St. Stephen CAO John Ferguson Resigns

He's not heading out west -- but he is leaving St. Stephen.

Chief Administrative Officer John Ferguson has resigned.

The Town releasing a statement this morning that says Ferguson has accepted the position of CAO for the municipal county of Annapolis, Nova Scotia.

Ferguson states, " It has been a wonderful experience in St. Stephen. I am so impressed with the community's effort to move your beautiful border town forward. Please continue the wonderful work with each other and with your great neighbour: Calais, Maine."

He adds, "I wish St. Stephen well in their transition. St. Stephen has a bright future and excellent citizenry. Thank you St. Stephen. I look forward to shared opportunities to work with your great town on economic possibilities that affect all of us in Atlantic Canada."

Three Men Arrested In McAdam For Attempted Break-In

Three men have been arrested for attempted break and enter in McAdam.

RCMP say two men, ages 18 and 28, both from McAdam, were arrested Monday morning around 2am while trying to break into a shed.

A 33-year-old Blacks Harbour man was arrested on Wednesday in connection with the incident.

Police say all three are scheduled to appear in court at a later date.

Irving Oil Named In Lawsuit

Irving Oil has been added to the list of defendants in a proposed class-action lawsuit stemming from the train derailment in Lac-Megantic, Quebec.
    
The oil in the train cars that derailed and exploded was destined for Irving's refinery here in the city
    
An Irving spokesperson says the company did not own or control the oil or its transportation at any time.

Illegal Smokes Seized

About 260 thousand illegal cigarettes have been confiscated by the RCMP with two men from Burton now facing charges and hefty fines.
    
Police say the seizure of 26 cases of illegal tobacco happened after the two were stopped in Charters Settlement.
    
An 81-year-old man and 54-year-old man have court appearances scheduled in September. Their names won't be released until they are formally charged in court.

Tolls Again On The Harbour Bridge?

Social media was abuzz this morning with rumors that Transportation Minister Claude Williams had said there was a possibility of re-instating the toll on the Harbour Bridge.

The comments were made to the media yesterday. According the Honorable Dorothy Shepherd, the rumor was the result of a miscommunication when the Minister was talking about tolls in general.

Shepherd did say tolls are definitely on the table as an option for generation revenue--but not on the Harbour Bridge. It was a platform promise of the Tories to remove the toll, which was widely believed to unfairly penalize locals.

Point Lepreau Could Experience 2 Week Outage

The Point Lepreau Generating Station is currently operating safely at 95 per cent according to the New Brunswick government.

NB Power is considering the advantages of a two-week outage this fall so technicians can make adjustments to a steam valve.

NB Power stated its intent to have a two-week outage back in June. Fixing the valve would take care of steam line vibration issues, allowing the plant to return to 100 per cent reactor power.

If an outage is required, rates for NB Power customers would not be effected.

Referendum On Senate Gets Lukewarm Reaction

Liberal Senator Joe Day of Hampton isn't disputing the need to reform the Senate but he's not crazy about the idea of holding a national referendum on its fate which is being called for by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

Day tells Tide News the Senate isn't the only government institution in need of reform. He argues the House of Commons is in need of reform as evidenced by the mini revolt staged by some Conservative M-P's over their treatment at the hands of the Prime Minister's Office and the control being exerted over them by the P-M-O.

One former Conservative M-P from Alberta who's now sitting as an independent complains they were being treated like trained seals.