The President of American Iron and Metal Herb Black says the expansion of the metal shredder at the port should be going forward as planned.
The port, NB Power, and the city held an emergency meeting yesterday and have worked out a tenative plan to get power to the project after the company threatened to take it elsewhere.
Black tells CHSJ News since there seems to be a solution, he won't be abandoning Saint John.
He hopes the power issue is the last hiccup in the plan and says he looks foward to prospering with the city.
Details about how the expansion will be powered will be dicussed at the next council meeting.
City police are training some junior partners this week -- 12 children from Big Brothers Big Sisters are taking part in the Kids N' Kops program.
The kids are involved in a week-long academy where they learn about law enforcement.
Big Brothers Big Sisters spokesperson Deanna Gamble tells CHSJ News the kids gain a new respect for the law and the people who put on the uniform.
The cadets will be graduating this Friday in a ceremony at Rockwood Park.
Political foes are offering their best wishes to N-D-P Leader Jack Layton, who has revealed he's fighting a fresh bout against cancer.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he's ``deeply saddened'' to learn of the new illness while Liberal Leader Bob Rae applauds Layton's courage.
Layton is taking a leave of absence as party leader in order to fight the disease.
Rob Moir ran for the NDP in Saint John during the last federal election and came in second for the party's best showing ever. He doesn't think this will curtail the party's momentum as there is a lot of strength in the party with a lot of young people eager to learn.
The N-D-P's federal council could choose an interim leader on Thursday.
There will be a delay in the completion of the new police headquarters at Peel Plaza.
Project Manager Bill Edwards says the contractors are estimating the project will be finished by April of next year but he feels that is an aggressive timeline.
Hsays costs are being kept in check but did not give a date as to when he thinks the headquarters will be completed.
As for the parking garage, he says that project is coming in on time and will be completed by February.
A weekend trip to Grand Lake to get some relief from the heat turned into tragedy with the drowning of a 43 year old Fredericton man identified as Mitch Clarke.
He disappeared under the water after helping to rescue his two young children. They got into difficulty after getting caught up in the stronger winds and waves that developed.
The two, who had life jackets on, were being pushed further out into the lake when Clarke went into the lake to get them safely back to shore.
He worked as Vice-President of Wilkins Building Supplies and a funeral service will be held Thursday morning.
After three hours of discussion behind closed doors, Mayor Ivan Court says an option has been hammered out that would allow power to reach a metal shredder on the city's west side.
Court says the details of the option can't be released yet because the costs still have to be worked out.
Court says more information on the option will be available by next Monday when Common Council will vote on the issue. Court would not comment on whether the plan involved an alternative power route or underground transmission lines.
Meanwhile, President of the Port Authority Jim Quinn says he thinks the meeting has put them in a much better place than they were. Representatives from the province and NB Power were also in attendance and Quinn says the new idea takes into account the concerns of everyone involved.
Quinn says it's clear everybody wants the company to receive the power it needs to operate in Saint John.
The mother of one of the teenage boys who died in the Bathurst van crash that killed 7 high school basketball players three years ago is speaking out against an upcoming movie about the crash.
Isabelle Haines tells CHSJ News the movie is opportunistic and exploits a tragedy.
She says if any profits are made, they should go towards increasing safety in student travel.
Haines is also critical of the province -- she says the production could potentially receive up to 250-thousand dollars in tax credits and she says that money should be used to hire licensed school bus drivers to take students to events.
It was announced last week that a TV-movie about the aftermath of the crash, tenatively titled The Phantoms,will begin shooting in October and air sometime next year.
Get out your resumes -- JDI is holding a job fair over the next two days at the Lily Lake Pavilion in order to fill jobs in the forestry sector.
The company is looking to hire 82 people for local positions and 200 people provincially for jobs including truck driving and harvesting machine operators.
Irving Woodlands spokesperson Jim Ketterling tells CHSJ News they're looking to replenish their work force as baby-boomers begin to retire.
He says while experience in the industry is great, they are looking to train newcomers as well.
The job fair runs today until 8pm and tomorrow from 8am to 8pm at the Lily Lake Pavilion.
While the size of council is staying the same, the city itself is changing the way it works and does business.The city will be revamped into 4 main departments -- growth and development, urban environment, transportation and environment, and Saint John Water.City Manager Pat Woods says the change will allow the city to deliver key services such as snow removal and road repairs more effectively as well as making it easier for citizens and developers to navigate city hall by putting related services in one department.
He adds the city will also save about 150-thousand dollars a year thanks to the switch.
It's time to prune, pluck and weed.
Hampton is joining the likes of Tallanstown, Ireland and North Berwick, England in the Communities in Bloom Challenge.
The judges are visiting the town for an evalation today.
The non-profit organization is committed to fostering civic pride, environmental responsibility, beautification and to improving quality of life through community participation and a national challenge.
Results will be announced in Quebec City on October 29th.
An apartment fire last night at 54 Coster Street where there was heavy black smoke. Fire crews managed to contain the blaze to one room but the rest of the apartment sustained smoke and water damage.
Early yesterday afternoon, the smell of smoke at Sobeys in McAllister Place prompted a call to the fire department. Fire crews discovered a fan had overheated. The store did not have to be evacuated.
One person arrested this morning for breaking into the United Book Exchange on Charlotte Street. Several charges are expected.
Mayor Ivan Court says the Common Councillors who voted down a big residential development on Loch Lomond Road have the wrong interpretation of the upcoming municipal plan.
187 homes would have been built with the infrastructure to sustain them already in place.
The plan, which still requires final approval later this year, says housing developments should be focused on the uptown core but
Court counters the plan doesn't shut out other developments, especially if they're in great locations wth water and sewage services available.
Court says he would like to see Plan SJ speak to council about the proper interpretation of the plan.
Meantime, Common Council is holding an emergency meeting tonight in closed session to try to salvage the expansion of American Iron and Metal. The company has said unless it gets the power that's needed, there is no expansion. Officials from NB Power and the Port Authority will also be taking part.
Pharmacists in the province say they're quite willing to talk about lower drug prices but are worried the provincial government will try to rush things in order to get something in place as early as the fall.
The Executive Director of the New Brunswick Pharmacists Association, Paul Blanchard tells CHSJ News the province does not buy drugs in bulk which would lower the cost.
Blanchard says individual pharmacists do their own buying with corporations like Wal Mart, Shoppers, Sobeys and the Superstore buying in bulk.
The pharmacists are looking for an increase in the fees they get to distribute prescriptions. There is a legislated cap with the last increases in 2001 and 2009.
With the potential expansion of American Iron and Metal up in the air, Common Council is holding a special meeting tomorrow night discuss how to get power to a metal shredder on the city's West Side.
A-I-M president Herb Black saying the project may not happen after residents raised concerns about power lines going up on the Fundy Coast.
Councillor Bill Farren tells CHSJ News anything like this that doesn't go forward would be a blow to the community.
Mayor Ivan Court says the project is extremely important to Saint Johners and the meeting was called because they want to move it forward as quickly as possible.
Representatives from NB Power, Saint John Energy and the Port will also be on hand for tomorrow night's closed session meeting.
With the city recently paying respects to one of it's first Mayors, former school teacher and current Mayor Ivan Court is stressing the importance of learning local history.
Court tells CHSJ News schools spend a lot of time on Canadian history, but not as much on New Brunswick History.
Court says anytime you can get young people connected to the past it's a good thing, because it will keep them from making the mistakes of the past.
NB Power Crews busy last night trying to restore power to 15 thousand customers.
A spokesperson says high winds and rain caused the outages across the province.
About five thousand customers remain in the dark, the majority of which are in the Grand Falls area.
Due to the number of incidents, NB Power says restoration times will vary.
The Liberal opposition isn't too gung-ho about the possibility of a two-tier minimum wage in the province.
The Alward government is looking into a two-tiered wage for those in the service industry that get tips.
Labour Critic Chris Collins tells CHSJ News his party is completely against the idea.
He says he doesn't think that because someone is getting tips their minimum wage level should be effected.
Collins says if someone is younger or drawing tips a business can decide not to give them a pay raise, but they should still be guaranteed a certain amount of money, per hour, as a minimum.
It's time to prune, pluck and weed.
Hampton is joining the likes of Tallanstown, Ireland and North Berwick, England in the Communities in Bloom Challenge.
The judges are visiting the town for an evaluation tomorrow.
The non-profit organization is committed to fostering civic pride, environmental responsibility, beautification and to improving quality of life through community participation and a national challenge.
Results will be announced in Quebec City on October 29th.
With the Crescent Valley neighbourhood completing stage one of their Flemming Court Park development, Saint John-Portland MLA Trevor Holder is over-the-moon.
Holder says he's watched the neighbourhood's progress over the last 12 years, and this is the next step in its evolution.
Holder says there are still issues from the original plan to re-develop Crescent Valley that need to addressed, such as employment counselling and daycare availability, but he's confident the community will continue to move forward.
A traffic note to keep in mind if you're out and about today.
The intersection of McAllister Drive and Westmorland Road is closed until 7 o'clock tonight.
Crews will be working on water mains throughout the day and detours will be set up on Consumers Drive, Commerce Drive and Majors Brook Drive.
