Premier David Alward is giving every indication he wants to move ahead with shale gas exploration in the province while, at the same, time vowing to protect the concerns of property owners.
Raphael Shay is the climate and energy co-ordinator at the Conservation Council of New Brunswick. He tells CHSJ News two new studies which suggest shale gas development causes high levels of greenhouse gas emissions ought to slow things down a bit for a closer examination.
Shay also points out there have been significant methane leaks at fracking sites and methane is an extremely potent greenhouse gas with the province vulnerable to climate change judging by the severity of flooding last December.
He adds one of the studies done by Cornell University professor Robert Howarth has found compared to coal, the carbon footprint of shale gas is at least 20 per cent greater.
The weekly setting sees another increase in gas prices........Self serve regular is now being sold around town for $1.28.9 a litre with diesel going for $1.33.2.
Home heating oil is listed at $1.18.3 and as we enter the barbeque season, propane is at $1.08.4 a litre.
School District 8 hearing an alarming list of statistics about teen pregnancy in Saint John.
In 2008, 44 out of every 1000 girls became pregnant nearly double the national rate and provincially,the stat falls to 24.3 per thousand.
Public Health Nurse Penny Higdon tells CHSJ News it's hard to determine why our numbers remain high yet the rates in Moncton and Fredericton have gone down.
The Teen Pregnancy Committee hosting a strategic planning session in December and identifying four priorities which include creating awareness and improving access to contraception.
District 8 chair Rob Fowler says he is surprised by how high the teen pregnancy stats are in the city and finds it a little scary that, in some cases, the teen girls want to get pregnant and it's not happening accidentally.
Student representative Chris Harper, who thought the District Education Council should hear about the high teen pregnancy rate in the city, likes the idea of youth teaching young people about teen pregnancy by using the tools they use on a daily basis......social media.
He is surprised, though, to hear the sexual education that begins middle school doesn't carry over into high school.
If you have been wondering what happened to the link on our web page to the Harbour Bridge cameras -- the answer is related to the removal of the tolls from the Bridge at the beginning of the month.
The Department of Transportation says those cameras were part of the toll booth monitoring system and were turned off when the toll plaza was closed April 1st.
A department spokesperson tells CHSJ News there are no plans to reactivate them at the moment.
The camera link proved extremely popular especially during last summer's major construction project on the bridge -- we contacted Saint John Harbour Conservative M-L-A Carl Killen who is looking into the situation.
The province is turning the microscope on itself with regards to flooding last December in Charlotte County.
The province will be conducting a review of how it handled the crisis and what it can do to improve.
Premier David Alward tells CHSJ News there are many factors at work when it comes to flooding in Charlotte County and they all need a closer look.
Two employees from the Department of Public safety will also be engaging the people of St. George and St. Stephen as part of a two year project to improve community-based disaster response in Charlotte County.
District 1 RCMP from St. Stephen executing an arrest warrant at a Pennfield motel and arresting a 46-year-old man.
Toni Earl McFarlane facing a charge of robbery and disguise with intent to commit a robbery relating to an incident at the Charlotte County Credit Union in St. Stephen in February last year.
McFarlane is being held in custody and is due to appear in St. Stephen Provincial Court tomorrow morning to enter a plea.
Another salvo has been fired in the war for your dolalrs over internet and TV providers.
Bell Aliant unveiling upgrades to their FiberOp service, which boasts features like 30 megabits-a-second for downloading and 30 megabits-a-second for uploading.
President and CEO Karen Sheriff says the bump in the uploading speed is significant because people are sharing things online more and more each day.
The speeds are a first for Atlantic Canada.
We put a call in to Rogers for comment but so far there has been no response.
Canaport LNG will be undergoing maintenance starting early next month.
This maintenance will be carried out on process equipment at the Terminal which will require a temporary suspension of operations.
Maintenance activities include work on a valve within the process equipment as well as the inspection of other equipment throughout the facility.
Because of the work, a significant flare which will be visible from some vantage points around the city for the duration of the shutdown which should last about a month.
Provincial Education Minister Jody Carr says there will be continuing dialogue with parents in the K-V who are pressing for a french language school for students from kindergarten through grade 5.
A spokesperson in the Education Department says the meeting went well and Carr is committed to adding a third grade next September to the satellite school now being used in the Valley.
Right now it's K through grade 2 and the parents want the province to buy some land and build a brand new school.
An investigation is being launched to find out how a draft report from the Auditor General about spending at the G-8 and G-20 summits was leaked and by whom. The draft report pinpoints some questionable projects in the riding of federal cabinet minister Tony Clements.
U-N-B Saint John political science professor Don Desserud isn't sure this will be a game changer like the sponsorship scandal was for the Liberals.
A poll done before the spending revelations and leader's debate showed Prime Minister Harper was heading for his long cherished for majority and Desserud tells CHSJ News the Prime Minister has proven himself quite adept at handling such controversies in the past..
M-L-A's were out and about this week in schools around the province. It was "Take your M-L-A to School Day".
The Superintendent for School District 8 Susan Tipper says being in a classroom gives the M-L-A's a better idea of what actually goes on when they have to make decisions about education.
Tipper says even though she works in the system, she finds things and times have certainly changed when visiting schools and it can be a real eye opener to see what goes on first hand.
Richard and Fran Winters getting the key to their brand new home today.
The couple is one of six families who will be moving into a new home in St. George after losing their house to the December floods in Charlotte County.
The houses have been paid for via donations and government money.
Fran Winters tells CHSJ News it was hard to say goodbye to their old house.
The couple will be moving in by the end of the month.
With Common Council setting a 4 year goal on getting water treatment facilities up and running by 2015, what impact will that have on your pocketbook?
Commissioner of Finance Greg Yeomans says there will be a 25 to 50 per cent increase in what you pay for water.
That would put the flat water and sewage rate at about $1,350 by 2018.
However, officials estimate the flat rate would be about $1,100 at that time if the city didn't go ahead with water treatment.
Mayor Ivan Court says an extra $250 dollars is a small price to pay for clean drinking water.
Six members of the board of directors for the Joshua Group resigning over a disagreement about what direction the local charity should take. It leaves 7 members on the board.
The group that helps local at-risk kids in the city's priority neighbourhoods is well-known since its founder Bobby Hayes won a national award for being a Champion of Change.
CHSJ News learning the board will carry on and fill those vacancies.There are no "hard feelings" and we are told it does relate to the Joshua group's current search for a permanent home.
UNB Saint John Political Scientist Don Desserud says tonight's leaders' debate will be an opportunity for all of the players.
Desserud tells CHSJ News it will give NDP Leader Jack Layton a chance to regain any supports that have jumped shipped to the Liberals in effort to defeat Stephen Harper.
He says the best move for Harper is to allow the three other candidates to dog pile him in order to prove that a majority government is needed.
Six members of the board of directors for the Joshua Group resigning over a disagreement about what direction the local charity should take. It leaves 7 members on the board.
The group that helps local at-risk kids in the city's priority neighbourhoods is well-known since its founder Bobby Hayes won a national award for being a Champion of Change.
CHSJ News learning the board will carry on and fill those vacancies.
There are no hard feelings and we are told it does relate to the Joshua group's current search for a permanent home.
Rob Moore is not experiencing voter backlash as he travels door to door in the riding of Fundy Royal but, people are still wondering why this election is even happening.The Conservative incumbent tells CHSJ News the voters feel strongly about that.He says they know the opposition parties are responsible for the current campaign and he doesn't fear voter backlash but, he hopes his constituents use the desire to not have another election to get out and vote.Moore adds a lot of the issues are the same as in 2008 but, it's more positive since a lot of the concern over the economic downtown is behind us.
Parents pushing for a Francophone school in the valley will be meeting with Education Minister Jody Carr tonight.
The group is looking for a commitment from the province to build a Francophone school in the Valley so that french students will no longer have to travel long distances for classes.
The parents group is threatening legal action against the province if a school is not built.
Sharon Murphy-Flatt is throwing her hat into the political ring again.
She ran as the Green Party's candidate in the provincial election for the Rothesay riding and this time she's looking to win the federal seat in Saint John.
She tells CHSJ News green industries need to be brought to the province as our current industrial businesses are not sustainable.
She would also aim to get Point Lepreau decommissioned, claiming it's a money sink and poses a serious health risk to all New Brunswickers.
