South Shore Health Welcomes New Doctor

South Shore Health is pleased to welcome family physician Dr. John Paleta to the District. Dr. Paleta will join Dr. Jolene Jarvis at her practice in Hubbards. He will begin seeing patients beginning Tuesday April 6. The clinic phone number is 857 1312. Priority will be given to residents of the Municipality of the District of Chester who do not have a family doctor or nurse practitioner. Originally from South Africa, Dr. Paleta has been practising in Chilliwack, British Columbia since 2004.

Fishing season opens today

A eager angler could be facing a total of $500 worth of fines for fishing before the opening season. The man was caught at Fiddlers lake in Shelburne County and his Boat & gear was ceased for evidence. Fishing season officially opens today, and Conservation Protection Super visor of Shelburne County, Chris Sperry wants to warn people that they are out patrolling fishing activity.

Donald Gow Passes Away

A prominant Lunenburg County businessman has died.

83-year-old Donald Gow passed away peacefully at his home in Bridgewater on Tuesday.

Donald was successful in business but music was his passion.

He was a member of the Bridgewater Fire Department Band and other bands for seventy years.

The funeral service for Donald Arthur Gow is 2:00 o'clock Saturday afternoon at the United Church in Bridgewater.

Injured Man Found Near LaHave Ferry Terminal

The Mounties are looking into the situation of an injured man found lying on a highway in Lunenburg County.

A cyclist found him yesterday afternoon lying on the road near the LaHave Ferry Terminal on Highway-332.

Emergency Services responded shortly before 4:30 to a call to the scene in East LaHave and took the man to the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Center in Halifax.

The RCMP say the man -- in his fifties -- had suffered head injuries and may have fallen from a moving vehicle.

If you have any information about this incident, call the RCMP in Cookville at 527-5555.

Navy Centennial Celebrations

The Town of Lunenburg will be presented with a plaque as part of the Canadian Navy's Centennial celebrations slated for June 29th to July 2nd. Mayor Laurence Mawhinney says despite the fact all the events are scheduled for Halifax, Town Council is looking at holding some type of reception possibly in conjunction with the Legion. Mawhinney says a plaque is being presented to each community which had a vessel that bore the name of that community in the second world war. The HMCS Lunenburg was a flower class corvette during the second world war, and some of the memorabilia of that corvette is still in Lunenburg at the Legion and Town Hall. Meantime, the Navy is sending a vessel to Lunenburg on May 10th to take part in torch ceremonies for the 2011 Canada Winter Games.

Justice Grants Awarded

Bridgewater and Chester are among the communities receiving grants from the Department of Justice for projects aimed at reducing and preventing crime. In total, 80-thousand dollars is being distributed to 35 organizations by the Department of Justice to support crime prevention and reduction in the province. The majority of projects are aimed at young people. Bridgewater Police Service will receive, $5 thousand dollars, Bridgewater Senior Safety gets $3 thousand, while the
Chester Art Centre Association,also receives $3,300 dollars. The funding will help pay for events, activities and equipment that give Nova Scotians an opportunity to participate in community programs.

Hospital Budget Approved

South Shore Health is getting some help from the province to cover a two year deficit. CEO Alice Leverman says the Department of Health has approved 1.7 million dollars to offset the deficit from 2008/09.As well South Shore Health received 1.3 million to be added to the base budget on a go forward basis. In addition, Leverman says over the last year South Shore Health has identified more than a million dollars in cost savings and revenue generation that has contributed to the bottom line. She says they put in a number of spending controls including reviews of new hires, reductions in overtime and travel and non-essential expenditures. Leverman says the upcoming year will be challenging as they're not anticipating any new funding for fiscal 2010/11. She says they're in the process of creating a Quality Improvement Action Plan focusing on quality improvements to make the best use of limited resources.

Reward for stolen property at Oceanview Landscaping

Owners of the Oceanview Landscaping in Chester, are offering a $1000 reward for anyone who knows who was involved in the theft of items taken from their store on March 28th between 5am and 6:40am. Two cut-off saws and some other lawn and garden equipment were taken. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Chester RCMP or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.

Terry Hawkins Industries

Terry Hawkins Industries in Shelburne is one of 20 company's across Canada that has been nominated for a Manning Award. The award recognizes and encourages innovation in Canada. Terry Hawkins Industries is a manufacturer of Fibreglass Reinforced Polymer/Plastic products for Infrastructure, Commercial and Home use. For information visit their website at http://www.terryhawkinsindustries.com

Wilson's Gets Go-ahead for Lunenburg Development

It's pretty much a go for the construction of a combination gas bar,
convenience store and drive-thru restaurant in Lunenburg. Wilsons Fuels of Halifax wants to reconfigure the Esso station on Falkland Street and needed Council's approval for two amendments to the Land Use By-law. Wilson's requested allowance for a pump island be located 10 feet from the Falkland Street property line, and to allow for a driveway to be located 9 feet 9 inches from the intersection of Station Lane with Falkland Street. Mayor Laurence Mawhinney says despite Council's approval of the project anyone who objects to Councils decision has a 14 day period to make an appeal before the provincial Utility and Review Board. He says while the decision has been made, nothing is ever binding until they pass the date in which appeals can be received. As for a suggestion that Council take the matter to the communnity, Mawhinney says there is no provision given under the Municipal Government Act for a plebiscite on this particular issue.

Bridgewater's Deputy Police Chief has been named the policing award recipient by the Provincial Justice Minister. John Collyer received the award during a ceremony in Halifax today. Collyer volunteers as vice president of the South Shore Big Brothers, Big Sisters board of directors and school mentor for youth at risk. He implemented the Kids N Kops program that offers youth at risk a one-week summer camp.
Collyer was one of six Nova Scotians recognized today (March 30th) for their efforts to prevent crime and make communities safer. Awards were presented in six categories including individual, youth, community group or organization, community policing, media and business community. For more information on the awards go the department website at www.gov.ns.ca/just .

Water Testing

South Shore Health will introduce changes to water testing next month in order to meet new accreditation standards for water testing. Water samples must now be stored between 1 and 10 degrees Celsius(not frozen) and delivered within 24 hours of collection. Samples that have a temperature higher than 10 degrees will no longer be accepted for testing. Drop off hours are also being reduced . Testing will not be done on Fridays, weekends or Holidays. Water samples will only be accepted 8 am to 2 pm Monday to Thursday at the Business Office at South Shore Regional Hospital, 8 am to 11 am Monday to Thursday at Queens General Hospital and during scheduled blood collection clinics in New Germany, New Ross and Chester.
The Department of Environment recommends testing your well water for bacteria every six months.

Chester RCMP Investigate Break-ins

A pharmacy and fire department were the target of thieves over the last week. Chester RCMP are investigating a break and enter at the Chester Pharmasave on Sunday March 28th between 5 to 6:40 a.m. Money and narcotics were stolen during the break. The Hubbards Fire Department was also broken into sometime between 9:30pm March 25th and 4:30pm March 26th. Two radios vital to the operation of the fire department and some tools were stolen. As well, damage was done to some equipment inside the building. Anyone with information concerning the incidents is asked to contact the Chester RCMP or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-9477 (TIPS)

Partners to Protect Watershed

The Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation and the Nova Scotia Salmon Association have partnered to improve efforts to protect and restore local watersheds and improve Nova Scotia's water quality. Using the proceeds of its annual ECO SALE, The liquor corporation has made a five-year, $500,000 commitment to the NSLC Adopt-A-Stream program. The NSLC presented the salmon association with the first $100,000 installment Monday, March 29, which will be used to fund stream, river and headwater projects across Nova Scotia.

**News release courtesy of NSLC**

Pharmacists to Assist Doctors

Amendments to the Pharmacy Act now mean that pharmacists in Nova Scotia will be able to administer vaccinations and order some diagnostic tests. Health Minister Maureen MacDonald says the goal is to take advantage of a pool of qualified professionals in order to free up doctors to concentrate on other areas of health care. The Minister says although the move will create efficiencies in the health system, she's currently unable to put a dollar figure on any potential savings. She also can't say for certain whether a user fee will be put in place, although she adds it's not currently planned.Regulations are being worked on and it's hoped the first qualified pharmacists will be able to carry out their new duties some time this year.
The move by Nova Scotia follows similar initiatives in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba and New Brunswick.

AbitibiBowater Mersey Paper Company Limited

Employees at the AbitibiBowater Mersey Paper Company in Liverpool could soon be having a 5 week vacation.

A tentative date of April 16th until May 19th is the time period in which the plant will stop production due to the economic downturn.

AbitibiBowater produces a wide range of newsprint, commercial printing papers, market pulp and wood products. It is the eighth largest publicly traded pulp and paper manufacturer in the world.

Region of Queens meeting tonight

A meeting will be held tonight to discussing ways to maximize the opportunities presented by the upcoming Festival and Event season in the Region of Queens.

The Festival organizers and Queens businesses are holding the meeting this evening at 7pm in the Council Chambers at the Region of Queens Municipality’s offices.

Discussion will be focused on methods that can engage the whole community in celebration and create a memorable experience for visitors.

Three new by-laws for The Municipality of the District of Shelburne

Three new by-laws were passed this month at The Municipality of the District of Shelburne's regular Council meeting.

A new repeal bylaw eliminates many outdated bylaws, while the A Shelburne County East RCMP Advisory Board Bylaw establishes a new merged RCMP advisory board for the three municipalities in eastern Shelburne County.

The third bylaw was an Emergency Management Response Bylaw that provides the structure for the Municipality to function with the Town of Lockeport and the Town of Shelburne in the Shelburne County East Emergency Measures Organization.

SSRSB to Split Services

The South Shore Regional School Board is following the provincial model and will separate student services/student programs.Superintendent Nancy Pynch-Worthylake says presently the Board has a unique model in the province with a coordinator responsible for programs and student services at the elementary level, and a coordinator responsible for programs and student services at the secondary level. She says that will be reorganized to align with the provincial model which is a
a coordinator of programs for grades primary to 12 and a separate coordinator for student services for grades primary to 12.
The recommendation to match the provincial model was supported by the Board and will be implemented for the new school year in September

Investigation into East River Highway Fatal

The Lunenburg District RCMP continue their investigation into the cause of a traffic accident in Lunenburg County that has claimed the life of a 47-year-old man.

The two-vehicle accident occured shortly before 5:30 Saturday afternoon on Highway-103 between Exit-6 and Exit-7.

Two other people were taken to hospital from the scene of the head-on collision in East River with "non-life threatening" injuries.

The RCMP report that an autopsy has been conducted on the body of the Halifax man, whose name the Mounties have not released at the request of his family.