Police say it might be a good idea if you did a check of your property and to report anything out of the ordinary to them at 648-3333 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-tips.
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Thursday, May 5, 2011
Prowlers Being Sought on East Side
Police say it might be a good idea if you did a check of your property and to report anything out of the ordinary to them at 648-3333 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-tips.
Rise In Gas Prices Continues Unabated
Self serve is selling in the city for $1.33.3 a litre. That's an increase of almost 2 and a half cents.
Diesel going for $1.32.6 which is up by just over a cent a litre.
Propane also rising by 2 and a half cents a litre and is listed at $1.11.5 with heating oil at $1.17.3 which is up almost a cent.
More Passengers Using Saint John Airport
Airport President and C-E-O Bernie LeBlanc tells CHSJ News the Sunwing flights that leave 3 days a week to Mexico and Cuba are still widely popular.
LeBlanc says the airport normally loses money in the winter because it costs so much to keep the property plowed and salted.
The airport became a campaign issue when Liberal candidate Stephen Chase warned unless federal funding comes soon, there may not be an airport in Saint John a few years from now.
Exhibition Association Unveils Proposed Field House
That's what the Exhibition Association is asking the city to do when it comes to building a 20 million dollar field house at Exhibition Park.
The project would also see the existing Exhibition building renovated.
General Manager Blair MacDonald tells CHSJ News, because the area is prone to flooding, a drainage plan was created.
MacDonald says the one third of the 20 million dollar project will be paid for by the Exhibition Association and the city, with the hope provincial and federal funding will make up the rest.
Local Service Districts Speak Out Against Regionalisation
About 50 people coming out for a public consultation session with the Minister of Local Government Bruce Fitch. The meeting is part of the minister's tour around the province asking for input regarding possible changes to municipal funding arrangements, property taxes and regionalizing service delivery.
Those who chose to speak to the minister were mostly from local service districts, saying they are happy with the service they get and did not want to foot the bill for other communities through regionalization.
Fitch tells CHSJ News people are passionate about their community but the reality is the current model of local government needs to change.
An action plan will be ready for the provincial government by the fall.
Police Association Weighs In On Regionalisation
Association President Dean Secord tells CHSJ News people in the rural communities will most likely accept regionalization when they realize they are paying proportionally much less than the municipalities.
He says taxpayers in 17 municipalities pay 100 percent of their policing costs while 84 communities and 268 local services districts are subsidized from between 16 and 31 million dollars from the province.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
LNG Terminal Undergoes Maintenance
Activities include work on a valve within the process equipment as well as the inspection of other equipment throughout the facility.
Work at the terminal will be suspended during the maintenance.
Newly Expanded Regional ER Opens Friday
On Friday, the Horizon Health Network will officially unveil the expanded Emergency Room.
Work on the $30 million dollar renovations began in 2008 and includes an ambulance bay with improved capacity for management of Hazmat incident requiring patient decontamination.
Speed Limit Changes Coming Next Week
New signs are going up to indicate the lowering of the speed limits next Wednesday, May 11th.
The speed limit from Bayside Drive to Linda Court will stay the same at 50 cliks an hour but Linda Court to west of McAllister Drive the speed limit will be 60 kilometres an hour.
From west of McAllister Drive to east of Hickey Road, it will be 50 kilometres an hour.
From east of Hickey Road to Evergreen Avenue, the speed limit will be 60. For more information, call 658-4455.
New Board Of Trade Chair Is An 8-Year Veteran
John Warrington is an accountant by trade and tells CHSJ News he began on the membership committee and spent a few years as the treasurer.
He says he found the Board of Trade a great avenue for personal and professional development. He says it's been a great forum for personal growth and giving back to the community.
Warrington calls the Saint John Board of Trade a best in class orgainization known in the region as a leader in advocating for issues that impact the business community and are important to the City's future.
President's Cup Final Starts Tomorrow Night
Game 1 goes tomorrow night at Harbour Station. Seadogs President Wayne Long tells CHSJ News Gatineau presents a formidable challenge with four strong lines and the league's leading scorer Phillip-Micheal Devost who wound up with 114 points.
Long says the Seadogs are also potent having been ranked the best junior team in the country for most of the season with the third highest scorer this past season in Jonathon Huberdeau and he expects an uptempo series.
Game two is scheduled Saturday night at the Station.
Former Jail Guard In Court For Sexual Assault
There has been a delay in the sentencing of a former jail guard who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting an inmate at the jail on Old Black River Road and in the city lockup.
47 year old Patrick Joseph Allen has pleaded guilty to a pair of charges but maintains the sex was consensual and there were no inducements of cigarettes and meals.
Allen is claiming he is also a victim in all this. He also disputes that part of the presentence report which states he has paid for sex with prostitutes.
The prosecution argues consent is not a defense because Allen was in a position of authority as a jail guard at the time and will be arguing against a conditional sentence. A sentencing hearing will be held on May 16th.
City Tests Emergency Alerts
If you are registered to get notifications, you should receive a phone call, text message or email.
In an email to CHSJ News, the City informing us the alert test will happen tomorrow due to technical issues.
The emergency alert provide a direct link between the City's EMO and the people in the case of an emergency ranging from a boil water order to an evacuation.
To subscribe for the alerts, click here
The Lights Are Back On In The Kingston Peninsula
A caller to our 648-3000 newsline telling us the lights were out and NB Power at the time saying more than 800 customers did not have electricity.
A quick check of the NB Power website shows zero outages in this area but, nearly 500 people are in the dark in Bathurst.
The City Watching Regionalization Discussion With Interest
Local Goverment Minister Bruce Fitch is hosting the event.
Saint John Mayor Ivan Court says our city is the workplace for the region with higher tax rates and a small population carrying the weight of 125,000 people.
Court tells CHSJ News he wants the province to straighten out the fiscal imbalance.
He says that may mean the unconditional grant going to the areas that are supplying the infrastructure for people to live wherever they want.
Court adds he'll be pushing that issue and the cities have been doing the same for years now. Tonight's public consultation starts at 6:45 tonight at the Saint John NBCC campus on Grandview Avenue.
Power Outage And Traffic Disruption
Another caller letting us know the lights are on at MacDonald Consolidated School.
Drivers might want to avoid City Road at Garden Street where it becomes Station Street because construction is continuing and traffic reduced to one lane. Part of Garden Street as it runs into City Road was closed this morning.
Quispamsis Council Helps Non-Profit Group
The group recently lost its provincial funding and Mayor Murray Driscoll tells CHSJ News Council is making a one time donation of 5 thousand dollars as they search for some permanent funding.
Councillors Beth Thompson and Gary Clark voting against the donation only because they felt the town should contribute a smaller amount.
Kingston Peninsula Residents Concerned About Mail Delivery
The meeting was organized by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers in Saint John and Vice-President Don Watson tells CHSJ News the plan from Canada Post is to cease delivery to rural mail boxes and force everyone to pick up their mail from a community mail box or kiosk for safety reasons.
He says it's unfair for residents on the Kingston Peninsula to be treated differently from other communities.
Robbery In The Valley
Rothesay Regional Police say one man was arrested a short time after they got the call with the help of City Police and is expected to be formally charged in court this morning.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Province Sets Mental Health Targets
The 7-year plan setting a target of reducing the number of days patients are in hospital psychiatric units by 15 per cent by the year of 2018.
Health Minister Madeleine Dube says more co-ordination with the justice system is also required. Several reports indicating that better mental health services could have prevented the 2007 death of Moncton's Ashley Smith in an Ontario prison.
Mayor Weighs In On Election Results
Court tells CHSJ News having an MP on the same side as the government in power bodes well for the Saint John when it comes to securing funding.
Court says he was not surprised the Liberals had such low voter turn out in the city as it was clear their was dissatisfaction with the party going in.
The Liberals ended the night in third place with 16 per cent of the vote.
Panel Reserves Decision In Smith Case Review
The videos depict Moncton teen Ashley Smith being forcibly restrained and injected with anti-psychotic drugs in a Quebec prison several months prior to her 2007 death in an Ontario institution.
Smith's family says the tapes would give the jury a true picture of her state of mind when she strangled herself in a segregation cell while staff at the Kitchener, Ontario jail looked on.
A divisional court in Toronto heard arguments for a day and a half before Justice David Aston announced that they were undecided.
Michael Doi, the lawyer representing presiding coroner Bonita Porter, says she was fulfilling her role when she decided the tapes are not relevant. The Smith family lawyer Julian Falconer argued that refusing to admit the tapes may render the coroner's inquest, scheduled to begin on the 16, futile.
City Launches New Evacuation Route Signs
Saint John residents being told to "Follow the E" in the case of an emergency. Police Chief Bill Reid tells CHSJ News the idea is for Saint Johners to follow the signs out of the area of emergency so the first responders can get in.
Murielle Provost is the Manager for Emergency Preparedness in the city and tells CHSJ News the evacuation routes are designed to mitigate traffic jams if everybody had to evacuate at once.
In an emergency situation the public will be alerted to follow the road signs by the local media and by the Emergency Alert Service, which residents can subscribe to on the city website.
Big Changes In The Political Landscape After Federal Election
He tells CHSJ News the M-P's from Western Canada are more conservative than their counterparts in other parts of the country and want more of a say.
Desserud suspects Harper may showcase a couple of initiatives that have particular appeal to his western base.
The New Democrats, with over a hundred seats, have never had such large respresentation in Parliament before. Desserud cautions controlling that large a group, many of whom are inexperienced in the ways of politics, will be a challenge for party leader Jack Layton.
According to Desserud, the scale of the loss might turn out to be good for the Liberals in the long run because it will give them time to so some real soul searching instead of, in his words, trying to patch up a leaky ship.
Fire Deliberately Set In North End
A travel trailer on Anglin Drive was deliberately set on fire sometime after 11:00 last night.
The trailer was vacant and there were no injuries putting it out.
Election Results For Saint John Region
Final Election Results
Saint John Rodney Weston, Progressive Conservative 18,457
Rob Moir, NDP 11,322
Stephen Chase, Liberal 5,964
Sharon Murphy-Flatt, Green Party 1,017
Arthur Watson, Independent 294
Fundy-Royal Rob Moore, Progressive Conservative 21,302
Darryl Pitre, NDP 9,880
Linda Wilhelm, Liberal 3,683
New Brunswick John Williamson, Progressive Conservative 17,971
Southwest Andrew Graham, NDP 7,413
Kelly Wilson, Liberal 4,319
Janice Harvey, Green Party 1,645
Jason Farris, Christian Heritage Party 450
Monday, May 2, 2011
Weston Is Returning To Ottawa
Weston tells CHSJ News he feels he won because of his record.
He says Saint Johners respect the fact that he made committments in the last elections and that he worked hard to keep them.
He hopes if he's ever remembered for one thing in politics, it is that he tried to keep his word.
He says his four major priorities during his new mandate will be ensuring clean safe drinking water, more affordable housing, growing UNB Saint John, and a new YM-YWCA facility.
Saint John NDP Candidate Pumped
Moir says alot of people voted who previously were so disaffected they didn't bother casting ballots.
He argues Saint John M-P elect Rodney Weston will be hearing from them and will have to find solutions to their problems.
Moir says he's already looking ahead to the next campaign.
The Liberal candidate Stephen Chase came in a distant third.
Conservative Rob Moore Re-Elected in Fundy Royal
Conservative incumbent Rob Moore nabbed 58 per cent of the vote, followed by by NDP with 28 per cent. The Liberals took 9 per cent of the vote and the Greens cashed in the remaining 4 per cent.
The riding of Fundy Royal is a large one, stretching from Riverview to Quispamsis, but Moore says the issues are similar from one community to another.
Moore says the economy is a top issue for his constituents. He says a strong economy allows the country to pay for priorities like a strong health care system, a strong education system and lower taxes for families.
Moore says he is honoured to be re-elected and is ready to hit the ground running first thing tomorrow.
Former CTF Director Will Represent Southern NB In Ottawa
New Brunswick-Southwest MP-elect John Williamson wins over the NDP's Andrew Graham. Williamson tells CHSJ News it took a team to pull this off.
Williamson is the former Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and a former senior advisor to Stephen Harper.
Due to Elections Canada regulations, the live streaming on our website will be unavailable during local coverage of the vote until the polls close in BC at 11
CHSJ News will provide half hour updates on election results beginning at approximately 8:34pm tonight.
No Problems With Local Polling Stations
She tells CHSJ News there was only one hiccup in getting the polls going today -- a deputy returning officer in St. Andrews fell ill and the poll was late to open by 30 minutes.
Although there haven't been any confirmed cases here in Saint John or in the Maritimes, Janigan does warn of voters getting calls that their polling station has moved.
She says Elections Canada does not make calls and would instead have somebody at the polling location telling voters that it has moved.
CHSJ Live Streaming Off This Evening Due To Vote
We will not posting any results on our web page until the polls close in British Columbia.
CHSJ News will provide half hour updates on election results beginning at approximately 8:34 this evening.
Foul Play Not Suspected In Discovery Of Body
The body of a 27 year old man was discovered in Lansdowne place Sunday morning.
An autopsy being performed today to discover the cause of death.
Police Release Name Of Victim In North End Fire
19 year old Sarah Jean Connell died when a four-unit building on First Street when up in flames around 6:30 Sunday morning.
The Red Cross is currently providing temporary housing and food for five adults and seven children who lost their homes.
One other person was treated for burns and minor injuries.
Police are investigating the cause of the fire.
Canadian Red Cross Helping First Street Fire Victims
Police investigating the cause of the three-alarm fire that gutted a four-unit building just after 6 o'clock Sunday morning.
Fire crews weren't able to locate the young woman who died until after the fire was under control. No name has been released at this point.
One other person was treated for burns and minor injuries.
Revitalization Of Crescent Valley Still A Priority
That from Saint John Portland MLA Trevor Holder, who tells CHSJ News he's been working with the Minister of Social Development and hopes to see more mixed income development in the future. He says some major strides have been made in the last few years, such as the implementation of crime prevention programs.
Holder says some issues that still need to be addressed are getting employment counciling and affordable daycare.
Traffic Change To Garden Street
A traffic change to keep in mind this week: Starting tonight at 7 drivers will no longer be able to access Garden Street from City Road or Station Street.
The closure will continue until Thursday and drivers are advised to take alternate routes.
Sea Dogs Waits For Challenger In President's Cup Final
The city buzzing with excitement after the announcement that the first two games of the President's Cup will be played on home ice.
Long says tickets are going fast, but they aren't sold out yet. You can get tickets by visiting the Harbour Station Box Office or by calling 657-1234.
KV Triva Team Takes Provincial Title Again
The Kennebecasis Valley High School Reach for the Top Team has done it again. The school's "A" team took home the provincial title this week-end in the trivia-style competition, earning them a spot at Nationals.
The team has now won 38 consecutive provincial events. They won their first National title last year.
East Side Boy Struck By Car
City Police say no charges will be laid against the driver.
Organised Labour Unhappy With Proposed Changes At WorkSafe NB
Ron Oldfield tells CHSJ News they like the balance of union and company respresentation that exists now don't want to see more people on one side than the other which will adversely the board's balance in the future.
Oldfield says Worksafe NB may be looking at adding up to 5 more seats to the board.
Oldfield says depending on what happens they may start a campaign protesting changes to the Worksafe NB board of directors.
Premier Defends Reforming Local Government
The Premier is promising the province will work side-by-side with people who are concerned about what the changes will meanm for them.
The Alward government has put forward a plan to amalgamate New Brunswick's 370 municipalities into 54 larger ones. Alward says there will always be concerns but that doesn't mean the current system can stay the same.
He tells CHSJ News 15 of 20 meetings on local government have already been held across the province, and have been excellent. People in the Saint John area can have their say at a meeting this Wednesday night at the Community College on Grandview Avenue.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Fire On First Street Claims Life
One person is dead and ten people are homeless following an early morning fire in an apartment building on First Street.
The three alarm blaze was called in just before 6:30 and as fire fighters arrived they found smoke and flames shooting from the three storey wood frame building.
Acting fire chief Mark Gillan tells CHSJ News his crews mounted an aggressive search and rescue effort to get people out of the building - but - failed to turn up any trace of the victim until after the flames were knocked down.
Jeremy Leslie is one of those left homeless -- he says he was awakened by neighbours and he rushed to get his family to safety.
Leslie says he doesn't have insurance and everything is gone.
So far the identity of the victim hasn't been released nor has the cause of the fire been determined.
Point Lepreau Not Like Fukushima
Station Director Wade Parker says Lepreau installed 19 hydrogen recombiners during the refurbishment.
The machines essentially suck the hydrogen out the air and eliminate the threat of explosion.
Parker says in the event of a power blackout, Lepreau has three diesel generators and two emergency generators that can power the plant.
Mayor Ready To Work With Saint John MP
Court tells CHSJ News he hopes the federal government will also commit to building a new ship to replace the Princess of Acadia.
The current ferry, which travels between Saint John and Digby, Nova Scotia, is roughly 40 years old.
Court says the ferry employs more than 100 people and brings about ten million dollars to the local economy.
Police Monitoring Common Traffic Violations
Drivers are reminded that running a yellow light, a red light, or turning right on red light without stopping can result in a 172 dollar fine.
Police will also be handing out fines to drivers who fail to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks.
Province Invests in Ferries
The 2011-2012 budget set aside 1 million dollars to return the ferries to full service.
The Shawn Graham government initially dry docked the Gagetown, Hampstead and Belleisle ferries in April of 2009 as a cost cutting measure.
The announcement comes along with a 1 million dollar investment to patch potholes and repair asphalt on rural roads.
Election Day Tomorrow
Polling stations are open from 8:30am to 8:30pm on Monday.
Voters need to prove their identity when voting and are instructed to bring a piece of ID with their name, photo and address, like a driver’s licence.
For more information on and how to vote and where to find your polling station go to http://www.elections.ca/.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Street Hockey Championship Raises Money For MindCare
More than 900 players are fighting for the top spots in their divisions.
100 per cent of the proceeds go to MindCare raising money for community mental health programs and services in the Province.
For the spectators looking to check out the action, food and beverages will be available at the site.
The action begins at 9am today.
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