"Just get her done" because if we don't, the province is headed for bankruptcy........That was one of the messages delivered during a discussion on energy development at the Cities of New Brunswick meeting hosted by Saint John at Market Square.
John Herron of the Atlantica Centre for Energy tells CHSJ News shale gas and the west to east pipeline are two possibilies that aren't a silver bullet but could move the needle foward.
He warns the provincial economy is facing some pretty strong headwinds with private investment stagnant, government spending being reduced, unemployment rising and young people leaving. Herron points out of all the province and American states, New Brunswick is the second oldest in North America and that is, in his words, "a perfect storm".
Herron says it hasn't even been determined yet if shale gas development can be commercially viable in the province.
The meeting was also told the province is working on a new structure for royalties from natural resources that would generate more revenue for the government. Only 1 per cent of government revenue in New Brunswick comes from royalties as opposed to 21 per cent in Saskatchewan.
Instead of just muttering under your breath when your car hits a pothole on this notorious stretch of road, some of you have vented your frustration online.
Rothesay Avenue has been voted the fifth worst road in the Worst Roads in Atlantic Canada campaign so far, and Gary Howard of CAA tells CHSJ News that it's not about saying that somebody isn't doing their job, it's about getting the government to pay attention to the roads.
To date, 1596 Atlantic Canadians have cast a vote for the road they think deserves the title. You have until the end of the month to cast your vote online. Click here to vote.
This party will be chaperoned by group in red.
The Red Shirt Committee, the group of parents on the West Side who announced they would be voluntarily patrolling the the playground at the Carleton Community Centre because they were worried about what kind of trouble their children could get into, are hosting a Playground Party today.
It's a free event with music, games, barbecue and more, and it runs from noon until 2 p.m. at the Carleton Community Centre.
The owner of a used car dealership is the victim of vehicle theft.
Police are looking into the theft of a white 2007 Chevy Silverado Z71 from the parking lot of Ultimate Auto Sales on Millennium Drive. They tell us the owner discovered that his truck was missing when he finished work around 8:30 p.m.
Rothesay Regional Police say if you see anyone driving a truck matching this description with the license plate: COJ 133, to call them at (506) 847-6300, or contact
Crimestoppers at www.crimenb.ca or 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
Saint John is trailing the other major centres in the province when it comes to housing starts - new figures from Canada Mortgage and Housing show 26-new units started between January and the end of April.
By comparison - Moncton posted 184-new units started while in Fredericton foundations were poured for 43-new units. The federal housing agency says construction of multiple unit apartments and condos is fueling the Hub City numbers.
Provincial public health officials issuing a precautionary smoke advisory because of the high number of forest fires.
Dr. Denis Allard is warning residents to take precautions when heavy smoke affects air quality.
He suggests babies, kids, pregnant women, older adults, smokers and those with chronic heart and lung disease stay indoors with the windows closed to reduce their exposure to the air outdoors.
People experiencing difficulty breathing or chest pain should consult their physician.
A 24th life size red silhouette now presents 80 year old Alice Leadlay--another provincial woman to die at the hands of her partner.
A ceremony acknowledging Alice and the other women represented by the Silent Witness project in Quispamis today.
Alice's son David Leadlay tells CHSJ News he's flattered on her behalf.
He says with her silhouette she is remembered more as a person not lost as a statistic.
KV Outreach worked with the Leadlay family and the Rothesay Regional Police to have Alice Leadlay included in the Silent Witness project.
A reception served strawberry shortcake---Alice's favourite dessert.
A man accused of threatening his partner with a machete in a grocery store parking lot has pleaded guilty to assault and a weapons charge.
51 year old Arnold James Lawrence Cote was arrested on April 23rd after a drunken confrontation with his girlfriend.
The victim was driving Cote to the liquor store when he began waving the machete around and hitting her with the back side of the blade. When they stopped in the parking lot, she ran up to another woman and asked for help---as it turned out, she was the wife of a senior-ranking Rothesay Police official.
Cote will be back in court of June 7th.
Work has begun to refurbish the bandstand in King Square thanks to 100 thousand dollars from an anonymous donor.
Plans call for sandblasting and repainting along with the installation of a new granite fountain.
The economy managed to generate 12 thousand 500 new jobs in April helping to offset some of the massive job losses in March.
The small pickup kept the nationwide unemployment rate steady at 7.2 per cent.
It was a different story locally with the unemployment rate rising in Saint John from 9.1 in March to 9.2 per cent. The jobless rate provincewide also going up from 10.5 to 10.9 per cent.
Economists say all of April's gains came in the form of new employees, rather than self-employment and that's a good sign.
They also note there was an increase of about 36 thousand fulltime jobs while parttime employment fell by 23,600.
Teens often get an undeserved bad rap--but Dante Adams and Tristan Simpson are proving that stereotype wrong.
The pair presented a plaque to the Saint John Police Force to show their appreciation for the work the police do in the community.
Adams tells CHSJ News they wanted to speak up for those who don't have a voice, including younger children who have been rescued from dangerous or abusive situations.
Adams and Simpson presented an award they created called The Voice of the Children to Police Chief Bill Reid at the latest meeting of police commission.
After the test score of a 17 year old student at Oromocto High School was leaked by the Department of Education, the Opposition Liberals are calling for Education Minister Jody Carr to resign.
Education Critic Chris Collins tells CHSJ News Carr's office abused its power, likening the snafu to a Health Minister using his or her position to find out the medical test results of a patient.
The student in question had received media attention due to questions raised over whether she should write the English Language Proficiency Exam. The Liberals are asking the premier to intervene and relieve Carr of his duties.
After 6 weeks of voting, Island View School has won a $20,000 outdoor classroom in the Majesta Trees of Knowledge contest.
The west side school gets the grand prize money, expert consultation from Tree Canada to help bring their classroom to life and outdoor learning curriculum support from Focus on Forests.
The new Island View School outdoor learning space will open in October and feature a covered amphitheatre-like classroom, learning pods to facilitate smaller group learning and a new structure to help direct rain into the school’s water garden.
After slipping to 2nd spot in the voting, the school rallied back to 1st place with community support before voting closed last month.
It looks like M-L-A's and provincial cabinet ministers will have their pay frozen for another year under amendments introduced in the Legislature.
Government house leader Paul Robichaud says this will freeze the wages of M-L-A's and cabinet ministers for the fourth year in a row.
Robichaud says the last time they got a raise was back in 2008.
Power outages being reported this morning by NB Power in Qusipamsis and the Kingston Peninsula including MacDonald Consolidated School which will be closed for the day.
More than 730 users are affected. It's believed all the power will be back on by 10:00 but most people will have theirs restored sooner than that.
Saint John needs jobs--but at least one prominent academic would disagree with Mayor Mel Norton that a West-East oil pipeline is the way to get them.
Dr Sarah White was invited to give a lecture hosted by Sustainable Saint John about
the policy of building a greener future; how to add value to local economies through green technology, and efficiencies in energy, waste, and water management.
White tells CHSJ News it's foolish to repeat the same mistakes but
expect different results.
She says Europe has moved toward a greener model and seen economic growth as a result, and we need to look at what's actually working everywhere else instead of to our carbon-centric past.
At the 5th annual Premier's Energy Awards, the City has two winners.
The City's Energy Manager Samir Yammine has won the Energy Efficiency Champion Award with his work since 2011 saving the City an estimated 1.8 million dollars every year.
Yammine tells CHSJ News he began working in the city's energy department nearly 15 years ago.
He says when they started they were few programs like it so it was a bit of a struggle in the beginning.
The other winner is the new Police headquarters at Peel Plaza for new Commercial Construction.
A 54-year-old truck driver from Québec is charged with aggravated sexual assault and forcible confinement after allegedly attacking a woman in a Moncton parking lot.
On April 25, witnesses called 911 when they saw a young woman running naked in a parking lot near the intersection of Church Street and Mountain Road. She was screaming for help after having gotten out of a transport truck, which managed to drive off.
Police tracked down the truck driver in a community on the South Shore of Montreal. Maurice Cloutier will be brought back to New Brunswick to face the charges.
With a series of devastating forest fires in the province this week , City fire crews are very aware the woods are dangerously dry.
A grass fire in a wooded area off Falcon Crescent could have easily gone awry but crews were able to contain with help from some wind direction.
CHSJ News asked Platoon Chief Peter Saab about the cause of the blaze.
He says they have had a number of fires in that area in the last month and while they don't see people lighting them he's not aware of any lighting strikes lately.
Saab says they got lucky because a passerby dropped by the Loch Lomond fire station to let the crews know about it.
The Saint John Police Force is getting ready to jump on the social media bandwagon with a program teaching officers the best way to communicate online.
But Mayor Mel Norton objected to Police Commission, a volunteer board, getting the same $4000 training on the taxpayers' dime.
Norton says there's no reason for the commission to get the training; however, several board members disagreed, saying it would raise public awareness of what the commission does.
Ultimately the idea was voted down. The Police Commission is a volunteer board that makes policy for the police force, provides oversight, and keeps the force accountable for the use of its resources.
