Former Olympian to visit Saint John next month

(logo courtesy of P.R.O. Kids)

A 3-time Canadian Olympic medallist in rowing will use her motivational speaking skills to inspire the crowd at the 2010 PRO Kids Dinner next month.
Silken Laumann has become a child and youth advocate and has faced some tough times in recent years.
PRO Kids program manager Tammy Desaulniers tells CHSJ News Silken Laumann advocates for groups similar to PRO Kids in British Columbia.

The PRO Kids Out of the Park FUN-raising dinner is coming up April 8th at the Delta Hotel.
For tickets, call 642-7529 or email prokids@saintjohn.ca
To learn more about Silken Laumann, go to http://www.silkenlaumann.com/

Radio Renovations Week 7

Blue Barrel Spotted in the Ditch

A blue barrel full of chemicals has been removed from a ditch along Highway One by the Saint John Fire Department's Haz-Mat unit. It was discovered just before three this afternoon by someone driving by the Waste Water Treatment Facility and it does contain a mixture of chemicals.


No word at this point where it may have come from and it doesn't appear the barrel was leaking any of the chemicals.

Drugs and Weapons Found in Home

A 45-year old man could be facing charges after RCMP in Oromocto conducting a raid on a home on Mahsos Street.


Officers came away with marijuana plants, cannabis resin, hash and guns were taken from the home as well.

Refinery License is Renewed by the Province

The provincial government has issued a new Class 1 five year air quality approval to the Irving Oil refinery. The company's current air quality operating approval expires at the end of the month. The renewal follows a public consultation exercise, which included a 120-day public review period between March 20 and Aug. 31 of last year.


A six week maintenance project at the refinery is underway with the gasoline treating and heavy oil conversion units getting most of the attention.

City Councillor Tells Enterprise Saint John to Back Off

Councillor Bill Farren is suggesting Enterprise Saint John may be inadvertantly preventing a major retail deal on the West Side. Farren has eluded to a retail development he has been working on for the west side and says Enterprise Saint John has been calling the Toronto developr to get a heads up. Farren says he's not looking to be a star and take all the credit for a new business, he just wants the city to prosper.


Farren says he's been working on the deal all along and doesn't want the developer to be scared off by Enterprise Saint John.

North Old Garage Will Live Again

If you've been wondering what the future holds for the former Ultramar Gas Station on Somerset Street, so have we and here is what we can tell you. The former operator Danny Joyce tells CHSJ News, Ultramar still owns the building and are currently conducting site tests to make sure there is no contamination. They plan to dig up the gas tanks in the spring and the company then gives Joyce the first option to buy the property.


Joyce tells us his son Brad is going to school to become a mechanic and will re-open the business as a garage only but no word on when that will be.

BlueBerry Hill Gets Funding from City Hall

The city is giving the Nature Trust of New Brunswick a 5 thousand dollar shot in the arm to take over Blueberry Hill. The friends of Blueberry Hill asked council for the cash and whatever in-kind work that could be done in regards to development. Mayor Ivan Court says on top of the donation, the city should lobby the Fundy Solid Waste Commission to make this project it's funding priority.


The Nature Trust protects valued Green portions of land in the province and this is the second piece of land in Greater Saint John it is taking ownership of.

Thieves Working Hard in Oromocto

RCMP in Oromocto are investigating a string of debit and credit card fraud in the area only two days into Fraud Prevention month. Over the past few days, a number of people have been advised by their financial institution that various amounts of money were taken from their accounts as someone gained access to the card's information.


RCMP remind people to always keep an eye on the activities in their bank account to check for possible fraud and to never give out credit or debit card information over the phone.

Man Dies In Early Morning Fire

A 50 year old man is dead after a fire early this morning shortly after 3:00 in a 4 unit apartment building at 120 Prince Street. City Police say the major crime unit is investigating. The fire itself was quickly extinguished. There's no word yet on how it got started.

Convenience Store Owners Say They're Getting Squeezed Over Sale Of Gasoline

An association representing convenience stores in Atlantic Canada has asked the Energy and Utilities Board to review the profit margin on the sale of gasoline in the province.
Atlantic Convenience Stores Association president Mike Hammoud says many store owners who sell gas are ``getting squeezed.'' Hammoud says costs including wages are rising while wholesale and retail margins on gasoline haven't increased since the province began price regulations in July 2006.
The board reviewed the margins in 2008 but didn't approve an increase.
The association is asking the E-U-B conduct a review of maximum margins, maximum delivery costs and the maximum full-service charge to ensure they are justified under the Petroleum Products Pricing Act.
The Canadian Independent Petroleum Marketing Association is also supporting the request for a review of an increase in the gasoline margin.

Common Council Debates Whether There's Too Much Debate Over State of Rural Roads

After spending over a half an hour debating on whether or not the city should permit the use of chip seal on new rural roadways, Councillor Donnie Snook suggested Common Council not spend so much time discussing it. Snook spoke up after there were comments about the terrible conditions of every road in the city. Snook says that's untrue statement, there are a lot of roads in good condition and council should spend less time debating over issues like "what manholes to purchase" and more on the positive things they are doing.
The report from city staff suggested city works use chip seal on new rural roads as a cost saving measure, and not to use it on roads already paved with asphalt. Deputy Mayor Stephen Chase says there was a proposal for a committee system of municipal government to take over issues like this but the majority of council voted against that so whether they like it or not the debate will continue.

Change Coming In The Way The City Budget Is Put Together

(Common Council)

(File Photo)

The next city budget is going to be service based.
Common Council received a presentation on how service based budgeting works and Stephanie Roach with the Corporate Planning department says using the method will make it clearer to residents where their money is going.
The budget for each department will be broken down into how much each service provided costs.
Deputy City Manager Andrew Beckett says using this method will allow the city to spend less time focusing on cost and more on providing effective services.
City Manager Pat Woods claims this method will make every department more efficient.