Iggy's Liberal Express Due In Town

The Liberal Express will be rolling through our area over the holiday weekend - the summer bus tour is designed to get federal leader Michael Ignatieff mixing with average Canadians.


Ignatieff will be making hour long stops on Sunday at a coffee shop in Grand Falls - the Kings Landing historical settlement - a country market in Maugerville throughout the day on Sunday.

The day draws to a close with a barbecue in Rothesay hosted by former Saint John M-P Paul Zed.

Ignatieff moves on to Moncton and the Miramichi area on New Brunswick day.

New Bridge In St. Martins

It's last major upgrade was in 1996 and by late this fall, the Gardner Creek Number Four Bridge in St. Martins will have a brand new look.
The 65-year old concrete and wood span is being replaced with a new state of the art structure.
Transportation Minister Denis Landry tells CHSJ News, there is some concern about speeding from home-owners in the area where the detour is set-up but the limit is being dropped to sixty from seventy until the work is finished in mid-November.
Total cost of the project is $2.6 million dollars.

Meeting Next Week In Quispamsis

(Health Minister Mary Schryer)
          (File Photo)

Health Minister Mary Schryer is playing host to an Atlantic regional meeting of ministers responsible for the status of women in Quispamsis next week.
It is to discuss issues of common concern and explore areas for regional co-operation.


Schryer, who also holds the portfolio of minister responsible for the status of women says the issue of human trafficking will be foremost on the agenda.


This is the first time a meeting of Atlantic ministers responsible for the status of women is being held.


The conference runs Tuesday and Wednesday.

New Stats On Seatbelts

New stats from RCMP prove what some have been preaching for a long time.....seatbelts save lives.
Officers tell us 90% of drivers in the Province buckle up before starting their vehicle but the 10% who don't account for 44% of those killed on Provincial Highways.

No matter what you have planned for this Long Weekend, if it involves driving, RCMP remind everyone to buckle up as they will be conducting check-stops all weekend.

Update On New Discovery Center

The fund-raising campaign for the new Discovery Center at the Huntsman Marine Science Center is on a roll.


After eight months of collecting cash, there is just over one million of the two million dollar goal locked up.
The Seal the Deal campaign kicked off in October with the pouring of concrete set to get started tomorrow.


The new Discovery Center will have several features including an aquarium, 226 seat theater, wet lab and will be open year round.
It is scheduled to be open in June of next year.

People's Alliance Leader Blasts Conservatives And Leader David Alward

(People's Alliance of New Brunswick Leader Kris Austin)
                           (File Photo)

The leader of the People's Alliance, the newest political party in the province says he used to be a Conservative.

Kris Austin tells CHSJ News he decided to abandon the party after it voted to raise M-L-A salaries, pensions and severance followed by its leader David Alward attempting to back track in the face of public anger.

Austin argues Alward only did that because he got caught. He also charges the Conservatives may talk about the grassroots but, in his view, remain closed door and elitist.

Austin is equally critical of the Liberals accusing them of being too secretive when they were trying to sell NB Power to Hydro Quebec in the winter. He maintains people in the province, by and large, are fed up with both of the mainstream parties.

Police Car Rearended In Valley

Two Rothesay Regional Police officers were uninjured after the car they were in was rear ended. They were waiting for the light to change at the intersection of Hampton Road and Route 119 when the collision happened.

The two were taken to the hospital to be checked out and were later released.

It's not known yet if the other driver will be charged.

A Mixed Bag With Gas Prices After The Weekly Setting

If you fill up with self serve regular, you'll be paying a bit more for gas this morning after the weekly setting but if you use diesel, it is a bit less expensive. Self serve is up by one cent a litre in the city to 99.3 cents while diesel is down by under a cent to $1.00.6. There is no change with propane. It's still at 99.6 a litre.

Liberals Scoff At Conservative Party's Theme For Provincial Election Campaign

(Deputy Premier Donald Arsenault)
           (File Photo)

The provincial Liberals say they're not threatened by the Conservative Party's theme for the upcoming election.

This, after Conservative Leader David Alward announced yesterday that the party would be campaigning under the slogan "Putting New Brunswickers First...For a Change".

Deputy Premier Donald Arseneault says Alward sat in government for seven years and never put New Brunswick first. Arseneault points to the Conservative government under then Premier Bernard Lord closing hospitals, allowing car insurance rates to go through the roof, and making massive cuts to agriculture programs, when it was in power from 1999 to 2006.

Conservatives In City Tonight To Talk About Energy

(Provincial Conservative Leader David Alward)
                    (File Photo)

The Conservatives continue to criss-cross the Province to discuss energy and the stop-over tonight is in Saint John. The party is looking for feedback from rate-payers with Leader David Alward committed to setting up an Energy Commission that would report back to government within six months if his party wins the September vote. 

Tonight's Session gets started at 7:00 runs until 9 at the Fort Howe Hotel.
 
The Liberals have been challenging Alward to spell out what he would do with NB Power and other energy issues.

Union Warns Of Cuts In Mail Delivery

Is rural home mail delivery in jeopardy? That is the question being asked by the Fundy Local of Canadian Postal Workers. It says Canada Post is removing delivery to homes in favor of community mail boxes.

 Union Vice President Don Watson tells CHSJ News, it's not just convenience at risk, it is jobs as well.
Watson also wonders what seniors and the handicapped, who have been used to home delivery will do, when they have to start using a community mailbox three or four miles from their front door. Canada Post is offering to deliver their mail to the door once a week.
 
Watson predicts the cuts in service may eventually extend into the city itself.

Second World War Vets From Saint John Talk About Their Experiences

Veterans from the Greater Saint John Area are sharing their stories from the Second World War. The Memory Project from the Historica Dominion Institute was in town yesterday so veterans could archive their memories from war. Project coordinator Jenna Meisner tells CHSJ News the project got a great turnout. Meisner says the material recorded at yesterday's session will be on their website in about six weeks.