Saint John MP Wishes Jack Layton A Speedy Recovery

As the NDP has officially confirmed rookie MP Nycole Turmel as the party's interim leader, Saint John MP Rodney Weston is wishing Jack Layton all the best as he undergoes treatment of a second cancer.

Weston tells CHSJ News he was surprised as anybody when Layton made the announcement to step down.

He says Layton is a fighter and wants to see him back in Parliament this September.

St. George Dam Not To Blame, Study Says

A new study revealing the St. George Dam had little to do with last December's flooding in Charlotte County. 

On December 13th the area received 174 millimetres of rain and snow melt in a 24 hour period, raising Lake Utopia by 13 feet. 

Engineer Ryan Berg says it wasn't the dam, but a natural obstruction that kept water levels from going down.

He says it was an outcrop of rock upstream of the Brunswick Street bridge that acted as a natural dam and kept the water levels from decreasing.


The dam's main gate was opened in two stages during the flooding, once on the 13th of December and once on the 14th.
 
Berg says even if the gate had been opened four days prior to the storm water levels would only have gone down an additional 2.2 inches. 
 
He says if the dam did not exist and the river system was in its natural state water levels would only have been 8 inches lower.

Book Of Condolences For Norway At City Hall

You can send your thoughts and sympathies to those still reeling from the shootings and bombing in Norway --  a book of condolences for the residents of Oslo is being placed outside of the Mayor’s office on the 8th floor of City Hall.

The book will sent to the citizens of Oslo by the The Honorary Consul for Norway in Saint John, Robert Jette.

The book will be available from 8:30am to 4:30pm until August 5.

Mother Wants District 15 To Not Participate In Film

The Bathurst mother who is against the filming of a movie based around the deaths of 7 high school students is asking the school district to not participate in the movie.

Isabelle Hains, who lost her son Daniel in the 2008 van crash, does not want Bathurst High School or any District 15 facilities to be made available for production. 

She says it's too soon for a movie to be made and the film company only wants to make money out of a tragedy.

The school district has yet to announce whether they will participate in the production.

The Phantoms, a TV-movie based on the 2009 Bathurst High School Basketball team after losing 7 players in a van crash, is set to film this fall.

Penobsquis Man Gets Idea To Counterfeit Money From Movie

A Penobsquis man has pleaded guilty to making counterfeit money.

Judge Bill McCarroll told 24 year old Cory Duncan the maximum sentence is 14 years in prison. Duncan returns to court September 16th for sentencing.

The court was told he got the idea from watching the movie "Fakers" and 11 hundred dollars in phony 100 dollars bills were circulated at stores in McAllister Place last March. His first thought was to use the funny money to rip off drug dealers but thought better of it.

In the pre-sentence report, Duncan blamed the stores for not being smart enough to detect the counterfeit bills which the judge told him was a pretty stupid thing to say.

Duncan and two other people from the Sussex area were identified through surveillance photos.

Canadian Blood Services Likes KPMG Report

The independent report on blood services in the province getting plenty of criticism but not from Canadian Blood Services which calls it "thoughtful" and "thorough".

Spokesperson Amanda Cullen is not surprised at the conclusion it would cost the province tens of millions of dollars to go it alone or partner with Quebec.

Cullen goes on to say their plans have been modified to take into account the concerns on patient safety that were expressed about transferring the blood processing lab to Dartmouth.
 
According to Cullen, the KPMG report does not recommend New Brunswick break away from Canadian Blood Services.

Cost Of Milk Going Up

Get ready to pay more for your milk -- the price of milk is jumping by 4 cents a litre on Monday.

The New Brunswick Farm Products Commission says the increase is due to an increase in fuel, fertilizer, and feed costs.

Milk sold in schools will also be increasing by five cents per portion when students return in the fall.

Jail For Truck Driver In Cyclist's Death

A truck driver has been sentenced to  two months in jail and pay a 1000 dollar fine for driving without due care and for spending more than 13 consecutive hours behind the wheel.

Last September, 29-year-old Jason Donald Dickison had just crested the Petersville Hill on Highway 7 when the fender of his tractor trailer bumped the back tire of a cyclist.

 23-year-old Andrew Wolf of New York was propelled 62 meters forward as a result, and died at the scene of the crash.

The prosecution calling Dickison's momentary lapse of attention inexplicable because Wolf and his fellow cyclists were in plain view, it was a two lane highway,and a clear and sunny day.

Dickison is allowed to serve his sentence intermittently, over a period of weekends.

Drivers Get A Bit Of A Break

If you need to fill up today, you'll be paying a bit less for gas in the city after the weekly setting although the price drop isn't all that great.

Self serve regular is down by less than a cent at $1.27.3 a litre and diesel is going for $1.30.1.

 Propane is listed at $1.12.8 a litre with heating oil at $1.13.7. Both of which represent a slight decrease from the previous setting.

Plenty Of Reaction To Blood Services Report

Saint John MP Rodney Weston is echoing the concerns of both the Saint John and New Brunswick Medical Society with the release of the KPMG report that concludes it would cost the province tens of millions of dollars to go it alone with its own blood system or enter into a partnership with Quebec.

He tells CHSJ News the independent review on the cost of blood service options if Canadian Blood Services moves their lab fails to look at the pros and cons of keeping blood processing in Saint John. It is scheduled to be transferred to Dartmouth in 2013.

Weston says it's a key point and he doesn't know why it was left out.

Saint John Dr. Andrea Garland says the independent report on the province's blood service options missed out by not exploring the option of keeping blood processing here in the city while the New Brunswick Medical Society argues the report does not indicate which of the alternatives to the current system would be ideal for patient safety which is its biggest concern.

Convenience Store Owners Tell Government "Give Us A Break"

The Atlantic Convenience Stores Association now weighing in on the debate over whether the next increase in the provincial minimum wage should be delayed by six months.

Association President Mike Hammoud tells CHSJ News he's not against someone making decent money but the prices of the top three sellers in convenience stores are gas, tobacco and lottery tickets are all regulated by government.

Hammoud also points out convenience stores are closing at the rate of one per day with 100 of them shutting their doors in New Brunswick over the past five years.

He argues raising the minimum wage by 19 per cent in just two years is too much for convenience store operators who already find themselves under financial pressure. Hammoud maintains there should be no increase as long as the economy is flat.