges and the government is paying attention. He says several working groups are set to begin consultations within industry via the Lobster Council of Canada. "There's four or five working groups that's going to go across Nova Scotia and our neighbouring provinces over the next few weeks. They will have a lot of discussion and consultation with the industry, there a lot of working going on and I think the industry needs to understand this," The council is expected to report its findings sometime in April.

Bridgewater High Principal: Students to blame for Broken Sprinkler Head

The principal of Bridgewater High is disciplining one or more students after an incident at the school Monday afternoon. Chuck McLellan says it has been determined that students are at fault after a broken sprinkler head caused the Bridgewater Fire Department to respond to a fire alarm sounding at the school. McLellan says he is not allowed to say who is involved, the gender or the ages because of the school's confidentiality framework and the protection of privacy act. He also isn't allowed to confirm the nature of the punishment. No damage was done to the school after an unknown amount of water sprayed out of the broken sprinkler head.

Bridgewater Councillor discusses town history

Patrick Hirtle

A Bridgewater town councillor is swapping hats to be a history teacher for a night. Patrick Hirtle will read from and discuss his book "Going Against the Grain, the Rise of Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, 1812-1899." Hirtle says it will give people a chance to learn more about a significant time in the town's history.

"It talks a lot about a really important time in Bridgewater's history. It's a period when the community really rose to prominence in Lunenburg County and really pushed itself into a position to challenge Lunenburg as the unofficial shire town of the county."

Hirtle hopes to see people of all ages attend Thursday night's discussion. The event gets underway at 7pm at the Desbrisay Museum.

SPORTS: Lohnes adds silver to medal collection in Wales

Whitney Lohnes, left, picked up a silver medal Wednesday  in 48kg seniors division at the 2012 Commonwealth Judo Championships in Cardiff, Wales

Bridgewater's Whitney Lohnes now has a silver medal in Cardiff, Wales. Lohnes lost in the 48kg seniors division final Wednesday afternoon to her opponent from England at the 2012 Commonwealth Judo Championships. The silver will be added to her gold she picked up Tuesday after winning the 48kg junior division. Lohnes is now expected to head to Belgium for another tournament this weekend.

VIDEO: Mustangs to get free ice time from Town

Bridgewater town council is awarding the South Shore Canadian Tire Mustangs with a free ice time. The town is drafting an agreement with the Mustangs to give the team a Friday morning practice from 6:30-8 at no cost. Mayor Carroll Publicover says the club is well-deserving of a free ice time. Publicover says the Mustangs have been in Bridgewater for 27 years and could use the break because of the cost to run the team. Council deferred the team's request in October after requesting the club to make a presentation about the organization and its finances.

SPORTS: Lohnes goes for double gold in Wales

Bridgewater's Whitney Lohnes is going for gold again. She reached the final of the 48 kg senior division at the Commonwealth Judo Championships in Cardiff, Wales. It's not known who she will be competing against. Lohnes took home gold last night in the 48kg under-20 division. The final will be held at 2pm local time and to watch her online, go to http://cardiff2012judo.org/live-video/ .