St. Stephen Gets Next H1N1 Clinic for Priority Groups

St. Stephen is the next community to have a H1N1 clinic for adults with chronic condtions.
It includes people those with asthma, emphysema, chronic bronchitis, COPD and cystic fibrosis.
People with ALS, multiple sclerosis, quadriplediga and paraplegia are also in the new priority group.
The clinic will be held tomorrow from 9am to 3pm at the Milltown Legion in St. Stephen.
To determine if you are included in the next priority group: go to www.gnb.ca/flu or
call 1-800-580-0038.

Municipal Plan Unveiled in Rothesay

A public hearing is ready to go tonight in Rothesay. The town will unveil the draft of it's new municipal plan after months of going over maps and documents. Mayor Bill Bishop tells CHSJ News, he is very pleased with how the document looks. Mayor and councilors have faced some criticism from home-owners concerned about the re-zoing of certain parcels of land. Tonight's public hearing gets started at seven in the cafeteria of Rothesay High School.


The proposal must still go to council for first, second and third reading.

Plenty of Vaccine in the Province

Good news on the H1N1 front..........Public Health says they received 44,000 viles this week with 49,000 expected next week. Dr. Eilish Cleary is the Chief Medical Officer of Health and says over the next two weeks, they hope to finish up with the priority groups. Following that, Dr. Cleary hopes by the end of this month or the first week of December, anyone who wants a shot will be able to get one.

To date, 112 people have been hospitalized with ten sick enough to be admitted to the Intensive care Unit. Of all those who are or were in hospital, 56% were under the age of 20 and those in I.C.U. were over 30.

H1N1 Clinics in District Six

Officials in District Six can see the light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to H1N1 shots. After they began immunizing students last month, officials tell CHSJ News, elementary schools are finished, they are now into the middle schools and will make the leap into the high schools in coming days.

Superintendent Zoe Watson tells CHSJ News, if everything stays on schedule, they hope to have all shots given to students by the middle of next week.

Major Crime Looking Into Incident

The Major Crime Unit is asking for your help after an incident late yesterday afternoon. Officers were called to Princess Court in East Saint John at 5:30pm. When they arrived they were told about how a man with a weapon, forced his way into a home and then took off on foot toward Simpson Drive.

No arrests have been made and if you do know anything, call City Police at 648-3333 or Crimestoppers.

Money Needed for Special Needs in District Eight

District 8 is asking the provincial government to take a look at it's budget to help fund special needs programs. District 8 has the highest number of students with special needs in the province and District Education Chair Rob Fowler says as enrolment number decrease so does the amount of funding for the district, but the number of students requiring specialized programs continue to increase.

Fowler adds in order to pay for special needs programs, money needs to be taken from other lines in the budget and it's time for the province to invest more cash into the district.

New Hardware for District Six

District Six is preparing to launch a new high-tech tool called VersaTrans. It is an upgrade to the current bus system and Director of Transportation Steve Evans this new set-up is going to make their job easier and the expectation for safety from parents can be met.

Evans says all officials who are and will be using this new set-up have really embraced the technology. The new system will go on-line in the fall. Cost of the new system is between $20 and $30,000 dollars.

Conservation Council Speaks Out at Open Session

(Inka Milewski, Science Advisor for Conservation Council)
                   (Photo by Jim Hennessy)


The Provincial Environment Department hosted an open house last night and opened the floor to comments on the proposed Eider Rock second refinery. The Conservation Council was well represented with several speakers including it's science advisor Inka Milewski. She tells CHSJ News, the council as a whole is thrilled to hear the project has been put on the back burner by Irving Oil.

Milewski says the base line health study completed in the Environmental Impact Assessment mis-represents the base line health status of those living in Saint John and the residents of Simonds Parish.

Department of Environment on Hand for Public Session

(File Photo of Proposed New Eider Rock Refinery)
               (Photo by Jim Hennessy)

Michelle Daige was on hand last night representing the Environment Department. She tells CHSJ News, an independent panel will now get to work on it's findings from what they have heard and should have a final report handed over the next month.


The final Environmental Impact Assessment prepared for the project from Irving Oil has been handed over to the province and they are satisfied the company will take appropriate actions to protect the environment.

Saint John Portland MLA Looking for Answers

         (Saint John Portland MLA Trevor Holder)
                (Photo by Jim Hennessy)

The second day of the new fall session in Fredericton was a lot like the first. A proposed deal between NB Power and Hydro Quebec dominated question period. Saint John-Portland Conservative MLA Trevor Holder tells CHSJ News, the Graham Government doesn't have answers for their questions.

Premier Graham defended the proposal saying it was too good to refuse because it will lower power rates and reduce the provincial debt by 40 per cent.

District Eight Falling Short on Math Numbers

This years provincial assessment numbers are showing District 8 needs improvement in it's math scores. Director of Education Bev MacDonald says the district knows the scores need to improve and strategies are being put into place to find a remedy but parents and the public need to change their attitude towards math.

MacDonald adds when children constantly hear parents say they cannot do math, or are not good with numbers it is passed on. On the literacy side, District 8 was above or reaching provincial targets at all grade levels.

Rothesay High School Getting a New Look

          (District Six Superintendent Zoe Watson)
                  (Photo by Jim Hennessy)

The District Six Education Council is putting in a request for more modular class-rooms at Rothesay High. There are currently three at the school and if the Province approves, four more would be set up by next fall. Superintendent Zoe Watson says the school is bursting at the seams with class-rooms being held in the cafeteria and some teachers with no room to call their own.


Watson adds the top priority for the district remains the refit of Kennebecasis Park school with the hope of good news coming from the Province by next month.

H1N1 Clinic in Sussex

Adults with chronic conditions included in the next priority group can get the H1N1 vaccine in Sussex today. Public Health is holding a clinic at Sussex Middle school. The new priority group includes those with asthma, chronic bronchitis as well as people with respiratory issues. The clinic opens this afternoon at 1:30 and finishes up tonight at 7pm.


For more flu information, visit our website at country94.ca-click "news".

Gas Prices Continue to Fall

For the third straight week.....the price of gasoline has taken a tumble. The Energy and Utilities Board has released it's weekly price schedule showing a litre of self-serve going for 97.8 cents. That is down from 98.4 with most stations in the metro selling the black gold for 98.2.

Diesel is down as well coming in at $101.6, furnace oil tops off 82.2 which is down almost two cents and propane saw the only increase, just under a penny at 93.3.

Construction Set to Get Started

A sod-turning ceremony at St. Joseph's Community Health Center this morning will mark the beginning of construction for the new Leisure Wellness Garden. The garden is a fundraising project of this years Dragon Boat Festival.


The shovel goes in the ground at 9am in the rear lower parking lot.

New Moon Debuts Tonight in Saint John

Calling all fans of Edward, Bella and Jacob.......the next movie in the Twilight saga, "New Moon", opens in theatres tonight. It happens officially at midnight but, Empire Studio 10 in East Saint John has three advance screenings tonight. Assistant Manager Victoria Hutchison tells CHSJ News, the first two are sold out but there are tickets left for the 10:30 screening tonight.

For anyone who wants to catch up, the first film in the series-"Twilight" runs at 4:30 today at Empire Studio 10.