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Thursday, September 5, 2013

Senior Staff Shake Up

A shake up with the Premier's senior leadership team.
 

Former MP and Mayor Roger Clinch is the new chief of the staff in the office of the Premier.

Other changes include Denis Caron moving from Environment to deputy minister of Economic Development.

Bill Levesque is now deputy minister of Natural Resources while Phil Lepage leaves Natural Resources to become deputy minister of Environment and Local Government.

Daniel Allain, the current President and CEO at NB Liquor, will leave that job to take a deputy minister post in the Office of the Premier starting next month.
A company has been hired to find someone to replace Allain at NB Liquor.

To see the complete list, click here

Back To School For New Teachers, Too

New teachers have a strong education under their belts--but there's nothing like real-life experience.
 

A once-axed program teams up new teachers with older colleagues is going to be re-introduced by the province this school year. It's intended to help first-time teachers hone their skills and learn new ones from colleagues with more experience.
 

The previous program ended back in 2009.

Drop In Crime Inextricably Linked With Methadone Success

Ninety-five percent of the people who enroll in Saint John's methadone program are still in it after a year, making it one of the most successful in Canada. 

Police Chief Bill Reid tells CHSJ News the crime rate in Saint John has gone down by double-digits over the past several years and part of that is inextricably  linked to the successful methadone program.
 

Chief Reid and Julie Dingwell of AIDS Saint John will be traveling in October to a national conference on criminal justice to give a presentation on why the program has been such a success.

Will We Get More Information From Oland Warrants?

This morning, another hearing took place in provincial court on whether to make public more information in the Richard Oland search warrants.

Media Lawyer David Coles tells CHSJ News it seems to him that the blacked-out portions of the search warrants are somewhat arbitrary. Further, he says, considering that police suspect only Denis Oland in the case, the nature of their investigation in relatively self-evident.

Various media outlets have continued to petition for the release of more information.


Further arguments will be made tomorrow, and a decision from Judge R. Leslie Jackson is expected in the first week of October.

Liberal MLA Calls Ferry Change Another Broken Promise

The Liberal MLA for Charlotte the Isles calls it another broken promise by the Alward government.
 

Rick Doucet tells CHSJ News the people of Deer Island were promised a 24-car ferry and he has learned they will continue with an 18-car vessel.

He says the intent was to provide a 24-car ferry like the Deer Island Princess so they would have two new ferries which he says would make a big difference for the Islanders.

Doucet maintains the people and the ferry were consulted and they wanted a 24-car ferry adding there isn't a lot of difference in price going from the 24 to 18 car ferry.


Big Rothesay Read Moves To The Fall

Rothesay's readers may like to delve into a new book more when there is a chill in the air.
 

That's one reason the Big Rothesay Read is moving from spring to fall...the other being high school is very busy in the spring in part because of graduation.
 

Volunteer Sarah Kimball tells CHSJ News they have had a lot of success in the past with autobiographies.

She says that seems to be the preference that people enjoy that type of book but Kimball says that doesn't mean that is the choice they have gone with this year.

The official launch and book reveal is coming up on October 2nd and the author of the new book will visit on October 30th.

600 books are purchased for the Big Rothesay Read. 


Both events are at Rothesay High

Work Continues On Bumpy Garden Street Overpass




It could be one of the worst stretches of road in the city and its finally being fixed.
 

The bumpy stretch on Garden street at the Highway 1 on ramp is under construction.

It's reduced to one lane while crews do asphalt resurfacing.

As a result, traffic may be slow in the area.  


The work is expected to be finished by Monday.

Additional Jail Time For Crime Spree

"Disturbing"........That's how Judge James MacNamee described the evidence at the sentencing of 24 year old Curtis Andrew Furlotte for what the prosecution calls a crime spree from December to this past May. 

Prosecutor Kelly Winchester telling the court, potentially, everyone in the city was put at risk by his behaviour. 

Furlotte was handed an additional 18 months in jail on 14 charges which included two of dangerous driving, assaulting a police officer, spousal assault and stealing from stores.

Bacchus Club President In Court

The President of the local chapter of the Bacchus Motorcycle Club making a brief court appearance. 

Sentencing for 44 year old Brian Schofield of Public Landing on charges of possession of meth and marijuana for the purpose of trafficking has been adjourned to November 5th. 

Two former Bacchus members were also in court. 39 year old Ryan Wallace will also be sentenced on November 5th. 39 year old Blaine Beddow will reappear September 26th after he gets himself a lawyer. 

The three were among six people arrested last month after a 6 month police investigation. 

Simultaneous raids were carried out at Nature's Way in Saint John, Shamper's Bluff Road in Kingston and Route 102 Public Landing where meth, pot, prescription pills, guns, bullets, brass knuckles and 4 thousand dollars cash were seized.

Warning About Future Landfill Costs

Revenue at the landfill next year will be down by something like 450 thousand dollars but, despite that, tipping fees will not be going up because not as much money will be spent in 2014 by the Fundy Region Solid Waste Commission. 

The Executive Director of the Regional Services Commission Jack Keir tells CHSJ News revenue is off because not as much garbage and compost are coming in to the landfill, in part because of the sluggish economy and not as much money is being set aside to pay for a new cell to put garbage when the time comes.

Keir has warned the Commission members they may face some tough decisions when the time arrives to construct a new cell at an estimated cost of 3 million dollars. He has laid out a couple of options........You can borrow the money thereby raising the debt or you can raise the tipping fee or you can hope the economy picks up.


The Waste Commission is hoping to be debt free by 2019.

Man Who Threw Money At Tim Hortons Clerk In Court For Assault

Throwing money at a clerk could result in jail time for a 48 year old man. 

This happened at the Tim Horton's on Millennium Drive when Roy Edward Gilmore got angry because he didn't have enough change on him for a medium double-double. 

The 22 year old clerk was struck in the face and shoulder.
 

Gilmore has been found guilty of assault and the prosecution is calling for jail time because he was on probation at the time. Gilmore is back in court on October 15th for sentencing. 

Rothesay Regional Police were able to make the I-D after posting video of the incident on their Facebook page.

Why Weren't Charges Laid Against Donnie Snook Earlier?

With the revelation in court that complaints had been filed by minors against Donnie Snook as far back as 2007---but no charges were ever laid--many in the community have been asking "what happened"? 

Police Chief Bill Reid tells CHSJ News the force did complete the investigation but the Crown determined there wasn't enough evidence to lay charges.
 

Reid says it's very easy to when one doesn't have all the facts to assume investigators were somehow neglecting their responsibilities--but at the end of the day Saint John Police did their diligence looking into the matter.