Quispamsis Getting A Lot Greener

Quispamsis has launched a new tree-planting program with the help of a 2013 TD Green Streets grant. Residents can plant a tree on their local streets and also be able to "adopt" a tree for a cost of $30.

The goal is to have 100 trees adopted in the first month.

Rain, Rain Go Away

It's been a soggier May than usual--but at least it's been good for the province's forests and gardens.

Environment Canada meteorologist Claude Cote tells CHSJ News we usually get 118 millimeters of rain in May, and and of this morning we had 137ml.

There's some sun in the forecast for tomorrow, but the rest of the week is still looking pretty cloudy.

Saint John Businessman Fined For Tax Evasion

A local businessman being slapped with a six-figure fine after pleading guilty to charges of tax evasion. 

Bruce English, the owner of Soil Solutions, an environment dust control business, has been fined over 200-thousand dollars. 

Over 120-thousand dollars for not reporting business income for three years and nearly 100-thousand dollars for making false statements on his HST returns and understating his payable HST for the same three-year period. 

The fine has to be paid within a year and makes up 75% of the taxes he tried to evade.

MacKenzie Trial Hears Opening Statements

12 members of a jury at the second degree murder trial of Crystal Dawn MacKenzie will hear from 23 witnesses.

She is being retried for the March 2010 death of Patrick Thomas on Alma Street.

Prosecuter Jill Knee told the jury they will hear testimony that on the night of Thomas's death the couple were partying and getting along before fighting began.

Knee says the case will tell how a neighbour separated the two and MacKenzie was in a neighbour's apartment before grabbing a butcher knife and saying "I'm going to kill him" before Thomas was found bleeding from a stab wound on Alma street.

Defence lawyer David Kelly told the jury Thomas was violent and abusive when drinking and since her last trial, MacKenzie has remarried, had two more children and moved on with her life.

The trial continues at the Sydney Street courthouse

Massive Marijuana Seizure In Home Near Florenceville-Bristol

Police seizing enough marijuana from a home to make more than 85,000 joints. 

Officers using a search warrant found and seized dried plants, marijuana plants in different stages of growth and hash oil from a house in Piercemont, which is about 15 kilometres away from Florenceville-Bristol. 

They also found an ATV that was reported stolen back in 2011. 

A 59-year-old man and a 60-year-old woman were arrested, they'll appear in court at a later date. They're expected to face a number of charges.

Work Continues on the King Square bandstand

Crews continue work on the King Square bandstand restoration project. 

City Police Show Up At Labour Rally

The police showing up to Union Street after traffic was blocked off by people holding signs and chanting. 

The protest was made up of union delegates who protested in support of 7 strikers at Maritime Broadcasting.

Daniel Legere of CUPE was there, and he tells CHSJ News it's the beginning of something much bigger.

He says it's the start of an enlightening that we're going to see more and more of and not just in this province but from one end of the country to the other as attacks on workers, in general, keeps coming from different levels of government. 

The protest started at the Trade and Convention Centre, where the New Brunswick Federation of Labour is hosting a convention for delegates.

The rally dispersed soon after the police arrived.

CTF Calls On The Province To Stop Taxing The Taxes

Dig deep when traveling this season to cover the high price of gas.

Kevin Lacey of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation tells CHSJ News that gas taxes cost New Brunswickers $24 every time they fill up their tanks --$4 more than it cost in 2010.

He says they are calling on the government to stop taxing the taxes on gasoline when they balance the provincial books.

Lacey adds we pay taxes on everything but he would have thought the Alward government would have stopped taxing its own taxes.

Lacey says the Alward government’s 2011 gas tax hike costs provincial families $31 million this year.

Changes At Second Murder Trial After Juror Injures Herself

The composition of the jury at the second degree murder trial of 28 year old Crystal Dawn MacKenzie has changed.

One of the jurors injured herself on the way to the jury room at the Sydney Street Courthouse and had to be taken to the hospital. 

She was replaced and the jury is now made up of six men and six women.

MacKenzie is being retried for the death of 29 year old Patrick Thomas in March of 2010 on Alma Street. 

The Court of Appeal ordered a new trial after concluding the judge at the original trial erred in his instructions to the jury.

The first trial heard plenty of testimony about MacKenzie and Thomas having a volatile and often violent relationship.

Protestors Block Union Street With Labour Rally

Protestors taking part in a rally for striking broadcasters block traffic on Union Street.

Another Good Run For K-V-H-S At Reach For The Top

Kennebecasis Valley High finishes 5th at the National Reach for the Top Championship. 

This is the ninth consecutive time K-V-H-S has finished in the top five out the 500 schools that participate across the country, winning the title in 2010 and 2011.
 
KVHS finished 3rd out of 14 teams in Saturday’s round robin which qualified them for the National Quarter-Final on Sunday.  There they lost to Bellerose Composite High School of Alberta, a team they had beaten in the round robin.

New Fundraising Concept Gathering Momentum

It might remind you a little of the crowdfunding trend but this fundraiser is all local.

100 Women Who Care of Greater Saint John co-founder Debbie Rathwell tells us they raise money for local charities.

She says you gather 100 or more women together for one hour four times a year who contribute $400 a year adding the funds stay local and the results are immediate.

A random draw to select the 3 charities who get to make presentations to the group will be held on Tuesday.

The inaugural 100 Women Who Care event is on June 4th at the Lily Lake Pavillion.

For more info, click here

NBFL Hosting Convention, Marking 100 Years

The president of the New Brunswick Federation of Labour says public service is not our economy's problem, it's the solution.

Michel Boudreau tells CHSJ News that cuts to that sector won't fix things, instead, he says we need to be creating good jobs for the people who live here and they'll invest back in their community.

Public service is just one of the topics that will be discussed during the organization's three-day convention that marks their 100-year-anniversary. There are approximately 50 items on the agenda this year that will be debated and voted upon.

Common Councillor Fed Up With Illegal Dumping

The city has been plagued by illegal dumping for years now and Ward 4 Common Councillor David Merrithew wants something concrete done about. 

He's suggesting surveillance cameras be set up to identify those people doing it and then prosecuting them.

Merrithew is talking about no fewer than ten cameras that could be checked weekly and then relocated if necessary. That idea will be talked about tonight at Council.

Merrithew also would like to see a weekend designated in the spring for a city wide cleanup. Merrithew says it could be called, in a play on words, "Litterally Saint John".

New Common Councillor To Be Sworn In

Tonight's meeting of Common Council will begin with the swearing in of Gerry Lowe who won the byelection in Ward 3 earlier this month.

Lowe tells CHSJ News Ward 3 is the most diverse in the with as it stretches from the lower west side through the south end all the way to McAllister Drive with a myriad of issues which include crime, redevelopment and potholes. 

He maintains there are incentives the city could offer builders that wouldn't cost a potload of money because there are too many vacant lots around town. Lowe has been serving on the city's Planning Advisory Committee prior to his byelection win .


Lowe,  who grew up on Broad Street, says he would like to see development taking place from deep in the south end up to King Street instead of the other way around.

Funeral For Woman Tragically Killed In K-V

There was no public visitation but a funeral service will be held this morning for 33 year old Tanya Marie Shand who was killed last week with her common law partner charged in her death. 

The funeral service starts at 11 this morning in the Kennebecasis Community Funeral Home on the Pettingill Road. 

39 year old Adam Lee Steven Prest is charged with second degree murder and is scheduled to reappear in court on June 10th. He was sent back to jail in the meantime. 

Prest was arrested after Rothesay Regional Police responded to a call at an apartment on the Dolan Road.

East Side Home Robbed

The Major Crime Unit is investigating a home invasion that took place over the weekend at Simpson Drive on the east side. 

A weapon was used but there were no reported injuries. Two men were later arrested in the north end.