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Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Child Porn Seized At Border

A 31 year old Philadelphia man pleading guilty in St. Stephen to a count of possession of child pornography.

A Canada Border Services agent did an inspection when Shayne Clark's vehicle was entering Canada and found a laptop containing at least one video of child sexual abuse.

The laptop was seized and depending on what is found on it, further charges could be laid. Clark will appear in court again on November 27.

Councillor Calls Survey $70,000 Down The Drain

$70,000 down the drain: that's how Councillor Susan Fullerton describes the citizens surveys that recently asked Saint Johners what they see as the priorities for common council.

Fullerton tells CHSJ News she's sick of spending money to find out information anyone could have already told council, which is that the public want better roads, clean water and more fiscal responsibility at City Hall.

Further, Fullerton says the results of the meetings were skewed because all kinds of special interest groups showed up and voted in favour of their specific interests. She says it's a mystery to her why council voted in favour of the surveys.

Cleary Speaks On Her Report





The Province's chief medical officer of health says strong measures to protect public health must be put in place before further development of a shale gas industry is allowed.

Dr. Eilish Cleary says while a successful shale gas industry can create greater prosperity for the cash-strapped province, money needs to be spent wisely to ensure there are programs and infrastructure to protect health.


The Opposition Liberals have called for a moratorium, but Cleary says that's a moot point because there's plenty of time to put protective measures in place before commercial development occurs.

 


9 More Calls Left In 2012 Cruise Ship Season

To date, over 180,000 cruise ship passengers have come through the Port City with 9 more vessels to come before the season ends on the 29th.
 

The Port's Business Development Manager Betty MacMillan tells CHSJ News the industry has been growing over 23 years.

She says the 2012 season will see Saint John with 190,000 cruise ship passengers and the Queen Mary 2 makes one more call on October 25th.

MacMillan adds September and October alone are a season within a season with passenger numbers exceeding 100,000.


To see the rest of the Cruise Ship schedule,  click here








Curran Lured By "Promise Of Drugs And Money"

The promise of a haul of cash led one man into serious hot water after a weekend home invasion on the East Side. 39 year old Gerald Curran pleading guilty on all counts to sneaking into a home on Ridge Street while the 84 year old homeowner was sleeping and then assaulting him.

The court heard Curran was using drugs when an acquaintance told him there was a large sum of cash in the house, which prompted him to enter the man's bedroom while he was sleeping and crawl around on the floor looking for his wallet. When the homeowner woke up Curran grabbed a hatchet that had been sitting on the bedside table and threatened the man with it as he tried to get away.

Curran will remain under house arrest until his sentencing on December 5th.

Common Council Given List Of Beefs

The people who live in the area of Latimore Lake say they've been downgraded from second-class citizens to third-class citizens.

Long time resident Odette McGrath presented Common Council with a list of grievances including lack of bus service, inadequate snow plowing and gravel pits driving down their property values.

McGrath telling the councillors Latimore Lake residents pay taxes like everyone else yet they lack basic city services.

McGrath tells CHSJ News they've raised these issues before but, in her view, they have fallen on deaf ears.


Cardy Calls For Ban On Shale Gas Development

Provincial NDP leader Dominic Cardy says Dr. Eilish Cleary's report on shale gas provides solid evidence the environmental risks call out for a legislative ban.

She warns New Brunswick doesn't have the infrastructure and legislation in place to protect public health.

Cardy tells CHSJ News he hasn't seen any estimates on how much it would cost to properly regulate shale gas exploration and the market, right now, is soft. He also doubts whether the government has the political will to properly enforce any regulations.

Both the government and the industry came under criticism in the report prepared by University of Moncton biology professor Louis LaPierre for not giving people enough information about shale gas development.

Cardy accuses both the Liberals and Conservatives of always looking for the magic bullet to turn around the provincial economy.



West Side Fire Looks Suspicious

There was a fire early this morning on the west side and it sounds to be suspicious in origin.

District Chief Peter Saab says crews found a garage ablaze at 736 Beaconsfield Avenue with most of the damage occurring at the rear of the building.

There were no vehicles inside the garage and no one was injured but the back of the garage was heavily damaged.

The garage was not attached to the home.



Dean To Undergo Assessment After Park Attack

The 27 year old man charged in the October 3rd assault of a jogger in Rockwood Park will be assessed to see if he was suffering from a mental disorder at the time of the attack.
 

Defence lawyer Reid Chedore telling the court a 30 day assessment will help determine whether Nathan Dean was of unsound mind when the jogger was attacked by a man with his face covered by pantyhose.
 

Dean is also facing charges for a second sexual assault dating back to August 26th of last year.  He will reappear in court on November 13th.

A "Sense Of Place" Is SJ's Best Resource

As part of this week's feature on the future of Saint John...one young professional is urging the next generation to building on the traditions of the past...

Claire Ryan is on the board of FUSION Saint John, and was recently selected by 21inc as one of the province's top young leaders. She says the key is giving people not just jobs, but a sense of place.

Ryan tells CHSJ News the future depends on growing a diverse community of people to work together on Saint John's socioeconomic problems.

She says she already sees it happening and with the success of networking groups like Fusion, Saint John will recapture some upward momentum in the uptown area. 

Listen to CHSJ News tomorrow as our feature on the Future of Saint John continues.

Dairytown Adult Store In Hot Water With Town

A new store is Sussex is causing some people to blush and Dairytown council to act.

Crystal Henderson of Intimate Desires tells CHSJ News the first issue she had with her store is the town classifying her store under the adult entertainment bylaw as adult retail.


She says they didn't follow procedure by going before town council, that she didn't get a building permit for work on her store and that she hasn't followed the zoning by-laws.

She's been told by her lawyers that if she stay opens she'll be going to court but she tells us she has no intention of closing her shop.

Henderson adds if part of the problem is the community being shy to have a shop that sells adult toys, it's better to have it in Sussex where the money stays local instead of people going elsewhere to buy them.









Could Groundwater Be Answer For City Water

Groundwater might be the wave of the future when it comes to solving SJ's water woes...TerrAtlantic Engineering coming back with the results of a groundwater study showing large reservoirs on the West Side near South Bay, out east and as far afield as Nerepis.

Researcher Dean Price warns groundwater might be easier to treat but it isn't a magic bullet in terms of reducing chemicals but there could be savings for the city of 50 to 60 million dollars.
 

Mayor Mel Norton tells CHSJ News it's clear that a better water treatment plan needs to be put into place and he would like to see funding finalised during the current mandate of Common Council.
 

Currently council is conducting a value for money study which is expected back in early 2013.

Warning On Shale Gas From Chief Medical Health Officer

We're expecting to hear more later today from the province's chief medical health officer on her shale gas industry report.
    

The report by Doctor Eilish Cleary warns the province's infrastructure and legislation aren't strong enough to ensure public health is protected should the shale gas industry be expanded and she makes 30 recommendations. 

Those recommendations include monitoring the health of people who live or work near a shale gas site, disclosing all chemical compounds used by the shale gas industry in fracking and provisions for the handling and disposal of wastewater. 

She also warns that a rapid change in population and prosperity in a community can lead to social ills such as crime and drug and alcohol abuse.

Another report prepared by University of Moncton biologist Louis LaPierre is recommending the Province should proceed with shale gas exploration but limit it to one to three sites to allow for research and development.

Management Shakeup At Saint John Airport

The Saint John Airport Board of Directors announcing the appointment of David Allen as Chief Executive Officer effective immediately, following the departure of Bernie LeBlanc after 4 and a half years.
 

Allen has more than 35 years of experience in the airline industry across a variety of functions including as a pilot, flying instructor, operations director, aircraft engineer, sales and marketing executive and aviation business consultant. 

His experience includes helping to revitalize the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport.

Airport Authority Chair Norm McFarlane says Allen's top priority will be to manage and market the Airport in a way that helps it to grow.  

Also leaving the Airport is Communications Director Colleen Mitchell.