Bridgewater's Lohnes Picks Up "Michener Award"

A special honor for judo champ Whitney Lohnes of Bridgewater. The 19 year old is one of two recipients of the 2011 Roland Michener Canada Games Award. Lohnes won gold at last year's Canada Winter Games in Halifax. More recently she picked up gold at the Commonwealth Judo Championships in Wales. Lohnes was given the Michener Award in recognition of her leadership skills and scholastic and athletic achievements. Lohnes is training in Montreal these days and attending Concordia University.

Bridgewater projecting budget surplus

Dawn Keizer

The town of Bridgewater is currently forecasting a healthy surplus. Director of Finance, Dawn Keizer, released her third quarter numbers during the February 13 council meeting. She is indicating a projected surplus of $639,400. The third quarter financial report for 2011-12 ended December 31, with projections to March 31, 2012. Keizer is projecting protective services, recreation and culture and environmental health to finish in the black, while transportation is anticipated to be in the red. While the numbers look good at the moment, Keizer says it is important to note that much can change in the next month.

South Shore resident wins 'Award of Sexcellence'

A member of South Shore Health has picked up an award from the Nova Scotia Association for Sexual Health. Lori McCracken has won the 'Award of Sexcellence' for her contributions to the field. McCracken says its nice to be recognized.

"Well, sometimes I don't consider myself a forerunner in terms of sexual reproductive health. I can definitely now say that this topic is maybe not what everybody does in their job, so it's great to be recognized for that."

McCracken has helped develop a youth health centre in New Germany, and a sexual health board game for teens.

Mustangs look to stave off elimination against Valley

A must-win situation Saturday night for the South Shore Canadian Tire Mustangs. The local major midget club needs a victory to avoid being swept of their best of five series against the Valley Wildcats. The Wildcats earned one goal victories in Bridgewater earlier this week, to lead the series 2-0. The game will be held at 8pm Saturday night in Berwick.

Lumberjacks double up Bearcats

The CIBC Wood Gundy Lumberjacks have finally beat the Truro Bearcats this season. Michael Crawley scored three goals and added three assists as the Jacks doubled up the Bearcats 8-4 Friday night in Bridgewater. Head Coach Terry Rhindress says it was the best character win for his club this season.

"Guys stepped up tonight and backed each other up and everything come together the way it should come together. They battled hard and deserved the win, that's fate and we talked about, you know, all year Truro had our number and got luck with us and we didn't get any luck, we earned everything we got tonight and kudos to the kids man, they worked great, I was so proud of those 19 individuals in there I can't say enough about them."

Jake Bullen added five assists while Cody Coffin also scored twice and added two assists. Dylan McQuaid stopped 48 shots in the win. The Bearcats had the Lumberjacks number prior to Friday night's game, winning the five previous games this season by a 36-9 margin. The Jacks take on the Mariners in Yarmouth Saturday night at 7:30.

BREAKING: Cooke Aquaculture Confirms Salmon Virus Scare

(Photo: courtesy of SouthCoastToday.ca)

Cooke Aquaculture says it has a suspected outbreak of the infectious salmon anemia virus at one of its fish farms. In a statement, the seafood company says it destroyed thousands of fish contained in two cages at one of its fish farming sites after routine tests and surveillance of its stocks. But the company declined to say where the outbreak is suspected. It's believed the fish farm in question is located in Shelburne. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is investigating, but it too declined to say where the suspected outbreak is located. Dr. Con Kiley, director of the agency's aquatic animal health program says the virus is not a human health or food risk. "I think the important thing to say is that it is not confirmed to date, the other thing is people need to understand is that infectious salmon anemia is not a human health or food safety issue...it's not,"He says tests will be conducted at a federal lab in Moncton to confirm whether the virus is present.

Tenders close for LCLC; decision coming next week

The chair of the Lunenburg County Lifestyle Centre hopes the winning tender for the project will be announced in the next week. Paul Belliveau says the tender process closed earlier this week with eight construction companies vying to build the centre. Bird Construction of Halifax had the lowest bid at just over $24-million. If that group wins the bid, Belliveau says they would need to fundraise roughly $500-thousand to meet the budget needs. He doesn't expect to approach local governments for more funding. Belliveau says they're looking good.

"So at this point, to come in that we're roughly very close to our budget, we're going to have a facility that looks roughly like what we wanted it to look like and we maintained the integrity of having all of the components, I think we're in pretty good shape. We said that we would try and deliver something within the 33.5-million dollar range and I think we're going to get there."

Construction is still planned to start around mid-March, with the project pegged to be completed by next spring.

BREAKING: Thousands of Salmon Destroyed Because of Viral Scare

Thousands of fish have been destroyed because of a suspected finding of infectious salmon anemia in Nova Scotia. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is investigating the matter but would not confirm the location of the potential finding. The suspected case of ISA is believed to be at a fish farm in Shelburne owned by New Brunswick based Cooke Aquaculture. Director of the National Aquatic and Animal Health Program for CFIA, Dr. Con Kiley says samples have already been sent to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans laboratory in Moncton for testing. "The disease has not been confirmed to date, the agency with the co-operation of the company has place a quarantine on the facility. That means we have disease control measures in place and confirmatory testing is underway and results are expected over the next few weeks," ISA is a flu-like virus that affects Atlantic salmon. It is harmless to the public but it is the single most feared virus in the fish industry because its highly contagious and impact on wild salmon populations.

Conservatives Focus on South Shore Ridings

The leader of Nova Scotia's PC Party spent time with South Shore residents Thursday night in Bridgewater. Jamie Baillie held a question and answer session at the Bridgewater Fire Hall. In a sit down interview with CKBW/HANK-FM, Baillie tells us he wasn't happy during last election after the NDP swept all the seats along the South Shore. But, Baillie looks forward to the next election because local NDP MLAs have to face the music for decisions they've made."Like, Lunenburg West - Gary Ramey, like, Lunenburg Pam Birdsall who have to answer to the people of the South Shore why they voted with the back room union interests with the NDP and against those jobs at places like Michelin. I am very proud to say we are with them - the employees of Michelin and the ones that want to work there in fighting that bill bu they didn't stand with their own constituents," Baillie says the South Shore region is important to his party because he feels the NDP has forgotten about residents.

Mustangs fall to Valley; down 2-0 in playoff series

The South Shore Canadian Tire Mustangs are in danger of being swept out of the playoffs. The Valley Wildcats scored the go ahead goal midway through the 2nd period for a 2-1 win over the Mustangs. The victory gives the Valley a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series. Head Coach Tim Boyce says his club needs to stay confident.

"We've outplayed them for two games as far as I'm concerned, you know, we've dominated the shot clock just haven't been able to put the puck in the net, powerplay hasn't been great, but you know what, give them credit, they've clogged up the middle of the ice in the little rink and their defencemen are blocking a lot of shots in front, so hopefully we'll go down there to Berwick, it's a bigger ice surface and it's going to be tougher for their defencemen to do that."

Boyce adds its been a frustrating series so far.

"Like I said to the guys, it's one thing to be completely dominated by a team and go into the dressing room down 0-2 thinking you don't have a chance because they've outplayed you. That's not the case here. I've felt we've carried the play here in the two games, just got to start finishing."

Avery Clarke scored the lone goal for the Mustangs while Cole Skinner stopped 18 shots in the loss. Game 3 goes Saturday night in Berwick.

Mahone Bay appoints new police chief

There is a new police chief in Mahone Bay. Rob James has held the job since last June, but the town formally appointed him to the position during Tuesday night's council meeting. James says the RCMP don't typically have police chiefs, so its more of an honorary title. He says there's been a little bit more workload because of the new title.

"I look after any investigations in Mahone Bay, but I'm also, for example, the traffic authority, I look after any bylaws that need tending in Mahone Bay. I also liaise with the town council, with the police advisory board things like that. I'm more less a liaison between the detachment and town of Mahone Bay."

James says its been an easy transition becoming the head officer in Mahone Bay after spending over six years covering Lunenburg County.

Chester Mulls Buying Land Along East River

The Municipality of Chester is mulling over whether or not to purchase a 12 hectare parcel of land along the East River. The piece of land is located along the west side of the river and is bordered by the Chester Connection Trail. The area is known as a good spot for fishing, hunting, hiking and canoeing and is up for sale for just under $100,000. Councillor Marshall Hector says he's in favour of buying the land because the land has lots of recreational value. Council discussed the issue at length but decided to defer the issue until their meeting next week.

Residents lack support to pave Dawson Heights

Dawson Heights Road won't be added to the province's paving program this spring. Only 28 per cent of residents agreed to pay half the estimated $307-thousand cost to pave it. That represents about nine of the 32 property owners on the Pine Grove road. The street improvement bylaw says a minimum 75 per cent approval is needed before any paving work could have been done. Mayor Don Downe says residents have the option of revisiting the issue next year.

Bridgewater changes benefits for non-unionized staff

Bridgewater council is offering its non-unionized staff an updated benefits package. The new perks include personal sick days increasing to five from two, increased time off for bereavement and changes to overtime policy for senior management and non-management. Mayor Carroll Publicover likes the changes.

"We've got an excellent non-unionized work force. They're very professional, they represent the town in an exemplary way. I think you treat your professional staff in the best way that you can within the means that you have. We're not giving away the ship, we're compensating them reasonably for what they do."

However, councillor Bill McInnis disagreed with the mayor, saying benefits in the public sector are excessive compared to the private sector. Councillor Jim Bell also voted against the updated benefit package. Council voted 4-2 in favour of the change, with councillor Patrick Hirtle missing the meeting. The town also increased pension contributions to seven per cent, with the option of raising it from its current amount of five per cent.

Elderly Man Crashes Into BMO in Lunenburg

An elderly man is in hospital after his vehicle smashed into the Bank of Montreal in Lunenburg. Police say the man suffered minor injuries and no one else was hurt. Mounties report the vehicle unexpectedly accelerated, jumped the curb and smashed into the bank. The vehicle hit the building with enough impact to deploy both airbags. There was minor damage to the bank itself which remained opened for regular business.

Radiothon: Donations Could Reach $70,000

The 2nd annual "Gift For The Heart" Radiothon yesterday on CKBW (HANK-FM) brought in nearly 63-thousand dollars toward a new piece of cardiac monitoring equipment at South Shore Regional Hospital. Bernadette Jordan of the Health Services Foundation says money is still rolling in and she's predicting donations could total 70,000 in the days ahead. She's now asking those who donated to honor their pledges and its easy to do. "They could either drop into the foundation office at South Shore Regional Hospital or Fishermen's Memorial Hospital between 8:30AM and 4:30PM Monday to Friday or they could leave them at the switchboard as well,"  Donations can also be mailed to P.O. Box 492 in Bridgewater. Postal code: B4V 2X6.

Tories will host Town Hall Meeting in Bridgewater

The high cost of living will be the focus of a town hall meeting in Bridgewater this week. Conservative leader Jamie Baillie will host the meeting that will focus on issues such as jobs, power rates and daycare. In an interview with CKBW/HANK FM, Baillie says he wants to hear from South Shore residents on what needs to change to make life more affordable. "We need to look very closely with the way electricity prices are set...I don't know about you but I got my power bill this week and holy smokes, what a shock. So if there was ever an argument to go back to the drawing board on a electricity policy its that," Baillie says fundamental changes such as balanced budgets and lower taxes are needed in order to help people make ends meet. The meeting will be held Thursday night at the Bridgewater Fire Hall at 7 o'clock.

White Point: Virtual Design of Main Lodge Unveiled

The owner of a popular beach resort in White Point says the new lodge will serve as a perfect tribute. Robert Risley made the comment as officials unveiled the new design plan for the main lodge yesterday. The designs were released only three months after a devastating fire destroyed the White Point Beach Resort's Main Lodge. The new lodge will be constructed with local material, such as wood and stone with modern windows and energy efficient components. The new lodge will feature a pool, hot tub and sauna in addition to wood burning fire places, a lounge and meeting space. The lodge will be constructed over the next few months and be ready to re-open in the fall.  For a virtual tour of the lodge - click on the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6a8CsNJrY4

VIDEO: Downe rejects takeover of Centre Consolidated

The Municipality of the District of Lunenburg has learned it will take over Centre Consolidated at the end of March. The province informed Don Downe recently and the mayor isn't too pleased about the situation. He says the Municipality already spent thousands of dollars on demolishing the Centre Jail, and they've inherited the Blockhouse School and Riverport Community School. Downe says inheriting Centre Consolidated would be a burden on the Municipality.

"That is a huge liability to this council. On top of the millions we've talked about, this school alone, to put into a condition for a sale, would be around $2-million of repairs that need to be dealt with immediately."

Downe says they're not accepting the takeover and wants the province to put a moratorium on it. He says the Municipality can't afford to pay for Centre and he plans to write detailed letters to local MLAs, the Minister responsible and the Premier about the situation.

Sports: Mustangs drop game one to Valley

The South Shore Canadian Tire Mustangs let a two-goal lead slip away, dropping a 4-3 decision to the Valley Wildcats in game one of their best of five playoff series. The Mustangs led 2-0 midway through the first period when an apparent missed icing call happened, resulting in the Valley's first goal. Mustangs Head Coach Tim Boyce says it killed their early momentum.

"We're up 2-0, we're outshooting them 17-1, they clearly ice the puck, nobody is even around it, everybody in the rink thinks its icing and it doesn't get blown down and then after the fact they tell us that it was tipped, but it couldn't of been tipped, nobody was around the puck."

Despite the early loss, Boyce says he isn't ringing the alarm bells just yet.

"I didn't expect to beat these guys three straight. They're just as hungry as us to get a playoff win. We're ok. Like I said, we come back Thursday, and hope to even it up. We played very well in the Valley this year, we haven't lost a game down there this year, so, we'll just focus on Thursday and take it from there."

Connor Hirtle, Stone Harnish and Jamie Blair scored for the Mustangs while Cole Skinner stopped 20 shots in the loss. Game two goes Thursday night at 7:30 at the Bridgewater Arena.