Another Debate

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.

Candidate Forums

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.

Deed Transfer Hike

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.

House Prices

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.

Leader's Tour

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.

Fight Injury

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.

Drug Arrests

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.

Independant Candidate

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.

Picton Arriving

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.

Uranium Issue

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.

Older Workers

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.

Banking Card Fraud

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.

East River Plank

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.

Bay Side Beds

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.

Shed Fire

2009-05-15 06:21:28

An early morning pager call for volunteers at a couple of south shore fire stations.  Crews from the North Queens department were awakened around three this morning.  A shed was on fire on the Rosette Road in Westfield.   Firefighters were on the scene quickly and they say luckily it didn't spread but the shed is gone.  There wasn't anything of value in the shed apparently.  Greenfield firefighters were put on standby at their hall and everyone was given the all clear to head home before sunrise.

Books Galore

2009-05-15 06:18:22

A $35,000 grant will mean a lot of books for the elementary students at Gold River-Western Shore.  The school is the winner of an Indigo Love of Reading Foundation Grant.  Funding for the Foundation comes 2/3 from the Canadian book chain Indigo and the rest comes from their customers.  The money will be paid out over three years.  You can go to the Foundation's website and hear Heather Reisman giving Librarian Cindy Lamson the good news.   The money will be broken down into three annual instalments of more than 11-thousand 600 dollars.  They will use it to buy books and hold events to promote literacy among the students at Gold River/Western Shore. 

www.loveofreading.org

Bowater Mersey Shutdown

2009-05-14 06:25:12

Workers at the Bowater Mersey Paper mill in Queens county are being laid off for another five week period early in June.
Human Resources Manager Robin Anthony says the AbitibiBowater workers will be off from June 6th until July 16th.   She says this production curtailment is related to the world-wide market for newsprint. It is the same reason given for similar shutdowns in March and over the Christmas holidays.   The company is allowing people to apply any unused vacation time towards the five week period. That was also offered to them in the last two closures.   There is a possibility this could signal a change from a year-round operation to limited production runs for the Brooklyn paper mill. And some are suggesting it may lead to efforts at making shutdowns and start ups quicker and more efficient in the future.   Previous layoffs affected most of the 300 unionized workforce at the plant.    The Washington Post is a minority owner of the Bowater Mersey mill. That has kept the Nova Scotia operation out of the Bankruptcy Protection process parent AbitibiBowater has engaged in because of financing issues.

Health Dollars

2009-05-14 06:22:39

South Shore Health is still waiting for specifics on a government anouncement on projects at the hospitals in Bridgewater and Liverpool.   C-E-O Kevin McNamara says it's abnormal for them to be told they are getting financial help but not the amount or when they can expect it.  But he says it is positive to know what projects the funding has been approved for.  He says another challenge is that the district is still waiting for budget figures from the province. McNamara says they may end up in a situation where they would have to make cuts or adjustments to their budget but in a shorter time span. While campaigning with Peter Zwicker and Carolyn Bollivar Getson Wednesday, Premier Rodney MacDonald told CKBW News the funding for the projects at South Shore Regional amounted to 12-million dollars.

Sudden Death

2009-05-13 08:27:10

A 59-year old Lunenburg county man is dead after an unusual call for first responders.  According to the RCMP, police, paramedics and members of the New Germany fire department were called to the sudden death of a Stanley Section man.  When they got there, they found the man on his property, in a well.  Sergeant Dean Warr says he was pronounced dead at the scene.  Police say they are still investigating and an autopsy is scheduled for today by the medical examiners office.  But they add no foul play is suspected.  His name is not being released.

Fire Tax Credit

2009-05-13 08:23:51

Rodney MacDonald is looking to increase the volunteer firefighter tax credit if he's returned to office next month.  The Premier announced this morning an increase in the tax credit from 375 to 500-dollars in 2009.  When it was introduced as part of the 2007 budget, the credit was $250 and was for volunteer firefighters. It was a campaign promise by the Tories in the 2006 campaign. It was increased to $375 last year, and expanded to include the ground search and rescue teams.   There are about 8000 volunteer firefighters in Nova Scotia and about 1700 members of ground search and rescue teams.   Both the Liberals and New Democrats have introduced similar measures in the Legislature over the past three years.