Monkeytown Monkey-Nappers Foiled

Whoever was monkeying around at the Magnetic Hill Zoo doesn't have Hercules any longer. The squirrel monkey, which was kidnapped at some point overnight and held for 18 hours, has been founddue to an anonymous tip. 

Zoo Manager Bruce Dugan tells CHSJ News they got a tip some university students stole the monkey as a prank.

Dugan says he agreed not to press charges as long as Hercules was returned safe. The monkey is reportedly a bit nervous and skittish and is being monitored. This is isn't the first case of monkey-napping to be reported in the Maritimes--in 2008, and young monkey was stolen from the Cherry Brook Zoo in Saint John then returned.

Another Call Center Bites The Dust

In the Fredericton area, 250 people will be out of work with the closure of the Marriott call center. The call center had received more than $750,000  in government dollars.

According to a release by provincial NDP leader Dominic Cardy, New Brunswick governments have given at least $15 million since 2000 to call centres that have closed their doors.

NB Liquor Donates Some Proceeds

Sipping on your favourite beverage you could also help conserve the province's rivers. The Atlantic Salmon Conversation Foundation is entering a month long partnership with NB Liquor with the proceeds of sales from some brands going to various community groups. 

Executive director Stephen Chase he expects the partnership to raise a good chunk of change for conservation projects.

NB Liquor estimates the month-long campaign will raise $25,000 to $30,000 to be distributed among various community groups. The initiative will run until September 30th.

UPDATE: Saint Johners Stranded In New Orleans

Hurricane Issac is continuing to move over New Orleans--and one Saint John couple is getting a vacation that's memorable for all the wrong reasons. 

Gary and Janelle Flanagan tell CHSJ News they've gone from being disappointed about their ruined vacation to concerned for their safety as Hurricane Issac pushes over levees, knocks out power for thousands, and immerses beachfront roads throughout Louisiana. 

The Flanagans say it's been pretty tense hunkering down in their hotel room in the French Quarter--but they're been impressed by the friendliness and support of the locals. They're hoping to head home to friends and family by Saturday.

Flying Out Of Saint John Airport Doesn't Cost You More

The air show at Saint John Airport is part of a campaign by the local airport to have a higher profile and emphasise how important it is to the Saint John region.

Airport President and C-E-O Bernie Leblanc tells CHSJ News a study has found it is not more expensive to fly out of Saint John in spite of the perception otherwise.

American airports such as Bangor are proving to be more of a challenge with pricing because they operate under a different model.

That's why discussions have been taking place with the Harper Government to see if the costs can be reduced. Leblanc says 5 million passengers use U.S. airports in order to save money.

Pension Gap In Province Widens

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation taking dead aim at what it sees as the pension gap in New Brunswick, calling it "astounding".

The Taxpayers Federation releasing numbers that show last year the average government worker saw more than 87 hundred dollars go into his or her pension plan. That compares to just over 4 thousand dollars for everyone else.

The Federation's Atlantic Director Kevin Lacey says government workers in the province not only have more money going into their pension plans, more of them actually have workplace pension plans to draw upon with almost three-quarters of workers in New Brunswick outside of government with no pension at all.  

He says the Premier will make the situation better but is just tinkering around the edges with his shared risk model for change that's also being looked at by the city.

Power Outage Caused By A Crow

A crow caused a 35 minute power outage in much of the uptown knocking out traffic lights and leaving many businesses in the dark.

CHSJ News has been told the crow flew into a line blowing a transformer in the substation at the foot of Union Street.

Red Head Wants No More Broken Promises

Whether they've lived there for four or forty years, Red Head residents all had the same feelings at last night's community meeting... They want to build a community association, but don't want any more broken promises from Councillors like what they've experienced in the past. 

The meeting held at Red Head United Church saw about 50 concerned residents and Ward 4 Councillors Ray Strowbridge & David Merrithew. Both Common Councillors said they won't be in control of the Red Head association, but will help it form together and will take their group concerns to City Hall.

Susan Wall has lived in Red Head for 36 years, and she says she'd like to see more fun brought to the community. Wall adds though the community has felt left out, it's nice to see two Councillors who are willing to to work with them.

For forty years Shawn Cawley has lived in the area, he says some problems are the roads, a neglected baseball field, and the winter parking ban.

Deborah Kneeland says even though she's been there for only three years, she's seen Red Head been neglected. She points to three years ago when the previous Councillors never came to their parking ban meetings. She says people are so upset about being let down in the past that they're afraid to go forward, but it needs to be done to make positive changes.

Common Councillor Ray Strowbridge ensures say he can't speak or fix what happened in the past, but he's going to represent the people of Red Head.

About twenty five people put their names on the list for the first community association which is set to meet next month.

Dog Killed In West Side Car Accident

Two people were lucky to emerge unscathed but their dog wasn't so lucky after a car rolled over a couple of times on the west side. 

The car actually went airbourne in the area of Market Place and King Street West sometime after 9:30. 

City Police say the dog died after going through the sun roof.

Hurricane Strands Saint Johnners In New Orleans

A couple of Saint Johnners stranded in Louisiana are giving CHSJ News the scoop on their experience in New Orleans, as the city hunkers down in preparation for Hurricane Issac. Today also marks the 7th anniversary of catastrophic Hurricane Katrina--although this storm is expected to be much less severe. 

Janelle Flanagan and her husband Gary live in the North End. After saving for their vacation all year, the Flanagans say they never expected their New Orleans experience to include a hurricane. She tells CHSJ News the atmosphere is a little tense, with people stocking up on supplies, boarding up their homes and businesses, and closing up shop for the day.

At 12:20 p.m. Eastern time, Isaac had sustained winds of 75 mph. That's a mile above the speed needed for a Category 1 hurricane. Hurricane Katrina was a Category 3 hurricane on landfall.

NB Man Wanted On Canada-Wide Warrant

A man who once lived in New Brunswick is wanted on a Canada wide warrant: Phillip Lyon's parole was suspended when he walked away from a halfway house in Kelowna, B.C. in May 2012.

He lived in Doaktown prior to moving to the Okanagan a few years ago. 36-year-old Lyons is known to have contacts throughout New Brunswick leading police to believe he may be here. Lyons is described as white, 5'10, 223 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. He has a tattoo on his left forearm of a cross and tribal symbol surrounding an eye 'FTC'.

Anyone with any information on the whereabouts of Phillip Lyons is asked to contact their local police or anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
 

Deadly Crash Near Belleisle Creek

One woman is dead after a crash yesterday, when she was hit near East Scotch Settlement Road in Belleisle Creek.

The 32-year-old woman from the area was traveling with her family when their RV ran out of gas.  She was standing next to their vehicle, which was parked across the road from the RV, when a car passed between their vehicle and the RV and hit her. She died at the scene. An RCMP re-constructionist is aiding the investigation. It was dark at the time of the crash, and road conditions were dry.

The name of the victim has not yet been released.

Expect Warmer Temps This Autumn

The dog days of August are here...and it looks this summer's warmer temperatures will continue for at least part of the autumn.

 Meteorologist Dayna Vetesse tells CHSJ News we'll still see the usual fall rain despite the trend--which hopefully won't be too late to help out farmers who have been struggling all summer with near-drought conditions.

Vetesse says it's still hard to predict whether the warmer temps will result in increased tropical storm activity in the Maritimes.

In For A Penny, In For A Pound On Peel Plaza

In for a penny, in for a pound--that's the message from Common Councilor Ray Strowbridge about the public park area of Peel Plaza. Strowbridge tells CHSJ News finishing off the remaining infrastructure might cost upwards of a million dollars, but the park is the only thing people actually want. 

He says even those who have protested the build have agreed the green space is key--- because it's accessible to the public.

Council voted to go ahead with the green space despite the cost, saying that it makes no sense to have a brand new building surrounded by dirt roads and piles of gravel.

"Out Of Destruction Comes Creativity"

The Provincial Young Liberals are feeling good about the party these days after the devastating election defeat two years ago.

Communications Director Sandenn Killoran tells CHSJ News it's time for an aggressive approach to train young people and, hopefully, keep them from moving by attracting 21st century industries to the province. He cites research and development, information technology and environmental development as emerging economic opportunities.

Killoran says better training for young people in the province is essential because having just having a high school education doesn't cut it anymore arguing a Bachelor's degree is seen as being the equivalent of what a high diploma once was.

Over 800 People Without Power

845 people are without power in the Oromocto and Douglas Harbour area area due to an unplanned outage. According to the NB Power site, customers should have their power restored between 1 and 2pm.

Air Show Delayed By One Day

Saint John Airport just announcing that because of the weather, the flying portion of the air show has been changed.

After getting permission from Transport Canada, the air show, itself, will be staged tomorrow from 2 to 4 in the afternoon when the skies will be clear under a canopy of blue.

You'll be able to see the aircraft up close from 2 to 4 this afternoon in a static display with another one being held tomorrow from 4 to 7. 

Some Of The Planes In Saint John For Air Show

Another Dodgy Fire On West Side

A pickup truck that was destroyed in a fire on the west side had been reported stolen. 

Acting Platoon Chief Marc Carey says the truck was ablaze near Bayshore Beach in a ravine between Sea Street and City Line. 

The cause is suspicious with both the fire department and City Police investigating.

No one was injured.

New City Bus Transfer Policy & Family Rate

Saint John's transit woes are no secret...but there could be a few fixes coming soon. Vibrant Communities recently presented council with the results of a study on how to best deliver the services bus users need.

SJ Transit has announced they will now honour transfers for up to an hour of travel in the same direction, instead of just the next bus. As well, up to 3 kids under 5 will now ride free with an adult.

The survey asked 525 people, 90% of whom said they needed the bus to get around, about their main issues and asks for the transit service.
Some other solutions including nixing property tax on transit buildings, making fares cheaper, and improving the transfer policy. Barry Galloway of Vibrant Communities tells CHSJ News the next step is getting the province on board.