NB Contractor Files Lawsuit Against Grace Murray Inc.

A New Brunswick based contractor has filed a lawsuit in Nova Scotia Supreme Court against Grace Murray Inc. Saulnier Losier Management claims it is owed just over $400,000 for extra costs it had to cover when they built the Bridgewater Best Western Hotel. Grace Murray Inc is co-owned by Rodney Grace and former NHL'er Glen Murray. In a prepared statement, Grace told CKBW/HANK FM News his company 'entered into a fixed price contract with Saulnier Losier and has no intention of paying more than what was agreed upon for a turnkey complete project.' Saulnier Losier was contracted in October 2009 to build the three-story 63-room Best Western in Cookville. Saulnier Losier claims the project experienced numerous cost overruns during construction and the construction contract between the two parties was breached. They are also seeking interest and costs. None of the allegations have been proven in court. Calls to Saulnier Losier of New Brunswick this afternoon have not been returned.

MODL secures waste collection until 2019

The Municipality of the District of Lunenburg has secured waste collection services until 2019. Council has approved awarding the lone tender received to G.E.'s All Trucking for just over $10.6-million for seven years, beginning in 2013. The new contract contains the same services as the current agreement with additional items including a route supervisor, Christmas tree pickup and a green cart administrator. The new services add more than $348,000 to the seven year budget.

Potential Bus Service for Shelburne County

A Shelburne County organization is looking at establishing a bus service for its residents. The Sou'west Nova Transit Association has filed an application to the province's Utility and Review Board for a motor carrier license. The request would allow the group to operate a 14-passenger bus with three wheelchair accessible seats and eight passenger seats. It could then drive people along the South Shore as far as Halifax and Yarmouth. The chair of the Association, David Meyer, says it could be a valued service for the area.

"Our service must be pre-booked, it will be door-to-door and will be specifically intended for people who have mobility problems or medical problems, the elderly, people in a low income situation and people who require transportation that they can arrange ahead of time."

Objections to the service need to be received by March 14 to board@gov.ns.ca . If there are none, the UARB could grant the application without a public hearing. You can check out the groups website at http://www.petprojects.ca/swnt/index.html .

Osprey Ridge to host Canadian Junior Boys Championship

A local golf course will host this year's Canadian Junior Boys Championship. Osprey Ridge has been selected by the Canadian Golf Association to test the best junior golfers in the country from July 30 to August 3. Over 150 golfers from coast to coast are expected to tee it up for the event. The championship will be 72 holes of stroke play. Kevin Kwon of B.C. won last year's title.

Liberal MLA wants February holiday in Nova Scotia

Today is a holiday in Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Ontario and PEI. Having the third Monday in February as a holiday gives everyone a break from the rigours of winter. In our province though, today is just another Monday and we won't be getting a break until Easter in April. Halifax-area Liberal MLA Diana Whalen has been trying for years to establish a February holiday and she tells CKBW/HANK FM News she's applying more pressure to have her idea in place by next year. She says communities here would make good use of the holiday. "They really create a lot of exciting in the communities, I know there are a lot of activities like winter carnivals that take place and things of that nature and I'm sure the people of the South Shore would jump right in and do that...tt becomes a real family weekend," Next year, Whalen is hoping Nova Scotia will join the list of those having mid-February holidays.

Three Dozen Abandon Cats Recovering

More than three dozen malnourished cats that were rescued from a home outside of Lockeport are on the road to recovery. Members of the Beulah Burman Memorial Animal Shelter in Shelburne took in 31 cats from an abandon home in Rockland earlier this month. The cats were suffering from frostbite, infection and starvation when they were found but volunteers have been nursing the animals back to health. Shelter volunteer Shelley Leblanc says its been a heart warming experience to watch the community rally around the animals. "Rescuing cats has been one of the most rewarding things that I have ever done. It's over whelming but if you look at the future that these cats now have - they are going to have a life, they are going to be warm, they are going to be fed and its such a rewarding thing because it makes such a difference in your life," Five of the cats have already been adopted to new homes while another half dozen are ready to go to a good home. Anyone interested donating time, money or adoption can log on to http://www.petprojects.ca/ for more information.

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.