Another update on Vern the bird.
The mounties arresting a 52 year old man who admitted to stealing a sun parakeet from a Dieppe pet store last month.
52-year-old Richard Gerald Pepperdine of Moncton was arrested without incident on Friday.
He plead guilty to theft under $5,000 and is being held until April 23rd for sentencing.
Another person involved in the theft has been identified but not arrested.
A big boost for the contact industry in the city with up to 50 new full-time jobs being added to the Air Canada call centre in Millidgeville by this summer with recruitment beginning now.
Invest New Brunswick will be giving up to $225-thousand dollars over five years to create the entry-level customer service representative positions.
Premier David Alward tells CHSJ News the call centre industry in the province is very strong and stable and continues to grow with some 15,000 New Brunswickers working in the sector. He calls it a tremendously important sector in the greater Saint John area.
Vanstone says together with their regional airline partners they employ more than 280 people in the province, before this job announcement.
A half a million bucks from Emera New Brunswick will transform a North end green space.
The money will go towards artificial turf and a new lighting system.
Mike Hugenholtz of Transportation and Environmental Services says it will be used for lots of sports including soccer.
He says it's a multi-sport field used by youth and adult soccer and football, ultimate frisbee and more.
The total cost of the project is 1.5 million and the work will start next month and should be completed by the end of August.
53-year-old Joseph Irving appearing in court to answer to a second degree murder charge in the death of his wife, Cynthia Irving.
The mental health assessment Irving was ordered to undergo in Restigouche is complete and now his lawyer has asked for more time to review the file and gather material for a show cause hearing.
Many emotional people were gathered in the courtroom and one of them yelled an expletive as Irving was led out.
He is due back in court on May 5th.
The man who is accused of robbing the Garden Street Circle K with a knife making a brief court appearance this afternoon.
The case of 25 year old Stephen Hall has been set over until next Tuesday.
The robbery occurred on April 4th.
At least two members of Common Council are satisfied with the new three year contract agreement between the Saint John Police Association and Police Commission.
Councillor Gerry Lowe has had years of experience in negotiating contract agreements and calls it a good deal for both sides.
He claims the wage increase of 12 per cent over three years isn't excessive when you consider City police officers had no wage increase for two years so it really amounts to 12 per cent over 5 years.
Councillor John MacKenzie also calling it a good agreement because it avoids arbitration and arbitrators have a history of being free and easy with taxpayer money.
Saint John M-P Rodney Weston concedes the need for affordable housing remains an issue in Saint John but it has been eased somewhat with the official opening of a new seniors complex on Eugene's Way, just off Loch Lomand Road on a brand new street.
Weston says half of the 46 apartments in the building are for those seniors who get by each monthly on little money and those who are disabled. He points out how tough it is for people with disabilities to get proper housing in the city because the older buildings were not constructed with that in mind.
Kevin McDonald of the Knights of Columbus says it took six years to get this building up and it was tough slogging at times but, in the end, it was worth it. He also indicates there's room for expansion on the land purchased by the Knights of Columbus.
The federal government contributed over 900 thousand dollars to help pay for construction. The province is providing more than 2 million dollars in rent supplements.
If students are not reading by the end of grade 2 or 3, the chance of it happening after that fall every year.
That
from Zoe Watson of the Anglophone South School District who attended
the Achieve Literacy breakfast which aims to get the whole community
involved in improving the provincial literacy and numeracy rates.
She
tells CHSJ News teachers promote reading with and reading to your child
adding its like any skill where the more you do it the better you get.
Watson
says a program like The Elementary Literacy Friends program which
trains volunteers to come into school and read with kids can only help.
They are looking for 100 volunteers to sign up.
For more information on the ELF program, click here
Foul play is not suspected in the death of a Wickam woman.
The 57 year old's body was found under a bridge in the Coles Island on Saturday afternoon.
An autopsy has been completed and the Mounties are waiting to confirm the exact cause of death.
Her name is not being released at this time.
The Social Insurance Numbers of about nine hundred taxpayers being taken due to someone exploiting the Heartbleed bug according to the Canada Revenue Agency.
Those impacted by the breach will be contacted through registered mail and not through phone or email to make sure communication is secure.
David Shipley of UNB's I-T Services warning users to be wary because phishers are using this situation to their advantage, sending out e-mails that look like they're from a trusted source like your bank saying you need to reset your password because of Heartbleed. He says to also be very cautious about clicking on links within those emails.
Shipley says in terms of its size, scope and impact, the Heartbleed vulnerability is the single largest security failure since the internet went commercial.
No one can force more co-operation on the Regional Service Commissions that were set up to attain more regionalisation in local government. So claims Jack Keir, the Executive-Director of the Fundy Regional Service Commission.
The New Brunswick Southwest Commission has been described as dysfunctional. Two of the members walked out of a meeting last week. Nothing like that has happened at the Fundy Regional Service Commission and Keir tells CHSJ News each meeting is getting better from his vantage point although he agrees with Mayor Mel Norton that progress could be a lot quicker.
Keir maintains greater regional co-operation has to happen naturally with commission members asking themselves are we going to work together and do this together.
New Brunswick Right to Life disagrees with Provincial NDP leader Dominic Cardy's contention that the provincial government should follow the abortion ruling that came down from the Supreme Court in 1988.
The Executive-Director of New Brunswick Right to Life Peter Ryan argues constitutionally, health care is provincial jurisdiction so its up to each province to determine if abortion will be publicly funded or not.
Cardy tells CHSJ News the time has come for both the Alward Government and opposition Liberals to stop skirting this issue.
Ryan also says he's concerned the announcement about the impending closure of the Morganthaler clinic in Fredericton is a ploy for public sympathy to put the pressure on for public funding or attract wealthy benefactors.
Seeing the snow and ice melt away might be a welcome sight to our winter-weary eyes, but this time of year can wreak some major havoc on your home and vehicle.
Jean Poirier of Johnson Insurance tells CHSJ News your best bet is to go speak to your agent or broker and see what your deductibles are and go over what type of coverage you bought.
He says you should do this so if one of these problems do arise then you have a recourse.
Johnson Insurance identifying water damage and pothole damage as leading insurance trends for this month.
Two men accused of armed robbery and second degree murder in two unrelated cases are due in provincial court this afternoon.
25 year old Stephen John William Hall is expected to enter a plea in the robbery at the Garden Street Irving on April 4. He allegedly came into the gas station with a knife and demanded cash.
As well, the date for a preliminary inquiry is expected to be set in the death of 45 year old Cynthia Irving.
53-year-old Joseph Paul Irving is charged with second degree murder. Irving, the victim's husband, had been ordered to undergo a mental health assessment at his last court appearance in March.
