Three people have been formally charged in connection with the shale gas protests back in October on Route 134 near Rexton.
The men range in age from 22 to 56 and were arrested after the RCMP say was a dangerous situation involving firearms, improvised explosive devices and other weapons. All were released on promises to appear in court at a later date.
The three appeared in Moncton Provincial Court where a total of seven charges were laid.
31 year-old Nikiea Augustine of Indian Island has been charged with mischief and breach of an undertaking. He did not enter a plea and will return to court on January 30th.
56 year old Frédéric Robichaud of Aldouane has been charged with assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest. He pleaded not guilty. His trial has been scheduled for January 24th.
22 year old Marc Bernard of Cocagne has been charged with mischief and for breach of an undertaking on November 27th. He will return to court on January 30th to enter a plea.
50 year old Audie Fleury from Ottawa has been charged with resisting arrest. He did not show up for the hearing and the court has issued a warrant for his arrest.
For those people in areas where there are power outages who are running out of food, the Department of
Social Development is encouraging them to contact their case managers.
Those people who are not clients in emergency situations may contact the department and will be
assessed case-by-case.
Telephone contacts:
● Daytime: Saint
John region, from Sussex to St. Stephen: 1-866-441-4340. ● Daytime:
McAdam and Harvey Station: 1-866-444-8838. ● After-hours:
1-800-442-9799.
The Mayors' Levees will be held tomorrow in the area in the Ludlow Room on the 8th floor of City Hall from 11am to 1pm.......At the Rothesay Town Hall from 11am to 1pm and at the Quispamsis Town Hall from 12 noon until 2pm.
There are over 22 hundred homes and businesses around the province without power.
Over 660 of them are in the Rothesay region which includes the Kingston Peninsula and Grand Bay-Westfield along with more than 430 in the St. Stephen area.
It's now estimated it will be late on Thursday or early on Friday before everyone's power is back on but Brent Staeben of NB Power tells CHSJ News more than 99 per cent of those people still without power should be back online tonight. The ice laden trees remain a worry.
People who need water can fill up at the Rothesay Arena until 10 tonight.
In Quispamsis, there are two locations to drop off your Christmas trees for mulching......At 18 Recreation Centre Road in the lower parking lot by the Rec Centre and in the parking lot by the Walter Jewett Ballfield.
Rothesay residents will be able to drop their Christmas trees off at four locations this Saturday.....In the front parking lot of the Rothesay Arena, the entrance to the Wells Recreation Field, East Riverside-Kingshurst Park and the Bill McGuire Centre parking lot.
The City and Saint John Parking Commission reminding people that tonight, New Year’s Eve, is a changeover night for parking on the South Central Peninsula.
As an option, designated snow ban parking lots in the South Central Peninsula will be available for use overnight on New Year’s Eve, at no cost, beginning at 6:00.
This will ensure that there is plenty of parking for residents and their guests.
The Emergency Measures
Organization (EMO) has issued an extreme cold weather
advisory.
With the extreme cold weather conditions, NB Power is asking you to check on anyone you suspect doesn’t have power and ensure they are alright. If there are circumstances that NB Power should be made aware of, please contact us at 1-800-663-6272 or call the Red Cross at 1 800 222-9597.
Warming centres and shelters remain open in areas affected by power outages. These
centres offer people a place to warm up with some centres offering a meal and some
even offer a place to sleep.
The following list includes warming centres
and shelters that are now open to the public. The list is subject to change and
each site could serve different needs so interested individuals should always
contact the Red Cross at 1-800-222-9597 to be directed to the appropriate
site.
Shelters and Warming Centres:
● Quispamsis: Quispamsis
Civic Centre, 12 Civic Dr.; ● Oak Bay: Oak Bay Fire Department, Hwy 170
(warming centre and Command and Co-ordination centre); ● Harvey Station:
Harvey Fire Dept, Route 3; ● St. George: Magaguadavic Place, 11 J.O.
Spinney Dr.; and ● Grand Bay-Westfield: St. Matthew's Church, 45 Dollard
Dr.
Help is also available for individuals running low on supplies such as fire wood
or kerosene. Contact EMO at 1-800-561-4034. The Public Health Branch of the Department of Health reminds you that
all perishable food left in a refrigerator more than 24 hours without
electricity should be discarded.
Frozen foods left in a freezer will stay frozen
for a few days without electricity if the door is kept shut. These products can
be refrozen if ice crystals are still present.
The end of 2013 finishes up on a sad note for Saint John Harbour M-L-A Carl Killen who confirms on his Facebook page that his wife Susan has died at the age of 58.
Described as having the voice of an angel, she was a noted vocalist with over 30 years experience, having been educated and trained in music, theatre and performance in New York.
Susan Killen taught music privately at her studio on Prince William Street and was choir director at Key Industries.
Her funeral service will be held Friday morning at 11 in Trinity Anglican Church.
A concerted effort by more than 200 power crews in Charlotte County and the Kennebecasis Valley is bringing the number of homes and businesses without electricity down.
Just over one thousand homes and businesses are without power around the province. Over 580 of them are in the Rothesay region which includes the Kingston Peninsula and Grand Bay-Westfield along with 450 in the St. Stephen area.
NB Power is now estimating it could be late on Thursday or early on Friday before everyone's power is back on but many people may have it restored before then.
Health Minister Ted Flemming can really relate to his Rothesay constituents because he was without power for nearly a week. He provided an update for reporters at Rothesay Town Hall. Flemming was asked about the case of a woman on the Peninsula without power for 8 days who says a state of emergency should have been called.
He says NB Power are the experts in this adding they take a source of power and work out so every time they fix something you are helping someone.
Flemming says it wasn't all bad saying everyone survived adding that is the story of many people.
Flemming says we should be very proud of the hard work of power workers through the holidays in very difficult conditions.
A couple and their daughter who was home from university for the holidays escaped injury in a fire in the rural community of Mt. Pisgah on Sunday. The family was out at the time, but the home and all their belongings were lost.
It's about 10 kilometres north of Sussex. The trio are staying with family now.
Sussex Fire Chief Harold Lowe says the fire was reported shortly before 5 p.m. Sunday at 432 Knightville Road and gutted the front of the house, with smoke and water damage elsewhere.
The lights are back on for everyone on the East Side after an outage around 9 this morning.
The last location to be restored was on the Red Head Road and it was about 1:25 this afternoon. Earlier parts of Bayside Drive, Edith Avenue, Mount Pleasant Avenue East and Spruce Avenue did not have power.
One Kingston resident says she has a few choice words for the Premier on how the power outage resulting from the ice storm is being handled. Bonnie Dearing tells CHSJ News she lives at 4 Princess Beach Road and has been without power since December 22nd.
She wonders why the province wouldn't declare an emergency so the federal government can send in troops to give power crews a hand in clearing downed trees and branches and to spread generators around.
Dearing says she is better off than some because has a propane heater and a propane cook stove so she has been melting water for snow and its an all day job.
CHSJ News asked Dearing if she feels the Kingston residents are being forgotten and she responded by saying it feels like all of Southern New Brunswick has been forgotten.
After everyone's power is fully restored, Provincial Liberal leader Brian Gallant tells CHSJ News the Alward Government and NB Power should review whether sufficient emergency planning was done ahead of the ice storm.
He says in the past few weeks, he's heard from many people who say they've asked for branches and trees to be cleaned up and their requests have gone unanswered.
Gallant, himself, lost power for a day or two but considers himself lucky compared to others who have been without for over a week.
The spring cleanup on the Kingston Peninsula will be something to behold according to Howard Heans, who operates the Harding's Point campground.
He says when you drive up some of the back roads in the Peninsula, it looks like a war-zone with people having to drive under fallen trees which have formed a tunnel.
The President of the local Bacchus Motorcycle Club, 44 year old Brian Schofield of Public Landing has been sentenced to 2 years in federal prison after a regional drug bust in August.
Meth, pot, guns, brass knuckles and four grand in cash were seized in the raid. Schofield pleaded guilty to possession of 144 meth pills and marijuana for the purposes of trafficking. Judge Henrik Tonning described Schofield as a lower level dealer who goes to work, rides his motorcycle and sells drugs.
Schofield works fulltime for a paving company and the court was told he's well regarded by his employer but the judge says meth is a hard drug and peddling that is much more serious than selling marijuana.
