Chester: Council Decides Against Night Meetings

The Municipality of Chester is moving away from holding night meetings. An online poll has been held for months, asking respondents if they wanted night meetings. Warden Allen Webber says 110 people voted. Fifty-nine people said 'no', 43 voted 'yes' and eight voters said they did not care. Webber says the poll shows there was a lack of interest from the public.



The move means the municipality will hold all council meetings during the day. Webber says he's not opposed to having council meetings at night, but he needs to hear more from the public.

MODL: Street Light Ownership Decision Rescinded

A change of heart from the Municipality of Lunenburg. Council decided in June to take over ownership of non-high mast street lights in the municipality, excluding Riverport. However, that decision has been overturned. Council has instead, reverted back to lease street lights from Nova Scotia Power. Residents will continue to pay an area rate, depending on where they live. The municipality is sending letters to the Minister of Energy and Nova Scotia Power to let them know of their decision.

ATV Meeting Held In Bridgewater

A public meeting will be held Monday night to discuss ATV use on the Centennial Trail in Bridgewater. The Central Nova ATV group is looking to be able to use the vehicles on portions of the trail. Representatives from the town of Bridgewater and the Municipality of Lunenburg are hosting the meeting. It gets underway at 6:30pm this evening at Park View Education Centre.

New Development Officer Hired In Queens

The Region of Queens has hired a new economic development officer. Richard Lane has been hired to fill the role designed to help target new business opportunities and grow the economy. The Caledonia native has owned and operated his own web development business since 1996. He is also serving as a director of the North Queens Board of Trade. Lane says there is a growing sense of opportunity and renewal in the county and he's looking forward to working with council on new initiatives.

South Shore Sports: Weekend Wrap Up

In Nova Scotia Major Midget Hockey League action Sunday at the LCLC, the Cape Breton West Islanders dumped the South Shore Mustangs 4-1. Keith Getson had the Stangs' lone marker. The two teams split the weekend series, as the Stangs won the opener Saturday night 3-0. Goals by Jered Scott, Ty Duffus and Scott Perry.  The locals next contest is Wednesday night when they travel to Halifax to face the unbeaten McDonalds.
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The Halifax Mooseheads got some good news Sunday. The Tampa Bay Lightning announced that they are sending forward Jonathan Drouin back to Halifax. The Herd have struggled offensively this season with only 17 goals in seven games. Their record dropped to 3-4 on Sunday when they lost 2-1 to visiting Sherbrooke.
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The early season troubles continued last Friday night for the CIBC Wood Gundy Lumberjacks as they fell 5-2 to the visiting Valley Wildcats. The clubs were tied at two early in the third before the Cats scored three unanswered goals. Ryan Daley and Jesse McInnis scored for the Jacks who are now winless in six starts. The team is on the road this weekend in New Brunswick with stops in Dieppe Friday night and Miramichi Saturday.

Photo: Puck Drops At Lifestyle Centre

Here's a shot of the inaugural puck drop on Saturday at the Lunenburg County Lifestyle Centre. The first game at Clearwater Seafood Arena featured the South Shore Mustangs and Cape Breton West Islanders. The Mustangs dropped the Islanders 3-0.

Lunenburg: Candidates Forum Set For Wednesday

There will be an all candidates forum in the riding of Lunenburg later this week. The debate is being organized by the Riverport District Board of Trade and Mahone Bay and Area Chamber of Commerce. The candidates in the riding include incumbent Pam Birdsall of the NDP, Suzanne Lohnes-Croft for the Liberals and Brian Pickings of the Progressive Conservatives. The event will be held on Wednesday at the Riverport Community Centre. It gets underway at 7 o'clock.

Pain Killers Seized During Traffic Stop

A pair of Shelburne County residents are facing charges after police seized dozens of pain killers during a weekend traffic stop. Police made the find when they pulled over a car on Saturday afternoon on Highway 103. RCMP say they seized 60 hydromorphone capsules, marihuana and cash. A 21 year-old woman and 37 year-old man were arrested and taken into custody. They both face possession and trafficking charges.

Faulty Wiring Behind Fire In Lunenburg

It appears faulty wiring may have caused a large fire along the Lunenburg waterfront on Friday night. The fire at the Scotia Trawler building was reported around 7 o'clock. Roughly 16 fire departments attended the fire and were on scene throughout the night. Crews from Bridgewater to the Annapolis Valley helped with the fire.  The blaze isn't considered suspicious. No injuries were reported but the 80 year-old building was heavily damaged.

Bridgewater: Temporary Skate Park Approved Near LCLC

A temporary skate park will be constructed on site of the Lunenburg County Lifestyle Centre. The town of Bridgewater along with the LCLC board have agreed to the initiative. The town has signed a lease for a permanent structure, but the new facility is still in the design phase. Mayor David Walker feels a temporary park shows their behind the project.



Walker says the temporary location will be in the LCLC parking lot to Cook Road. The park will be available for use beginning in April.

Queens: Planned Power Outage At Hospital

A planned power outage will cause some service disruptions at Queens General Hospital this weekend. The outage will last for roughly an hour between 8am and 9am o'clock on Sunday morning.
South Shore Health says some services such as the X-ray unit will be affected. However, the emergency department will remain open and the inpatient medical unit will not be impacted. The power outage is part of electrical work associated with the hospital construction project. Electrical work is expected to continue throughout the day which will impact some services including X-ray.

Fire Crews Battle Lunenburg Waterfront Blaze

Sixteen Fire Departments were needed after a fire on Montague Street in Lunenburg Friday night. The blaze reportedly broke out in a three-storey building that RCMP identified as the Scotia Trawler Building near Foodland. The structure was completely engulfed in flames when emergency responders reached the scene just before 7pm. There are no injuries known at this time.

Fire officials on scene included members from Lunenburg, Mahone Bay, Riverport, Blockhouse, Dayspring, Bridgewater, Oak Hill, Conquerall Bank, Chester, Northfield and Cornwall.

South Shore Mustangs Host Cape Breton West

The South Shore Mustangs host the Cape Breton West Islanders for a pair of games this weekend. The Mustangs sit at 3-1 on the young season, while the Islanders are searching for their first win. The opening game will be held Saturday evening at 8pm. The second contest is scheduled for Sunday at noon in Bridgewater.

Chester: Fundraiser Supporting PRO Kids And Junior Golfers

Two Chester groups are benefiting from a local artist's paintbrush. Sharon Boyd painted four different views around Chester Golf Club. There are 250 of each print available, with money raised going towards Chester PRO Kids and Chester Golf Club's junior programs. One of the people involved, Steve Foran, says the prints highlight some of the best views on the golf course.



Individual prints are professionally printed and pre-matted and can be purchased at the Chester Golf Club. Foran says if each print is sold, over $60,000 could be raised for the charities. More details are available here .

Lower Gasoline Prices

For the 4th week in a row, good news from the South Shore gas pumps. Prices are down again today.
Regular self serve is 2.5 cents lower, selling for $1.25.9 per litre. High test is also down by the same amount to $1.34.8. Diesel is also down to $1.30.8 per litre. The utility and review board set the new prices at midnight last night.

Bridgewater Man Going To Trial In Antigonish

A Bridgewater man will head to trial in Antigonish after an incident earlier this summer. Police charged 47-year-old Ronald Douglas Farrell with uttering threats and impaired driving following an incident at the Bayfield Wharf in June. Farrell pleaded not guilty to the charges earlier this week in Antigonish court. The trial is scheduled to begin January 7, 2014.

Lunenburg West: More Than 200 Take In Debate

More than 200 people packed the Best Western to hear candidates in Lunenburg West debate local issues. Incumbent NDP candidate Gary Ramey, Mark Furey of the Liberals and PC candidate David Mitchell each took part in last night's forum. Green Party candidate Robert Pierce did not attend. The main issues were around creating local jobs, education and health care. Ramey says his party has been working on attracting doctors and reducing ER closures through establishing emergency and health centres in places like Lunenburg and Bridgewater.



Meanwhile, Mitchell wants to see improvements in the system by eliminating duplication in administration. He says the savings would be reinvested into front line health care.



Furey says the Liberals support the collaborative emergency centre model and also favour reducing the number of health boards so more money could be pumped into the system. Last night's event was hosted by the Bridgewater and Area Chamber of Commerce.

RCMP: Yarmouth Man Facing Drug-Related Charges

A Yarmouth man has been charged after police seized a number of drugs from his vehicle earlier this week. RCMP conducted a traffic stop Monday around 5:40pm on Brunswick Street. They arrested a 39-year-old man after marihuana, hydromorphone and an unknown amount of cash were found. Police also seized more marihuana at a home in Yarmouth County. The man faces several charges including possession. He's scheduled to enter a plea in Yarmouth court December 3.

Lumberjacks Lose Big In Pictou

An ugly sight in Pictou County Thursday night. The Weeks Crushers scored three goals in the first period and added seven more over the final 40 minutes to blast the CIBC Wood Gundy Lumberjacks 10-0. Cory Peterson stopped 21 of 28 shots before being replaced by Billy Clarke, who stopped nine of 12 shots the rest of the way. The Lumberjacks look to bounce back Friday night when they host the Valley Wildcats at 7pm at the Bridgewater Arena.

Provincial 4-H Event Comes To Bridgewater

Thousands of people are expected to attend this weekend's 4-H show in Bridgewater. The Lunenburg, Queens and Shelburne County branches are hosting the 36th annual Nova Scotia 4-H show at the South Shore Exhibition. The show features life skills projects, tug-of-war, and livestock competitions. The event co-chair, Eva Cook, says the event is a big deal for members.



Competition opens Friday evening following the opening ceremony and will continue until noon Sunday. Admission to the event is free.