Pavement vs Classrooms

A South Shore School Board member feels the province is putting asphalt ahead of student programming. Gary Mailman says the former government announced 2 million over 3 years for Parkview Education Centre and almost $250-thousand of that is to be used to construct a parking lot. Mailman says Parkview wasn't even identified as a Board priority, and he feels the money should be put into the Skills/Trades program. Mailman says New Germany Elementary and South Queens Junior High were overlooked by the province even though both schools were on the South Shore School Boards priority list.

Mahone Bay Taxes

An increase in the Mahone Bay's residential assessment means a decrease in tax rates. Overall assessments are up more than five percent to almost 107 million. Most homeowners will pay about the same tax bill as last year. Council was able to drop the residential tax rate down to a dollar 18 cents. Commercial rates increased by nine cents to 2.83 to cover the business occupancy tax phase out. Mahone Bay's budget this year is worth 1.96 million dollars.

Privateer Booty

Federal dollars are being made available for Privateer Days. The funding will be announced on Thursday at the Queens County Museum, just as the festival is getting underway. South Shore St. Margaret's MP Gerald Keddy will be making the presentation on behalf of the Conservative Government.

CKBW's Wiles Winner

Describing it as a junior farm system, Dave Bannerman says CKBW and Acadia Broadcasting are helping young people get into the broadcasting business. Bannerman is an instructor with the NSCC's Waterfront Campus. He says John Wiles has been named National Broadcaster of the year by the Broadcaster Educators Association. CKBW's station manager John Wiles was recently presented with an award recognizing him and the radio station for their continued support of broadcast students. He is a native of Liverpool who has worked in broadcasting in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia over his 30 year career.

Tuition Winners

Four Nova Scotia high school students have each won five thousand dollars in tuition for a Nova Scotia university or college of their choice through the online game Mission Tuition. Mission Tuition was designed to encourage more high school students to plan careers in Nova Scotia, by making them aware of the range of successful business and job opportunities here at home. More than 23-hundred people played the interactive online game on a website telling Nova Scotians about opportunities in growth sectors such as aerospace, finance, skilled trades, IT and health. The four winners are: David Cann, Riverview Rural HighSchool (Sydney); Kelsie Johnston, Sackville High School; Alessandra Pagnottella, Sacred Heart School (Halifax); and Allison Rand, Bridgewater Junior and Senior High School. They were randomly chosen from more than 900 entries.

Health CEO Deputized

South Shore Health CEO, Kevin McNamara, has been appointed acting deputy minister of the Department of Health. Premier Darrell Dexter in making the announced today says McNamara understands the unique challenges of Nova Scotia's health-care system and will be able to help government prepare to address those challenges. The appointment will take effect Friday (July 3rd) and will last about three months.

MLA's Appointed

Two South Shore NDP MLA's among eight appointed to the role of ministerial assistants. They will represent ministers and government to build relationships with important stakeholders, and oversee policy and program development that helps government keep commitments. Lunenburg West's Gary Ramey has been named ministerial assistant to the Department of Health while Queens MLA Vicki Conrad, has been appointed to Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal. Ministerial assistants will not receive additional pay for their role and it is not a full-time position.

Justice Center Opens

Bridgewater's new justice center opens Monday, months later than scheduled and millions of dollars over original budget estimates. The exact cost has not been released by officials but at last count it was close to double the original estimate of 9-point-75 million dollars. The building was supposed to open last November but was delayed another six months because of labour issues according to the Department of Justice. The justice centre includes a centralized court administration area and four courtrooms. The late Michael Baker, who was credited with pushing to have a new court house built in the community, got to tour the building in February.

Justice Issues

Shelburne RCMP say drug charges are pending after a 9-1-1 call to a Parr Street residence. They don't say what prompted the emergency call. But they say when they got there, they found a marijuana grow-op. Officers got a search warrant to dismantle the grow and seize exhibits. They say a large number of plants in various stages of growth were seized.

Chester Mounties are looking into a break, enter and theft in Chester village. Someone broke into Chester Area Middle school and stole a silver Hewlett Packard 15 inch computer monitor. It's believed it happened overnight Thursday.

Furnace Finances

The Forties Community Centre is looking for a lifeline from Chester Council. Warden Allan Webber says they're asking for a $16,000 grant to replace their hot water furnace Webber says the Municipality has been swamped with grant requests this year and there's only so much money to go around. The Community Centre still has four years left on its mortgage and has no additional funding for the emergency cost of replacing the furnace.

King of Pop dies

The Los Angeles County coroner's office has confirmed that Michael Jackson has died.
He was 50. Ed Winter, the assistant chief coroner, confirmed his office had been notified of the death and would handle the investigation. Jackson died Thursday at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. The circumstances of Jackson's death were not immediately clear. A spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department says Jackson was not breathing when paramedics responded to a call at his Los Angeles home about 12:30 p.m California time. The paramedics performed C-P-R and took him to the hospital.The tragedy struck amid a concerted effort by Jackson to resurrect his singing career after years of tabloid headlines. Earlier this year, he announced his impending comeback: a marathon series of massive back-to-back concerts in London.

Back To Work

After dipping his toes into the political pool, the Detachment Commander for Lunenburg County RCMP is expected back in the office soon. Mark Furey went on an unpaid leave of absence back on April 15th when he announced he was running for the Liberal party in Lunenburg West. Staff at the detachment office in Cookville say he is scheduled to be back in his office on Monday. Staff Sergeant Furey is a 29-year veteran of the RCMP. At the time of his nomination, there was no guarantee he'd reclaim the district commander's job or that he'd remain with Lunenburg County's RCMP following election day. New Democrat Gary Ramey was elected as the MLA for the area, defeating former Cabinet Minister Carolyn Bollivar Getson.

School Sites

Three possible sites for the new P to 9 school for Lunenburg have been identified by the South Shore Regional School Board, Superintendent Nancy Pynch-Worthylake says the Board approved the Finance and Operations report on the ranking of the host sites, which now gets forwarded to the Department of Education. A public meeting has been scheduled for Lunenburg Junior Senior High School for June 29th at 7 p.m., but Pynch-Worthylake says that's only for information purposes. The sites will not be announced publicly until they are evaluated and considered by the province.

Party Crashed

RCMP from two Shelburne county detachments had to be called in to break up a house party that appeared to have gotten out of hand. Sergeant Bob Forbes says officers from Barrington were called around one o'clock Wednesday morning to a complaint of assault. That was at a home on Highway 103 near Clyde River. Sergeant Forbes says there were around 200 people there when they rolled up. Beer bottles were thrown at the police cruiser and a fire was started on the highway. More officers were called in from Shelburne and Barrington as the party-goers spread out onto the highway. The RCMP and the homeowner closed down the party and moved the revellers along. One male was taken into custody and was later taken by ambulance to Roseway Hospital in Shelburne. He was treated for minor injuries and released. Sergeant Forbes says the scene was cleared by around two this morning. He adds members are still investigating and are still deciding if charges will be laid.

Foley Lane Frustration

He's persistent, but it hasn't paid off. And Billy Rhodenizer says he won't be asking Town Council anymore about upgrades to Foley Lane. The street needs storm sewer, curbing and gutter work to bring it up to standards but has never been considered an operational imperative. Mayor Carroll Publicover says he knows there is a possible development planned for the area and feels the street will be upgraded down the road. The Foley Lane upgrade was scrapped from the 2008/09 budget when a tender for the project came in over budget by almost 200 thousand dollars.

Caucus Appointments

Premier Darrell Dexter announced three government caucus appointments. Vicki Conrad, MLA for Queens, will serve as the caucus chair, Mat Whynott, MLA for Hammonds Plains-Upper Sackville, will be the whip and Dave Wilson, MLA for Sackville-Cobequid, will serve as Deputy House Leader. Conrad was first elected to the Legislature in 2006 and has served as critic for Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal. She has worked with the Scotian Windfield network, has been a rural outreach assistant for the NDP caucus and was employed as a residential councillor and home support worker. Whynott, at 24, is the youngest member of the Legislature. He represented Canada at the United Nations, speaking at the UN's World Programme of Action for Youth. While this is Mr. Whynott's first term as an MLA, he ran for the NDP in 2006, taking 36 per cent of the vote. Mat was employed as an NDP Caucus outreach worker until the most recent election. Wilson has been an MLA since 2003. He has served as Health critic and, before becoming an MLA, was a paramedic for eight years. He is a former vice-president of the Sackville Volunteer Firefighters Association and an associate member of the Royal Canadian Legion.

Forwarding Address

A fixture in the Town's landscape will soon be vacated. Canada Post is moving from the King Street location in Bridgewater. Mayor Carroll Publicover was coy when asked about a North Street location and any plans for the historic building. Publicover says the old post office is pivotal to the downtown core. As well , the old court house on Pleasant Street will soon be vacant. Preparations are underway for the move to the new Justice Centre on High Street this weekend.

Beer Tent Canned

The Molson Zone has been canned. The Bridgewater Canada Day Committee wanted to relocate the beer tent to a town owned property next to LaHave Landing near School Street. Council voted 5 to 2 against the proposal. Dennis Woodworth, Chair of the Canada Day Committee says with Council's decision, there will be NO beer tent. Woodworth says he's stepping down as Chair of the Canada Day Committee. Mayor Carroll Publicover says they may have to look into restructuring the Canada Day Committee. This year's Canada Day events will be limited to Shipyards Landing.

Imprisoned Poison Peddler

Calling anyone who sells cocaine "a peddler of poison", Bridgewater Provincial Court Judge Jim Burrill sentenced a Blockhouse man to 34 months in prison. Twenty-six year old Arthur Abdul Mosher was given double credit for the seven months he spent in custody after being arrested in April 2007. A police search of Mosher's parents' residence in April 2007 turned up 37 grams of cocaine in a plastic bag in a shaving cream can with a false bottom. The can was in a pocket of Randy Mosher's bathrobe . Randy Mosher who has since died of cancer told police at the time , he was using the drug for pain management but his son later said he owed a 32 thousand dollar drug debt and his father was selling cocaine in an effort to save his life. Mosher was found guilty of possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking at the conclusion of his trial this March 23rd. He was also convicted of two counts of breach of probation as well as charges of possession of marijuana and hashish. Mosher has eight prior convictions for possession, and possession for the purpose of trafficking.

Composites Trade Show

A delegation of 17 Atlantic Canadian aerospace and defence companies and organizations have returned home following a successful trade mission to Paris, France. They attended the Paris Air Show, an international trade show for aerospace equipment and technology. Mission delegates , including Composites Atlantic in Lunenburg, were able to establish and build business contacts and take part in a number of industry-related meetings, roundtables and information sessions.