(Josh Clain, Morgan Sellars, Mary and Anthony Clain)
(photo courtesy of Atlantic Lotto)
Saint John's latest millionaire has his 7.6 million dollars from Atlantic Lotto.
Josh Clain's winnings were held up because of a family connection to a lottery retailer.
Clain's girlfriend Morgan Sellars tells CHSJ News they are glad the wait is over.
Clain bought his winning ticket at a store on the west side and won the money in the February 20th draw of Lotto 6-49.
He says they plan to take a cruise, travel across Canada and invest some of the winnings.
Clain is sharing his lottery prize with his parents and girlfriend.
Future strategic energy planning in the province is now vulnerable because of all the information that was handed over to Quebec in the failed negotiations to sell some of the assets of NB Power. That charge being levelled by Provincial Conservative Leader David Alward. And he has a warning about the ground shifting in the political landscape of the province because of all the people who were riled up over the proposed sale.
Alward will be in the city tomorrow night for the party's nomination meeting in East Saint John at the Hampton Inn. Former Fire Chief and Common Councillor Glen Tait announced back in the fall that he would be going after that nomination.
The Harper Government is looking for new ideas on how to reform this country's pension system. That's one of the issues the Canadian Union of Public Employees will be talking about at its annual convention in Fredericton. The President of CUPE New Brunswick, Daniel Legere tells CHSJ News more money will have to be put into the Canada Pension Plan by both workers and government.
Concern over whether baby boomer retirees will have enough to live on has escalated since the financial meltdown decimated R-R-S-P's.
There could be from 150 to 200 young Saint Johnners without a place to live. That, according to Colin MacDonald of the Resource Centre for Youth. He tells CHSJ News there is an immediate need in the city to help them from a downward spiral.
MacDonald says many times they will be given a place to live by crack dealers who turn them on to the drug trade or use them as prostitutes. According to the report on homelessness, there are 70 emergency shelter beds in Greater Saint John and 934 people used them last year.
The last of the District 8 town hall meetings goes tonight with organizers looking for feedback on their schools from parents.
The meetings started back in January in Grand Bay-Westfield and have also been held at Bayside Middle School and at St. Malachy's.
If your child attend's a different school, you can still come to tonight's meeting at Princess Elizabeth School.
Tonight's meeting gets started at 7pm.
If you're filling up today, there has been very little change in gas prices following the weekly setting. The maximum that can be charged for self serve regular is a bit lower at104.2 a litre and it's being sold around town for 101.9. The maximum for diesel is unchanged at 106.3 and is being sold in the city for 103.7 a litre. Furnace Oil is a bit lower at 90.1 with another decrease in the price of propane which is now listed at 105.2 a litre.
There was a power outage after a transformer caught fire on a utility pole along Pugsley Avenue. Fire crews responded first but had to wait until Saint John Energy arrived. There was alot of sparking from the transformer which caught the attention of nearby residents and caused some concern.
The President of Saint John Energy found news of the cancelled NB Power/Hydro Quebec deal yesterday a bit surprising.
Eric Marr tells CHSJ News a new provincial energy policy should address the aging infrastructure that all municipal utilities but the main thrust should be protect consumers from rate shock.
The New Brunswick Forest Products Association is appealing to all parties to find an immediate solution to rising power rates. This on the heels of the NB Power Hydro Quebec proposal being squashed. President Mark Aresenault is disappointed with the decision as a major piece of their business plan was the five year rate freeze. Arsenault says now they are faced with rate hikes in electricity rates near or over 20% with the proposal gone.
The death of the energy deal between NB Power and Hydro Quebec is great news for the many provincial groups who spent months fighting against it. Tom Mann of NB Power-Not for Sale! tells CHSJ News they are thrilled it's not happening but, are focused now on what comes next. Mann adds when you tally up the costs associated with negotiating the deal and adverstising it, the cost to provincial taxpayers will be in the millions.
