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Showing news for the month of March , 2010 | TOWNS REQUEST STUDY OF REGIONAL POLICE FORCE OPTION | Wednesday 10th March 2010 | The province's justice minister, Ross Landry, will be getting a letter from the town of Trenton supporting funding of a study to re-examine the concept of regional policing in Pictou County.
Mayor Glen MacKinnon brought the matter to the council chambers Tuesday night, after Westville issued a similar call last week at a meeting of mayors and the warden.
Westville Mayor Roger MacKay says the idea makes perfect sense, with Pictou County a possible location for a new correctional facility.
The ball started rolling when police in Stellarton and Westville, along with R-C-M-P, made a presentation to Stellarton Town Council after Stellarton called for proposals.
Dispatch for Westville Police is currently done through Stellarton, while New Glasgow and Trenton are finalizing the details of an agreement on policing for those two towns.
A detachment of the R-C-M-P is also located in Stellarton.
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| STELLARTON MAN CHARGED WITH BREAK ENTER AND THEFT | Wednesday 10th March 2010 | A Pictou County man is facing a charge of break, enter and theft.
19-year old Robert Alan Arthur Murphy of Stellarton is alleged to have broken into a small store in Hopewell on 14 December.
He made a brief court appearance on Monday, and was given time to contact a lawyer.
Murphy returns to court 12 April to enter pleas.
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| STELLARTON TO WITHDRAW FROM PICTOU REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION | Wednesday 10th March 2010 | Stellarton Town Council has voted to withdraw from the Pictou Regional Development Commission next year.
The vote was 3 – 1 with the lone dissenter Councillor Denise Taylor, who said there was not enough discussion on the notice of motion set to take effect in April of 2011.
But several councillors chimed in by saying the issue received considerable attention.
Mayor Joe Gennoe says the town simply was not getting its moneys worth from the P-R-D-C.
But Gennoe says council could reconsider at a later date, and continue on with the commission.
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| NEW GLASGOW MAN DENIES SEXUAL ASSAULT CHARGE | Tuesday 9th March 2010 | A New Glasgow man has pleaded not guilty to sexual assault.
The 28-year old, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the alleged victim, entered the plea to the single charge on Monday.
The sexual assault is alleged to have taken place on 17 January in New Glasgow.
The accused goes to trial on 29 July.
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| PROVINCE TO COMPENSATE STELLARTON FOR SINK HOLE REPAIRS | Tuesday 9th March 2010 | The Mayor of Stellarton says a consultant is working with town and provincial engineers for a permanent solution to the sinkhole that opened up on North Foord Street last year.
The gaping crater was a major inconvenience for the general public, business and town works department.
Joe Gennoe says the province has agreed to compensate the town for costs to date in fixing the problem, close to the Trans-Canada overpass.
He says the hole has been back-filled and is costing the town twenty-thousand dollars a month to keep the pumps working.
Gennoe says a long term solution is to have the hole cleaned out and grouted, before any replacements are made.
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| PICTOU COUNTY COUPLE PLEAD NOT GUILTY TO DRUG AND WEAPONS CHARGES | Tuesday 9th March 2010 | A man and woman from Pictou County, charged with drug and weapons offences, go to trial in the summer.
A lawyer entered not guilty pleas Monday on behalf of 50-year old William Joseph Young and 53-year old Judith Marie Jackson.
Each are facing thirteen charges including possession of over three-kilograms of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking, marijuana production, possessing firearms without a licence, unsafe storage of firearms and possession of a restricted weapon and ammunition.
Charges were laid following a police search of a Watervale property on 1 October.
The trial for Young and Jackson will be held on 13 July.
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| NEW OWNER OF TRENTON WORKS PLANS TO OPERATE WIND FARMS | Monday 8th March 2010 | Daewoo is on the ground running in Nova Scotia.
The South Korean Shipbuilding and Engineering giant says it plans to establish a joint venture with the Province of Nova Scotia to build a wind farm.
The company did not give a time frame, location or manufacturing schedule in a media release from headquarters in Seoul, but says the venture will be able to produce 6-hundred wind turbine blades and 250-windmill towers annually.
Daewoo entered into an agreement with the province Friday to takeover the Trenton Works Railcar facility, where rotor blades and stands will be built with about 120-employees at start-up and up to 5-hundred in three years.
The plant will be known as DSME Trenton.
Daewoo got into the wind energy business to compensation for falling orders in the ship building industry, and also took controlling interest in a U-S company, Dewind Incorporated, with a large contract in the state of Texas.
Daewoo has assets of 17-billion, and has invested 20-million in the Trenton operation.
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| DRIVING CRACKDOWNS CONTINUE | Monday 8th March 2010 | New Glasgow Police Service conducted an impaired driving crackdown Saturday.
A charge of impaired driving and refusal to provide a breathalyzer sample on Little Harbour Road was laid against 68-year-old man from the town.
He appears in court at a later date.
Mounties also had a vehicle inspection sticker and seatbelt check in Pictou Sunday.
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| MAN CHARGED WITH IMPAIRED SNOWMOBILING | Monday 8th March 2010 | R-C-M-P were called out to a disturbance early Saturday morning at a residence on Hardwood Hill Road in Scotsburn.
While the mounties were there, a 34-year-old man operating a snowmobile was found to be in an intoxicated state.
The suspect had readings twice the legal limit after giving breath samples at the Pictou RCMP detachment.
The man was released from custody and returns to court in May to face charges under the motor vehicle act.
The disturbance was resolved without charges being laid.
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| DAEWOO OFFICIALLY TAKES OVER AT TRENTON WORKS | Friday 5th March 2010 | | D-S-M-E of South Korea is establishing a wind turbine tower and blade manufacturing facility at the former Trenton Works rail car plant.
The official announcement made Friday morning at the plant.
Premier Darrell Dexter says the agreement with the province, federal government and Daewoo will have immediate benefits with about 120 jobs within the first year of operations, and the potential for five-hundred in three years.
The province is investing 60-million dollars and will have a 49-percent equity stake along with start-up money through the Industrial Expansion Fund with loans for new equipment, working capital, and money to acquire land and buildings.
Daewoo is kicking in over 20-million, and a 10-million dollar repayable loan is being provided through the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency for adjacent land improvements.
D-S-M-E is also entering into a memorandum of understanding with Nova Scotia Power in developing collaborative projects. |
| NEW GLASGOW MAN REMANDED FOR MENTAL ASSESSMENT FOLLOWING THEFTS | Friday 5th March 2010 | | A New Glasgow man has been sent for a mental fitness assessment following a string of thefts over the last three weeks.
39-year old Richard Allen McCulloch was remanded to the East Coast Forensic Hospital in Dartmouth at a court appearance Thursday.
McCulloch was arrested an charged with theft under five-thousand dollars, assault with the threat of a weapon and possession of a knife for a dangerous purpose on Wednesday following an alleged incident at an east side grocery store.
He is also accused of stealing pick-up trucks from two Pictou County dealerships, driving without a licence, displaying licence plates issued to another vehicle, possession of stolen property, theft and various breaches of court orders.
Those offences are alleged to have taken place on 1 March and 15 February in New Glasgow and Westville.
McCulloch returns to court on 31 March. |
| NEW COOLING TOWERS BEING INSTALLED AT ABERDEEN HOSPITAL | Friday 5th March 2010 | | Two new cooling towers are scheduled to be installed at the Aberdeen Hospital in New Glasgow on Saturday.
The towers are currently being stored in the south end parking lot.
Installation will shut down the main hospital entrance, the south end parking lot and some handicapped parking spaces in front of the hospital to visitors for much of the day Saturday.
People coming to the hospital should park in the new lot behind the Aberdeen Professional Centre, and use alternate entrances to the building during this time.
The Pictou County Health Authority apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause. |
| GAS PRICES UNCHANGED | Friday 5th March 2010 | | No change in gas prices this week.
A litre of self-serve unleaded at the pumps in Northern Nova Scotia still goes for between a little over a dollar-seven and a dollar-nine cents as of Friday morning.
The prices are set at midnight by the Provincial Utility and Review Board. |
| SUSPECT ARRESTED FOLLOWING GROCERY STORE THEFT | Thursday 4th March 2010 | | The New Glasgow Police Service have arrested a 39-year old New Glasgow man after an incident involving a weapon early Wednesday night at Sobeys on East River Road.
Store security pursued a suspect after a theft at the grocery outlet and were confronted by a man displaying a weapon during an altercation with an officer.
Police later tracked down a suspect at an Egerton Street residence after a man had fled the scene.
The suspect was apprehended early Thursday morning after a search warrant was executed.
The Major Crime Unit and Emergency Response Team also assisted in the apprehension.
The suspect appears in court later Thursday on charges of robbery and breach of an undertaking. |
| LIBERALS BLAST ADDITION TO INDUSTRIAL EXPANSION FUND FOR NORTHERN PULP | Thursday 4th March 2010 | | A couple of liberal M-L-A's have weighed in on the land purchase by Northern Pulp.
Environment Critic Andrew Younger and Natural Resources critic Leo Glavine say the N-D-P Government loaned the company 75-million dollars by adding tax dollars to the Industrial Expansion Fund.
The M-L-A's say Northern Pulp will use much of the loan to buy half-a-million acres of forest land at 175-dollars per acre.
They add the government will then buy back 55-thousand acres of that land for preservation at higher price of 3-hundred dollars an acre.
The M-L-A's say protecting land makes sense, but paying a premium for the land with taxpayer dollars does not. |
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| COUNTY MAN NOT GUILTY OF IMPAIRED DRIVING CAUSING BODILY HARM | Thursday 4th March 2010 | | A charge of impaired driving causing bodily harm has been dropped against a Pictou County man.
Instead, 25-year old Frederick Alan Sim pleaded guilty to driving with a blood alcohol level over the legal limit during a court appearance Wednesday.
He was fined one-thousand dollars and received a one-year driving prohibition.
Sim lost control of his pick-up truck just after 6am on 23 May in Thorburn and crashed through a power pole, knocking out power to the area.
A female passenger complained of back pain following the accident, but it was later determined she had a pre-existing condition so the bodily harm charge was dropped. |
| BOAT HARBOUR CLEAN UP NOT ON RADAR FOR PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT | Wednesday 3rd March 2010 | | A former Tory cabinet minister's pledge to clean-up Boat Harbour does not apply to the current N-D-P government.
Murray Scott wrote a correspondence to the Pictou Landing First Nation several years ago when he was the minister responsible for the effluent treatment plant at Northern Pulp in Abercrombie Point.
But current Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal Minister, Bill Estabrooks, says it is not the focus of where he is going.
Scott's letter had promised to find another location for the mill's effluent and clean-up the harbour.
Pictou Landing First Nation Chief, Aileen Francis, says it is fifteen years of unfulfilled expectations. |
| NO BAIL FOR COUNTY MAN CHARGED WITH STEALING TRUCK | Wednesday 3rd March 2010 | | A Pictou County man will await his trial date behind bars after being denied bail.
42-year old Arthur Stewart Baxter was remanded into custody following his unsuccessful bail hearing Tuesday in Pictou.
Baxter is charged with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle and theft over five-thousand dollars for allegedly stealing a one-tonne pick-up truck on 30 May in Loch Broom.
Baxter has compiled 95 previous convictions across seven provinces over the last 25 years, and the judge cited that record in denying bail, calling Baxter a high risk to re-offend.
His trial is set for 13 May. |
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| PLYMOUTH MAN ADMITS PRODUCING MARIJUANA | Wednesday 3rd March 2010 | | A Plymouth man will be sentenced in the spring for growing marijuana.
49-year old Theron Cornell O'Brien pleaded guilty on Monday to marijuana production and possession of less than one gram of cannabis resin.
A charge of possession for the purpose of trafficking was withdrawn by the Crown.
O'Brien will be sentenced on 6 May. |
| MAN TAKES TEST DRIVE AND THE TRUCK | Tuesday 2nd March 2010 | | A test drive turned into a free ride yesterday at the Highland Ford Dealership in Westville.
R-C-M-P say a thief requested keys for a brand new F-150 Supercab pick-up truck, but the adult male suspect fled with the vehicle when the salesman went to get a license plate for the test drive.
Gas was later reported stolen from the Blue Acres Esso with a description of a suspect truck matching the vehicle stolen from the dealership.
Investigators later attended at an Egerton Street, New Glasgow home where the truck was located and seized with assistance from the town police force.
R-C-M-P say charges are pending, but no arrests have been made yet. |
| CHURCHVILLE MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO THEFT | Tuesday 2nd March 2010 | | A 19-year old Pictou County man has admitted to a charge of theft.
Evan Phillip Brannon of Churchville pleaded guilty to the single count on Monday.
The theft took place last 3 May in New Glasgow.
Brannon will be sentenced on 17 May.
The theft charge was referred top adult diversion three times, but the program was never successfully completed. |
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| WELLNESS FUNDS HANDED OUT TO LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS | Tuesday 2nd March 2010 | | More funding for local organizations through Pictou County Community Health Boards under the umbrella of the Pictou County Health Authority.
Over 50-thousand dollars will be going out to 24 organizations including the Wellness Day for Helpline Volunteers, Earth Arc's Therapeutic Riding Program, Y-M-C-A's Aquatic Accessibility Project and Riverview Home Volunteer Association's Trail Development Project.
The boards have allocated over two-hundred thousand dollars to local community organizations over the last five years.
The money is used to promote wellness and healthier living. |
| NORTHERN PULP AND PROVINCE STRIKE MAJOR DEAL | Monday 1st March 2010 | | The province says it is protecting jobs and the environment by partnering with Northern Pulp at Abercrombie Point to acquire land.
The province has loaned the company 75-million dollars to help Northern Pulp purchase 475-thousand acres of land from Neenah Paper Canada.
The province says it will also invest 16.5-million dollars to acquire 55-thousand acres of the land, mostly for conservation purposes.
The announcement was made Monday in Stellarton by Economic and Rural Development Minister, Percy Paris, and Natural Resources Minister, John MacDonnell.
Funding for the loan comes through the province's industrial expansion fund and the land purchase through 75-million dollars budgeted in September of 2009.
Northern Pulp was created several years ago after the mill was purchased from Neenah Paper, and supports about 17-hundred jobs in the forestry sector in Northern and Central Nova Scotia. |
| WET CONDITIONS CAUSE ACCIDENTS | Monday 1st March 2010 | | Mounties were called out to a couple of accidents in the Western portion of Pictou County early Monday morning.
A vehicle slid off the road and into a ditch on Six Mile Brook Road and landed on it's side.
The adult female driver was taken to hospital as a precaution.
A cubed van and a car collided on West River Road close to the Pictou Rotary.
One of the drivers was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Both vehicles had to be towed away.
Road conditions were described as slushy, wet and snow covered. |
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