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Thursday, February 28, 2013

Court Hears Gruesome Details On East Side Assault

Two men in their early 20s and one teenager are charged in the continuing investigation in a savage attack by a group of young men in Glen Falls. The victim remains in hospital in critical condition.

John Alexander Adams, Robert Hachey and a teen who cannot be named are charged with aggravated assault and stealing a quantity of cigarettes from the victim on February 26th.   Adams pleaded guilty to only the first charge, while Hachey pleaded not guilty to both.

The court heard police received several calls from the Glen Falls area from a driver and homeowners about a young man wandering around the neighborhood bleeding and confused.   According to testimony from the accused, the victim was beaten with a baseball bat for allegedly selling pills to another man who became addicted.

The accused parties will reappear in court on March 5.

McKenna Says NB Must Demand Fair Revenue From Feds

It's estimated that New Brunswick has 82 trillion cubit feet of shale gas and if only 10 per cent of the shale gas is exploitable it would result in 150,000 person years of work.
 

In a recent speech, Former Premier Frank McKenna said shale gas has the potential to bring in 7 billion dollars in royalty and tax revenues.
 

McKenna says the potential of a shale gas industry also has spinoffs in the knowledge sector where at the University of Alberta over 1000 university students are working in research.

He says they are engaged with corporate partners to develop new technologies for extracting these resources in the most environmentally sensitive way possible. 


He adds this province must demand equal treatment from the Feds for these revenues in the same way the offshore revenues are assessed in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador.

While laying out the potential of a shale gas industry, McKenna did qualify the statements in his speech saying his has no vested interest in the success of energy projects in this province.

No Real Change In Saint John Housing Market Expected

Saint John will remain a buyer's market for the next couple of years when it comes to housing. That, according to Jason Beaton of Canada Mortgage and Housing who delivered a seminar to realtors in the city about how things look this year and next.

Beaton says the housing market in Saint John has been trending down since 2008 and he expects a further softening in the sale of existing homes this year.

Beaton tells CHSJ News it takes an average of 110 days to sell a home in Saint John and the average price is around 167 thousand dollars.

Local Farmers Unite To Swap Seeds, Tips

As we face yet another winter storm warning, the warmer days of picking your own lettuce, tomatoes or carrots might seem far off.

But spring is slowly but surely approaching--- and an event for local farmers and gardeners can help you get the most out of your plot. 

Seedy Saturday is an all-day seed swap, forum, and documentary screening open to members of the public. Organizer Greg Daggett tells CHSJ News it's a great way to encourage diversity in your garden and meet some like-minded individuals.

In addition to the seed swap, there will be a free book table and workshops by Master Gardener Phil Savage, Amy Baker from Wellwood Farms, and potentially others TBA. It's happening Saturday at the City Market Senior's Great Room on the 2nd floor from 10am to 4pm.

Admission is free.

City Police Arrest 3 In Glen Falls Assault

City police arresting 3 men in connection with a serious assault in Glen Falls on Tuesday night.

Officers found the victim on Broadway Avenue with serious injuries and he was taken to hospital.
He remains in serious condition at the Regional hospital.

One 17 year old and two 18 year olds faces charges of Robbery with Violence and Aggravated Assault.

All 3 men are due before a judge this afternoon in Provincial court.

Nervousness Over What Cuts Will Take Place At Horizon Health

Workers at the Horizon Health Network are on edge these days with all the talk about impending cuts especially after the 6 per cent cut in jobs announced by Vitalite, which runs the francophone health network.

The Regional Director of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, Gordon Black says if the same percentage of cuts is implemented at Horizon, as many as 700 or 800 jobs will be lost. Black tells CHSJ News Horizon has too many managers but he's almost certain that's not where the cuts will be happening.

Black says health administration has increased several fold ever since regionalisation of healthcare in the early 90's under then Premier Frank McKenna and remains top heavy.

Controversial Meeting Over Future Of Your Water

Common Council met this morning on the possibility of a P3, or public private partnership for water treatment.

John McBride of P3 Canada explaining the funding model isn't the same as privatizing water; rather, since private companies are already doing most of the work it makes sense to put their money on the line, and make them responsible for its entire life cycle. He referred to P3s as a "tool" which are more or less applicable depending on the situation--but for a $200 million-plus project like the one Saint John is looking at, it makes sense.

Mayor Mel Norton says he wants to make it clear we'll still own the water--because there's never been a situation where a Canadian municipality lost control of its water supply as a result of adopting a P3.


Members of various community organizations object to the idea saying the federal government is shirking its responsibility to fund essential services like water, and forcing the city to rely on private corporations

Another Storm To Hammer Saint John

You can expect stormy weather right through tonight into tomorrow as we have a winter storm warning for the Saint John region. 

Darin Borgel of Environment Canada tells CHSJ News we will receive mostly snow with the risk of some freezing rain along the coast. 

Borgel says you can expect anywhere from 15 up to 30 centimeters of snow depending where you are in the region with the heaviest amounts falling late this afternoon and tonight.

He says this is a slow moving system with lighter snow continuing intermittently tomorrow.

In the Anglophone South School District.........Schools are closed in St. Stephen, Saint John, Hampton, the K-V and Belle Isle. Schools in Sussex, Norton and Apohaqui are open.

Samuel de Champlain is closed for the day as is the Sussex Christian school.

Drivers Getting A Bit Of A Price Break

Gas prices go down a bit after the weekly setting. 

The price of self serve regular in the city is down to an even $1.34 a litre, a decline of half a cent. 

Diesel dropped by more than 2 and a half cents to $1.43.1 and heating oil also taking a dip to $1.23.1 a litre.