Saint John Medical Society Pleased With Answers From Health Minister

One local physician is calling the recent brouhaha between Health Minister Ted Flemming and provincial medical society a 'misunderstanding'.

The health minister had raised the ire of the society after the provincial auditor general suggested their pays be made public. Dr David Isles is the president of the local chapter, and he tells CHSJ News he was satisfied with Flemming's clarification of his position at a recent meeting and is pleased with the minister's attempt to 'clear the air'.

The Alward government has since rejected the suggestion to publicize the salaries of individual doctors, which many had slated as an invasion of privacy. The Health Minister is scheduled to meet with the provincial Medical Society this weekend.

Major Damage To Historic Covered Bridge

The historic Maxwell Crossing Covered Bridge in Charlotte County will be closed until further notice due to required repairs.

The Maxwell Crossing covered bridge sustained significant damage a car crossing the bridge skidded out of control and ran into the side. No one was injured.

The Department of Transportation is currently inspecting the bridge and assessing the damage. New Brunswick has 61 covered bridges,

The Maxwell Crossing Bridge is located between Route 750 and Route 3.

Pictured: Pisgah Covered Bridge

Smoking Isn't So Cool As Temperatures Drop

Are you sick of freezing your mitts off in the smoking area? Appropriately, this cold snap falls on National Non Smoking Week.

Barb Walls of the NB Lung Association tells CHSJ News as soon as you smoke your last cigarette your body begins working to repair the damage done by smoking.

20 minutes after your last cigarette: blood pressure and pulse rate return to what they were just before your last cigarette, and your hands and feet warm up.

8 hours after your last cigarette: the carbon monoxide level in you blood falls.

24 hours after your last cigarette: the chance of your having a heart attack is lessened
48 hours after your last cigarette: nerve endings start regrowing, so your senses of both smell and taste improve. Walking becomes easier.
By 3 months after your last cigarette circulation has improved, and your lung function has increased.

By 9 months after your last cigarette: the cells lining your airways have fully recovered, you cough less, have less sinus congestion, and your shortness of breath has gone.
1 year after your last cigarette: your risk of coronary heart disease is now half that of a smoker's.
5 years after your last cigarette: your risk of having a stroke is now greatly reduced, approaching that of someone who has never smoked.

She says it's also important to plan your quit, and realizing it's a physical addition, not just a bad habit, and you need to prepare accordingly.

Careful When You Crank That Heat

As you crank up the heat in your home, you might want to take care.

Mark Wilson, Divisional Chief for Fire Prevention, tells CHSJ news this is the time of year when people use extra appliances like a space heater, wood stove and even an oven to warm up their homes. But you need to be aware of combustibles nearby, like curtains and magazine racks, which can light up pretty quick.

Wilson adds kids should always be 3 feet away from any kind of electrical heating appliance, which could be knocked over accidentally.

Heating appliances should be in good condition, chimneys should be clean and it's important for kids to know fire shouldn't be played with.

Premier To Visit The City Tomorrow

The Premier will be braving the cold temps in the Port City for a couple of events tomorrow.

First, David Alward will speak to the participants of the Big Data Congress at the Marco Polo and Diamond Jubilee Cruise terminals.
The day long event is sold out and being hosted by T4G.

At 11am, the Premier is scheduled to make a funding announcement at the Allied Health Building on the campus of UNB Saint John.

For more info on the Big Data Congress click here

Provincial Finance Minister Told Not To Panic

Saint Johnners get a chance to have their say on the upcoming provincial budget tomorrow night in the community college on Grandview Avenue starting at 6:30.

Provincial Finance Minister Blaine Higgs will be holding his first pre-budget consultation.

The Atlantic Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, Kevin Lacey tells CHSJ News he's hoping Higgs and the Premier will stick to their guns and cut spending but not raise taxes.

Lacey is optimistic that will happen, pointing out Higgs last week cut so called golden hand shakes for provincial government workers which saved the government an estimated 50 million dollars.

Cap-Pelé Man Dies In Car Accident

A two vehicle crash on Highway 16 near Port Elgin has taken the life of a Cap-Pelé man.


RCMP say the 28-year-old man died at the scene from his injuries. The collision happened around 10:30 last night between a car and a transport truck. The victim was driving the car heading westbound when it crossed the centre line and collided with an oncoming transport truck.


The 52-year-old man from Garnett Settlement who was driving the truck wasn't hurt.

Saint John Under 'Dome Of Cold'

We're all thinking the same thing... man, it's cold!

Environment Canada Meteorologist Claude Cote tells CHSJ we're currently under a dome of cold, arctic air and brisk worth west winds. The weather will slowly start to get warmer on Friday, but there will still be a strong wind chill. We're experiencing weather that's 10-15 degrees below normal, and it's not until Tuesday that normal weather winter conditions will be back.

Cote says the second half of January is called the "Dead of Winter," a time where we typically experience the coldest temperatures of the year. The ice cold arctic air mass is coming down from the North West Territories, making Edmunston the coldest area with a temp of -35. The hot spot in the province is Point Lepreau, with a beachy high of -18.

No cold records have been broken.

Bitter Cold Hits The Port City

Old man winter has taken hold of Saint John with bitterly cold temperatures that in the wind feel like minus 30 or worse today, tonight and tomorrow.
Environment Canada says the wind chill factor will dip as low as -41 across parts of the province today.   Half of North America is experiencing the cold snap along with us.

Hospitals React To Spread Of The Flu

Sharing get well wishes is all well and good as long as you don't share the flu while you're at it.

Horizon Health wants to make sure visitors to local hospitals aren't coughing, feverish, sneezing, or suffering from a sore throat. If you're displaying flu symptoms, regional lead Marita MacMillan says the guidelines are clear.......You should stay away.

Even if you are not under the weather yourself and you visit, wear a mask and clean your hands with an alcohol based hand rub. You can get surgical masks and hand rub at the entrances to all hospitals.

If you have any questions you're asked to contact the hospital.