The director of AIDS Saint John is thanking Common Councillor Susan Fullerton, saying the outrage to her motion to Council has sparked incredible support and sympathy for sex trade workers. Julie Dingwell tells CHSJ news in 13 years they've never received so many phone calls and e-mails of people supporting and interested in their cause. She also says kudos to police for taking a common sense approach to the motion, saying you can't use by-laws against people you "just don't like." Suggestions by Common Councillor Susan Fullerton to use city sidewalk and traffic bylaws to remove prostitutes from uptown streets have been shot down by the Police Commission. In a report for Common Council, the Police Commission describes them as not feasible, lawful or ethical. Dingwell believes this dialogue has made Saint John a more compassionate community. She says the issue struck a nerve with many people, and now more people understand we need to find solutions like better access to mental health and addiction services, rather than treating sex workers like criminals. The Sex Trade Action Committee will still make a presentation to Common Council.
New heart equipment isn't the only new thing to the Saint John Regional Hospital.
A new sculpture is what you'll see when you step into the main lobby. Made my local sculptor Richard Arseneau, the 140-pound piece is a human torso that also resembles a human heart.
Called "The Heart Prevails", it's made of sandstone from the old Saint John Jail. Arseneau says it took him 300 hours and over 6 weeks to create it. He tells CHSJ news he donated the piece to the hospital because with it's heart/torso qualities, it just seemed to fit. Arseneau says the piece shows how the heart or soul can prevail over adversity, with the right arm up in a victory pose.
It's the question on a lot of people's minds: what is to become of councillor Donnie Snook's seat around the council horseshoe, now that he's facing 8 charges related to child exploitation?
Mayor Mel Norton isn't saying much beyond what was released in a statement last week, in which the media and members of the public were referred to provisions under the municipalities act.
The section to which Norton referred describes how a council seat is considered vacant if---among other reasons--a councillor is absent from four or more consecutive regular meetings, they've been disqualified or declared incapable, or are convicted of a crime punishable by five years or longer.
The Saint John Regional Hospital now has the top heart equipment in North America, thanks to the $775,000 raised from The Give 2012.
Between selling anything from pizzas to t-shirts, to private and company donations, the foundation exceeded it's original goal by $25,000.
Dr. Marc Pelletier, department head of cardiac surgery, says he wouldn't be surprised if the equipment runs longer than 15 years, since there's less moving parts in the machine and more magnets. Pelletier says this equipment will make a world of difference for more complex surgeries and for more vulnerable patients like seniors.
Thanks to the donations, the heart centre now has 13 pieces of new equipment that will make operations safer and better. The top-notch equipment consists of new heart-lung machines, machines that monitor blood levels better, machines that keep the heart strong during operations, and keep watch of oxygen levels.
The New Brunswick Heart Centre performs over 750 open-heart surgeries, sees 13,000 patients annually, and only 20% of those patients are from Saint John.
New Brunswickers lost $2.5 million to investment schemes in 2012, according to the provincial securities commission.
According to the commission, most of those losses were the result of abusive and downright fraudulent activity.
Several of the schemes involved investors lending money to someone at rates of interest between 12 and 18 per cent per year, usually by way of a promissory note or written loan agreement.
There were 10 matters that were either brought before the commission or concluded in New Brunswick provincial court in 2012. The commission warns being informed is the best defence against investment fraud.
There has been some conflicting testimony at the Energy and Utilities Board Hearing on the accuracy of NB Power's accounting practices. It will be up to the Board members to sort through it.
The hearing is looking at the deferral account for the Point Lepreau nuclear plant refurbishment which was plagued by cost overruns amounting to a billion dollars.
An economist who specialises in energy, Kurt Strunk charges there are a number of violations with NB Power ignoring its own guidelines in the number crunching.
On the other hand, Deloitte and Touche, testified that, based on the samples reviewed, NB Power's costs in reference to the deferral account are accurately recorded.
NB Power raised questions about Strunk's expertise and denied his charges.
The Town of Rothesay will be doing a study comparing their water hook up fees to 6 other maritime cities, after one Councillor feels the town's fees are too steep.
Rothesay Councillor Peter Lewis tells CHSJ news people in the area pay a water hook up fee of $2,500 a year, while in Quispamsis it costs $750. Lewis says Rothesay could possibly be paying more since more service is provided and they're on town water.
The study will look at what other cities on town water are paying, with similar service and a comparable population size.
A tentative collective agreement has been hammered out between the province and the New Brunswick Nurses Union representing 6 thousand registered nurses in hospitals, public health, community health nurses and the extra-mural program.
There will be no details released, however, until a ratification vote is held by the nurses.
Rothesay Council will re-look at by-law to close Pine Street, after a lawyer says the process to close the street was flawed and it's closure would affect a business.
Lawyer John MacGillivray telling Council the original notice to close the street, which is just off Salmon Crescent, only referred to a third of the whole area. He says many trucks and employees of a warehouse for King Lawn Service use the street, and closing it would interfere with business. Two out of three homeowners surrounding the street also oppose it's closure.
Mayor Bill Bishop admits there was a mistake when the public notice was sent out, saying it only referred to half of the street being closed. Bishop says since people are concerned, they'll go back and re-visit it.
The reason why the street is facing closure is because Robert Bourque owns a small home adjacent to it. Bourque tells CHSJ news when he bought the property the previous owner says the driveway they were using was actually a road owned by the city. Bourque says if the small street was closed, he could buy the city land and build a permanent driveway and garage for his home.
Common Councillor Donnie Snook appeared in court this afternoon looking visibly upset, and electing to waive his right to a bail hearing within 3 days. The common councillor's next court appearance has being rescheduled to next Monday at 9:30a.m.
Snook's lawyer, Dennis Boyle, told the court he received new summaries of police reports in in the early afternoon but did not have sufficient time to review them. The court also heard 3 witnesses are expected to testify and technical evidence presented. Through his defence lawyer, Snook said he was unconcerned with the time frame of the proceedings.
Boyle says all the public interest in the case is a concern, given that is is always a challenge to get an impartial trial, let alone when so much information is being circulated beforehand; nonetheless, he says, they are able to do it. Snook's friend, Ruth Turner says she stands by him because of her Christian faith.
Snook is facing eight charges including sexual interference with a child under 16 and possession of child pornography. The Mounties are alleging the sexual interference charge involves one child over a six-year period.
The Princess of Acadia will be out of service starting today until February 10th. The vessel is scheduled for regular maintenance and for service to it's bow thruster.
Owned by Bay Ferries, the vessel makes regular trips from Saint John to Digby, Nova Scotia.
27 year old Nathan Dean pleading guilty to two charges stemming from a jogger being attacked in Rockwood Park on October 3rd.
Dean will be sentenced February 26th on charges of assault with a weapon and having his faced concealed while committing an indictable offense. Two other charges were withdrawn.
Dean was charged after a jogger was confronted on a trail by a man armed with a knife. She managed to fight him off and he fled.
The prosecution telling the court a victim impact statement will be presented as well as a pre-sentence report. The court was also told a charge of sexual assault dating back to a separate case last August has been withdrawn.
A whole slew of resolutions passed by Common Council as far back as 2008 remain incomplete according to documentation.
There's one initiative from Mayor Mel Norton, which he pushed as a councillor, for the city to come up with a report on a graffitti management plan and another in 2011 for the installation and broadcast of a webcam feed from Rockwood Park and Rainbow Park on a trial basis.
There are a couple from Councillor Donnie Snook. One deals with restricting the use of train whistles near residential areas during certain hours and the feasibility of an after hours Pals programme at community centres for young people to increase mentorship.
Councillor Bill Farren wanted to know from the City Solicitor in 2011 on whether the city could come up with a bylaw to stop people from feeding deer and another, the same year, on finding money to carry out repairs at Seaside Park. Both are said to be still incomplete.
Former Mayor Ivan Court asked for a report on busking in the city and chalking up sidewalks with art.
Then Common Councillor Carl Killen, now the M-L-A for Saint John Harbour, wanted a report on what could be done to safeguard monuments in the city from skateboarders and those people who would stand and sit on them.
One Common Councillor making a motion tonight to see what the city can do to prevent hydrofracking.
Ward 4 Councillors David Merrithew and Ray Strowbridge have been approached by people who are concerned about the safety of their water supply, after there's been surveying activity spotted on the east side.
Merrithew tells CHSJ news he has no problem with surveying, but if hydrofacking is being looked into beside water supplies he wants to prevent it.
If it turns out only the province has the powers to prevent hydrofacking, he says they'll take it to the province.
A value for money study is being done now which will go a long way to determine whether a funding arrangement can be put in place this year to build a water treatment plant on the east side.
Mayor Mel Norton is hopeful because this is Common Council's big priority for the year as well as the province and federal government. Norton says Common Council should get the findings of the value for money study later this month or early next.
Suggestions by Common Councillor Susan Fullerton to use city sidewalk and traffic bylaws to remove prostitutes from uptown streets have been shot down by the Police Commission.
In a report for Common Council, the Police Commission describes the ideas as not being feasible, lawful or ethical.
The sex trade workers in the city, numbering from 35 to 55 with 20 forming a core, are beset by poverty, drug addiction and mental health issues according to the report. It goes on to say they have been marginalised being viewed by many people as nobodies who engage in survival sex in exchange for basic needs which include food, shelter and drugs.
Christine McCain will be getting 175-thousand dollars a month in interim spousal support plus retroactive payments from her ex-husband Michael McCain. The CEO of Maple Leaf Foods must make the payments after a judge struck down parts of a marriage contract meant to keep the McCain family's wealth within the bloodline. The agreement was signed in 1997.
The two were married for 30 years, they split in July 2011.
Having medical schools in local communities is extremely powerful, according to MP and pediatrics orthopedic surgeon Dr. Kellie Leitch.
She tells CHSJ news having Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick in Saint John will work wonders for training and keeping doctors locally. Leitch says she's seen first hand the effects a medical school has in an area. She says when she was the associate dean at the University of Western Ontario, she saw the opening of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine. Since it's opening in 2005, she says their grads have stayed there and worked wonders in that area.
Leitch says she's confident young physicians will make Saint John their home. The first set of med students are set to graduate in 2014.
