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.

RCMP: Angry Pit Bull Greets Officer

An RCMP officer in Queens County had to fire off a warning shot to scare away an aggressive pit bull while making an arrest in Liverpool this weekend. Police were executing a search warrant on Sunday at a home in Mersey Point when they were greeted at the door by the large dog. According to police, the pet was not harmed and the officer only fired his revolver to scare away the dog. Meanwhile, police arrested a 24 year-old man in relation to an alleged break and enter in the area. The man has been charged with possession of stolen property, break and enter and two counts of breach of probation.  The accused was scheduled to appear in Liverpool Provincial Court today.

Bayport Fisherman Guilty of Avoiding DFO Inspection

A Lunenburg County fisherman has been fined after being convicted in Bridgewater court this week on a charge laid by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Bernard Selig of Bayport was found guilty of off-loading 5-thousand pounds of groundfish from his boat last year and avoiding inspection by DFO officers. He's been fined 500-dollars and ordered by the judge to forfeit the value of more than 3-thousand dollars worth of groundfish. Selig has not received a fishing license-suspension.

SSRSB Superintendent: "To early to speculate on cuts"

Nancy Pynch-Worthylake

There's more than the announced budget cuts coming for the South Shore Regional School Board. Superintendent Nancy Pynch-Worthylake says they will be facing an estimated $1.4-million in cuts, as well as roughly $660-thousand to $1.3-million in cost of living setbacks. The School Board reduced 19 positions from its regional office last year, along with 11 teachers and 32 school-based support workers. Pynch-Worthylake says its too early to tell what cuts they will make this year.

"We don't yet know what the exact implications will be. It will be very difficult and we will present the board with options for a balanced budget but it would be premature to speculate on what that will look like."

Last year, the Board was forced to trim $2.7-million from its budget because of a reduction in provincial funding and an increase in cost pressures. Pynch-Worthylake says they won't know for sure what they will have to cut until the province releases its final budget for 2012-13. Once that happens, the board has 60 days to release its budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

Bridgewater turns 113-years-old

Happy belated birthday to Bridgewater. Mayor Carroll Publicover released the information during the opening announcements of Monday night's town council meeting. February 13 was Bridgewater's 113th birthday. Publicover says no celebration was held this year.

"We have been celebrating it, in every fifth year, like this is 113, on 115 there will probably be cake and cookies and lemonade and all kinds of wonderful festivities, but it's not something you do every year, but you acknowledge it."

History tells us in January 1899, an event known as the "Big Fire" completely destroyed the downtown core of Bridgewater.  One month later, the community came together as an Incorporated Town.

Minor injuries after head-on collision in Hebbs Cross

A head-on collision in Hebbs Cross Monday afternoon has left one person with minor injuries. The accident happened along highway 103 just before 3:30pm near the Blarney Stone Restaurant and Naugler Auto. Hebbs Cross Deputy Fire Chief Charles Meisner describes what happened.

"There was a Jeep coming from Liverpool. There was a gentleman that was coming out of Naugler's Service Centre and the Jeep lost control of the road conditions and hit the gentleman that was leaving Naugler's."

Meisner says an older man leaving Naugler Auto in a Chevrolet Lumina van suffered a few cuts to his face and did not believe to have any damage to his legs after they were trapped because of the accident. Officials with the Bridgewater Fire Department were called-in with the Jaws of Life to free the man. He was then taken to hospital while a younger man in the Jeep walked away with no injuries.  Meisner says weather is believed to be the main reason for the accident. The highway was shut down as a result of the accident for roughly an hour.

Suspicious Fire on Big Tancook Island

An investigation is underway into a suspicious fire at a cottage on Big Tancook Island. Chester RCMP and the Fire Marshal's office are looking into what caused the blaze and who may be responsible. The fire broke out last Monday and completely destroyed the cottage. Anyone with information is being asked to contact police in Chester or crime stoppers.

Dexter: Bowater Working on Efficiency Upgrades

Premier Darrell Dexter isn't surprised by the upcoming shutdown at Bowater Mersey. He says the market for paper across the continent remains extremely soft and periodic downtime has to be expected. Dexter says taxpayers shouldn't worry about the province's decision to offer a $50 million dollar rescue package for the mill.  He says the mill will remain in operation and officials at Bowater are still working on installing more efficient machinery. Dexter says those upgrades will help make the mill more competitive and avoid lengthy shutdowns in the future. Resolute Forest Products announced on Friday it will temporarily shut down a number of its operations next month due to poor market conditions.  The Liverpool area mill will shut down for three weeks beginning March 11th.

SSRSB Reviewing Electoral Districts

The South Shore Regional School Board is reviewing its electoral districts. Superintendent Nancy Pynch-Worthylake says the review is necessary after the approved and potential municipality district changes in the South Shore region.

"There have been changes, approved changes, to the Municipality of the District of Queens and the District of Lunenburg has applied for some changes. Our electoral districts are determined, in part, by theirs. Once they have changes to theirs, we need to look at ours."

The School Board is made up of ten district members and two at-large members-one elected African Nova Scotian and one appointed First Nations representative. Pynch-Worthylake says the review will consider lowering the district members between five and 10. The first of three public meetings will be held February 20 from 6-7pm at the School Board Office. Other public meetings will be held Wednesday February 22 from 6-7pm at Forest Heights Community School and Thursday February 23 from 6-7pm at Dr. John C. Wickwire Elementary School. After public consultations are complete, it's expected School Board Member Judith Sullivan Corney will make a decision regarding the number and composition of districts at a Special Meeting Wednesday March 7 at 6:30pm at the School Board Office. A proposal will be made to the Utility and Review Board, who will hold a public consultation and make the final decision.

Health Services Foundation ready for 2nd Annual Radiothon

South Shore's Health Services Foundation 2nd annual Gift for the Heart Radiothon gets underway Tuesday. It will be held on CKBW and HANK-FM this year, in order to raise $244-thousand for a new Echo System. Bernadette Jordan with the Foundation talks about the importance of the system.

"It takes pictures of the heart, it's a non-invasive procedure, so its like an ultrasound but it's strictly cardiac and it will look at valves as well as the heart, and anyone who has any kind of heart issues, or valve issues, the echo is the system they go on."

Jordan is encouraging businesses to challenge each other to see who can donate more, or gather pocket change and donate that way.

"Throw it in a jar and drop it off the day of the event and you know, sometimes people don't realize how much change adds up and it can add up quite quickly and anybody can collect change, I mean, we're talking kids, schools, community groups, everybody can do the change thing quite easily."

South Shore Regional Hospital has the lone echo system from Halifax to Yarmouth. Both radio stations will air the Radiothon from 8am-6pm Tuesday.

Sports: Murphy wins Tankard title over Dacey

There's a new provincial curling champion on the block. Jamie Murphy's club from CFB Halifax got by Mark Dacey 7-5 in the final of the 2012 Molson Tankard Sunday at the Bridgewater Curling Club. Murphy says its a big thrill to win the title.

"It's just been awesome. We've had an awesome week and just can't put it into words, it's just been an awesome day."

Murphy's team came out firing, building up a 5-0 lead after two ends before Dacey fought back to within two after the seventh end. But the two teams just traded singles in the next two ends before Murphy ran Dacey out of rocks in the 10th to seal the victory. Murphy says it's a big win to beat Dacey for the championship.

"It's huge. Mark has was a great competitor all week, extremely supportive of us and a true professional."

Murphy also wins the first provincial title for CFB Halifax since Dave Joens won it in 1992. The Murphy team will now represent Nova Scotia at the 2012 Brier in Saskatoon, beginning the weekend of March.

Sports: Mustangs begin playoffs against Valley

Playoff hockey hits Bridgewater Saturday night as the South Shore Canadian Tire Mustangs battle the Valley Wildcats. It's the opener of the best of five series between the two clubs. The two teams are no stranger to each other, squaring off five times in the regular season with the Mustangs winning four of the games. Head Coach Tim Boyce says his team needs to put a lot of pucks towards the net while shutting down the top offensive weapons for the Wildcats. Game one begins at 8pm Saturday night at the Bridgewater Arena.

South Canoe Wind Project: Consultations Begin

Public consultations begin today on a large wind farm between Chester and Windsor. A public meeting will be held this afternoon in Vaughan at the Fire Hall. Three Nova Scotia companies are hoping to win the rights to build the South Canoe Wind Project. The wind farm would feature up to 50 turbines spread over 6,400 hectares of land between Chester and Windsor. Oxford Frozen Food, Minas Basin Pulp and Paper and Nova Scotia power are the proponents behind the project. Today's meeting begins at 2 o'clock. Another public meeting will be held in Chester on Monday night at the Legion.

RCMP find body of missing Shelburne County woman

RCMP have found the body of a missing Shelburne County woman. Police say in a news release that foul play is not suspected in the death of Chelsea Hopkins. The 23-year-old's body was found in a wooded area near her home shortly before 4pm Friday afternoon. She was reported missing on Thursday afternoon. In a news release, the Mounties thanked the public for its assistance in providing information about the missing woman.

Sports: Crushers top Lumberjacks

Devan Gunn scored a powerplay marker midway through the third period, lifting the Pictou County Weeks Crushers to a 4-3 win over the CIBC Wood Gundy Lumberjacks. Cody Coffin, Brennan Saulnier and Jake Bullen scored for the Jacks while Dylan McQuaid turned aside 31 shots on the loss. Head Coach Terry Rhindress says his club put in a good effort, in a losing cause. The Jacks went 0 for 3 on the powerplay while Pictou went 1 for 3 with the man advantage. The Lumberjacks next game goes in Summerside Sunday against the Capitals.