Pope Francis The First Is Revealed

 
Argentine Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio is elected pope, the first pontiff from Americas and the first Jesuit.

He will be known as Pope Francis the First.

April The Monkey Gives Birth

The Cherry Brook Zoo has a new addition. 

April, the monkey who was swiped from the zoo when she was 9 months old and returned three days later, has given birth to a healthy baby. The birth is significant, since the callimico goeldii species has been in steady decline. 

The zoo's Linda Collrin tells CHSJ news that their natural habitat in the upper Amazon has been destroyed by logging, farming and infrastructure.

The species survival program sent the zoo two males to breed with April, and Collrin says even after her kidnapping experience, she's a natural when it comes to motherhood.

Deer: Cute, Or Cull-Worthy?

Menace, or majestic suburban pets? Our listeners have some widely differing opinions on whether there should be a cull of the deer in the KV area.

Colton says he supports eating wild game and sometimes common sense needs to outweigh emotions. I say cull them.

Tiffany has another solution, saying "I think when a developer is building a new subdivision they should be responsible for relocating the deer to another habitat. "

Stephanie asks Would you rather they slowly starve to death because of limited food throughout the winter months?

But Vivian says the deers have limited space to live as it is: leave them alone before karma comes on you.

If you have opinion on the deer problem--or lack of problem--please join the conversation on Facebook or Twitter.

White Smoke Indicates A New Pope Is Chosen

White smoke is pouring out from the Sistine Chapel chimney in St. Peter's Square, signalling that a new pope will appear on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica within the hour before many faithful waiting to witness the first new pontiff in eight years.

Dialogue On How To Reduce City's Poverty Rate

Over 100 community members put their heads together on ways to reduce poverty in the city. A mix of businesspeople, non-profit workers, government officials and low-income residents took part in the talk. 

When it comes to the issue, Barry Galloway, the coordinator of Vibrant Communities Saint John, tells CHSJ news that people from all walks of life should get a say.

They split into groups to chat about the four main priorities of the poverty reduction strategy: neighborhood revitalization, children and youth, single parents and workforce participation. Galloway says the next step is to take the points made and create a document they can use in their efforts to reduce poverty in Saint John from 21% to 15% by 2015.

Police Chief Outlines Some Challenges In Snook Case

With the child sex abuse investigation into former common councillor Donnie Snook continuing to bring forward new victims, Police Chief Bill Reid is hoping they can help everyone affected find some kind of justice.

Reid tells CHSJ News the wheels of justice turn more smoothly if you can get everyone to come forward in a timely fashion. He says it's vastly preferable to deal with all the complaints in one shot than see them trickle in over 6 or 7 years.

Reid says investigators are dealing with a number of challenges, including the fact that some kids are too young to articulate the information and some families are in denial that abuse has occurred.

Donnie Snook reappears in court on May 29th.

Lower Woodstock Raid Leads To Drug Seizure

While some were having dinner last night, two RCMP units and the Woodstock police were raiding a home seizing dope and coke.

A 31-year-old man from Lower Woodstock and a 20-year-old woman from Jacksonville were arrested.

Police expect charges will be coming later.

West Side Fire

An investigation launched into the cause of an early morning fire on the west side.

It was reported around 1:00 on the outside of a building at 641 Manawagonish Road. 

7 people were forced to leave the building but the fire was contained and didn't spread to the inside and no one was injured.

Warning From River Watch

We have an advisory that warns about the possibility of flooding from River Watch because of ice jams due to the milder temperatures and heavy rainfall. 

At risk in particular are the southwestern part of the province and Bay of Fundy coast.

A special weather statement has been issued by Environment Canada for St. Stephen and northern Charlotte County, Grand Manan, coastal Charlotte County, Saint John, St. John County and Fundy National Park with the prediction of up to 40 millimetres of rain falling before it ends tonight.
 
That amount of rainfall could cause localized flooding where drainage systems are blocked by ice and snow.

Special Police Unit Investigating SJ Area Pedophiles

The Internet Child Exploitation Unit of the police force reports they are investigating 5 child sex abuse files in the Saint John area in the last week alone, and there are currently 50 suspected cases of pedophiles sharing abuse images across the province.

Constable Tonia Williams of the ICE Unit tells CHSJ News law enforcement is constantly trying to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to technologies predators have at their disposal.

The ICE Unit gave a presentation to Police Commission outlining how they respond to cases of child porn sharing. The unit advises parents to monitor what their kids are doing even if the computer is in a common area---because they've seen videos that show the parent was even in the same room when their child was chatting on webcam with a pedophile.

Costco Recalls Meat

A warning to consumers in the province to not eat a brand of deli meat wrapped around mozzarella cheese because it might be contaminated with Listeria.

Costco is recalling Formaggio brand Artisan Wraps Italian Style Meats around Fresh Mozzarella.

The product is sold in 675 gram packages with best before dates between February 13th and March 11th and was also sold throughout the rest of Atlantic Canada, Ontario and Quebec.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says, thus far, no one has reported getting sick from eating this product.