Drug Bust On The Peninsula

A marijuana grow-op has been dismantled on the Kingston Peninsula according to RCMP.

Police executed search warrant Sunday and seized three kilograms of dried marijuana, cash, and drug paraphernalia. One man is now facing charges. 

He was released on conditions and is scheduled to appear in court in Saint John on March 25th.

Cuts Won't Mean Less Fire Protection, Says Chief

You might have worried your fire protection would decrease with a cut of $560,000 dollars to the city's fire service; however, but Fire Chief Kevin Clifford says that's not the case. Clifford maintains the cut will likely be absorbed via training and other revenue-generating possibilities, so it's unlikely a truck will have to be taken off the road or more layoffs will be made necessary.

Firefighter's union president Paul Stackhouse tells CHSJ News a cut of that size usually means something has to give somewhere, and he's curious to see where the Chief plans to allocate those funds. 

Stackhouse says he's going to be open minded and looks forward to hearing the details.

Man Dies At Ski Hill

One man is dead and another person injured after a collision between two skiers at the Crabbe Mountain ski hill.

RCMP Cpl. Chantal Farrah says police and paramedics were called to the hill in Central Hainesville, 30 kilometres northwest of Fredericton, shortly after 11 a.m. today. She said two skiers had collided at the bottom of a hill, and one skier died of his injuries.

Farrah said the second skier was taken to hospital for treatment of minor injuries. She said the matter has been turned over to WorkSafeNB and the coroner's office for investigation.


Crabbe Mountain declined comment.

Courtesy of the Canadian Press.

E.Coli Cases Connected

The recent 5 cases of E.Coli found in Saint John and Fredericton are connected, according to health officials.

Chief medical officer of health Dr. Eilish Cleary says they're still trying to find the source of the infection and if they're connected to the 10 cases of E.Coli in Nova Scotia.

This strain of E.Coli is the same as the one found in the Walkerton, Ont., water disaster in 2000 that killed seven people. Symptoms of the gastro-intestinal illness include severe cramps, bloody diarrhea and vomiting.

EI Changes Encourage People To Find Work, Says MP

The changes in employment insurance is to make sure it's an advantage for people to be working, according to Saint John MP Rodney Weston.

He tells CHSJ news it doesn't make sense for businesses to bring in foreign workers when there are people here out of work. He says it's not a cookie cutter decision when making changes to EI, and every region is taken into consideration. When it comes to seasonal workers, Weston says EI will be there to help them.  

He adds it isn't new that when you're on EI you have an obligation to find work. Weston says what's changing now is people are no worse off by working than being on a claim. 

Dramatic Temperature Change In 6 Hours

Though we're not breaking any records, Saint John is certainly seeing a dramatic change in temperature from last night to today.

Claude Cote, a meteorologist from Environment Canada, tells CHSJ news we've experience a 30 degree temperature change in just 6 hours. Claude says that's highly unusual, seeing that we were at -25.1 degrees at 4 am, and +4.5 at noon.

The highest temperature this time of year was actually 11.7 degrees in 1874, with the record low being -27.8 in the 50's.

He says another odd aspect about the temperature is that there's a 25 degree difference between central New Brunswick and coastal areas along the Bay of Fundy. He adds the mild temperatures over the next few days is sure to melt a lot of snow. 

Renforth Wharf Gets Big Boost From Government

Renforth Wharf will see some major upgrades, thanks to $200,500 being given from the federal government.

The support comes from the Harper Government's Community Infrastructure Fund, which will help fit the total bill of around $500,000.

The project will see a demolition and removal of existing concrete walls, wood walls, cribbing, railing and pavement. New installations will include drain tiles, retaining walls, railings and walkways. There will also be brand new bike racks, lighting and maps.

Rothesay Mayor Bill Bishop says construction will start immediately, although they haven't put out a tender for local contractors yet. He says Renforth Wharf has been a historic point in the town for generations, including the Great Race between a local and British rowing crew in 1971, a slew of rowing champs from the Renforth Rowing Club, and the annual Dragonboat Festival.

Saint John MP Rodney Weston says the funding will help make repairs sooner. He says there's a lot of aging infrastructure across Canada, which the CIIF funding will help change.

The Sea Dogs Keep Wheelin & Dealin

The Saint John Sea Dogs going through a dizzying trade period with a lot of activity.
 
President Wayne Long tells CHSJ News it's important for the team to look to the future and the team has some great players that other teams were looking for.

He says it's tough for the team to say to goodbye to players like Ryan Tesink, Aidan Kelly, Stephen MacAulay and Kevin Gagne but it's necessary for them to reinvigorate and restock the franchise for years to come.

Today is the last day of the trading period and the Dogs announcing the acquisition of forward Brett Malone of Miramichi from the Shawinigan Cataractes.

In return, the Sea Dogs send a 10th-round selection next year's Q league entry draft.
Malone was originally selected in the third round of the 2010 Q league draft by Moncton.

Power Returning

NB Power's website reports only 48 customers are without power now.

Earlier this morning, we received reports of an outage impacting over 400 homes and businesses in Musquash and St. Stephen.

No Sailings For Princess of Acadia Today

Both sailings of the Princess of Acadia ferry are cancelled today due to high winds.

Lights Out In Musquash

We are getting calls about the lights being out in Musquash this morning.

NB Power is reporting two outages in St. Stephen impacting 422 customers.

The outages are described as unplanned.

The 2013 City Budget Passes

After weeks of delays common council voting unanimously to pass a 2013 budget that has a bit less in the kitty for fire services but more for other areas like roads and transit. 

Concerns voiced about the 560-thousand dollar cut to the fire service being addressed by fire chief Kevin Clifford as manageable in light of training and other revenue-generating opportunities. 

Deputy Mayor Shelley Rinehart calls the budget a successful reflection of what the taxpayers want.   She says they are still not in good economic times and the investment into some of the revenue generating portions can help but she thinks the budget is reflective of the hard work council put into setting priorities.

Increased funding will go into areas like roads and sidewalks,transit and economic development. It's expected the capital budget will be passed within 2 weeks.