Reports have them leaving school without bookbags or coats.
Students and staff evacuated this morning after police received a threat about a possible explosive device at Fredericton High.
A ton of emergency personnel responding to the scene including the Explosive Device Unit, two canine units and the Fredericton Fire Department.
The school was searched and no explosive devices were found.
Fredericton police are still looking into tips they received adding they do no believe there is any further threat to the public.
The stigma of being from the old North End is no more. That, from the President of ONE Change Scott Crawford at a funding announcement where the RBC Foundation gave the organization a check for $40,000.
Crawford tells CHSJ News it's taken some time, but community pride is starting to re-develop in the neighbourhood. He says residents are showing that they care about where they live by working with the police department to lower crime and working with housing agencies to make sure that there is better housing in the old North end.
Crawford says that the money they received will allow them to make the program something special. He says they can now expand their art, sports and self-development programs so that there are no kids on a waiting list.
ONE Change is an organization dedicated to improving life for those living in the old North end.
A lively back and forth on the new drug plan in the Legislature this morning.
Liberal Liberal Brian Gallant asking the health minister if the program is voluntary in the first phase beginning next spring.
He asking Flemming if its true in the second phase of the plan after April 2015 that it will be mandatory for New Brunswickers to pay into the plan.
Health Minister Ted Flemming says the first phase of the plan is voluntary where people can assess their drug use and the extent to which they have to pay and they have the option to make that kind of decision.
Gallant does say the Liberals do support the new drug plan in principle but they do have questions they think the government should answer.
When the Canadian Union of Public Employees complained about cuts to the winter highway maintenance program, the more than 6 million dollars that could be paid to a consultant was prominently mentioned.
The President of CUPE Local 1190 Andy Hardy has more to say on that.
"What they were hired to do was to find a savings of 44.5 million dollars in the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Budget, and if they do that, they're going to be paid 6.2 million dollars," he says.
Hardy says, the consulting work has been going on all year. He has no doubt there will recommendations forthcoming to save the designated amount of money.
First Steps Housing for young teen mothers and moms to be, has received a much needed financial boost from the 100 Women Who Care of Greater Saint John.
The Director of First Steps Sharon Amirault tells CHSJ News, the donation could not have come at a better time.
"This money has just come at the right time for probably the worst financial year first steps has had," she says.
She says First Steps is full. She doesn't see the need to help young women who find themselves without a place to call home going down but, financially, it will continue to be difficult.
Police in Fredericton are on the scene at Fredericton High School, which received an unspecified threat earlier this morning.
The students were dismissed to return home beginning at 10:30am--and students were dismissed from the Ecole Ste. Anne location as well.
No word on the exact nature of the threat but Simonds High School received a call earlier this month about weapons in the school that turned out to be the work of online hackers. No one was injured and no weapons were found.
More than 170 potential suppliers, contractors and consultants for the Clean Water project attending a bidder's meeting.
Project Manager Dean Price says there is essentially three years of preparation before shovels go in the ground.
He says for them the big item is the RFQ, the request for qualifications, which will go out next summer adding there is a lot of financial and technical information they have to prepare before that.
Price says they don't expect to have much of an update on the project between now and next summer.
He says other P3 projects like the highway jobs had a lot of local content so this one could as well.
The provincial Conservatives choosing their candidate for Saint John Harbour for the election next year.
Current MLA Carl Killen highlighting the importance of moving forward natural gas and natural resource development, pension reform and more in a speech to party members at the nomination meeting.
Killen says if natural gas, specifically shale gas, development can't be done safely it won't be done but they will be moving ahead with it because they believe it will provide an economic benefit and has the power to bring families together. He calls it morally good.
Killen was elected to his current position three years ago and he tells CHSJ News his riding is the poorest in New Brunswick and arguably the only purely urban riding in the province. He says the biggest thing for him is being able to give some help and comfort to the people in his riding who are having a tough go of it.
Authorities at the maximum security prison at Renous are investigating after a drug seizure.
An arrest was made after an attempt to smuggle between 15 and 20 thousand dollars worth of drugs into the penetentiary.
The drugs confiscated included hash, hash oil and hydromorphone.
St. Joe's will be back open tomorrow morning after closing its doors today due to water issues.
There was a problem with water pressure at St. Joseph's Hospital but it has since been fixed. The closure affected the operating rooms, all out-patient clinics and the Urgent Care Centre.
Patients who needed care were being advised to visit another clinic or go to the ER at the Regional.
Add Lakewood Heights to the list of 2013 watermain breaks leading to another boil water order.
A pipe from 1800's failed early this morning meaning chlorine stopped entering the system.
Saint John Water's Kendall Mason says because of the watermain failure the water being drawn from the lake was coming into fast and the chlorination system could not keep up so it was not being disinfected properly.
Doug Walker of the Department of Health explains why Forest Hills school shut down early due to low water pressure.
He says it becomes a concern especially in a school when you get into a situation where you can't use the washrooms and children can't wash their hands.
The City expects the boil water order will remain in effect until at least Friday.
The boil water order impacts 45,000 Saint Johners living east of the Reversing Falls bridge.
New Brunswick Health Minister Ted Flemming rose in the legislature for a major announcement introducing the Prescription and Catastrophic Drug Insurance Act.
The Act will allow the government to establish the New Brunswick Drug Plan. Flemming calls it a momentous day in our province's history, rivaled only by the introduction of Medicare.
Liberal health critic Donald Arsenault responded with the rejoinder that while the opposition agrees in principle with the act, the Alward government should be apologizing to the taxpayers whose hopes they raised when they promised to have the plan completed in the first year of their mandate, considering it is now over three years later.
The Health Minister has said he refuses to apologize for taking the necessary time to carefully construct the plan.
New Brunswickers with a valid health care will be able to voluntarily enroll in the plan by May 1, 2014. For the full details of the plan click here
St. Joseph's Hospital has been closed because of the water problems on the east side.
This closure affected the operating rooms, all out-patient clinics and the Urgent Care Centre.
Patients needing care are being told to visit another clinic or go to the E-R at the Regional with the public being asked to not come to St. Joe's until further notice.
Prince William Street isn't the thriving commercial district it once was--but a $2.5 million refurbishment program is going to bring the nationally-designated historic streetscape back to something of its former glory.
Common Councillor Donna Reardon suggested granite rather than concrete curbing would make sense given the importance of the project, especially since building owners in that area are required to bring their buildings up to the heritage code.
The granite curbing would cost $150,000 more than concrete--but the consensus around the council horseshoe seems to be that if it's worth doing, it's worth doing right.
Not everyone likes the idea of fluoride in the city's drinking water supply, whether it's a perceived taste issue, or simply because they don't like the thought of anyone putting medicine in their water.
However, according to New Brunswick Dental Society president and dentist Kelly Manning, fluoridated water is absolutely crucial to preventing tooth decay, especially in kids. She tells CHSJ News she sees a shocking rate of tooth decay as it is.
She tells CHSJ News saving the $177,000 dollars the city spends yearly on fluoride is a poor reason to compromise on public health, and if we take fluoride out we can expect to see a spike in tooth decay. Further, Manning says provinces like Ontario fluoridate their water and have reported no ill effects.
No doubt you have seen the ad during the commercial breaks on your favourite tv show.
It's from the Province and features many New Brunswickers speaking about having to leave home to find work.
Premier David Alward says the ad sends a strong message to the folks working out west to not give up hope on be able to return home someday.
He says our young people and men and woman don't have the opportunities to stay home and build their lives here.
So how will the province sold the problem? Alward suggests the work the province is doing on developing our natural resources and investing in innovation will do the trick.
You can check out the ad yourself by clicking here
The water problems in the City forcing the closure of St. Joe's.
Operating rooms and all out-patient clinics at St. Joseph’s Hospital have been closed.
The Urgent Care Centre is closed until further notice.
Patients needing care should arrange to visit another clinic or go to the ER at the Regional.
The public is asked to not come to St. Joe's until further notice.
Some inconvenient fallout from the East side watermain break this morning.
Several residents and business owners both east and uptown are complaining of low water pressure or a complete lack of water.
As a result, Forest Hills school is closing for the day and all Saint John Y afterschool programming and evening events are cancelled.
The Village at the Loch Lomond Villa had to postpone their Christmas dinner scheduled for today for 300 family members and residents.
It's re-scheduled for Thursday.
CHSJ News asked the city when the water pressure may be returning to normal and they told us they will provide an update as soon as they can.
Your household water bill is going to be going up in the new year.
With
the newly-approved 2014 water and sewerage capital budget, the domestic
water rate will be rising by 7%--which is an extra $6 per month, or $72
per year.
City Manager Bill Edwards explains the increase should
come as no surprise, given all the much needed improvements that are
going to be undertaken with the water system.
The increase will come into effect regardless of council's decision about the future of fluoridating the water supply.
A boil water order has been issued for everyone living east of the Reversing Falls Bridge because of a water main break on a transmission line near the Lakewood Heights Pump Station on the east side.
Due to the water main break there was increased water flow at the Latimer Lake Treatment Facility resulting in insufficient chlorine being added to disinfect the water.
The West side, west of the Reversing Falls Bridge, is not affected. The boil water order is expected to last until early next week.
