MBS Employees Hit The Bricks

7 employees of Maritime Broadcasting says they are looking for a fair deal and that's why they are picketing today.

A union spokesperson says $10.58 an hour to start is not a living wage.

After 10 months of negotiating, they have not been able to get their first collective agreement.   

CHSJ News has learned management is doing one show at their three local stations, a replacement worker is training to possibly take over another and one is being operated remotely from Halifax.    No new talks are planned between the union and management.

Traffic Disrupted For Next Couple Of Days

Both westbound lanes at Hilyard Street will be closed to traffic until Wednesday afternoon, June 27th.

Drivers heading from the west side should use the Harbour bridge or Douglas Avenue. If you do go west on Hilyard Street, you'll be detoured along Simonds Street to Main Street North.

This work is part of the Harbour Clean-up project and includes the construction of a new lift station on Chesley Drive and sewer installation on Chesley Drive and Hilyard Street.

Don't Throw Out School Supplies

Schools out for the summer but don't throw away those school supplies because your local food bank could use them. Saint John High Teacher Barry Ogden tells CHSJ news pens, pencils and paper are needed.
 

"There's a supply and a demand, so if people have them at home or their work place, perhaps they can just take them to their food banks."

Ogden adds unused office supplies can also be donated to any of the 12 regional food banks.

Rothesay Votes Today

It may feel like a bit of a deja-vu, just a few weeks after the municipal election but there is another vote in the region today.     It's by-election day in Rothesay.

5 people are running to replace former provincial MLA Margaret Ann Blaney who resigned her post in May.

The candidates are Dominic Cardy of the NDP, Sharon Murphy of the Greens, Independent candidate Marjorie MacMurray, Liberal John Wilcox and Conservative Ted Flemming.

The polls are open from 10am to 8pm today.

Live coverage begins here after the polls close tonight.

Potential Of Partridge Island Downplayed

The estimate of 100 to 150 thousand people a year visiting Partridge Island if it's developed is low balling the potential which the General Manager of Saint John Waterfront Development Kent McIntyre calls huge considering from where all the immigrants came from before going elsewhere.

McIntyre believes the descendents, who have dispersed throughout Atlantic Canada and all down the U.S. Eastern Seaborad, would be interested in seeing where their ancestors landed. 

Besides Ireland, McIntyre says the immigrants passed through Partridge Island from Belgium, Germany, France and England.

Finance Commissioner Refutes Claim City Is Broke

Common Councillor Susan Fullerton has said the city is flat broke but that's a misperception according to Finance Commissioner Greg Yeomans. 

He says the city has more than enough assets to meet all of its financial obligations and it's debt ratio is well below what the provincial government considers precarious.
 
Nevertheless, Fullerton says the city should be looking for small efficiencies wherever they can be found because they all add up.

Yeomans does concede Saint John, like every other city, has an infrastructure deficit on such things as streets, water and sewage but points out has to maintain twice as much road as anyone else. He also complains the city is not getting as high a share of the tax pie as it should.
 
Common Council has been told by Yeomans had Saint John hosted the Memorial Cup at Harbour Station, the city would have had to pay as much as half a million dollars on chillers so ice could be made in May.

Common Council Warned About Plan SJ

A warning for the new Common Council from Chief City Planner Ken Forrest........Your feet will be held to the fire to stay the course with the new direction in development. 

Forrest tells CHSJ News there will be proposals put forward to bend the rules and Councillors will have to make some tough decisions.
 
He says the rural development that took place in the city in the 1990's in an effort to compete with what was happening in the Valley did not turn out to be good for Saint John because it's more expensive to service those areas where there are fewer people. He calls it "scatteration". 

Forrest says there was a forecast, way back when, that the population o the city would grow to a quarter of a million.

Hygiene Council Warns About Food Preparation

Preparing just one meal can contaminate 90% of surfaces touched. A new study warns people can become very sick from cross contamination of both raw meat and veggies. Dr. Donald Low of the Global Hygiene Council tells CHSJ news that everything from the plate used for thawing meat to an ingredient you touched can become contaminated.

"Now your hands are contaminated, now your utensils are contaminated, cutting board is... and what we found from the study is that people inadvertently not realizing this or just having a lapse will take that dirty hand and pick something else up."

Dr. Low adds the solution is simple --- just remember to wash your hands before touching other surfaces like taps and utensils. When barbecuing your meat, cooking hotter and longer is better to kill bacteria.

Common Council Gets Assurances About City Water

Saint John's drinking water is safe to drink........That message delivered to Common Council with the warning chlorine treatment doesn't protect the water year round. 

Council will have to decide whether all of us who live in the city will be using water meters with the aim being to reduce consumption. 

The Acting Commissioner of Water Bill Edwards tells CHSJ News meters will let you know how much water you're consuming and the more you use, the more you pay and that, according to Edwards, will save the city alot of money.

Edwards also says the estimated cost of providing safe drinking water with advanced treatment may not be as high as 280 million dollars.

Once the water is properly treated, Councillor Donna Reardon says the city could generate additional revenue by selling some of it.

City Looking At Losing A Big Percentage Of Its Workforce

The city wants to become the employer of choice as it faces the loss of almost one-quarter of its workers over the next five years through retirement. Common Council has been told 151 city workers could be retiring over the next five years. 

There has been talk some of those nearing retirement could be leaving early because they're uncertain over what's going to happen to the city's pension plan. Human Resources doesn't know how many of them will actually retire because many times they give very short notice. 

The city is making do with 70 fewer workers than it had a decade ago and there is one major job vacancy at City Hall these days.......Commissioner of Water as a decision will have to be made on universal metering and efforts continuing at reaching a funding ageeement with the federal and provincial governments on advanced treatment of drinking water.

'Superhero Shindig' Fundraiser At Rockwood Park

Spiderman working the BBQ while Bowser raises money....Those are just some of the characters you can expect in Rockwood Park tomorrow. Harbour Con-Fusion will be hosting a 'Superhero Shindig'...a fundraiser full of food, face painting and other goodies to raise money for the Animal Rescue League. Chaz Gougen from Harbour Con-Fusion tells CHSJ news everyone is welcome to dress up and bring picnic food to donate.
"We're recommending that if people want to come dressed in costume, feel free to do that! We're not limited to super heroes, whatever costume you have, if you want to wear one, feel free to bring that. But costumes aren't required to attend, if you want to show up as yourself you're welcome to."
Harbour Con-Fusion is a local non-profit organization planning a family friendly "comicon" convention for July. The event takes place from 11 until 2.

For more information on Harbour Con-Fusion, click here.

Quispamsis Says No To Fracking

The town of Quispamsis doesn't have a problem with seismic testing for shale gas and that's not why it wants a ban, according to Mayor Murray Driscoll.


"It's when they come to fracturing to find shale gas. That's the difficulty and of in our town, we have 6,000 wells with 3 major ones to look after our water supply for the entire community."

Driscoll says the town opposes anything that would jeopardise the integrity of those wells.


Driscoll  tells CHSJ News when they come up with a method for extracting the natural gas which doesn't pose a risk to drinking water from wells, the town will have another look.

Arrests Made At Westfield Establishment

Several arrests made at a venue on Westfield road last night after multiple complaints by neighbours. Saint John City Police tell CHSJ news there were several violations under the liquor control act. One man is criminally charged with criminal disturbance by swearing. Another man facing charges for drinking and driving and failing a breathalyzer. The venue itself allegedly broke a noise by-law and liquor control act. Police could not confirm how many arrests were made. The incident is under investigation.

The Princess Of Acadia Ferry Will Be Off Its Run

After picking up some fishing gear in their propulsion system, the Princess of Acadia will be off its run from tomorrow afternoon until next Thursday.

Bay Ferries spokesperson Don Cormier tells CHSJ News says the decision was made to do the work now to avoid further damage.

Tomorrow's crossing from Saint John to Digby will go ahead as normal but the vessel will not make the crossing from Digby at 4pm but head for drydock in Halifax for the repair work.

Cormier is asking travellers to keep a close eye on their website for news on when the service will resume.   To find the link, click here

Local Companies Among Best Employers

A trio of Saint John based companies are being recognized as among the top places to work in Atlantic Canada according to a survey by Progress Magazine.
The Halifax based publication says Bayview Credit Union's employee recognition program along with in-house social events are some of the things making the financial institution attractive as a place to work.
Directors Choice supplies answering services to funeral homes and makes the list by having staff members spend time with funeral directors to better understand their business and in-house fund raising activities for the Terry Fox Foundation.
CAA Atlantic also makes the list with its employee health benefits and recognition programs being cited as reasons why it's among one of the top companies in the region.

Adventure Race Kicks Off Tomorrow

Racers will be tying up their sneakers for the second Marsh Creek Eco-Challenge tomorrow. The adventure race will see forty-five 4 person teams hike, run, bike and paddle a 26 kilometre route at the creek. Tim Vickers of Atlantic Coastal Action Program Saint John tells CHSJ news proceeds of the event go towards the restoration of the Marsh Creek water shed.

"Most people know Marsh Creek for all the wrong reasons - and that being the sewage mainly - but with harbour clean up being completed this year, it's a chance for us to start to put people in the water shed so they can see the potential it has to be a real asset to the people of Saint John."

The race kicks off at 8am. More information can be found at Atlantic Coastal Action Program, Saint John.

Saint John "A Gateway" For Drug Traffickers

Saint John Deputy Chief Bruce Connell says City Police don't have their heads buried in the sand........They know drugs make it through the port destined for elsewhere in the country but still seizing 350 pounds of cocaine is a good result and it wouldn't have happened without various law enforcement agencies working together.

Connell says sometimes the drugs pass through Saint John on the way to Quebec and then wind up back in the city being sold on the street.

He wouldn't be surprised if that were the case with Operation "Crackdown" which resulted in 40 people being nabbed together with more than 230 thousand dollars worth of drugs being seized in an undercover sting.

Tide Announcer Wins Volunteer Award

He mentors a grade 6 student during the week and volunteers as well...so that is why Mark Downey wins the Judge Tom Bell Award from Big Brothers Big Sisters.

The award is named after Tom Bell who was a judge in the juvenile court system where he worked with many troubled youth and was instrumental in starting the Big Brother Big Sisters program.

Downey tells CHSJ News as a mentor he sees his pal at St. Stephen Middle School.

He says once a week they meet at the school and play sports so his mentee has a good male figure in his life because otherwise he wouldn't have that.

Saint John Big Brothers Big Sisters Executive Director Laurie Collins says Downey's name came up in discussions with their staff in Saint John, St. George and St. Stephen.

Huge Cocaine Bust At The Port

A big drug seizure at the port...............More than $21 million dollars in cocaine confiscated. 

Don Collins of the Canada Border Services Agency says there were 170 kilograms or 350 pounds and it goes for 35 or 36 thousand dollars a pound on the street.

He says it arrived in the two separate shipments on May 29th and June 5th and in both cases the drugs were seized from marine containers from Guyana, South America.

Police call Saint John a gateway for the drugs that were destined for the Toronto area where 8 arrests were made.

 

NB Exhibit At Toronto Expo Is Seeing Traffic

No doubt the Maritimers aren't used to the melting temps in Ontario right now but our contingent at the Saltscapes Expo in Toronto is still doing its best to sell a visit to this province.

Tourism Minister Trevor Holder tells CHSJ News people there understand how friendly New Brunswickers are and how we have wonderful hospitality.

He says he is more and more convinced in a crowd like this that New Brunswick has a world class product but it has to be marketed if people are going to find us.

The expo began today and finishes on Sunday and is expected to see up to 60,000 visitors per day.    Those visitors are learning about provincial attractions including our rivers, food and music.     To learn more, click here