CHCO Television teamed up with Swallowtail Keepers Society to host "Tending the Light: A Telethon for Swallowtail" on Sunday, a live TV fundraiser to help restore Grand Manan's iconic lighthouse and keeper's house from weather damage. The telethon was originally scheduled to run for three hours, but due to an outpouring of donations from across the province, the country and beyond, we were live for over 4 and a half hours, raising a total of $55,000 for Swallowtail.

In reporter Vicky Hogarth's round up of what's happening in the area, she continued on the subject of a heated town hall meeting.The rise in crime and drug related issues continues to be a major discussion point at St. Stephen Town Council with members of the public expressing frustration in how they believe the RCMP are handling reports of crime.

"Nobody feels like the RCMP care at all," said one concerned citizen. "When my shop was robbed, they told me, 'We don't investigate robberies--bye,' and they left."

Council and town staff have begun preliminary discussions on the possibility of hiring a secondary protective force to help keep watch of the community. 

"What are we looking for? Are we looking for someone in a marked vehicle patroling 24 hours a day 365 days a year? We can have that service, but what is it going to cost?" asked CAO Jeff Renaud.

The rise in crime and drug issues isn't exclusive to St. Stephen. Last Thursday, members of RCMP met with the Regional Service Commission board, municipal leaders from Southwest New Brunswick, St. Croix MLA Kathy Bockus and members of the public to determine their top three RCMP priorities for Region 10 for the coming year.

"We still have drugs as our number one priority, but we've included that with drug-related crime," said Ken Stannix, the Mayor of McAdam and also the Chair of Regional Service Commission 10. "Our second priority is focusing on repeat offenders--high priority criminals who we want to look after who are creating a lot of crime. The third one is police presence. It is important we develop trust between people and police."

The province is also investing in 80 more RCMP officers for New Brunswick, 51 of which will be stationed in rural parts of the province. At the meeting, MLA Bockus said she would also look into getting a mobile crisis unit for Region 10 to help deal with mental health and drug related incidents. 

Finally, forest fire season officially began on Monday in New Brunswick, but St. Andrews fire chief Kevin Theriault says it tends to start earlier in Southwest New Brunswick where local fire departments have already tasked with extinguishing a number of preventable wildfires.

"We have been out to three or four this year, one of which was about 10 or 12 acres in Kerrs Ridge," said Theriault. "When something major comes in like a structure fire, we have to pull trucks from all over."

In order to prevent the spread of wildfires, permission is required. Category 1 fires require permission, while Category 2-4 fires need written permits. Anyone starting a fire is responsible for it and may face penalties for violating burning regulations. For more information, visit the Department of Natural Resources and Energy Development website or call 1-866-458-8080.