Four Dead After River Crash

Four people are dead after their car left a remote New Brunswick road and plunged into a river early yesterday.

RCMP say the bodies of three men, ages 18, 19 and 20, and a 17-year-old girl were pulled from a submerged vehicle near Tracadie-Sheila around 3 pm.


The Mounties say the car lost control while driving up a hill on an icy road and slipped off the road and into the Tracadie River.

The names of the victims, who are all from surrounding communities outside Tracadie-Sheila and Lameque, have not been released.

Crime Stoppers Needs Help With St. Stephen Vandalism

Crime Stoppers and St. Stephen RCMP are looking for help as they look into the on-going vandalism at a property in the town.

All this month a number of abandoned buildings have been damaged along Pleasant Street in St. Stephen.

A home along Pleasant Street was also damaged on December 10th causing more than $500 in damages.'

If you know anything, contact the Mounties in St. Stephen directly or Crime Stoppers toll free.   
Crime Stoppers will pay up to $2000 dollars for info that leads to an arrest.

For more info, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.

Rothesay Has Big Rec Plans For 2013

There are some big plans in 2013 for Rothesay when it comes to recreation.

Up to $600,000 dollars is being spent on renovation Renforth Wharf to rebuild the retaining wall and fix the wharf itself.

Mayor Bill Bishop tells CHSJ the new and improved 6 million dollar KV library is more than double it's original size.

He says most of the new construction is completed and they have begun moving books and more into that area and now the construction company is renovating the older part of the building which they expect to finish by June.

The town is also spending just over 2 million dollars on the Rothesay Commons to improve drainage, build a stage and look into building a new outdoor skating rink.

Car Carrying 4 Young People Plunges Into Tracadie River

The Mounties are looking for three men and a teen girl after their vehicle plunged into a river early this morning.

Corporal Chantal Farrah says the crash happened around 1am when a vehicle carrying four people, between the ages of 17 and 20,  lost control while driving on Route 370 near Tracadie-Sheila.

Farrah says the vehicle lost control on a dirt road in a remote area while trying to go uphill and slipped off the road and into the Tracadie River.
 
Divers and a search and rescue team are combing the sides of the river, while officials are trying to recover the submerged vehicle.
 
The province's Transportation Department has provided a plow to clear away a path to the area.

Farrah says road conditions were slippery at the time of the crash.
  

Saint John Embraces Kindness Initiative

Nothing says Christmas in Saint John more than random acts of kindess for no particular reason.

That's why the phenomenon known as Pay It Forward is gathering steam in the Port City.
 
Founder Michael Whelton is a vice-principal at St. Mac's and he tells CHSJ News it began as a result of a conversation with a number of teachers at the school he decided to take it further and make it more formalized at their school.

Pay It Forward Saint John is run by a group of 7 individuals including City Councillor and Educator Greg Norton, Ross Jefferson of Destination Saint John and Constable Dan Weber of the City police.   Whelton tells us they want to see it expand more next year so Saint John can be a real contributor on World Pay It Forward Day which is April 25th 2013. 

For more information, click here

Wind & Rain Don't Help In Getting The Lights On

The crews working for NB Power have to be way behind on the Christmas shopping.

Another wild night of weather, this time heavy rain and very strong winds, leading to more power outages.

More than 600 homes and businesses are without electricity this morning.

The largest outages area in St. Stephen, Sussex and Fredericton.

Premier Says No Pipeline Subsidy Request

In a year end interview with CHSJ News - Premier Alward discusses the possibility of subsidies for proposed west-east crude oil pipeline.

Some Are Still Without Power

 469 homes and business are without power in the province.

3 outages in the Fredericton area are impacting 264 people.

70 are in the dark in Woodstock and 50 remain powerless in Sussex today.

Man Overboard Being Treated As Missing Person

East Coast Navy Captain Tyrone Grande tells CHSJ News a call came in last night at 5:45 that a local fisherman who had fallen overboard in the Grand Manan area.

The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre responded with a helicopter, a rescue boat from Saint John, as well as local fisherman searching all night in the Bay of Fundy.

Grande says the search was downsized at 7 this morning.

He says the case has been taken over by the RCMP as a missing persons search.

RSC's Begin Their Work Officially January 1st

2013 will see more of an impact of the new Regional Service Commissions.
 
Back in February, the government announced the creation of 12 commissions by January 2013 to increase collaboration and planning between communities.
 
Grand Bay-Westfield Mayor Grace Losier is the chair of Region 9 and tells CHSJ News they will be working with the unincorporated areas to establish stronger emergency measures plans.

She tells us through the office of the RSC they will be tasked with doing their own land use plan leading eventually to a new plan for the entire service commission area of 9.

Losier announced last week the commission's Executive Director will be Jack Keir the former head of the Crane Mountain landfill and a former cabinet minister with the Graham government. 

She adds because the solid waste commissions now fall under their responsibility, Keir's previous experience with Crane Mountain made him rise to the top as a candidate.

You Might Qualify For A Break On Your Heating Bill

If you're getting smacked with huge energy bills you can't pay, you might want to apply for this.

The provincial government offering a $100 benefit to help New Brunswick families cope with their heating bills. Almost 50,000 applications were received last year, and the program has benefited over 95,000 families since first starting in 2010.

The benefit applies to those who had incomes up to $28,000 in 2011, and are issued 4 weeks after the application is received. You can apply at Service NB, online, or by phone toll free at 1-800-669-7070.

Get Ready For Soggy Shopping

We are gonna get wet tonight.      A rainfall warning is in effect for the southern half of the province.    Up to 25 millimetres could fall by tomorrow morning.

Up north, the precipitation will begin as snow and change to ice pellets for a couple of hours before changing back to rain.

Here on the coast we can also expect wind gusts to 80 kilometres tonight and overnight.

City Police Advised to "Civilianise"

City Police could save money by hiring more civilians. That word was delivered to Common Council following a review of city services but won;t there be any savings realised. 

Police Chief Bill Reid says to accomplish that would require negotiating with the Saint John Police Association and, as it stands now, there wouldn't be any savings because civilian employees cannot be used to supplant police officer who would have to be used doing something else because they cannot lose their jobs.

The city has been told by consultant Todd MacDonald the ideal split is 60/40 with 40 per cent civilian employees and the rest police officers.

Sweet Success For The Gingerbread Trail

Local retailers and restaurants have been competing for a sweet honour---- in a local fundraiser with a delicious twist.

The Delta and Fishy Chores have snagged top nods for their submissions in the Gingerbread Trail fundraiser. Twenty-two gingerbread, icing, and candy houses were entered as part of the benefit for the Joshua Group. Organizer Darlene Baker tells CHSJ News while the numbers aren't in yet, it was a smash success.





Food service category winners: 

1rst Place: Delta Brunswick
2nd Place: Piece of Cake Custom Creations
3rd Place: The Saint John Alehouse

Retail category winners:
 1rst Place: Fishy Chores
2nd Place:The Urban Shoe Myth
3rd Place:Manchester Shoe Salon
 
Baker says it was such a hit they're planning to do it again next year. You can see the Delta's winning house in person on the second level of Brunswick Square.

City Police Offer Up Safety Tips For Busy Shopping Weekend

This could turn out to be the busiest weekend for shopping all year which means lots of traffic in and around the malls. 

City Police Sergeant Jay Henderson tells CHSJ News this is also the time of the year for parties and there will be checkpoints around town to catch drunk drivers.
 
Sergeant Henderson warns thefts increase at this time of the year and police are advising drivers to lock up their vehicles and keep any presents you might buy away from prying eyes.

Sussex and Fredericton Hit Hardest By Power Outages

There are still many people without electricity around the province. 

As of 8:00 this morning, nearly 900 hundred NB Power customers remain in the dark, including 215 in Sussex and more than 5 hundred in Fredericton.

Emergency Meeting Works Out More Details At City Hall

An emergency meeting of council has hammered out some details of the long-term disability payments that have become a bone of contention between city hall and unionized groups including fire and police.

The debate has held up adopting the Shared Risk model for the city's pension plan and thus voting on the 2013 operating budget.

Terms include twenty four month coverage at one hundred percent employer pay, and a two year own occupation clause and any occupation until age 65. They've also agreed to collaborate on a cost sharing plan.

The unions still need to sign the memorandum of understanding. Calls placed to union reps have not yet been returned.
 

Coming Rain May Wash Away Our Snow

Our pretty snowfall may get washed away as a new weather system moves into the region in time for the weekend.

Environment Canada issuing a special weather statement saying the southern half of the province can expect 25 millimetres of rain  starting this afternoon with most of it falling tonight.

This new system is coming in from New England and will bring snow for northern parts of the province if you're heading that way.

Coastal areas can expect wind gusts to 80 kilometres an hour tonight with the winds becoming light Saturday afternoon.

For more info, click here

Latest On Power Outages Throughout NB

It's not much of a Winter Wonderland for the NB Power customers still out of power. About 1800 are still in the dark due mainly due to frozen tree branches falling on the power lines.

430 homes and business are without lights in Fredericton and it's a similar story with 172 in Rothesay, nearly 510 in Sussex, and over 498 in Wodstock still without electricity.

In a tweet, NB Power says the number of outages now is half of what it was this morning and they thank their crews for all their hard work restoring power in the region after yesterday's storm.

Mayans Fear The World Ends Tomorrow

In the busy lead up to Christmas, you may have forgotten that the world is supposed to end tomorrow.
 
According to the Mayan calender, the world should end on December 21st.
 
Dan Riskin of Discovery Channel's Daily Planet tells CHSJ he can pinpoint an exact time everything will stop.

He tells us it will happen in a few 3 billion years and it will happen because the suns expands and engulfs the earth so there is nothing to worry about for tomorrow. Riskin adds to be on the safe side Daily Planet is doing a special about the supposed Mayan apocalypse.

The special is called End of the World 2012 and it premieres tonight at 8 on the Discovery Channel. 

For more info, call here