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Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Decision Made On Reopening Of Autumn Avenue

Quispamsis Town Council has decided Autumn Avenue will remain closed to through traffic. 

Town Engineer Gary Losier estimates traffic would increase from 85 to 90 vehicles a day up to as many as 21 hundred. He also says the town would have to spend 200 thousand dollars or more on making roadway improvements to Autumn Avenue if it were reopened. 

Town Solicitor Richard McPhee has determined the closure was done properly back in 1984 despite claims to the contrary by those who argued for the reopening of the street. 

Town Councillor Pierre Rioux says he didn't think it was proper to turn residential streets into shortcuts.

Another Councillor Emil Olsen had suggested a study be done to determine how much additional traffic there would be should Autumn Avenue be reopened. 

Man Hurt After Forty Foot Fall

A man taken to hospital after a falling off a ladder about forty feet to a boat below.

City fire crews providing some help to Simonds fire at the scene on the Wharf road off Garnet Settlement road.

Crews responded to the scene just after 6pm and spent about two hours there.

Platoon chief Peter Saab tells CHSJ News they brought one of their aerial trucks and assisted with a vertical lift getting the man from the boat back on to the shore and with paramedics.

The man's injuries are said to be serious.

Pond Says Job Creation Should Be The Outcome, Not Objective

With Saint John claiming the dubious distinction of having the highest unemployment rate in the last Stats Canada survey, many may be focusing on ways to create more jobs, but a local businessman says that's putting the cart before the horse. 

Mariner Partners CEO Gerry Pond tells CHSJ News you have to think about growing businesses before you think about hiring. Pond says if you start hiring people before you have any revenue, it's going to be hard to meet payroll.

Pond says we have a very good start-up record in Saint John, adding, we have world-class companies here and he has no doubts our ideas are as good as anyone else.

Former SJ Flame Joins The Dogs Staff

The Sea Dogs adding former Calgary and Saint John Flame Jeff Cowan as assistant coach.

37 year old Cowan signed as a free agent by the Calgary Flames in 1995 and played over 200 games with the Saint John Flames in four seasons between 1996-2000.

He hails from Scarborough, Ontario spending parts of 8 seasons in Calgary, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Vancouver.

He spent another 3 seasons in the AHL and one in Germany before retiring in 2012.

Cowan is expected to be behind the bench when the Sea Dogs host the Screaming Eagles on Friday night at Harbour Station.

Some Students From SJ To Visit Parliament Hill


More than 60 students including some from UNB Saint John are converging on the Nation's capital this week.

Local students are in Ottawa for the national Canadian Alliance of Student Associations conference and Ottawa Hill day where students will meet with over 120 Ministers, Senators and MP's.

The students representing CASA wants to speak with the government about removing earnings penalties for students, increasing the proportion of up-front needs based financial assistance and reforming study permit policies to make Canada an international education destination.

The students will be in Ottawa until Friday.

Province Announces Union Support For Pension Changes

Most of the unions that represent the civil service are now on board with proposed changes to the public pension plan, according to a release by the provincial government.

Those changes include the controversial move to the shared risk model, which it is hoped will redress the $1 billion deficit for the public service plan. The government claims the the pension legislation will make sure retirees will never see their pensions reduced from their current level and will continue to get cost of living increases; however, the Pension Coalition of New Brunswick has protested the changes all along as unjust and potentially actionable.

Marilyn Quinn of the New Brunswick Nurses Union has said they're confident it's the best solution to provide pension security.

Dennis Oland In Court Again

If anyone was expecting a speedy resolution to the Richard Oland murder investigation now that charges have been laid against his son Dennis, they might be sorely disappointed.  
Dennis Oland made a brief court appearance this  morning in connection with his second degree murder charge in his father's death over two years ago.

On January 21st, a date will set for a preliminary hearing that will determine if there's enough evidence to go to trial. The adjournment was requested due to the amount of documentation according to Oland's lawyer--and the trial might not happen until late 2014.

Richard Oland was found dead in his Canterbury Street office in July, 2011.

SJPD Warn Of Credit Card Scam

The fraud section of the City police are warning the public of a credit card scam.
 

Back on November 12th, three people were arrested and found with many fake i.d.'s and credit cards.

Sgt. Jay Henderson says police believe it is part of an organized credit card fraud ring operating in this province and in PEI for the last two months.

He says the suspects would enter a business, pick an item and present a credit card to the cashier saying the magnetic strip was not working.
Then then ask the store's employee to enter the number manually to make the item go through.

The card given to the employee was counterfeit and the number on the card was stolen.   The SJPD Fraud section advises businesses owners to speak to their employees and see if this happened to their business.

To contact police call 648-3333 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS or click here

Mayor Maintains Job Growth In City Is Going In The Right Direction

The Saint John region has a goal of an additional 250 new fulltime jobs by the end of 2013. That word coming from Mayor Mel Norton. 

Several hundred jobs are going to be lost in the coming months with the closure of a pair of call centres in Loch Lomand Mall. The Mayor says he hates to hear about anyone losing their job but the overall trend for job growth in the city is good.

The Saint John region has a goal of an additional 250 new fulltime jobs by the end of 2013. 

Norton says he understands the people who will be losing their jobs at the two call centres are likely to be employed, by and large, at other call centres in the city.

Common Council Sets Priorities For 2014

Common Council appears pretty optimistic as it sets its priorities for 2014 just prior to the start of budget deliberations. 

Clean drinking water is the number one priority and word on whether funding will come about through a public-private partnership is expected before the end of the year. Better roads and sidewalks are also listed as priorities together with economic development and recreation but Mayor Mel Norton says resources remain limited.

City Manager Pat Woods is warning flood control and drainage should also be among the priorities especially for the people who live in Millidgeville, Westgate Park and Glen Falls. 

Fire Chief Kevin Clifford also says Police and Fire will need more up to date equipment to better communicate with eachother during emergency situations. 

Council is committed to maintaining the current level of transit service and a transportation master plan is expected to be presented next year.

Besides looking at what the priorities are, Common Council also looked at what has been achieved since the last municipal election. West side Councillor Greg Norton says it's now easier for developers to get their projects started and Councillor at Large Shirley McAlary says people she hears from appear happy with the progress being made in improving the roads around town.

Fund To Support Start-Up Community Announced

Those local, aspiring entrepreneurs who think they've got the next big idea can apply for some help through a newly announced fund. 

The Executive Director of the Pond-Deshpande Centre at UNB, Karina LeBlanc tells CHSJ News the Saint John True Growth Innovation Fund is designed to spur early stage innovators into action.

The fund is between $1000 and $5000 and the money is meant to help the entrepreneur build a case so they can go out and pitch to those who can then give them more funding. Click here for more information on the fund.

The launch of the fund at the Creative Soup Building uptown also kicking off Global Entrepreneurship Week.