Manning Remains Upbeat About Economic Future

(Enterprise Saint John chair Bob Manning - file photo)

Enterprise Saint John chair Bob Manning is remaining upbeat despite last week's word Irving Oil would not proceed with its eight billion dollar refinery in the Red Head area.

He tells CHSJ News our energy hub has made a mark on the international stage -- and -- the world knows we're investment friendly.

Manning calls last week's announcement an injection of reality -- but -- he says it's also a chance to focus on secondary opportunities presented by the availability of natural gas such as advanced manufacturing companies.

Research Shows Little Correlation Between Deer and the Spread of Lyme Disease

Research shows there is no correlation between decreasing the deer population in the area and the potential risk of Lyme disease. Dr. Scott Giffin says there have been studies conducted about the relationship between lyme disease and deer and some but not all show reducing the amount of deer does not have an impact.

Dr. Giffin says black legged ticks are famously known to be carried on deers, but they also move around on the white footed mouse---generally found in the brush of wooded areas.

M-L-A Says Deer Need to Be Studied

Saint John Portland M-L-A Trevor Holder wants the department of health and natural resources to find out if deer populations are connected to the spread of lyme disease. Holder says he's not saying to take action to reduce the amount of deer in Millidgeville---he just wants some research to be done.
Holder says he lives in Millidgeville and knows there are a lot of deer in the area. He says since there are confirmed ticks with the lyme disease bacteria in the area, research needs to be done.

No More Idlying in Quispamsis

After discussing it over the past few months.....the Town of Quispamsis has implemented a new anti-idlying bylaw for it's fleet of vehicles. Deputy Mayor Emil Olsen tells CHSJ News, this is a good policy for the town and it's residents.
Some of the new rules include no warming up a vehicle for more than ten minutes in the winter and no longer than a minute in sring, summer and fall. Vehicles are also encouraged to avoid drive-thrus.

Police Incident

City police keeping tight lipped about an incident in the uptown area early this morning.Around 3 o'clock police picked up a man who had a weapon.No confirmation of what type of weapon, or what happened as Major Crimes investigates.
No word on whether or not the arrest is in relation to the six robberies, and five attempted robberies over the last three weeks.

City Talking To Port About West Side Soccer Pitch

City staff will be meeting with the Port Authority in an attempt to obtain an agreement for some land needed for a new soccer pitch.
The city wants to upgrade the field next to the Carleton Community Center on the west side -- but -- the Port owns a piece of the land needed for the project.
Acting city manager Pat Woods says work can't begin until the city gets ownership of that piece of property or has an agreement in place with the Port for long term access to it.
Total cost of the new soccer field is estimated to be in the eight to ten thousand dollar range.

Concrete In - Granite Out On Princess Street

(New curbing already in place on Princess Street - photo by Gary MacDonald)

Work on the Princess Street upgrade won't be coming to a halt over proposed installation of granite curbing.

Common council has accepted a recommendation to reject a bid by the Heritage Board and Uptown Saint John to have granite curbing reinstalled along the street.

A report by city staff says that would cause delays and add more than 300-thousand dollars to the cost the of project.

But the city will sit down with reps from both groups and try to review the curbing standard for future street upgrades in the Trinity Royal area.