Sea Dogs Take Part In Raise The Roof

The Sea Dogs will be donning red toques to help out homeless youth here and across the country.

80 per cent of the of the proceeds will go to Saint John Youth House, a planned housing facility for homeless and at-risk youth and the rest will help support initiatives across the country.

Colin McDonald, Project Coordinator for Saint John Youth House says the campaign brings added financial resources to address an important issue in this community and raises awareness about youth homelessness in Saint John.

Members of the Sea Dogs will be presented with the toques at Harbour Station tomorrow afternoon at 3pm.

Students Protest Lack of Quiet Study Spaces at UNB Saint John

UNB Saint John students are making some noise about too much noise

3rd year student Samantha Tinker is petitioning the university to decrease the amount of noise at the new commons building or to provide more quiet study spaces.

Tinker tells CHSJ News finding a place to study shouldn't be a hassle as she is paying thousands of dollars to get a quality education.

Grad student Jonathan Simmons signed the petition because the new commons building has become too much of a social hub and a lack of quiet spaces can really hurt grades.

Tinker says the school has increased the hours of the commons building to provide more study time but that is not what she is after.

She expects to have a few hundred signatures by the end of the day and suggests that the Ward Chipman Library be re-opened as a study area.

Watermain Break On City Road

City crews are working to fix a watermain break on City road near Stanley Street.
A crew was called in about 11:30 this morning to respond to the watermain break and the section of pipe has been isolated.

It should take most of the day to fix.
Saint John Water responds to approximately 70 breaks in the drinking water distribution system every winter.

Salvation Army Trumpeter On King Street

Walkers on King Street today treated to some Christmas classics while the Salvation Army fundraises for the annual red kettle campaign.

Pregnancy Committee Using Video & Social Media To Reach Teens

You can't return a baby and babies are a lifelong contract--that's the message in a new campaign put on by the Greater Saint John Teen Pregnancy Committee.
It features a Facebook page and locally produced videos featuring local teens.
Chair Penny Higdon tells CHSJ News Saint John has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the province and it's almost double the national rate.

She thinks involving teens in the process might be a better strategy than always having adults talk about it.
19-year-old Sarah Woodword is featured in one of the videos and become involved through the Teen Resource Centre.

She found it emotionally and physically difficult to be around crying babies adding something you can't soothe a baby even if it's your own.
Higdon says the Committee's vision is a future where pregnancies are planned and desired and happen at a time when it will not limit future opportunities.

To see the video, click here

New Plan On Recreation In The City For The Next Generation

If you have an interest in recreation and parks, you can have your say in developing a strategic plan for the future at the Lily Lake Pavilion tomorrow.

Over 200 community and recreation groups have been invited to take part.

City planner Sara Herring tells CHSJ News the city has too many recreation facilities for the size of the population and with budget constraints, it's becoming harder to maintain all of them so there will have to be some streamlining.

She says recreation needs in the future will change as well because of an aging population.
 
There is an open house and workshop being held from 4:30 until 8:00 tomorrow.

Retirement Age Needs To Be Increased To Fight Pension Deficits

President and CEO of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business Catherine Swift says more steps need to be taken by our city and others who are struggling with huge pension deficits.

She tells CHSJ News retirement ages need to be increased in the public sector because people are living longer and pensions were not built to be paid out 30 years after retirement.

She says another big step is to move away from defined benefit plans and switch to combination plans that do not punish the retiree excessively.

Our Listeners Do Not Want More VLT's

Our Facebook friends taking issue with the Atlantic Lottery Corporation's plan to add another 75 video lottery machines in province.

Tarah says this is why Facebook needs a dislike button adding it's everyone's choice to gamble but, the need for one at every street corner is ridiculous.

Aimee says if taxes are constantly going up then why do we always seem to be getting less services for what we pay. She can't believe they would add more addicting machines just to line their own corporate pockets.  She says this is what the Occupy movement is all about--corporate greed.

Francina says it's a terrible thing to feel that the Government is so attached to a five letter word called "greed".

Join the conversation on our Facebook page, click here

Bus Strike Looms Larger

Acadien Bus Lines in this province and Prince Edward Island could be hit by a strike Friday morning at 6:30.
   
Local 1229 of the Amalgamated Transit Union, representing bus drivers, mechanics and customer service reps, is reporting members have voted 88 per cent to reject the company's latest contract offer. 

The union withdrew a strike notice last week so that Acadian Lines could present a new proposal but the president of local 1229 Glen Carr says it's obvious the company's latest offer was put together quickly.
   

More Video Lottery Terminals For Province

More video lottery terminals could be set up in the province because of falling revenues from the V-L-T's which fell to 91 million dollars in 2010-2011 from 100 million a year earlier. 

The Atlantic Lottery Corporation wants to install up to 75 more V-L-T's in the province.
    
Bids have been opened for the operation of three new gaming sites. Two of them in Saint John and the other one would be in Fredericton. 

City Loses Garbage Truck In Blaze

A garbage compactor going up in smoke early this morning at the City's repair and maintenance building on Rothesay Avenue known as the City Barns. 

There was heavy smoke emanating from the cab portion of the garbage truck when fire crews arrived. 

The sprinkler system was activated and the building, itself, sustained what is termed signifcant smoke and water damage. 

The garbage truck is a complete loss.

Snook Upset Over Lack Of Details On New Government System

A lot of talk and emotion in council chambers as council got briefed on what goes into a standing committee style of government.

Council is contemplating on making the switch, which would have various councillors sitting on 5 major committees that deal with major issues like transportation and city growth.

Councillor Donnie Snook was upset because he wanted more information before moving forward.

He say he wants to know how transparent and accessible the new form of government would be for citizens.

He adds it's ironic that the new system is being touted as more transparent for everyone yet he is lacking key details about the process.

Council voted in favour of asking representatives from the city of Fredericton to make a presentation to the city as it currently uses a standing committee system.

Councillor and Mayor Get Into Spat

Some verbal sparring taking place between Councilor Bill Farren and Mayor Ivan Court.

Court took umbrage over Farren's comment that if the Mayor gets to appoint which councillor heads each of the standing committees, it would be "kingdom building."

Court told Farren that if he can't respect the chair of the meeting, then he could leave the chambers.

Farren countered that the Mayor should show respect as well and they can talk about that issue right now.

Court told Farren they should go outside but both ended up staying put.

Partnership Puts University Students And Young Learners Together

Hazen White-St. Francis and UNB Saint John forming a promise partnership that will see the older students mentoring the young.
Principal Jennifer Carhart tells CHSJ News the funding is provided by the province and it will allow the UNB Saint John students spending one hour a week with the younger kids.

She says they also acquired funding to hire two teachers to work with the students as they transition to high school to make sure they graduate.

Emera Brunswick Pipeline will cover the cost of tuition, room and board for the Hazen White-St. Francis students to attend university.