Say Goodbye To 2012

Get your sparkly tops on and grab a noisemaker, it's time to kick 2012 to the curb!

Market Square is the place to be for New Year's Eve  with live entertainment, face painting and more.

The Sea Dogs will be handing our sparklers, hats and horns.

The fireworks display begins at midnight.

For more info, click here

No Overnight Snow Ban Tonight

It's all about pushback today for the City of Saint John and its staff as they try to plow 25 centimetres of snow off the streets.

For those clearing the streets, the storm didn't officially end until 9 o'clock last night.

City Traffic Engineer Tim O'Reilly tells CHSJ News that cars left on city streets yesterday limit the level of service the city can provide.

He says despite the well intentions of residents as to why vehicles are being left on the street but the bottom line is they can't plow the streets when cars are parked there.

Due to the combination of New Year's Eve and it being a changeover night for parking, the City is not putting an overnight snow parking into effect.

O'Reilly would not rule it out as a possibility for later in the week.

How To Unload Your Old Tree

If you need to get rid of your Christmas tree today or this week.   Depending on where you live, there are many options to choose from.
To see the complete list, go to country94.ca and click news.

In Saint John (January 2 to 12th):

Charles Gorman Arena - University Ave
Peter Murray Arena - Dever Rd
Hilton Belyea Arena - Lowell St
Forest Hills Ball Field - 651 Westmorland Rd
South End, Old Sugar Refinery

Town of Rothesay (January 5th only):

Bill McGuire Centre Parking Lot
East Riverside-Kingshurst Park
Rothesay Arena
Entrance to the Wells Recreation Field

Town of Quispamsis (until January 14th):

Quispamsis Recreation Centre - lower parking lot
Walter Jewett Ball Field - parking lot

Town of Hampton Curbside collection:

Place tree at the curb by 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday, January 2nd. If it is snowing heavily on January 2nd, please hold your tree indoors and place out by 8am on January 3rd so as not to impede the Town's snow removal efforts.

Or you can drop them off  between Jan 1-7 at the Hampton Community Centre beside the leaf bin.

Princess Of Acadia Not Crossing Today

The 9am crossing of the Princess of Acadia from Saint John to Digby is cancelled due to the weather today.

And the 4pm sailing from Digby to Saint John is also cancelled.

The William Pitt 2 Is Still Not Back From Drydock

The commute can be a grind for all of us but when you live in Kingston in the winter, its a different kind of a challenge.   It's made worse this year when the ferry service the residents depend on is diminished.

One of two ferrys at Gondola Point has been in drydock in Nova Scotia since late November.     The William Pitt 2 was supposed to undergo the work in October but it never left the Saint John Port until last month.    The work itself is supposed to take 4 weeks but the ferry is not back yet.

In its place is a much smaller ferry and the other regular ferry, the Gordon Fairweather.

CHSJ News has attempted to contact the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure to see when the William Pitt 2 might be back and we have yet to hear back from them.

Saint John Gets Hammered With Snow

If it felt like you were shoveling forever yesterday, you were.    Environment Canada reports 25 centimetres of snow fell in Saint John yesterday.
Meterologist Jean Marc Couturier tells CHSJ News it was worse outside of the City.

He says in Kings County they received between 35 and 45 centimetres of snow during the day.

Strong wind gusts made clearing driveways a nightmare with constant drifting, Couturier says the winds have already started to die down but the start of the New Year will be very chilly with overnight lows near minus 16.

The Princess of Acadia ferry crossing the Bay of Fundy was cancelled yesterday because of the storm.

City transit buses continued running but not on time. 

The Saint John Airport did experience delays and cancellations but there was a complete shutdown of air traffic at Halifax International Airport.

NDP Sees No Positives With Shale Gas

The provincial leader of the NDP doesn't see any silver linings when it comes to shale gas development.

Dominic Cardy tells CHSJ news the NDP don't see a future of job development and revenue through fracking, claiming it costs too much to start the industry while natural gas has such a low price. Cardy does say the government deserves credit for putting a stronger regulatory system in place this year, but isn't optimistic it will be enforced. 

Cardy doesn't think a new "magic economic bullet" such as shale gas will fix our problems, but our government should rather focus on grassroots projects like supporting small scale businesses.

Premier Confident Government Has Done Homework On Shale Gas

Premier David Alward is confident his government has done its homework on the controversial shale gas issue. And he's also confident the resource can be developed in a prudent manner.