Protestors Mourn Cuts to Public Services

A mock funeral was recently held in King Square--for public services in the city of Saint John. Over a hundred citizens attended to protest cuts to the bus services, which have eliminated some routes people need to get to work.

Community activist Tammy Calvin tells CHSJ News it takes her upwards of an hour to take transit from her home to the grocery store out East. She says there's no shopping in the North End, and she finds herself waiting around for ages at Place 400. The trip, she says, can take more than an hour altogether.

Calvin says there's going to be ongoing actions to protest the cuts--and people should be angry, because these are essential services.

Big Brothers Big Sisters Working To Shorten Waitlist

Big Brothers Big Sisters in Saint John reaching the half way point in their goal to get 100 men signed up as big brothers in one year.
Public Relations Officer Deanna Gamble says it's an effort to reduce the 88 names of boys on their waiting list.

Gamble tells CHSJ News for those who want to become a Big Brother the process includes an interview so their caseworkers can get to know who you are.

She says the interview looks at your interests and behaviour and it also includes a background check and a vulnerable sector check to protect yourself and to protect their children.

53 big brothers have been matched with little brothers so far but, Gamble says their waiting list is still growing for boys and girls.

For more info, click here

Pension Board Accused Of Not Answering Questions About City's Pension Plan

The lawyer for former Common Councillor John Ferguson is accusing the Pension Board of not being transparent and not having a good communications policy despite its claims to the contrary.

Rod Gillis points out questions from Ferguson about the city's pension plan raised in 2006 were never answered. Pension Board lawyer Hugh Wright testified he reviewed those questions in 2009 and told the jury they were not inappropriate.

Despite that, he maintains the extended meaning or understanding of what Ferguson was saying is defamatory.

The jury has been told of a letter Ivan Court wrote in 2007 when he was a Common Councillor before becoming Mayor the following year. In the letter, Court warns proceeding with the lawsuit against Ferguson would set a dangerous precedent and questions what would be gained.

Common Councillor and former Pension Board trustee, Chris Titus also wrote a letter saying questions were being raised about the city's pension plan with good intentions but without a full understanding of the facts.

Another Telephone Scam Making The Rounds

St Martins residents are the latest to be hit by yet another telephone scam - this one claiming to represent N-B Power and it deals with a change in billing procedures.
One resident who received the call tells us it came from a California area code.
N-B Power spokesperson Melissa Morton tells CHSJ News it's part of the ongoing telephone scams with callers claiming to represent the utility.
She says if you receive one of these calls - don't give any information and contact your local police or the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501 or click here.

Aids Saint John Says Sex Ed Key To Reducing HIV/AIDS

Aids Saint John plans to use a large portion of the 223 thousand dollars it received last week from the federal government to get the word out to young people about unsafe behaviour.

Aids Saint John Executive Director Julie Dingwell believes that is key to reducing the number of new cases along with sex education arguing its a myth to say if you teach sex education to young people, it encourages them to engage in sexual activity sooner.

Dingwell also sees a connection between HIV/AIDS and the outbreak of syphillis in the province along with the fact the chlamydia rates in New Brunswick are among the highest in the country.

Taxpayers Federation Calling For Spending Cuts In Budget

The provincial budget will be unveiled tomorrow and the consensus appears to be there will be major cuts in spending.

At least that's the hope of Kevin Lacey, the Atlantic Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, who tells CHSJ News the provincial government has been on a spending binge over the last five years. Yet, Lacey argues we have not seen the same improvement in services.

Lacey adds raising taxes would be a bad thing right now considering the fragile state of the provincial economy.

The Premier reportedly has ruled out a hike in the gas tax.

Water Restrictions In Red Head

If you live in Red Head, your water pressure could be dropping because of work that's starting on the well located along Seaward Crescent. 

This is part of the next phase to improve the water supply in Red Head and mandatory water restrictions will be in effect starting at 9 this morning lasting for up to two weeks
 
The Seaward Crescent well will be taken offline leaving only the Ocean Drive well in operation. That's why there could be less water pressure during periods of high consumption.

City Pension Plan's Future Coming Up At Common Council Tonight

The city's financially beleaguered pension plan comes up at Common Council tonight as testimony resumes this morning at the defamation trial of former Common Councillor John Ferguson. 

Councillor Patty Higgins will be calling on City Manager Pat Woods, who is a member of the Pension Board, to come up with a report on the transition of the city's pension plan from defined benefits to an R-R-S-P model. 

Testimony at the trial last week revealed the Pension Board considered a switch to defined contributions from defined benefits in 2006 but such a recommendation was never made to Common Council. 

Witnesses still to be hear from are said to include Mayor Ivan Court, City Solicitor John Nugent and Finance Commissioner Greg Yeomans.

Motel Fire on the West Side

A fire this morning at a motel on Manawoganish Road. Officials responded to the call around 8:30am that there was smoke issuing from the second floor of the building.

When they arrived they found a verandah on fire--the blaze was threatening to spread to the inside of the motel. They quickly knocked it down. Only a couple of units in the 19-unit motel were occupied at the time of the blaze.

The fire department also responded to a call on Carmarthen Street around 9pm--a smoke alarm was going off in the building, but no one was at home. Fire officials broke into the home but there was no damage.

City's Down's Syndrome Society Recognized

The Saint John Down Syndrome Society has been recognized with a national award. The society was nominated by Michelle Boutilier (Boo tell yay), a mother of a 5 year old with the disorder. In her nomination letter, she said they've been a major support to her and done a lot of help her and her son.



Sharon Gerrits of the Saint John Down Syndrome Society tells CHSJ News the organization aims to help our families of people with Down Syndrome by providing a place for their loved ones to socialize with peers, planning activities, and making sure people have access to proper care.

One out of every 800 babies has Down syndrome. The SJDSS will be featured in the Spring issues of 21 Magazine and Voices.

To contact the society email saintjohndss@hotmail.com. You can visit the national association at www.cdss.ca/

Northumberland Teams Up With NCC

Milk cartons here in the province are getting a temporary makeover--Nothumberland Dairies is partnering up with the Nature Conservancy of Canada to promote conserving the province's wetlands, forests, and coastal habitats. The limited-edition white cartons feature a sketch of a sandpiper by Sackville artist Robert Lyon.

Jack Christie of Nothumberland Dairies tells CHSJ News teaming up with the NCC was a natural choice because they represent what farmers stand for: living responsibly off the land.


Over 6 hundred thousand cartons are now being distributed all over New Brunswick.

Assault in Rothesay

One man is in hospital after an attack in Rothesay last night.

The man was jumped on Scott Avenue by four other men behind the Quickway.

A weapon was used, but no word from police on what it was. Rothesay Regional Police say they're looking into what led up to the attack.

Cash Mobs Hits Uptown Business

Robin's Bead Works getting mobbed -- by a cash mob that is.

20 people coming out for the event -- the store was the first business ever to get a visit from Cash Mobs Saint John, which gets people together to visit a single business at the same time.

Store owner Robin Parks tells CHSJ News she is honoured to have been chosen and she believes it's a great way to get local businesses some exposure.

Meanwhile, Sherry Brown is a local business owner taking part and she says it's a great way for the business owners to support one another.
 

Transit Cuts Protest Set For Saturday In Kings Square

If you have some free time tomorrow, your participation is welcome at a protest in King Square.
Organizers are upset of what they call the drastic impact of cuts to Saint John Transit.
Tammy Calvin tells CHSJ News the cuts are reaching a critical moment with a second round of cuts set to kick in April 1st.

She says these cuts are affecting people so she and Andrea Richards decided to do something because none of the non-profit groups and businesses were saying anything.

Calvin says everyone is invited including members of the transit workers union and management at Saint John Transit.  Over 2300 people have joined a Facebook group set up for the event and it gets underway at noon tomorrow at King Square.

Brief East Side Power Outage

On a beautiful sunny Friday, it would be easy to miss this.


Saint John Energy telling CHSJ news of an unplanned power outage earlier today impacting 318 customers in East Saint John.


The juice vanished at 4:03 impacting Grandview Avenue, Black River Road and part of Bayside Drive but it was back on by 5:05.


The cause was a piece of defective equipment.

Algonguin Officially Changes Hands

The Marriott will now look over the Bay of Fundy.


New Castle Hotels and Southwest Properties will now be the new parent of the Algonquin Resort in St. Andrews.

Tourism Minister Trevor Holder says as the minister responsible for heritage he is pretty excited to partner with a company that has a track record of protecting historic property.

Holder adds the province's goal was to make sure the Algonquin was preserved and the economy of St. Andrews was protected.

Electric Cars To Be Built In Saint John

Get ready for Bricklin deja vu - a Chinese manufacturer of electric cars plans on setting up shop here in the Port City. 

The Ningbo Jiuding Machinery Corp. plans to build a manufacturing plant at one of the city's industrial parks.

Speaking through a translator, CEO Jason Yuan says things are still in the early stages as the cars still need to be approved over here.

The plan is to have the cars sold in all over the world, including here in Saint John, and Yuan says our port makes the shipping process very ideal.

No word yet on when the plant will be built.

Allegiance Of Pension Board Trustees Under Fire

The role of the city's Pension Board trustees has become a focus of the defamation trial of former Common Councillor John Ferguson.

They have all testified their job was to look out for the best interests of the pension plan members even when the deficit was rising.

The Atlantic Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, Kevin Lacey questions where that leaves the taxpayer and who represents the public interest.

Ferguson's lawyer Rod Gillis is suggesting the pension board was reluctant to lower benefits despite the rising deficit because most of its members were either receiving or in line to receive city pensions.

Lanigan Seeks A Ward 2 Seat

A project manager is running for Common Council hoping to represent Ward 2.


Morgan Lanigan says Saint John is in a tough situation with tight budgets so now is the time to grab the reins and steer the City forward.


He tells CHSJ News politicians are famous for throwing money at problems but not understanding what the problem is.

He says council needs a team that is willing to think critically about why a problem is happening so it can be addressed so it doesn't happen again.

Lanigan advocates "road diets" for Saint John where streets are narrowed by 1 or 2 feet saving on construction costs leading to more green space and less maintainence leaving more money to fix potholes.

Arrest Made In Rothesay High B&E

Rothesay Regional Police making an arrest after a break and enter at Rothesay High.

Two young men were arrested yesterday and will be in court at a later date to face charges.