Charges Laid in Last Year's Accident

The R-C-M-P have laid a charge in connection with a traffic-accident last year.
The Mounties have charged a Riverport man following their investigation into a mishap in which a motor-vehicle struck a pedestrian in Rose Bay in December.
The 68-year-old woman was taken to the "South Shore Regional Hospital" and later
air-lifted to Halifax with serious injuries . The 45-year-old man appears in court on July 7th to face a charge of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing bodily harm."
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Historica Fair at Liverpool Regional High School

Students will present projects featuring Canadian history and heritage at the South Shore Regional School Board Regional Historica Fair, at Liverpool High School this Friday.(May 7th). Many students who have been selected from schools across the region will be drawing personal and family links to their topics. About 80 projects will be featured at the Fair. Public viewing is set for 1 p.m. with awards to be handed out at 1:30 p.m

White Point Chef Wins Competition

White Point's Executive Chef is a winner. Alan Crosby took the title honour at the 2nd Annual Taste of Nova Scotia Cutting Edge Culinary Competition held at Saltscapes Expo 2010 over the weekend. The nine competitors were given a "black box" of ingredients and had 45 minutes to create a dish. Marks were given for presentation, taste of dish and entertainment value during the process. Crosby finished with a score of 90.1. Chef Terry Vassallo of Trattoria della Nonna in Lunenburg tied for second place with 87.5 points.

Septage User Fees Stink

Proposed user fees to dump septage at the Whynott's Settlement Waste site stink according to some Lunenburg Town Councillors. The town is one of four partners that manage the site but feel they're being treated unfairly. A new lagoon is set to open at the waste site next January and while Lunenburg will be sharing in the capital cost it will be charged a user fee of 22 dollars per ton for dumping septic waste. That could mean an additional 80 thousand dollars expense for the Town. Mayor Laurence Mawhinney says Council will be looking at what other options are available to the Town including shipping the waste to another facility.

Teen Faces Assault Charges on Child

A Liverpool teen has been charged with assault with a weapon on a five year old. The charge was laid as a result of an investigation into an alleged child abuse complaint involving a five year old girl last month. The male who will appear in Liverpool Provincial Court May 18th. has been released on conditions, including he have no contact with the child.

Body found in Shelburne County

An autopsy is planned for a body that was found last week in the Brier Hill Road area of Welchtown in Shelburne County.

On Friday, April 30th around one in the afternoon, two people were fishing when they discovered the body of a 78-year-old resident of Newelton in a the box of his pick up truck under an ATV.

The RCMP suspect he was either in the process of removing the ATV from the truck or loading it back on when he became trapped underneath.

The Medical Examiners office will be conducting an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.

Bridgewater Man Fined for Poaching

A Bridgewater man has been fined almost 3 thousand dollars for poaching deer out of season. Fifty-six year old Michael Rex Oickle was initially charged with 18 counts under the wildlife regulations and criminal code but pleaded guilty to three offences while the remainder were withdrawn by the Crown. Oickle was fined a little over 24 hundred dollars fro hunting deer during the closed season, 225 dollars for possessing deer parts and 340 dollars for unlawfully having a rifle in a wildlife habitat. Along with the fines Oickle is banned from having a hunting licence for at least five years.

Own Your Own Courthouse

A hundred and 50 thousand dollars will buy you your own courthouse. That's the asking price for the former justice centre on Pleasant Street. The building is owned by the Municipality of the District of Lunenburg, and a realtors sign has gone up on the property. The title was transferred back to the Municipality in January. The Municipality declared the property surplus and offered to sell it to the Town of Bridgewater, but there was no interest in a purchase. The former court house was replaced by the new Bridgewater Justice Centre on High Street which officially opened last July 30th.

Inn from the Cold

Depending on how you measure success, the Inn from the Cold Bridgewater program hosted 100 overnight stays to 15 individuals ranging from 13 to 75 years of age. Eighty volunteers participated with 8 different churches for the first season of operation of the Inn from the Cold Shelter in Bridgewater.The Bridgewater Police and the RCMP also provided partnership and support. Support and food was provided by Bridgewater Baptist Ministerial, 10 businesses, Bridgewater Town Council, Community College, teachers and many individuals. The program ran from December 1st to until April. Baptist Minister, Reverend Eric Campbell who organized the program says one large gap in assistance that became obvious throughout the season is for those aged 16 - 18 years old, no longer children, but not yet adults. He says It would be wonderful to see more proactive help - to keep those on the 'edge' from falling off. Too many live each month on inadequate Social Assistance - leaving them permanently at risk."

Commuity Demands New School

Nothing less than a new school to replace South Queens Jr./High will satisfy the South Shore Regional School Board and community at large. Vernon Oickle is chair of the SAC of Liverpool Regional High and a member of South Queens SAC. He says the Junior High was listed as a priority to be replaced several years ago . Oickle says the SAC supports the Boards push for a new stand alone building saying renovations are not economically sound . Oickle says it's an important issue for the community. They're not asking for a new school because they want it, they need it and it's the right thing to do for the community and the kids. Board Chairman, Elliott Payzant says a renovation and not having a school that meets 2010 standards is just sentencing the students in the Junior High in South Queens to second class citizens for the next 10 to 15 years and that's simply not acceptable

High Liner Buys Back Shares

High Liner Foods is buying back shares held by Nova Scotia Business Inc. for 4-million-dollars. The Lunenburg based seafood giant gave notice to shareholders earlier this month that it would buy back non-voting common shares. In 1984, the province invested 5-million-dollars in High Liner Foods, now the country's largest value-added seafood company. The shares have earned the province 5-point-3-million-dollars in dividends. High Liner employs 325 people in Nova Scotia.

Shed Fire in Blue Rocks

Several fire departments were out early this morning to battle a structure fire in Lunenburg County.

The Lunenburg Fire Department received a call at around 3:00 o'clock to a blaze at a shed behind 48 The-Lane in Blue Rocks.

They called in the Blockhouse Fire Department for a pumper, tanker and crew; Dayspring for a tanker and crew; the Riverport Fire Department for a pumper and crew; and the Oakhill department for a tanker.

The Mahone Bay Fire Department was also called for a pumper and crew to remain on "standby" at the Lunenburg Fire Hall.

Council Considers Tax Exemption

South Shore Transition House Association is asking Bridgewater Town Council to be included in the Tax Exemption By-law.Harbour House is a 15 bed transition house located in Bridgewater which serves abused women and their children. Mayor Carroll Publicover says there are 7 not-for profit charitable organizations that qualify under the exemptions by-law, and he doesn't see a flood of requests coming to Council. He says Harbour House does great work and is only 80 percent funded by the province so they have to fundraise the other 20 percent. Council voted 4 to 3 to draft an amendment for a full tax exemption for Harbour House to be included in the by-law, much the same as was done for the Small World Learning Centre Daycare .

Temporary Traffic Lights

Bridgewater Town Council is working on a solution to ease the traffic congestion on North Street. Sixty thousand dollars is included in this years draft budget for a set of traffic lights to be installed at the intersection of Haven and Seasons Drive on North Street. Mayor Carroll Publicover says the lights are only a temporary solution but he'll fight to keep the money in the budget. A planned upgrade of North Street and Aberdeen Road includes widening the two streets to include additional turning lanes, sidewalks and bicycle lanes and a roundabout along with permanent traffic lights.

Lock up Your Vehicles

There's been a recent rash of thefts from vehicles in The Wileville/Auburndale area. Within the last two nights, 15 vehicles were entered and an undetermined number of items were stolen. RCMP are asking for public assistance in identifying who is responsible for the thefts. The Mounties are also reminding residents to ensure their vehicles are securely locked during the evenings and not to leave anything of value in the vehicle or in plain view of would be thieves.

Senior Friendly Challenge

(Photo - Coalition for an Age Friendly Community Committee)
The Coalition for an Age Friendly Community is extending the Senior Friendly challenge to businesses in the Town of Bridgewater and the Municipality of the District of Lunenburg. It's also a call for volunteers to participate in the Check-up training program. The next training session will be held May 5th. The Senior Friendly Program is modeled after a project developed by the Alberta Council on Aging the program is designed to help businesses and organizations become more age-friendly. For more information on this Senior Friendly™ Program and future "Age-Friendly" initiatives please contact: Beth George, Seniors Safety Coordinator
Ph: 543-3567 or email,bgeorge@bridgewater.ca

Free Recycling Workshop

A free workshop on the economics of recycling is being offered to all non-profit and community groups in Lunenburg and Queens counties Thursday evening April 29th between 7:00 and 8:30 p.m. at the Forest Heights Community School in Chester Basin. This is an opportunity for non-profit organizations to improve their own bottom lines through the sharing and discussion of success stories and best practices because dealing with solid waste can be both a time consuming and expensive challenge for community groups, The Economics of Recycling workshop is being presented by the Municipality of the District of Chester, Region 6 Solid Waste Management and the Lunenburg Queens Regional Development Agency.

Woman of the Year Award

A local businesswoman is one of three finalists for the
Women's Business Alliance (WBA) of Choice Hotels 2010 Woman of the Year Award. Bernice Theriault, Manager of the Bridgewater Comfort Inn
will attend the Choice Hotel's 56th Annual Convention in Las Vegas from May 4th to 6th where she'll be recognized with the other nominees.
Theriault has served as a board member of the Bridgewater and Area Chamber of Commerce for six years and is currently the Vice Chair of the Bridgewater Development Association and is actively involved in many community projects. The Bridgewater Comfort Inn has also received notification that it is one of three finalists for the 2010 Canadian Hotel of the Year Award.

Organ Donor Information Session

South Shore Health will be hosting an evening of information about the important topic of organ and tissue donation. The evening will highlight a speaker from the Regional Tissue Bank in Halifax as well as a local physician, Dr. Kory Jollymore. The public is invited to attend the free session to learn more and get any questions you may have answered. The information session is set for Thursday evening, April 29th, at 7 p.m. at the Atlantic Superstore Community Room, Bridgewater.

Reminder to Remove Studded Tires

Motorists are being reminded to remove their studded tires. RCMP remind motorists that with the warmer spring weather Traffic Services will be focusing on making this spring safe for all highway travelers.
Studded tires are not to be used between May 1st and October 14th of each year. The RCMP is committed to making Canadian roadways the safest in the world under the Road Safety Vision 2010.