Local News

The town of Canso is holding the line on tax rates.

In April, town council approved a budget that would have increased the residential tax rate by 50 per cent and the commercial rate by 30 per cent.

Shortly after, the town started working with the province to come up with a more reasonable rate.

Mayor Frank Fraser tells The Hawk the town is in better shape than first thought.

"I think our utilities, our water and electric utilities are in good shape, we have reserves,” he says.

“We are able to borrow from our own sources and use a little more creative budgeting."

There is also more than $90,000 in funding from the province to help stabilize the tax rate.

Fraser tells says they found money in a number of areas, but that doesn't mean anything has changed in terms of dissolving the town.

"We have gone beyond the point of no return the application is in process,

The only one who could change that is the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board."

The town’s residential rate will stay at $2.35 per $100 of assessment; the commercial rate remains $4.08.

Sherbrooke RCMP say they have closed the investigation into an unmanned sail boat that turned up in Port Bickerton.

The coast guard received a call that a red and white 12-foot sail boat was adrift in the ocean Wednesday morning.

No one was around and there were no missing person reports.

An RCMP spokesperson tells The Hawk investigators believe the unmarked boat was likely tied up at a local wharf, its rope broke and it drifted away.

They are still asking the owner to claim their vessel.

A member of a musical duo with local roots says she's honoured by an international songwriting award.

Madison Violet won the Maxell Song of the Year in the John Lennon songwriting contest for the song The Ransom.

The group is made up of Cregnish's Lisa MacIsaac and Brenley MacEachern.

MacEachern's family comes from Inverness Co.

MacIsaac tells The Hawk they wrote the award-winning song during a low point on the road.

"We were just exhausted. The tour was too long, we were a bit road weary and we just both wanted to go home,” she says.

“That doesn’t happen too often, we are usually quite content on the road,” she says.

“But I think it just hit us that we had enough right at that moment and it inspired this song."

Macisaac says there were thousands of entries from across the world.

She says some big names in the music industry were judges for the contest.

"The people who have listened to this song now are Elton John, Tim McGraw, Fergie, Mary J. Blige,” she says.

“Who knows maybe something fantastic will come of this."

They won $20,000, plus other prizes.

Some music fans from across the Quad Counties and the province will be spending the weekend in Pictou Co.

They're going to check out the 2010 New Glasgow Riverfront Jubilee.

Blue Rodeo, Sloan and Antigonish's The Trews headline this year's show.

Some of the other acts include Molly Thomason, J.P Cormier, Alert the Medic, Haywire, Thom Swift and the El Caminos, The Stanfields and Matthew Barber.

It starts Friday night and runs until Sunday.