BREAKING: Fire On Westfield Road, Building Destroyed

The storage building that has been on fire for the past several hours on Westfield Road is now all but destroyed.

Some propane tanks were reportedly inside the building as well as number of boats and RVs.

The blaze appears to be getting under control. 

BREAKING: Fire On Westfield Road

A significant fire has been reported on Westfield Road this afternoon; fire officials got that call shortly after 1pm.

According to early reports heavy black smoke is billowing from the storage building and fire fighters are preparing to begin taking off the roof to fight the blaze.

It's thought to have originated between the floors of the building, which contained a number of boats and RVs.

NB Power and Saint John Water have also been called to the scene.

Jaywalking In Support Of Sex Workers

"Take back the streets" was the cry as over 70 loud and proud protestors jaywalked their way from King Square to City Hall in support of the dignity and human rights of street-based sex workers.

North End Community Activist Tammy Calvin tells CHSJ News politicians don't have the right to look down on their citizens, no matter what they do for a living.

The protest was against a motion recently put forward by Councillor Susan Fullerton to fine sex workers under jaywalking bylaws. The motion was passed by council, but according to Councillor Shirley McAlary (who voted against) it's unlikely to be put into effect because the police simply don't have time to enforce it.

Meet The Winners Of The Home Lottery

Dwight Ough, Suzanne Cline & Anita Cline

Three things filled the NB Hospital Home Lottery Grand Prize Showroom today: smiles, shock and winners.

The Grand Prize Showhome in Rothesay, worth $775,000, was won by Dwight Ough, Suzanne Cline and Anita Cline. The three will sell the house, meaning along with cash they'll walk away with $275,000. Dwight is an audiologist and Suzanne is the office manager of a private hearing clinic in St. Andrews, while her sister Anita does accounting at the Atlantic Salmon Federation. 

All 3 winners had never been to the show home before they won it, and for Anita it was her first time buying a ticket. She was the one who received the call from Donna Gates, the VP of the Saint John Regional Hospital Foundation. Anita tells CHSJ news she blacked out for a few minutes, and it took her 10 minutes to convince the other two that they won. 

So what are their plans for the money? Dwight says he's got financial obligations, Anita will extend a trip to Thailand with her husband, and Suzanne is going to buy a dirt bike and ride to Argentina. She says it's sad to sell the house, but would think it'd be difficult for the 3 of them to "live happily every after" in it.

Helen Brown and her husband Jack

Saint Johnner Helen Brown won the early bird prize, a Mercedes-Benz. She says when she first got the call she thought it was a hoax. She works at the hospital in a recovery room, and says she's going to take the $60,000 instead of the car to help build her new home.

Mario and Claude Mallais

Claude and his son Mario Mallais from Tracadie-Sheila won the Lexus. They've been buying tickets for years and never thought they would win anything big. The two are going to sell the car and split the money which they both plan to save and invest. Mario works as a pharmacist in the Bathurst Chaleur Regional Hospital, and a large chunk of his family works there as well.

Heidi Price

Heidi Price from Sussex Corner had a strong feeling she was going to win something, but says pandemonium took over her house when she found out she won $200,975 from the 50/50 draw.  She tells CHSJ news she bought her ticket when she heard it was 90% sold out, and kept telling her husband for weeks they were going to win something big. She and her husband are going get a new car and take their 5 and 1-year-old to Walt Disney World and Italy. 

Over $900,000 from the lottery will support priority programs and equipment at the Saint John Regional Hospital, New Brunswick Heart Centre and Mindcare New Brunswick.

Tanning Beds Targeted By Provincial Liberals

The Opposition Liberals want the use of tanning beds in the province by those young people under 19 banned.
    
Liberal Health critic Donald Arsenault points to research from the International Agency for Research on Cancer. It shows the risk of skin cancer increases by 75 per cent when tanning bed use begins before age 35. 

The Liberals will be tabling a bill aimed at banning the practice but even Arsenault, a former Deputy Premier, concedes opposition bills are rarely made law. That's why he's calling on Health Minister Ted Flemming to take the bull by the horns.
   
Arsenault says a ban could also save scarce health care dollars as well as lives down the road.
  

Hospital Home Lottery Picks Winners

There are 4 big winners in the Hospital Home Lottery. Anita Cline of St. Andrews wins the 750 thousand dollar Grand Prize Showhome in Rothesay.

The 50/50 cash prize of almost 201 thousand dollars was won by Heidi Price of Sussex Corner. 

The early bird prize which is either the Mercedes Benz or 60 thousand dollars went to a Saint Johnner, Helen Brown and the 2013 Lexus was won by Claude Mallais from Tracadie-Sheila.

Gas Prices Change But Not By Alot

The price of self serve regular has taken a bit of a dip after the weekly setting. 

It's selling for $1.24.1 a litre which is a drop of almost 2 cents. 

Diesel, though, is more expensive at $1.36.1, an increase of almost one cent a litre.

Heating oil has gone up slightly to a maximum price of $1.17 and the price of propane has declined by two cents to a max of 97.4 cents a litre.

Jaywalk Flash Mob Set For Noon Today

Get ready to see some reckless jaywalking uptown today.  

The Great Jaywalk is coming up at noon in Kings Square to support dignity and human rights for people who work in the sex trade.

The Jaywalk flash mob is a response to Common Council's move to use City by-laws regarding jaywalking and sidewalk use to rid the street's of sex workers.
 
The motion was put forward by Councillor Susan Fullerton and passed by council at the November 13th meeting and will go before the Saint John Police Commission for further examination.

The move sparked a negative response particularly from AIDS Saint John which feels forcing sex workers in the City to pay fines will mean they have to work more in the sex trade to cover the cost.

The Jaywalk flash mob is meeting in Kings Square at noon today jaywalking across Charlotte to King where they plan to march down peacefully before jaywalking again to end up at City Hall.

Students Have Their Say On How To Improve North End

Grade 12 Students from Saint John High looking into the past, present and future of the Old North End.

Teacher Barry Ogden assigned his Canadian History class into 3 groups to find out how it changed from a vibrant community into a centre of urban poverty.

Carly Galbrith's group was responsible for the history of the area, which they discovered was full of thriving businesses. Her group traced the history of the urban renewal experiment in the 1960's, which demolished buildings and changed the look of the neighborhood.

Student Jonah Uhryniw says there's a lot of great community leaders in the North End who believe it can be something. He points to One Change, who've reduced crime by bringing the community together. Uhryniw adds just cleaning up the area would engender pride and was surprised so many people looked at the area in a negative light.

Meagan Williams believes small changes can make a big difference like bringing in more community events such as tree planting, geocaching and organized sports.

Andre Basque tells CHSJ news getting local artists to paint murals in the area would really add some beauty.   He says not only would that promote local artists, but it wouldn't cost the City more money.

The students have also suggested filling vacant lots, enhancing Fort Howe, and even adding a mall to brighten up the area.



 



Map of Old North End



Huge Deer Harvest This Year

Great news for hunters, but bad news for deer in the province: the recently completed deer season was the highest harvest since 2008.

The number of deer harvested has gone up by over 6,000 animals, or 26%

Part of the reason for the big numbers is the 550 additional antlerless deer permits were given out this year. The final harvest numbers will be available in early 2013.

Homelessness Hurts The Port City

Living on $500 per month or less would be a major stretch for most of us but, that's the harsh reality for those on social assistance.

Local teens are learning about the importance of affordable housing at a youth conference hosted by the Human Development Council and Safe Harbour. 

Colin McDonald of the HDC tells CHSJ News there are a lot of run-down buildings in this market, which aren't safe or healthy places to live. 
He says home should be a place where you can can recharge and when you're denied that right your overall well-being suffers.

The high school students sat in on sessions on housing for homeless youth and mentally ill individuals and created works of art on the topic.

You Might Be Shocked To Hear How Your Water Is Treated

Clean drinking water is one of the city's top priorities, after all, so you might be interested in knowing exactly why your H20 doesn't taste so great. Commissioner of Environment Bill Edwards describes the not-very sophisticated process water goes through before it comes out of your tap. 

"Currently we take the sticks and debris out of our water and we put in some chlorine that disinfects [it]. Once we add the chlorine there are other disinfection by-products that form as a result. That happens because of the nature of our water, the leaves, the vegetation, the animal remains that are in the surface water, the length of our pipes, we get by-products as a result of the chemicals that we put in. They are a recognized Canadian health hazard. We need to improve the treatment of our water such that the water delivered in your tap doesn't have any of those harmful, or potentially harmful, by-products."

Mayor Mel Norton says it's clear that's not the way you should be treating water in 2013, and we clearly need to do better.

Child Poverty Rate In Province Is Lower

The child poverty rate in the province is dropping but there's still a long way to go according to Randy Hatfield of the Saint John Human Development Council.

In actual numbers, more than 22 thousand children in the province lived in poverty in 2010 according to the annual Child and Poverty Report Card.

Using the Low Income Measure, the rate of child poverty was 16.1% in 2010 which is down from 24.6% in 2006.

Watch Out For Virus Email From Fake Canada Post

If you've recently received an e-mail from Canada Post, you might want to think twice before opening it.

A fake Canada Post e-mail is circulating around the country that's asking you to open a document or to click a link to get tracking information on a package. Canada Post has issued a warning on their website to delete the viral e-mail and that it's no way related to the company. 

They stress if you do need to track your package, to go to their website and enter the tracking number.

Straight Talk From Mayor Mel Norton At State Of The City Address

Saint John is as big hearted as it is two fisted, according to Mayor Mel Norton and we're more than a match for the challenges we face.

The Mayor gave a bird's eye view of the hurdles the Port City is encountering, as well as the victories we have already achieved, before a crowd of about 150 at his first State of the City address. 

Norton freely admits growing the economy and facing our fiscal woes won't be easy. He cites the pension deficit and our current economic rut as the biggest obstacles to our future success as a municipality.

Norton offered some folksy wisdom as a challenge to his constituents. He'd like the people of Saint John to take an opportunity each day to talk about the ways we're succeeding as a city. It is only, the Mayor says, by changing the coffee shop conversation that we are going to see real progress.

2 Men Charged With Drug Trafficking

Two men convicted drug trafficking being sentenced in court.

46 year old Hung Tan Nguyen of Fredericton will serve 8 years in prison on eight counts of trafficking marijuana.

50 year old Kevin Karl Chase of Bull Creek, near Woodstock, was sentenced to 8 months in jail on one count of trafficking marijuana.

Both men are prohibited from owning a firearm, weapon, or ammunition for a period of 10 years.

The two were among 7 people arrested in August last year as part of a two-year drug investigation in the Fredericton area.

Energy Drinks Could Be Deadly, Says Health Critic

Energy drinks are a common pick me up these days, especially among teenagers and shift-workers but the Opposition Health Critic wants to see the Alward government review how the caffeine loaded beverages are marketed to people under 19.
 
Liberal M-L-A Donald Arsenault tells CHSJ News it's a safety issue.

He says if you believe in reducing future health care costs and in the safety and protection of young people then this is an issue that should be important.

Arsenault points to the number of deaths that have been linked to energy drinks as a reason to review the legislation.

Councillor Suggesting 3 Areas To Kick Start Plan SJ

Common Councillor Donnie Snook wants to get the ball rolling with Plan SJ in the Old North End, Lower South End and Waterloo Village.

The Ward 3 Councillor tells CHSJ news he'd like to see restoration of old buildings, roads fixed, increased public safety, a new waste management program and work be done with community groups to improve the area.

Snook believes for Plan SJ to get started, we need to point out what specific areas need the most work.

Mayor To Give State Of The City Address Tonight

Mayor Mel Norton will be giving Saint John its first-ever State of the City Address tonight at the Trade and Convention Center.

It's a presentation on where we are currently as a municipality, and where we're heading in 2013. It will hosted by the Board of Trade and the cost is $35 for non-members, $25 for members.

The State of the City Address kicks off at 5pm.

Police Arrest Man In Fredericton Relating To NS Confinement Case

A 63-year-old man has been arrested in the investigation into the alleged sexual assault and confinement of a 16-year-old boy in Upper Chelsea, Nova Scotia. 

The Nova Scotia man was arrested Monday evening in Fredericton. The accused was without handcuffs when he was taken into the justice centre in Bridgewater through a public entrance.

 John MacKean of Lower Sackville is facing a charge of sexual assault and a prostitution-related charge and is due back in court on Thursday.

47 year old David James Leblanc has already been charged with seven offenses in the case, including sexual assault and forcible confinement.

Police launched an investigation in September after a woman in Upper Chelsea reported that a barefoot teen who was chained at the wrists and ankles, showed up at her doorstep seeking help.