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Friday, August 16, 2013

Government Touts Jobs For Recent Grads

500 new jobs have been created for recent university graduates according to the Alward government.

The One Job Pledge gives eligible businesses a wage incentive when they hire people who have graduated from a post-secondary school within the past 4 years.

145 of the 524 jobs created are in the Fredericton area and pay at least $14 an hour, and the premier says the overall number is double what they had initially predicted.

Common Council Seeks More Efficient Debate Behind Closed Doors

Common Council is bound and determined to adopt a more businesslike approach to doing the city's business. 

There are restrictions in place on how long you can speak in open session and Mayor Mel Norton keeps a tight rein on the flow of discussion. 

The same sort of restrictions will be tried when councillors meet in Committee of the Whole away from the public eye. 

West side Common Councillor Bill Farren is wary of having any more impediments to debate and is suggesting there's too much concern already with getting before the TV cameras.

Mayor Norton keeps reminding councillors their job is to set policy and not in the nitty gritty of how it gets done.



Joshua Group Has Ambitious Timetable

Raising half a million dollars will be no mean feat for the Joshua Group as it tries to renovate an existing building and construct an addition on its Sandy Road property.....All before the snow starts falling. 

The chair of the Joshua Group Kathy Curwin tells CHSJ News attempting to get people to give now is not easy. Plans are in the the works for another Toonie Day next month with the goal being to double the 20 thousand dollars raised last year.

The Joshua Group being presented with a 100 thousand dollar matching donation by the Potash Corporation. Curwin says they're in line for another 50 thousand dollar corporate donation and financial help from private businesses is essential.

Blood Donors Needed

Blood donations are needed in Saint John. 

Michelle Thibodeau of Canadian Blood Services tells CHSJ News 294 appointments to give blood are needed between now and Labour Day with 13 hundred required provincewide.

Thibodeau says there is not a shortage now but concern what might transpire down the road if not enough people step up to the plate.

She says many Saint Johnners may not be aware they can come into the clinic on University Avenue on Saturdays from 9 in the morning until 1 in the afternoon. Only 4 appointments are booked tomorrow out of 45 that are available.

Some Skateboarders Protesting Helmet Law


Some skateboarders aren't happy at at the prospect of wearing helmets at the local skatepark.

Two hundred eight-four people have signed an online petition against the  by-law, which is poised to become law at the next meeting of Common Council.

Local skateboarder Scott Childs tells CHSJ News it goes against the norms of the sport and none of the professionals wear them; further, the laws governing bicycle helmets are rarely enforced.

Childs says most of the accidents involving skateboards are collisions with cars: therefore, in his opinion, it makes more sense to stiffen the penalties for skateboarding on the road than to make helments mandatory.

Pedway To Get Fixed Up This Fall

The Chipman Hill portion of the Pedway will be getting some major repairs in the near future.

Uptown dwellers might remember the late January wind storm that loosened the glass wall in the middle of the daily lunch rush. After that episode, the section of the indoor connection had to undergo some temporary repairs.

Now, the City has issued a call for tenders until September 4 for the replacement of the curtain wall. They stipulate it would ideally be finished by the end of October.

The pedway was originally built in the early 1980s and is Atlantic Canada's longest indoor, climate-controlled pedway system.

Man Flees Bear

A forester who was scouting areas for tree cutting in the Brockway area this week, about 80 kilometers south of Fredericton, says he was attacked by a black bear and barely escaped by the skin of his teeth. 

Natural Resources is now looking for the bear.
    

Pierre Mezzetta tried to run away when confronted by the bear which he estimates weighed over 300 pounds and was chased up a tree.
    

The bear still managed to sink its teeth into his boot and leg before finally leaving.
    

Such attacks by black bears are considered rare.

Half Ton Flips Onto Its Roof Along Highway

Two men are in hospital in Fredericton after their half ton truck went out of control on the the Trans Canada Highway about 82 kilometers east of Fredericton near Young's Cove. 

The RCMP say the truck flipped over onto its roof. 

A 20-year-old man and a man in his 40s, both from Grand Falls, suffered undetermined injuries.

Common Council Still Seen Favourably

What sort of job is Common Council doing more than a year into its mandate?

According to a poll from Corporate Research Associates, 63 per cent of Saint Johnners are satisfied with how Common Council is working. 

400 people in the city took part in the survey. 17 per cent said they were completely or mostly dissatisfed. Another 15 per cent said they didn't know.  

By comparison, 75 per cent of people surveyed in Fredericton and 74 per cent in Moncton say they're completely or mostly satisfied with their city councils.