Small Fire In The Old Trinity School

Fire crews responding to a small blaze at the old Trinity school on Burpee Avenue.

The call came just past 4:30 of a window and door frame on fire.   

We are told the fire drill worked flawlessly and all the kids in the school evacuated safely.

The fire quickly put out and the cause is being looked into.

No one was hurt.

Princess Of Acadia To Undergo Work

Bay Ferries announcing a service interruption of the Princess of Acadia ferry service between Saint John and Digby.
 
The unscheduled drydocking is necessary for maintenance work.

Reservations are not being accepted between May 28th and May 31st.    The ferry is expected to be back in service on the 31st.

Police Bust A Lornville Home & Lunnie Is Released

City police raiding a Lorneville home on Tuesday arresting a 53 year old man and seizing 19 guns and 80 pots plants.

Officers seizing 7 loaded handguns and 12 rifles along with marihuana plants with a street of $89,000.

The man was arrested and released and be in court later facing several charges.

Meanwhile in Sussex, 37 year old Christopher Eric Lunnie of Quispamsis was in court for a bail hearing and was released on conditions.

Lunnie is charged with sexual assault, uttering threats and attempted murder after an incident involving a man and a woman.   He's due back in court June 5th in Hampton.

Man Dies From Injuries At House Party

A 23-year-old Fredericton man has died from head injuries he got in a fight at a Youngs Cove house party last weekend.   The man died at the Regional hospital last night.

About 2am on Saturday, paramedics responded to a home in Youngs Cove, where a 23-year-old man had suffered serious head injuries while at a house party.

RCMP says the incident occurred sometime between Friday night and early Saturday.
A 17-year-old boy from Harewood was arrested and will be in court at a later date.

 

Outgoing Deputy Mayor Upset Over "Sneaky" Additions To Pension Reforms

Deputy Mayor Stephen Chase sounding the alarm over what he calls "sneaky" additions to the city's pension reform package.

He says hidden in the reforms was a part that would allow high earners at city hall to retire earlier with full benefits.

Chase tells CHSJ News it was something that was never brought forward by city staff to council and council would have voted no on the change.

He's upset because the additions thumbs it's nose to the democratic process

He believes that portion of the reforms, which is currently being looked at by the Superintendent of Pensions, could be removed without delaying the rest of the reforms.

He says the responsibility of informing council about the benefits falls on the city manager.

ACOA Invests Millions Into Local Tech Company

The federal government investing over 2.9 million dollars into a local tech company.

Mariner Partners Inc. develops video monitoring and trouble shooting technology and will be using the loan for research and development projects.

President and CEO Curtis Howe tells CHSJ News moving forward would be difficult without the government's help because of the large scope of its research projects.

The money comes from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.

The Port Sees Growth In Tonnage and Revenue

The Port of Saint John setting tonnage records both last year and the year before with 31 million metric tonnes for 2011.
That's the equivalent of more than 175,000 male blue whales or or 12.5 million average sized cars.
Port CEO and President Jim Quinn says revenue increased from 14 million in 09 to 16 million last year.

He says it's really important that they create revenue streams they can reinvest back into the port because by themselves its impossible for any port in Canada to deal with old infrastructure.

Quinn says on the lower west side near Bay Ferries there are piers that have not been operational for years and have collapsed into the water.
He says some of them are over a 100 years old.

Watch The Dogs At The qplex

Sea Dogs fans can watch the team in the Memorial Cup semi-finals on Friday night at the qplex.

The Dogs will meet the winner of tonight’s tiebreaker between Shawinigan and Edmonton.
 
Doors open at 7:30pm tomorrow night.
 
If the Sea Dogs win Friday, they will meet London in Sunday’s final which will also be shown at the qplex at 8pm.

Moore Announces $$ For Senior Clubs

A few bucks from the feds will give some seniors in the Region a chance to spruce up their club and keep their programs going.

Fundy Royal MP Rob Moore announcing nearly $19,000 for the Peninsula Pearls Senior Citizen Club in Kingston to build a new ramp and install a new chair lift.

Meanwhile, the Hammond River Valley Seniors receiving over $24, 000 for new siding, insulation, doors, windows and more to keep hosting bingo, cards and their Christmas Social.

Policing Find Missing Person

Police have found 32 year old Timathy Pinkney -- he had been missing since May 18th.

Rothesay Police recently put out a public plea for help but they now say he has been located and want to thank the public for it's assistance.

2 Car Bang-Up In Lepreau

2 cars getting into a fender bender last night on Highway 1 at the intersection of Lepreau Village Road.

The crash occurred shortly after 6.

One person was transported to Saint John Regional Hospital for treatment. Eastbound traffic was diverted thru the village of Lepreau while the scene was cleaned up. Thirteen firefighters responding and were on scene for about 90 minutes.

Gas Prices Take Small Dip

Self-serve regular dropping a few pennies after the weekly setting -- stations around the city are selling it for 126.8.  Diesel dropping a little as well -- it's going for 128.4.

Heating oil also going down by a small margin -- it's selling for 112.5 and propane also taking a dip to 98 cents.

Victoria Street Fire Set On Purpose

In less than a month, two major fires in vacant or partially vacant buildings could have led to disaster or even death.
Saint John Fire Department crews are trying to reach the owners of 87 vacant building in the City to make sure their properties are secure.

Mark Wilson of Fire Investigation tells CHSJ News they encourage people living near one of these empty building to inform police of suspicious activity.

He says not only are they trespassing but fire crews arrive on scene not knowing that someone could be inside.

Wilson says the danger when vacant building catch fire is spreading to neighbouring structures as it did on Victoria Street last week leaving three famillies homeless.