American Man Facing Jail Time After Crossing Border With Child Pornography

Authorities say an American man who tried to enter this province with more than 75-thousand images of child pornography has been sentenced to 22 months in jail. The Canada Border Services Agency says Darrin Whittaker of Minnesota pleaded guilty yesterday to possession of child porn and smuggling prohibited goods. Agency investigator Mike Walker says most of the still images and videos of children were found on computer external hard drives.

Walker says the victims range in age from toddlers to teens. He says he could never reveal what he saw in the images as it's quite disturbing.
The 40-year-old Whittaker arrived at the border crossing in Belleville, New Brunswick from Maine on June 16th. The agency found two laptops and 11 of the hard drives in his vehicle.

Team Suspended After Hazing Incident

St. Thomas University suspending the men's volleyball team for the rest of the school year following the death of a team member.
The move comes after the team took part in a hazing attended by Andrew Bartlett, who was found dead in October in Fredericton.


The 21-year-old Bartlett who was born in Saint John had gone to a party with teammates.
Police say criminal activity did not lead to his death, but alcohol played a part in an accidental fall that killed him.

Anti-Bullying Crusader Pleased At The Province's Efforts

A Fredericton anti-bullying activist is pleased the Premier and Education minister will be forming at committee to examine to problem.

Rob Frenette, co-founder of the website Bullying Canada.ca, tells CHSJ News he believes it's essential that parents are part of this process.

He says parents, teachers, students, Department of Education staff and community groups will be included on the committee among others.
Frenette adds the mandate will be to draft legislation and he believes the previous legislation the Government drafted while in opposition will just be ammended.


To see a report on the Bullying summit, click here

Power Outages

N-B Power crews are slowly making progress on restoring power to a large number of customers across the province.


At last report - just over 11 hundred people were off the grid thanks to high winds - heavy rain - and in some cases - heavy wet snow.

Over half of those affected are here in the St. Stephen area.


Click the link for a video of the storm in St. Stephen.
http://youtu.be/nkhoz978zlE

Another Phone Scam Involving Credit Cards

As we head into the busy holiday season -- Saint John city police are advising to be careful about the latest phone scam making the rounds.

Police say a number of city residents have fallen prey to a caller with generic information about the credit card and asking a series of questions to verify the card holder.
Another twist on this scam is the caller indicating they are investigating a fraudulent purchase on the credit card account and will ask for the three digit verification number on the back of the card.
Again -- police are warning not to give out any information over the phone unless you make the call and you know you are dealing with a reputable company.

Report Shows Wait Times Growing

If you're waiting for elective surgery - this may come as no surprise -- our province has the second highest wait times for elective surgery in the country -- 33.6-weeks.

The report from the Fraser Institute pegs Prince Edward Island with the longest waiting period at 44.4-weeks while the shortest wait times are in Ontario at 14-weeks.
A spokesman for the Institute says governments should try new health care policies including cost sharing and private health care instead of just throwing more money at the system.

Late Fall Storm Creating Problems

A snowfall warning remains in effect for St Stephen and parts of Charlotte County through this afternoon. The Environment Canada weather service says a total of 15-cms will accumulate in western sections of Charlotte County before the storm passes overnight.

The storm forced the cancellation of schools in Charlotte County this morning and has left a number of residents without power.
At last report -- N-B Power indicated just under 1700 customers in the St Stephen area were being affected by outages -- crews are working to correct the problems.

Texting Is Number One Concern For Drivers

Canadian drivers are now afraid of a new threat while on the road: texting.

In a CAA survey, 85 pecent of respondents feel texting is the number one road safety issue, followed closely by drinking and driving.

Gary Howard with the CAA tells CHSJ News it has become a real threat since everyone uses mobile devices.

Howard says public education is important in order to make the use of mobile devices while driving socially unacceptable.

New Brunswick is banning the use of cell phones while driving with new legislation in early 2011.

Irving Oil and UNBSJ Team Up To Offer Degrees

Irving Oil and UNBSJ teaming up to deliever secondary education for Irving Oil employees.

The two recently launched an executive MBA program, which allows employees to earn their master's degree while remaining fully employed.

Director of Human Resource Management with Irving Oil Tracy Chapman tells CHSJ News they had more than 130 applicants.

Student JC Besner says it's a great way to learn more about his industry.

The course takes 2 years to complete and it is equivilant to the one year MBA program at UNBSJ.

Question Mark Hanging Over Promised Francophone School

If or when a french elementary school is built in the Kennebecasis Valley, it will need enough room for at least 342 students.
That determination has been made by a school development planning committee. Before the election in September, Finance Minister Blaine Higgs voiced support for the school.
The President of Parents for a Francophone school in the Valley, Marc Mathurin says he has no idea where things stand at the moment.
With all the talk about decisive action being promised on the provincial budget, Mathurin concedes some people are worried about the prospects but he adds the need is there.

Equipment Seized In Wake Of Mishap

A 25-year-old man is dead after a workplace mishap in Blacks Harbour yesterday.
Adam Wade Harris of Dominion Refuse Collectors was loading an industrial dumpster onto a truck when the dumpster swung sideways and struck him.
Worksafe NB has seized some equipment in an effort to determine the cause and if it was by the operator, a procedural or mechanical problem.

Family Of Missing Fishermen To Meet With Federal Minister

The family of missing fishermen Corey and Harold Cossaboom from Grand Manan will meet tomorrow with Federal Fisheries Minister Gail Shea in an attempt to get some answers as to why their boat sank off St. Martins.
Human remains were found after being washed ashore on Grand Manan.
Corey's sister Trish Greene is angry there's still no identification and the family also wants to know why their boat sank.
Gary Austin operated a diving company more than twenty years ago and investigated when a single engine plane went down in the Bay off St. Martins and did not break up which raises that as a possible cause -- the boat's dragging line may have become hooked on the wreckage causing it to abruptly stop and flip.
Austin says it should be marked as a hazard to give fishermen a heads up.

Mishap Claims Life

An industrial mishap in Charlotte County claiming the life of a man this morning.
Worksafe NB and the RCMP both investigating the death in Blacks Harbour.
More information is expected to be provided later this afternoon.

Business Leader Expects Tax Increases

A warning from the Premier that some difficult years lie ahead and people will have to implement some difficult measures to cope with the fiscal crisis facing the province.
Moosehead's Andrew Oland expects consumption taxes to be increased but he says the economic fortunes of the province are in many respects out of our control.
He says a lot depends on the sluggish U-S economy because it's a key market for a lot of our goods and services.
Oland says we have to acknowledge we're in a desperate fiscal situation.

Alarm Sounded Over Fate Of Highway Upgrades

With the Alward Tories looking for savings anywhere they can find it, what will happen to a slew of upcoming Highway projects in the province.
Liberal Transportation Critic Rick Doucet says if they start changing the contracts and re-examining these projects there are penalties for cancelling contracts and reopening tenders.
Doucet says he has concerns about the possibility of the government cancelling these contracts where the safety of our roads are a top concern for most people in the province.

Slight Shift In Gas Prices

Another mixed bag when it comes to gas prices after the weekly setting.
The price of self serve regular dropping just slightly to 105.1 around town but diesel went up by almost two cents and is selling in the city for 111.4 a litre.
Heating oil also rose to 97 cents a litre.

Moose Causes Chain Crackups In Lepreau

There were no serious injuries but three vehicles were involved in a collision with a moose shortly before 7:30 last night on route 790 at Lepreau.
One car struck the moose and managed to park by the side of the road a short distance away.
Another car tried to swerve around the dead moose but collided with a vehicle that was travelling the other way.
Two people were taken to hospital as a precaution.

Wellness Minister Says Best Cure Is Prevention

One in 10 people in the province will be living with diabetes by 2012, according to a report from the provincial Department of Health.
Wellness, Culture and Sport Minister Trevor Holder says people in this province need to start living an active, healthy life and preventing Type 2 Diabetes in the first place.
Health Minister Madeleine Dube says the report highlights the need for a strategy that focuses on detection, prevention and management of diabetes.

Promised Tax Break Helping Fuel Optimism

There's a lot of uncertainty about what the future economic prospects will be especially if the new provincial government decides to raise some taxes to try to whittle down the deficit which exceeds 800 million dollars.
Despite that, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business is reporting small businesspeople in the province remain generally optimistic.
The C-F-I-B's Andrea Bourgeois says the government's promise to reduce the small business tax rate from five percent to 2.5-percent over the next couple of years is probably helping to drive the optimism.
Sixty-four per cent of the small business owners in the province complain tax and the cost of regulations are causing them grief.

Surprise Plea In Saint John Murder Trial

A surprise guilty plea from a 30 year old man accused of brutally killing his estranged wife last May.
Jason Getson of Martha Avenue pleaded guilty to second degree murder in the stabbing death of 28 year old Melanie Getson who was living on Douglas Avenue at the time.
The two were travelling in the same car May 10th which pulled into a parking lot along Rothesay Avenue and that's where she was attacked.
Getson will be back in court January 4th to be sentenced.

Allies Come Together For Ceremony To Honour Veterans

Wreaths Across America will honour the service and sacrifice of military veterans from the United States and Canada this Saturday with a wreath exchange on The Ferry Point Bridge.

Executive Director for Wreaths Of America Karen Worcester tells us the mission is to remember the fallen and honour those who serve. The ceremony is scheduled to start at 12:45 Atlantic time.  Following the parade, Cadets will escort the Gold Star Mothers, the Canadian mother of the Silver Cross Families to the center of the bridge for an exchange of wreaths to be placed at the cenotaph Memorial Monument in St. Stephen.

This bridge event will kick off a week full of activities for Wreaths Of America.

Tax Talk Raises Concerns

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is concerned about what it's hearing at the economic summit in Moncton on the future of the province. The federation's Atlantic Director Kevin Lacey tells CHSJ News speaker after speaker is talking about the need to raise taxes.
He says New Brunswick doesn't have a taxation problem - it has a spending problem and the Alward government should be looking at ways to reduce spending before thinking about tax hikes.
Lacey maintains families in the province can't afford higher taxes because average weekly earnings fell this year by .2 per cent while inflation rose by 1.8 per cent so they're falling behind even without taxes going up.

Environmental Group Says Scrap Lepreau

With the costs and delay of the Point Lepreau refurbishment, one group thinks it should become a decommissioning project.
David Coon of the Conservation Council says it would employ people and could take place while the reactor is apart.
He says NB Power has no guarantees from Atomic Energy of Canada Limited this work will extend the life of the reactor for 25 to 30 years as promised.
Coon says these problem are exactly what the previous Lord government was warned about not pursuing this project.

Re-opening Of Bridge Lane Delayed - Again

Commuters expecting the Harbour Bridge drive in Saint John to be normal again need to wait a little longer.
The second westbound lane was supposed to re-open today but General Manager Ken Anthony says they will re-open the lane gradually over the course of a few weeks.
Anthony says the wet weather and snow has slowed progress on the final stages of work - but - the plan is to begin partial openings of the lane tomorrow.
The work should be completed and the lane fully open by within 9-days - the original schedule called for the construction to be completed by the end of October.

Canaport LNG Awards Medical School Scholarship

A 38 year old father of two from Harvey Station has been chosen for a scholarship to attend the Saint John medical school.
Sheldon Wood has a Bachelor of Computer Science Degree from U-N-B and worked as an I-T consultant for 15 years.
Canaport L-N-G is creating the 4 year scholarship that will provide Wood with 35 thousand dollars a year for full tuition, books, equipment and living expenses.
Wood tells says he wants to remain in the province after graduation and is looking at becoming a family doctor.

Federal Cash For Atlantic Canadian Ferry Services

Ferry services in the region being tossed a lifeline.
The services, which includes The Princess of Acadia and its Saint John to Digby run, receiving $51 million dollars from the Federal Government which will keep them afloat until March 31st of 2014.
Saint John MP Rodney Weston says the investment is a no-brainer because it's a key part of the transportation network in Atlantic Canada.
As to whether additional or regular investments would be made after 2014, Weston could not confirm it.