Updated at 9:12 am
SMALL PLANE CRASHES NEAR VALLEY AIRPORT
Two local men have been taken to Colchester Regional Hospital after a small two-seater plane crashed in a Valley neighhourhood.
The American Champion Aircraft crashed in the yard of a Hillridge Drive home around seven this morning, shortly after taking off from the Valley airstrip.
RCMP Staff-Sergeant Jay McInnis tells the Big Dog newsroom the plane was headed for Ontario.
There's no word on the extent of the unidentified men's injuries, but McInnis tells us they are not believed to be life-threatening.
Local RCMP are helping the Transportation Safety Board with its investigation.
LILLIAN FRASER ER CLOSES FOR WEEKEND
The emergency department in Tatamagouche will be closed for the weekend.
The Lillian Fraser ER will close at seven tonight, and won't re-open until eight o'clock Monday morning.
It'll shut down for the same time frame the next two weekends, as well.
The closures are due to a physician shortage.
DRUG BUST IN BELMONT
A Belmont man is facing drug charges.
RCMP executed a search warrant on a Plains Road home yesterday.
Police say they found marijuana and a sawed off shotgun in the search.
A 44 year old suspect has been released from custody and will be facing charges under the Criminal Code and Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.
PICTOU COUNTY RCMP WARN OF SHADY HANDYMAN
People in Pictou County are being advised to be extra careful when hiring a handyman.
RCMP have received complaints about a man requesting money up front to perform roofing repairs and other handyman type work.
But, after the victims' cheques have been cashed, the handyman doesn't come back to do the work.
Some people have given the man more than 2-thousand dollars.
Pictou County RCMP are advising homeowners to do their research on prospective handymen, regardless if they have advertised their services in the newspaper or phone book.
CAUSE REVEALED IN THIS WEEK'S HUGE POWER OUTAGE
Nova Scotia Power says a cracked insulator is behind this week's big power outage in Colchester and Cumberland Counties.
Wednesday morning's outage left more than four-thousand homes and businesses in Tatamagouche, Wallace, River John, Denmark, Earltown and neighbouring communities without power.
GAS PRICE UPDATE
Not much change at the gas pumps this week.
The price of gasoline hasn't budged, and diesel is down by just over a cent a litre.
In New Brunswick, gas went up a cent this week.
LOCAL SPORTS
Scores from Thursday:
In Truro & Area ball hockey playoffs, Wood Gundy edged Orange 5-4 in a shootout in the Atom division. They'll face each other Tuesday for the championship. In Bantam, AJ Walkers are the champs after defeating Salmon River 4-3. In the Novice division, the Bruins got a 4-3 shootout win over the Leafs to win the championship in that series.
