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Wednesday, October 10, 2012

School Immunization Programs To Begin

Grade 7 girls and grade 9 students are the focus of the in-school immunization program starting this fall.

The HPV vaccine will be offered to grade 7 girls to protect them against Human Papillomavirus. HPV has been found to be present in 99.7 per cent of cervical cancers.
It's given in a three dose series and will be administered over the school year.

All grade 9 students can get a vaccine to protect against meningitis.

Grades 7,8 and 9 students that didn't have it in the last 5 years can get the vaccine for whooping cough.

Consent forms will be sent home with all grade 7 girls and all grade 9 students.Signed consent forms need to be returned to the school.

For more info, call 506-658-2454 for the Saint John area, 506-432-2003 for the Sussex area and 506-466-7504 for the Charlotte County area.

Winter Maintenance Of Harbour Bridge Up For Discussion

Looks like the city won't be taking over the winter maintenance of the Harbour Bridge....Councillor David Merrithew had put the idea out as a way of offsetting some expenses. Bill Edwards, the commissioner pf Buildings and Inspection Services, says it would mean spending on extra workers and equipment.

Merrithew says he doesn't see why the crews couldn't plow the bridge when they're already using it to get from point A to point B.

Councillor Bill Farren says it's not that simple because the bridge requires different treatments depending on the conditions. Merrithew says he plans to talk to the minister of finance about the possibilities.

Rodent Numbers Increase With The Cold

As the cold weather comes you're not the only one seeking warmth.

Mice become a big problem in the fall and winter, as they scuttle inside homes seeking food and heat.

Greg Flynn is the supervisor for Braemar pest control in New Brunswick and PEI, and he tells CHSJ news mice are actually becoming a year round pest in Saint John. He says factors like being a port city, having 150 year-old infrastructures and pipes all add up to creating rodent problems.

Flynn suggests keeping pet food in sealed containers, properly sealing gaps and holes in your house and avoid leaving your door open for long.
He adds eliminating those key entry points goes a long way.

Disturbing Stats From NB Study On Domestic Murder

A study on domestic homicides released today is shedding light on a tragic issue. It looked at all domestic homicides in NB over a 10-year period analyzing what happened, characteristics of victims and perpetrators, and the response of the justice system.

It says more than a third of the 91 homicides in the province reported between 1999 and 2008 were domestic homicides. 37.5 per cent of the victims were shot; and of the 32 domestic homicides, most of the victims were between 30-49, while eight were children under the age of 15.

It contains the recommendation that emergency responders use risk factor coding when they respond to domestic violence, and the need for data and reports to be analyzed.

The report was prepared by Carmen Gill of the Muriel McQueen Fergusson Centre in Fredericton, which does research and provides public education on the issue of family violence.
   

Disabled Workers Getting More Opportunities

Saint John MP Rodney Weston announcing the approval of $30 million dollars to help 1,600 Canadians with disabilities get jobs....the partnership will offer wage subsidies and other support to match workers with jobs suited to their skills. 

Weston tells CHSJ News there's a paradox when you have a labour shortage in an area with high unemployment....and part of that gap could be filled if employers were more willing to hire workers who might have some barriers.

Employers only have until November 16th to apply, so they're being encouraged to do so now.

Tourism Minister Sees Huge Pool Of Potential Visitors to Province

Provincial Tourism Minister Trevor Holder sees the Stonehammer Geopark as a great way to boost the number of visitors coming here.

That's why the province has contributed more than 400 thousand dollars to the project.

Holder tells CHSJ News with a bit of selling, he believes alot more people might visit the province from Maine when you consider from 2 to 2 and a half million people travel to Acadian National Park in Maine.
 
Holder says there's huge potential if alot of those folks could be persuaded to go a little further north if there's a little bit of marketing on what the Bay of Fundy has to offer with Stonehammer and the Fundy Trail.

Quispam & Rothesay Meet To Discuss Flooding Problem

Two towns are coming together to fix one messy problem.

Quispamsis and Rothesay will be meeting November 5th to address the Quispam lift station responsible for pouring raw sewage into Oakville Acres. 


Rothesay Mayor Bill Bishop tells CHSJ news Quispam has committed over a million dollars into fixing the problem, which he says they wouldn't be doing if they weren't serious about resolving the issue.

Rothesay had written a letter to Quispam last month with photos and details on the sewage health hazard, and in return Quispam wrote back suggesting the meeting.

Human Remains Identified


The Mounties have identified bones found last December and this spring near Bathurst as a man missing for 6 years.

Back in June 2006, RCMP responded to a vehicle fire in Janeville.  The vehicle was registered to Robert Arseneau but he could not be found.

Last December, human remains were discovered in woods near Janeville.    Because of the snowfall, police went back this May where they found more bones.
Forensic examination confirms the remains are Robert Arseneau.

His cause of death is not known and foul play has not been ruled out.
Anyone with any information cam call 1-800-222-TIPS or click here

Keep Communities Together In New Districts

People in Saint John telling the Electoral Boundaries Commission they want neighbouring communities to stick together.

The public meeting at the Hampton Inn Suites Tuesday night gave people a chance to voice their opinions on how the new and fewer 2014 districts should be divided up.

Tony Mowery lives on Prince Street on the lower west side but has to vote for Saint John Harbour instead of his preference of Saint John Lancaster, a district for most people on the west side. 


Wayne Dryer agrees, he says he'd like to see Saint John Harbour expand into the north and east sides rather than west.

Wellington "Duke" Murray says that no matter what, he doesn't want to see the Kingston Peninsula split into separate districts. 
 
Commission co-chair Allan Maher tells CHSJ news the meeting helped them identify the individual communities that live in Greater Saint John. He says these suggestions will greatly help their decision when they have to start drawing boundary lines.

The commission will host a second round of meetings in March where they'll propose and seek feedback on a draft of the new boundaries map with 49 districts instead of 55, each district hosting an average number of 11, 269 voters.


If you missed the meeting and would like to voice your opinion, click here.

Expect A "Fair Bit Of Pain" In 2013 Budget

Common council gearing up to address what Mayor Mel Norton calls the most serious financial challenges Saint John's government has ever faced....as 2013 budget deliberations draw closer council looking at swallowing some "tough medicine" when it comes to cuts.

Councillor Bill Farren says the taxpayers have made it clear they want to see a resolution when it comes to pension reform, as well as maintaining or increasing the level of service for roads and drinking water.

The Mayor saying the upcoming decisions of the Task Force on the shared risk model will be a game changer because without pension reform there are too many unknowns. Norton says when you crunch the numbers from 2011 and 2012 the city is more than $7 million in the hole going into this fiscal year, and they're looking to finalize the budget by Christmas.