The Sea Dogs Clinch Another President's Cup Title

The Saint John Sea Dogs are Memorial Cup bound after eliminating the Rimouski Oceanic in four straight.
The Dogs beat the Oceanic 8-nothing to win the series and win a second straight President Cup's title.

The Sea Dogs' Charlie Coyle is named MVP for the playoffs with 34 points.

Huberdeau Scores

Jonathan Huberdeau scores his 10th of the playoffs to give the Sea Dogs an 8-nothing lead over the Oceanic in the third.

Into the Third Period of Game 4

The Saint John Sea Dogs lead the Rimouski Oceanic by 7 goals. Stanislav Galiev gets his third of the night.
He has a goal in each period tonight.
Tomas Jurco & Ian Sabb assist.

Game 4 President's Cup Final

In the second, Stanislav Galiev scores to make it 6-nothing. Ian Sabb & Tomas Jurco get the assists. The Oceanic bring Jacob Chouinard back into net.

Jurco & Galiev Make It 5-0

At 18:55 of the first, Tomas Jurco scores to make it 4-nothing. Seconds later Stanislav Galiev scores to make it 5-nothing at 19:13.
The goals are 18 seconds apart.
Saint John 5 Rimouski 0 after one.

Sea Dogs Lead Oceanic 3-0

Zack Phillips scores the Sea Dogs second goal of the first.
Danick Gauthier scores to give Saint John a 3-nothing lead in the first.
The Dogs have 3 goals on 13 shots.
Game 4 of the President's Cup final in Rimouski tonight.

Game 4 President's Cup Final

At 4:14 of the first, Tomas Jurco scores. Saint John leads Rimouski 3 games to none.

Sea Dogs One Win From 2nd Trip To Memorial Cup

The fans can taste it...another President's Cup title and another trip to the Memorial Cup are one win away.


The Dogs lead the Q League final 3 games to 1 before game 4 tonight in Rimouski.


Sea Dogs President Wayne Long tells CHSJ News the calls in this series have been frustrating.

He says he won't risk being fined by saying something that's on his mind but it has been frustrating at times with the perception that the odds are stacked against the team but its just one of the things.

Game 4 starts tonight at 8:30 and we'll have updates here.

Lower West Side Flooding

The unfortunate combination of high tide and heavy rain leading to basement flooding on the West side.

The homeowners are on the lower end of Winslow street.

One homeowner says its the 6th time it's happened to him and he's ready to sue over it.

City spokesperson Lori Jensen says residents in low-lying areas such as Market Place West may be experiencing some water in their basements but this is not due to any infrastructure failure.

The southbound lane on Bay Street and Winslow Street between Market Place and Ludlow Street are closed because of the flooding.  Crews will be monitoring the situation throughout the night.    To report flooding on streets or in catch basins call 658-4455.

Bigger Budget For The Department of Social Development

The Department of Social Development getting a hefty budget boost: the budget now sits at 1.05 billion dollars.

That amounts to a 41.8 million dollar increase.

Some of the highlights include 21 and a half million dollars towards poverty reduction, 10.3 million for the construction and renovation of affordable housing units, and 2.6 million dollars in school supplies for low income families.

But some trims were also made,  including 1.5 million in nursing home costs, eliminating the Energy Efficiency Retrofit Program, and increases to the per diem user fee for nursing home residents.

One Unfit To Stand Trial and Another Denied Bail In Charlotte Street Fire Case

19 year old Samuel Nolan and 20 year old Roger Chiasson making a court appearance for their involvement in the Charlotte Street fire that destroyed two businesses and gutted a building.

Samuel Nolan was found to be unfit to stand trial after a mental health evaluation and has been sent to Restigouche for a 30 day assessment.

He is due back in court on June 7th.

Meanwhile, Roger Chiasson, has been denied bail and will be back in court June 4th for a trial date.

He has pleaded not guilty to an arson charge.

A 15 year old involved in the blaze is also due in court on June 4th.

CUPE Poll Says Voters Do Not Like P3 Deals For City Water

62 percent of Saint John voters are strongly opposed to a public private partnerships handling city water -- that statistic from a poll conducted by the Canadian Union of Public Employees.

CUPE NB President Daniel Legere is not optimistic about the city's current direction of getting clean water.

The city is currently applying for P3 money but says it will keep control of the water.

Legere tells CHSJ News that is wishful thinking as any corporation looking to get involved will want to keep control in order to make a profit.
 
He says people want to keep water in  public hands after several cases of privatization going wrong in other parts of the world.

Mayoral candidates Ivan Court, Mel Norton and Matthew Thompson have stated they are against the privatization of water.

Listeners Are Upset Over Cats Being Left Out

Our listeners a little upset about the ideas that cats are unprotected is a proposed new deal with the City to provide animal control.

Brenda says her 10 week old kitten was found homeless at 9 weeks and it breaks her heart to think of the defenceless animals out there.

Shawna disagrees with cats being cut out.  Most people just hit them with their cars and be done with it adding this city really needs a reality check especially with 1500 homeless cats last year.

Shannon say vet care for cats can be expensive and people don't realize that while Ashley says if landlords didn't ban cats there would be a lot less homeless ones out there.

Lights Out For Over 2100 In East Saint John

It's a really dark day in many East Saint John homes after a power outage impacting over 2100 people.

Darrin Lamont of Saint John Energy tells CHSJ News they will be doing some switching and have the lights back on within the hour.

He says crews are going to check things out at the Bayside Drive substation.

There are reports of traffic lights out at Kane's Corner, Thorne Avenue and Bayside Drive at the causeway.

Court Advises Next Council On Water

Mayor Ivan Court says safe drinking water is the number priority of Saint Johners adding the two components to achieve this objective are securing funding and protecting the water supply.

He adds the city depends on water for residential, commercial and other needs along with recreational activities.

In a release, Court tells CHSJ News he believes the new council must enact by-laws and zoning regulations to protect our water needs against any impact fracking may have within or outside the boundaries of  the City of Saint john.

He adds the next council will also have to seek the support of the province to protect those areas outside of the city that act as a feeder to our water supply.

School District 8 Winds Up Year With Deficit

School District 8 recording a deficit of 380 thousand dollars on a budget of 98 million. 

The school district had to work around a 3 million dollar budget cut at the start of the school year as part of belt tightening by the Alward Government. 

Rob Fowler chairs the District 8 Education Council, and says the deficit isn't as bad as it might sound when you consider the size of the budget but the annual 2 per cent budget reductions mandated by the Alward Government don't appear to be working and changes were needed. 

He's hoping the budget crunch won't be as tight when District 8 merges with Districts 6 and 10.
 
The school district saved money by deferring 270 thousand dollars worth of minor repairs on what are some of the oldest schools in the province. There were also spending reductions for tutoring.

Sea Dogs On Verge Of Another Title

The Saint John Sea Dogs are within one win of their second straight President’s Cup after downing the Rimouski Oceanic 6-4.

Danick Gauthier scored twice for the Sea Dogs with Stephen MacAulay, Stanislav Galiev and Tomas Jurco adding a goal and an assist each. Charles Roussel tallied a single and Mathieu Corbeil made 23 saves for the win. 

Game 4 goes tonight.

Gas Prices Drop Significantly

The drop in the world price of oil being matched with a decline in gas prices around town. 

Self serve regular in the city is selling for $1.27.1 a litre. That's a decline of 4 cents from last night. Diesel is also cheaper by almost 3 and a half cents a litre at $1.31.9. 

There was a corresponding drop in the price of heating oil at $1.15.7. Propane is also down by half a cent with a listed price of $1.03.8.

Uptown Drug Dealer Sentenced

A 38 year old Cobourg Street man, Brian Anthony Mercer has been sentenced to 5 years in prison for dealing crack cocaine. 

The court was told an apartment on King Street East was used as a stash house from where Police seized a .357 magnum along with ammunition. 

The court heard 19 thousand dollars worth of crack cocaine and 48 hundred dollars worth of marijuana were confiscated. 

Mercer had a switchblade on him when arrested as part of Operation Crackdown and his criminal record dates back to 1993.

SPCA Warns Of New Animal Control By-laws

The Saint John SPCA Animal Rescue is sounding the alarm over by-law changes that remove cats from animal control by-laws.

The SPCA is currently negotiating with the city on an animal control contract.

SPCA Executive Director Kari Poore tells CHSJ News under the new by-laws the SPCA would not be able to deal with stray or injured cats.

She says strays can pose a danger not only to themselves but to residents as well  

Poore says they would multiply and an increase in the cat population could lead to an influx of predators like foxes and coyotes.

She says they will continue to find a solution for cats but it's a daunting task as the group took in 15-hundred strays last year.