St. Joseph's Community Centre gets new funding

(St. Joseph's Community Centre)

  (Photograph by Sherry Aske)

The St. Joseph's community centre is getting an additional $200,000 from the provincial government.

Premier Shawn Graham was at the centre today saying centres like this are important because they keep kids at home and involved in the community. 

Father Bill Elliot is looking forward to the centre's opening because people will be able to get a lot of services that they used to have to go to town for.

The centre will have an afterschool program and preschool downstairs, with a wellness centre and community police office upstairs.

The grand opening is set for June 27th.











(Father Bill Elliot thanks Premier Shawn Graham for funding)
     (Photo by Sherry Aske)

Student Employment Centres open

Students in Greater Saint John can start looking for a summer job.

The Federal government's Service Canada Centres for Youth are now open and will be until early August.
Regional Lead Youth Services Officer Randy Dinan tells CHSJ News that all the job postings are available online.


He says students should come in and they can talk to them about what kind of job they are looking for.
The job bank can be found at www.jobbank.gc.ca.
The Youth Employment Centre in Saint John is located at 1 Agar Place.

Common Councillor Worries About What's Being Sold To Cruise Ship Passengers

(Common Councillor Bill Farren)
                (File Photo)

With a new cruise ship season fast approaching, a member of Common Council wants something done to improve the quality of what's being sold by some of the vendors. Bill Farren says some of it is junk and gives a bad impression of the city and he has heard complaints from some of the tourists and volunteers.
Farren believes the city should take the lead to ensure quality doesn't go downhill. The first cruise ship of the season will be arriving in port May 28th.

Stubborn Fire At East Side Recycling Business

(District Fire Chief Gerry Morris)
           (File Photo)

A recycling business on the east side went up in smoke late last night. City firefighters were called to 280 Range Road and found a storage building, trailer and old schoolbus ablaze. District Chief Gerry Morris says there was heavy smoke and it took 4 hours before being brought under control. Help was requested from Rothesay and Simonds firefighters. There were no injuries. As for a cause, Morris says that's under investigation.

Game Four Of President's Cup Final Tonight In Moncton

If Game Three of the Presidents Cup Final was a must win for the Saint John Seadogs, tonight's Game Four certainly falls into that category as well. Moncton leads the best of seven 2-1 and Dogs Head Coach Gerard Gallant tells CHSJ News, his team has to play sixty minutes and not a two and a half periods like they did Tuesday.
Moncton goaltender Nicola Riopel was pulled from the net after giving up four goals but Head Coach and GM Danny Flynn isn't putting the blame on him. He says the Wildcats have to stay out of the penalty box. Premier Shawn Graham has been enjoying the Presidents Cup Final. Graham says Saint John and Moncton are really putting on a show for the fans but when asked to pick a winner, Graham said he wasn't taking that question.  Game time tonight is 7:30pm at the Coliseum in Moncton.

Conservative Candidates In K-V Acclaimed For Provincial Election

(Quispamsis Conservative candidate Blaine Higgs)
                 (Photo by Sherry Aske)

The double Conservative nominations of Blaine Higgs for Quispamsis and Margaret-Ann Blaney for Rothesay began with the blaring of "Start me up" by the Rolling Stones. Higgs says the song was to get people excited about change, and locally, he's hoping he can change rising property taxes.
Blaney says serving as health critic has given her a unique insight into key issues. She says fiscally, the province can't afford to go another term with the Graham government and a key campaign issue will be the province's increasing debtload. Both Higgs and Blaney were uncontested in their nominations. Higgs is Director of Business Development for Irving Oil. The riding of Quispamsis is currently in the hands of Provincial Health Minister Mary Schryer.

Affordable Housing Conference Gets Started In City

(Provincial Social Development Minister Kelly Lamrock)
                      (File Photo)

Poverty and how it relates to housing issues will be one of the focuses of a conference at the Delta this weekend. The Non-Profit Housing Association is holding it's annual meeting starting today. Executive Director Alex Arseneau tells CHSJ News, one seminar will ask the question, how can the community get more involved in the aspects of housing. Arseneau says the lack of affordable housing and poverty go hand and hand. Along with 200 delegates representing non-profit and co-op housing groups, officials from the Province and City Hall will be on hand as well. Social Development Minister Kelly Lamrock will speak tonight at the dinner. Things get started at nine this morning.