Pot Bust In Lakeville

42-year Luc Leger from Lakeville has been arrested and charged with production of marijuana, possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking and breach of probation.

RCMP executed a search warrant at a residence on Highway 134 in Lakeville.  During the search, police seized nearly 500 marijuana plants and growing equipment.  Police say the plants seized could have produced up to 250,000 marijuana joints.

Leger is scheduled to appear in court on July 18.

Trade and Convention Centre Losing Bids Due To Lack Of Renovations

Ross Jefferson with the Destination Marketing Organization says the city is losing out on conference dollars because the Trade and Convention Centre needs renovations.

He says hopefully the investment dollars will be coming in, be it from the provincial or federal government.


The city is committing 3-million dollars towards refurbishment if the province and the feds provide an equal share.

He says the centre is fantastic but it was built 27-years ago and deals have been lost due to the look of the building.

Saint John Woman Has Date In U.S. Court

 A Saint John woman will be making a trip to the U.S in order to appear before a judge.

24 year old Ashton Dickson of Saint John will be appearing in court in Calais, Maine -- she's charged for possession of a usable amount of marijuana while trying to get into Calais.

She will be before the judge on August 2nd.

Former Chair Of District 8 Education Council Speaks Out About Cuts

Even with no reduction in the number of classroom teachers, the former chair of the District 8 Education Council, John MacKenzie doesn't see how the budget cuts in education mandated by the provincial government won't affect students sooner or later.

He points to very little money being available to fix the laptop computers students are using and if they can't be fixed, then the students are directly affected. MacKenzie is still a member of the District 8 Education Council. 

Premier David Alward says more cuts are coming next year and the year after. MacKenzie says the time may have come to hold a big district wide fundraiser to generate additional revenue for schools.

Golden Grove Road Needs Safety Improvements Says Community Group

An east side community group is raising concerns about safety in the Golden Grove Road area.

Spokesperson for East Side Motivators Kimberly Williams telling Common Council that traffic needs to be slowed down along the Roxbury Drive and Golden Grove Road area.  Combined with a lack of crosswalks and blindspots, she says it's a very dangerous area.

She adds there is also a need for more light in the area as eight street lights are out along Roxbury Drive going into Reading Crescent.

Council has referred the group to city staff to begin addressing those issues.

Police Chief In Favour Of Expanded Methadone Programme

Aids Saint John says not enough people who are addicted have access to methadone treatment, not only in the city but around the province.

Police Chief Bill Reid was a driving force behind getting the treatment up and running in the first place and hasn't changed his view one bit and tells CHSJ News expanding the programme is something the Health Department should be looking at.

The Chief says there has been a 50 per cent drop in armed robberies, which he describes as huge, and a 35 per cent decline in break and enters since methadone treatment came into being.

Worrisome Report On Mental Health And Young People In Province

Teenagers in the school system around the province who want help for mental health issues are getting lost in the system according to a new report, the first of its kind, delivered in stark detail to the District 8 Education Council.

It was presented by Michelina Mancuso, Executive Director of Performance Measurement with the New Brunswick Health Council.

The report states 13 per cent of young people in the province have low levels of mental fitness. More than 80 per cent say they feel respected when at school which may sound like a good figure but Mancuso points out 20 per cent of 40 thousand students provincewide do not and that's a large number.

She's also not a fan of zero tolerance policies saying they don't work.

According to the report, only 25 per cent of students eat their daily requirement of fruits and veggies, only 40 per cent eat breakfast, 60 per cent don't get enough physical activity, 26 per cent of teens in the Saint John region get drunk on a regular basis and 20 per cent have gotten into a car with a driver who has been impaired.

Teachers Claim There Is Fear Over Cuts In School Budgets

The President of the New Brunswick Teachers Association says cuts to education are serious and the effect will be felt in the classroom.

Noreen Bonnell tells CHSJ News there is little room to give where teachers and students are concerned.

Bonnell tells us the School Districts have their approved budgets and are in the process of figuring out how the cuts will really impact teachers and students when the needs are more critical than ever before.

In an effort to find savings, the Department of Education requested that all school districts find .8 per cent savings by April of this year and an additional 2 per cent by March of next year.

 Premier David Alward vows the cost cutting will continue over the next couple of years with further budget reductions in education.

Quispamsis Giving Medical School 50 Grand

The Saint John campus of Dalhousie Medicine NB is trying to raise 15 million dollars for labs, equipment and a research chair position.

Dr. Michael Barry says research raises the bar for the school and helps bring more jobs to the area.

Quispamsis Town Council is already jumping on board to pay five thousand dollars a year for a 10 year period.
 
Other municipal councils in the Saint John area will also be asked to contribute. The school accepted it's first 30 students in the fall, all of whom were from New Brunswick.

Saint John Lawyer Recognised For Giving Back

The Greater Saint John Community Foundation giving Franklin Leger the 2011 Community Service Award. Leger being recognized for six decades of community service.

 Leger tells CHSJ News he grew up in the South End and he'd like to see people who moved outside of the city to return.

Leger says its rewarding when you get to help start an organizations and still get to be involved with it many years later. He has worked with organizations including the Mental Health Association, the Children's Aid Society and the St. Josephs Hospital Foundation.