District Eight Education Council And Parents

(District Eight Education Council Chair Rob Fowler)
                    (File Photo)

Even after holding a series of Town Hall style meetings earlier this year, the District Eight Education Council wants parents to become more involved.

DEC Chair Rob Fowler tells CHSJ News, the problem they struggle with is explaining what the role of Education Council is.


Fowler adds the DEC needs to get into the 21st century and make Facebook and Twitter more readily available for it's members and use a tool to communicate with parents or guardians.

Armed Robbery Suspect to Appear in Court

Armed Robbery with a knife is the charge a 44-year old man will answer to in court today.

This after City Police arrested him earlier this morning and charged him with the robbery of Needs Convenience store on Wednesday night.


Officers tell us the man was taken into custody on an un-related charge.

Alcohol and Dope Factors in Teenagers Deaths

Alcohol and dope are being pointed out by RCMP as two of the factors that killed three teenagers from Riverview back on May.29th.

A vehicle left the road on Route 905 in Forest Glen with five people in it and struck a tree.

Officers also point out no one in the vehicle was wearing a seatbelt and the three people killed, including the driver, had alcohol and marijuana in their systems.


Re-constructionist's have also determined the vehicle was going well over the posted speed limit of 80km/hour and the road was somewhat wet but rain didn't start until after the crash.

Legion In Oromocto Is Destroyed By Fire

(Oromocto Legion Before The Fire - photo submitted by a listener) 

       

The Town of Oromocto is in shock after losing it's Legion to fire last night.
It was spotted just before midnight and despite their best effort, fire crews could not save the building.


Mayor Faye Tidd lives directly behind where the building used to stand and tells CHSJ News, this is a massive loss for the community.


Tidd says she has no idea about what insurance if any the Legion might have but assures residents Town Officials will do what they can to help the facility rebuild.


No word at this point on how the fire started but RCMP is calling the fire suspicious.

Liberal M-L-A Abel Leblanc Acclaimed In Saint John Lancaster

(Saint John Lancaster M-L-A Abel Leblanc)
                    (File Photo)

A big turnout at the Assumption Centre on Chapel Street to see Liberal incumbant Abel Leblanc acclaimed without opposition to seek re-election in Saint John Lancaster. Leblanc says the Premier has taken a giant step forward in tackling the problem of poverty but more has to be done besides just raising the minimum wage. He says the most important thing for people struggling to get by is to retain their benefits.
Premier Shawn Graham calls Leblanc a defender of peoples' rights and rejects the charge from the Conservatives that his spending is out of control. He says that spending is necessary until private sector investment kicks in. The Premier also promises to provide one third of the funding needed of the 200 million dollars required to provide clean, safe drinking water for the city calling it the number of issue for Saint Johnners.
Leblanc says the Liberals have done alot more for Saint John than the previous Conservative government under then Premier Bernard Lord ever did.

Traffic Disruption Later Today

Traffic will shut down on Route 1 in both directions this afternoon as crews working on the One Mile interchange remove the rock wall from the closed Crown Street exit.
The disruption will last about 15 minutes at 2:00 this afternoon.
It's necessary because of blasting activities as part of the Route 1 One Mile House Interchange construction project. That project will take truck traffic out of the uptown core by diverting it along Bayside Drive onto the Industrial park.

Saint John Arts Awards Handed Out

Saint John honored it's finest and most creative artists during the inagural ""The Originals"" awards ceremony at the Imperial Theater last night. Ten winners walked home with the hardware including Suzanne Hill, Richard Kidd, Bob Doherty and Jack Bishop. The shows artistic director Judith Mackin tells CHSJ News, it was an incedible evening with support for the arts community growing.
Mackin adds the goal of the event is to make sure all of the creative talent in Greater Saint John is recognized and celebrated. Fred and Sheila Ross were honored during the show with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

School District 8 Breaks Even Thanks In Part To Mild Winter

The proposed budget for School District Eight is complete and comes in just over $95.3 million dollars. Director of Finance and Administration Chris Toole tells CHSJ news, the numbers show a zero balance for the fiscal year as they did find some savings last year with signifigant operational changes. He also credits the mild winter and stable oil prices.
Toole adds NB Power holding the line on its rates also helped out the bottom line in a big way.

Rothesay High Overcrowded

(School District 6 Superintendent Zoe Watson)
                      (File Photo)

A District 6 report showing how full schools are is showing a lack of space at Rothesay High School. The School has a 110% usage rate meaning, every space you can use as a classroom is already taken up. Superintendant Zoe Watson says four portable classrooms will be added to the school as a short term solution for now but an addition is the long term solution.
Rothesay is currently using the library for a homeroom class, the cafeteria for other classes and one lab is being used as a double classroom.

KVHS Reach For The Top Team At Ceremony

KVHS Reach For The Top Team Honoured

It's a year to remember for the Kennebecasis Valley High School Reach For the Top Team.

The Team is being honoured by Premier Shawn Graham for winning the national championships, and is receiving a $2000 dollar check from the province for expenses.

Coach Jason Thorne says the money will come in handy as travelling to Toronto for competitions gets expensive.

Premier Graham hails the team as some of the brightest minds in Canada.

Saint John Artists to be Honoured Tonight

A Gala Awards ceremony is coming up tonight at the Imperial Theatre honouring writers, musicians, actors and even businesses that supports the Arts in Saint John.
The event is part of Saint John's 225 birthday celebrations.


David Adams tells CHSJ News the night offers wide-ranging entertainment.

Adams say there are 11 categories in which hardware will be handed but, it also features several dance and music performances.


The Originals gets underway tonight at 7 at the Imperial Theatre.

Gas Leak Uptown

Fire Crews responding to Princess Street at Prince William this morning after people said they could smell a strong odour of gas.
District Fire Chief Ken Forrest tells CHSJ News they searched several building before finding the source of the natural gas leak.

Fire crews with help from Enbridge Gas tracked the source of the leak to the old Sebastian's on Princess Street which is currently under construction.
Four buildings were evacuated and traffic was blocked in the area for a time, the all-clear come about 10:30 this morning.

Minister Moore Makes Funding Announcement

(Fundy Royal MP and Minister of State for Small Business and Tourism Rob Moore)
                          (Photo by Jim Hennessy)

The Atlantic Canada Cruise Association on the receiving end of a $247,000 gift from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.


Fundy Royal MP and Minister of State for Small Business and Tourism Rob Moore was on hand to deliver the cheque.


Moore says the cash will be used for marketing and promotion of the industry.


Moore adds it is not only Saint John that is reeping the benefits of the cruise industry but ports from coast to coast.

Port Is Pleased With ACOA funding

      (Saint John Port Authority Captain Al Soppitt)
                            (File Photo)

Happy to see funding for marketing and promotion for the cruise industry is Captain Al Soppitt with the Saint John Port Authority.


Soppitt tells CHSJ News ther are other concerns as well with proposal in to Ottawa and Fredericton to strengthen the cruise sector with a berth expansion and other facility enhancements.


Soppitt adds ACOA has always been supportive of promotion for the cruise industry and today's announcement will keep momentum going.

New Party Speaks To Voter Frustrations

(Political Scientist Don Desserud of U-N-B Saint John)
                                 (File Photo)

The leader of the newest political party in the province is confident of winning seats in the September 27th election. Kris Austin, a 31 year old minister, leads the Peoples' Alliance of New Brunswick and tells CHSJ News there's an angry mood out there, in large part, because of the failed NB Power deal with Hydro Quebec. Auston believes voters are fed up with a political system they view as being broken. Austin says he would like the party to run candidates in all 55 ridings, if possible.
Meantime, the party could have an impact on the fall election according to University political scientist Don Desserud of NB Saint John who tells CHSJ News it speaks to a large percentage of voters who feel their interests are not being served and they are not being listened to.
While Desserud admires the party's pledge to hold free votes in the legislature, he is not sure that will work since politics is a team sport and politicians want to vote for their own team.

Major Crime Unit Investigates Armed Robbery

An armed holdup in the north end. City Police telling CHSJ news it took place around 10:30 last night in the Needs convenience store at the corner of Wellesley Avenue and Somerset Street. One man ran from the store with an undisclosed amount of money.

No Big Change With Gas Prices

If you have to fill up today, you'll be paying basically the same for gas as you did yesterday following the weekly setting. Self Serve regular is still selling in the city for 96.7 cents a litre. Diesel dropped by less than a cent to $1.00.1. The price of propane rose by just over a penny to $1.02.9 and furnace oil fell slightly to 87.3 cents a litre.

School District 6 Records Surplus For Year

(School District 6 Superinentendent Zoe Watson)
                       (File Photo)

The District 6 Budget is in at the end of another year and it shows a $94,000 dollar surplus. Superindentant Zoe Watson says it works because of a careful balancing act.
Watson their budget is generally 75 million dollars so while 94 grand may sound like a lot of money, it will only cover a small portion of next year's spending. Alot of the money went to buying schools Smart Boards, new blinds and lockers.

Union Expresses Concern Over New School In K-Park

CUPE Local 1253 is lobbying against schools that are owned by contractors instead of the government. Delalene Harris Forn is a bus driver for District 16 and says the new Kennebecasis Park Elementary School is going to be a P-3 school, meaning it won't be owned by the government. CUPE members say if things stay as they are, the custodians and maintenance staff won't be hired to work in the school but instead the jobs will be contracted out.
Harris Forn says the union is asking the District 6 Education Council to write a letter to the Minister of Education asking for K-Park to be a traditional school and not a P-3 school. Superintendant Zoe Watson says Council will discuss the issue in a closed session and look for further information.