Residents of the Southwest Coast all receive a Snow Job.

For those not familiar with the term,click here and you'll find one or two to suit the meaning. Maybe they all apply in this case!

here's the big release from Diane Whelan, Minister of Works and Transportation for the Province.

Transportation and Works
October 28, 2008

Provincial Government Launching 24-Hour Snow Clearing Pilot Project

For the first time in almost 30 years, 24-hour snow clearing will be available on various parts of the Trans Canada Highway (TCH) and some major trunk roads in this province.

The Honourable Dianne Whalen, Minister of Transportation and Works, announced today that the Provincial Government is introducing limited 24-hour snow clearing as part of a pilot project this winter. Minister Whalen made the announcement during a news conference at the Department of Transportation and Works depot in Clarenville.

"As always, this government is committed to providing motorists with safe winter driving conditions," said Minister Whalen. "This pilot project will allow Transportation and Works staff to determine the effectiveness, necessity and long-term sustainability of 24-hour snow clearing."

The last time the province had any 24-hour, snow-clearing coverage on the Trans Canada Highway and trunk roads was 1979.

The Provincial Government has invested $1.7 million to launch the pilot project, which will provide coverage in high-traffic areas of the Trans Canada Highway and major trunk roads. Approximately $1.3 million of this cost will be associated with additional salt/sand purchases, fuel and increased maintenance.

Sections of the Trans Canada Highway that will receive 24-hour snow-clearing coverage this winter are:

• Logy Bay Road Interchange to Manitoba Drive in Clarenville;
• Cooper Boulevard in Gander to the west end of the divided highway in Grand Falls-Windsor; and,
• The Route 430 Interchange in Deer Lake to the Stephenville Cold Brook Depot.

Trunk roads that will receive 24-hour snow-clearing coverage are:

• Route 2, Pitts Memorial Drive/Manuals Access/ Conception Bay South (CBS) Bypass to Legion Road, CBS;
• Route 350, from the TCH to Botwood;
• Lewin Parkway/Ring Road in Corner Brook; and,
• Route 430, TCH to Rocky Harbour.

All sections in this year’s pilot project were included based on Department of Transportation and Works traffic counts that indicate high traffic volumes.

Normally, the Department of Transportation and Works has snow-clearing crews working from approximately 4:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. The pilot project will have crews working around the clock to keep roads clear of snow and ice.

Minister Whalen says sections of road not included in the pilot project will continue to receive necessary coverage.

"As per usual, our snow plows will work past 9:30 p.m. if a storm is coming to an end and continue early in the morning," said Minister Whalen. "And in case of emergencies, ambulance and fire truck operators can call our 24-hour dispatch and plows will be dispatched immediately."

Contact information for the various 24-hour dispatch services is available at the following internet link: http://www.roads.gov.nl.ca/winterdriving/default.stm.

Minister Whalen said sections not included in the coverage area this winter could be included in the future, depending on the outcome of this year’s pilot project.

- 30 -2008 10 28 1:15 p.m.

The residents here still remember the Williams Government's Pilot project back in 2004 when the commercial weight scales at Port Aux Basques was closed. This recent Pilot Project seems familiar and most of us know why. It's a political project because were in a Liberal district and that's the way it goes with this Government. Residents here on the Southwest coast have to travel daily to Corner Brook or Stephenville for medical attention and when winter approaches some have to leave the day before and hotel bills are not uncommon to a lot. If that pilot project was extended to the Southwest coast a lot of people could still make the appointment and return the same day. Two weeks ago i left my home at 4:45 am to take a family member to Corner Brook for a medical procedure at Western Memorial Hospital. His time to be admitted for the procedure was 7:45 am. We arrived on time and made it back home by 4pm the same day. I wonder where does Dianne Whalen think the bulk of freight that enters the island comes from? Does she forget the Marine Atlantic Ferry Terminal at Port Aux Basques? Minister Whalen,extend that Pilot Project to the Southwest Cost and ignore the fact that were a Liberal District. For your information we do consider ourselves a part of the province even though the current goverment might not think so.

Williams to shuffle cabinet

Saturday, October 25, 2008 | 2:15 PM NT

CBC News

Premier Danny Williams will shuffle his cabinet sometime in the next two weeks.

He didn't say how big the shakeup would be, but Opposition leader Yvonne Jones said the premier needs to make some big changes to his inner circle.

The Liberal leader even has a list of changes she would like Williams to make.

"There's lots of people inside that cabinet that need to be shuffled right out the door in my opinion. One of those is in the Department of Health. One is in the Department of Education."

It isn't clear if Williams will heed that advice and remove Health Minister Ross Wiseman or Education Minister Joan Burke from cabinet.

The premier has said he will make finding a full-time fisheries minister a priority. Trevor Taylor has been acting in that role ever since Tom Rideout resigned last May.

"We do need a fisheries minister and of course if there's going to be any altering of portfolios as well, you want to make sure that these ministers have a chance to get in their portfolios, get briefed, up to speed, and are ready to answer questions in the house and obviously perform their duties as ministers. So, the sooner the better, but hopefully within a fortnight or 10 days we should be able to get it done," said Williams.

The house of assembly is set to reopen at the end of November. That would give the new ministers two or three weeks to brush up on their files.

Thousands of Home care workers and clients are hoping for a new Health Minister! Hopefully one that actually knows we must have a change in the Home care system in NL. Mr. Wiseman simply just shrugged it off by claiming no crisis existed.

Yesterday i had the privilege of escorting Les Misner and Ron Hunter a friend of his to the top of the Table Mountain over looking Cape Ray and The Gulf Of St. Lawrence. Les is the son of Sgt. Gordon Misner R168439 who spent 14 months of his life there during WWII. Gord Misner operated and maintained the Radio equipment during his service there.

Ron snaps a shot of Les placing a plaque for his father at the old WWII Radar.



Les flew in from Ontario and drove from St, Johns to Cape Ray where i met him beneath the mountain. Before we began our ATV ride to the top Les phoned his mother to say he was going to the Radar and would phone his father from that location. When we arrived Les sat beneath the Radar and phoned home to Ontario. The Wreckhouse winds gusted as Les dialed and the moment he had been waiting those months for was not quite what he expected.




His mother had to tell him the news she didn't mention earlier. Gord,his father, age 87, had fallen earlier and broke his hip. He was in the hospital and would have to have surgery soon.Ron and i walked to the edge of the mountain to view the scenery and Les talked to his mother. A moment so long awaited was not quite what neither of us really expected.
(Gord had surgery last night and seems to be coping well.)

Some photos of yesterdays excursion.

Marked my X before i went to work this morning. Four candidates on the ballot here in Random-Burin-St. George's this time around.

• Herb Davis, Conservative Party of Canada
• Kaitlin Wainwright, Green Party of Canada
• Terry White, New Democratic Party
• Judy Foote, Liberal Party of Canada

As far as i know,not one of them took the time to visit our tiny community. I doubt if either one of them ever actually visited here in the past. OH WELL! QUE SERA,SERA.

Travian

My brother recently asked me to get involved with a group of his friends in an online game called Travian. Not giving it much thought i decided to do so and now it looks like i 'm hooked on the darn thing. The aim of the game is to control a village and later others. It's much easier to form an alliance as we have done. The single player out there might not survive and just quit after a while becoming frustrated from attacks by groups in an alliance. Even our alliance have non aggression pacts with other alliances and diplomacy goes a long in surviving. Three tribes make up the Travian World, the Romans, the Gauls, and the Teutons. Each has their own characteristics and a different style of game play. The most amusing thing about it so far was that i caught a bunch of invaders trying to loot my village. I sent a message to the guy saying i would release them for some wheat. If he refused i would keep them and he would end up feeding them anyway. After a bit of online communication i found out he was just 16 and from Vermont. I told him my location and age and he replied," your awesome for an old guy!" Now you just can't get a better comment then that on the WWW today!

Two Stories in The Weekend Telegram on the same page.

One about suffering and another about dirty laundry.

You make the connection.