Bail Hearing Delayed In Charlotte Street Fire

A bail hearing in connection to the fire on Charlotte Street getting delayed due to some odd cicircumstances.

20 year old Roger Chiassson is charged with intentionally and recklessly causing fire and damage.

Chiasson told the court got a piece of plastic stuck in the lock to his jail cell and the lock broke when the guard tried to unlock his cell.

A locksmith had to be called in to get Chiasson out of his cell.

The bail hearing has been rescheduled for 1:30 tomorrow afternoon.

Gillis Offers Rebuttals as Ferguson Trial Winds Down

The judge, jury, and John Ferguson sat in court for all 53 days of the trial—but where was the pension board, if they were so concerned about their reputation?

That's the question defense lawyer Rod Gillis is asking giving his rebuttal to the pension board lawyer's closing remarks at the John Ferguson defamation trial. He said the pension board members have come and gone from court over the past 53 days, but if their reputations were really that important to them they would have wanted to be there and see what was happening.

Gillis further said any press about this lawsuit doesn't prove reputational loss, because  the pension board decided to pursue the lawsuit and therefore brought it upon themselves.

BOG Project Work Begins Next Month

Next month, Canaport LNG will begin work related to the upgrade of the Boil Off Gas compression system project announced earlier this year.


The work will take place during a temporary suspension of terminal operations.

Because of that suspension of operations, Canaport LNG will experience intermittent flaring which can be seen from some areas around the Terminal over the next month.

The company adds flaring is part of the standard procedure at LNG terminals to maintain normal operating pressure by burning off excess natural gas.

Royal Couple To Visit Saint John

Victoria Day in the city is going to get a whole lot busier as Prince Charles and Camilla will be paying a visit to Saint John.

The Royal Couple will be visiting four communities in three provinces -- their official welcome will be held at CFB Gagetown on May 21st, followed by Victoria Day celebrations in Saint John.

The couple then jets off to Toronto and Regina.

Prince Charles' last tour in Canada was in 2009. This will be the second tour to Canada for The Duchess of Cornwall.

Public Rail Safety Week Begins

Your ride to or from work may take a little longer this week – as police target “high risk” rail crossings.

 It’s Public Rail Safety Week, and railway police and safety officials are fanning out across the region, stopping cars at select rail crossings to hand out safety pamphlets, and if they catch you doing something illegal, it will cost you. 

CP Police Inspector Bill Law says that goes for both drivers and pedestrians.

Inspector Law says there’s been an alarming increase in the number of pedestrians being killed by trains – especially in Ontario. Several didn’t hear the train coming because they were wearing headphones.

There will be a crossing blitz at both the Ashburn Road Crossing and the Douglas Avenue Crossing on May 4th.

Morrison Portrays Ferguson As Callous And Reckless

In his closing arguments, Pension Board Lawyer Barry Morrison portrays former Common Council John Ferguson as being callous and reckless by misrepresenting reality in his campaign to discredit the pension board. Morrison contends in that campaign decency and respect played no role.

Morrison repeatedly pointed out to the jury Ferguson missed many opportunities to reveal his alleged conversation with a pension board trustee about disability pensions being illegally approved which would would be breach of trust to his fellow council members.

The pension board argues that the conversation never took place.

Morrison also telling the jury Ferguson never produced any documentation to back up his criticisms because it was all smoke and mirrors.


He contends that when Ferguson was on common council did not act in good faith and did not dispel the impression that criminal wrongdoing was taking place by pension board trustees.

Demolition May Take Another Week

The work on clearing the pile of bricks and debris from last week's fire at 127 Charlotte street may continue for another week.
One wall of what's left of the building next to the Lantern House on Princess street must be taken down by hand.

The Saint John Fire Department calling in the Department of the Environment to dispose of a 200 gallon tank of furnace oil.
It's believed the oil drained into the basement of the property.

The fire last Wednesday destroying the Korner Grocery and an accounting office when fire broke out just after 3am. Three young men between the ages of 15 and 20 arrested last week face charges relating to the fire.

20 year old Roger Chaisson is in court today for a bail hearing. 19 year old Samuel Nolan is under house arrest and will have a mental health evaluation before his next court appearance on May 10th. A 15 year old who can't be named is also under house arrest and due back in court in June.

Ferguson Deliberations Begin Tomorrow

The defamation trial of former Common Councillor John Ferguson moves into the next phase this week with the start of jury deliberations.  

Pension Board lawyer Barry Morrison will finish his closing arguments this morning and Ferguson's lawyer Rod Gillis will have the opportunity to offer a rebuttal. 

Tomorrow morning, Mr. Justice William Grant will deliver his instructions to the jury on defamation which could be lengthy.   

Grand Bay-Westfield Gets New Fire Truck

The Grand Bay-Westfield Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department getting some new hardware.

The town recently purchased a new pumper truck which features a compressed air foam system that will drastically reduce the amount of water needed to fight fires.

The fire department also buying a 28 foot specialized rescue trailer. The trailer will primarily be used for off road and ice rescue emergencies but can also be used other situations.

Warning About Waterless Fracking

The people who are opposed to shale gas development in the province aren't any more enthused about waterless fracking than they are with using hugh volumes of water to break up the rock underground.

Researchers from U-N-B made mention of liquified propane gas in an opinion paper they released on shale gas.

Chris Rendell is with Hampton Water First and he warns propane is volatile telling CHSJ News when it's used everything that happens on the well pad is operated by remote control so if the operators have to stay behind a bunker what does that say about safety.

Health Department Needs Better Information To Spend Wisely

The Alward Government will spend half a million dollars to make the healthcare system in the province more efficient. 

Inka Milewski of the Conservation Council says they could spend their money better if the information being used was better. She tells CHSJ News she knows from first hand experience how incomplete alot of the data was when she did a study on cancer rates around the province. 

Milewski says the information on which spending decisions are made should be coming from community level so taxpayers are getting the best value for their buck.

Healthcare spending takes up something like 40 per cent of the provincial budget and that is expected to rise.

Another Fire Appears To Have Been Deliberately Set

Another suspicious fire in the city.......This time an abandoned house at 462 Ashburn Road beside Alpine Motors. 

District Chief Peter Saab says the fire was well underway when fire crews got there and it took them 3 hours to put it out.
 
There were no injuries. 

The building was heavily damaged and Major Crime will be investigating as well as the fire department.