Wish Tree To Bring Happy Christmas To Needy Child

One St. Andrews Christmas tree in particular will tug at your heart.

As part of the 10th Annual Festival Of Trees at Kingsbrae Garden, you can see the Wish Tree set up in the main lobby.

Donna Linton from the Volunteer Centre of Charlotte County tells Tide News they are asking for the public's help. She says the tree is decorated in tags with Christmas wishes written on them, and people are being asked to take the wishes home and bring back a wrapped gift.


Linton says the gifts are going to a 17-year-old girl who has had a hard life and has never been able to enjoy the holiday season. She says the girl comes from a single parent family where there are limited resources and limited access to resources.

Linton says the wishes are simple things like art supplies and hygeine items and nothing costs "an arm and a leg".
For details, contact Donna Linton at the Volunteer Centre at 466-4995.

The CAA Offers Winter Driving Safety Tips

Driving can be tricky when the temperature dips below zero, but the Canadian Automobile Association has some tips on getting around safely this season. 

Gary Howard of the CAA says firstly its important both you and your vehicle are winter-ready. Howard also says you have to remember it's not just you on the roads so when you are driving in bad weather, drive defensively. And you should also adjust your driving to the weather conditions as posted speed limits are only for ideal driving conditions.

He says you should also know you need more braking distance when roads are slippery no matter what type of vehicle you have. For even more safety tips on safe winter driving from the CAA, click here.

Job Subsidies To Rich Corporations Being Questioned

Some eyebrows being raised over whether the Alward Government should have given T-D a subsidy of 2 million dollars in training costs for the creation of 275 jobs at its insurance call centre on Rothesay Avenue over the next three years.. 

The Atlantic Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, Kevin Lacey tells Tide News it smacks of desperation on the part of the provincial government and calls it a race to the bottom, saying if you do it for one company, other firms will expect subsidies as well. 

Lacey also points out T-D isn't exactly strapped for cash having reported a profit of 1.6 billion dollars.

He says a better long term strategy is to create a workforce who are so skilled, companies will want to set up shop to take advantage of their skills.

2014 Sculpture SJ Expands To More Communities

Bigger & better...that is the plan for the return of Sculpture SJ next year.     

After a year off, the event will feature more regional locations that will end up with a new piece of public art.

Organizer Dianna Alexander says 8 communities will take part, which are St. Stephen, Hampton, Sussex, Grand Bay-Westfield, St. Andrews, Blacks Harbour, the Saint John Waterfront Development and the Grandview Avenue campus of the New Brunswick Community College.

Hampton's Jim Boyd will be taking part again next year and two of the artists from the 2012 event will be chosen to be return.   

Sculpture SJ 2014 runs August 7th to September 20th in the Coast Guard parking lot on Water street.

Suspicious Package at UNB Saint John

A tense situation on the campus of UNB Saint John where the discovery of a suspicious package late this morning forced the evacuation of the UNB field house.

Staff Sgt. Mike King of the City Police tells Tide News they are concerned about the area where they found the package.There is a return address on the package which they are looking into and they are in touch with a Hazardous Materials team in Halifax. City Fire's Haz Mat unit was called in just before 11am.

Early reports said the package did not contain any liquid or powder. King says they can't say what the package looks like, or what is inside the package at this time, but he does say no threat has been issued.

NB Power Is Doing Better

NB Power is reporting better financial numbers with year-to-date earnings rebounding to $5 million and the utility will be paying down its debt by $39 million. 

The better numbers being attributed, in part, to all that rain we got over the summer to generate more hydroelectricity with out of province revenue going up by 32 million dollars. 

We're also told the Point Lepreau nuclear plant, following a planned maintenance outage in October, is now operating at 100 per cent capaciy.

Ashley Smith Inquest Winding Down After Almost A Year

More than 12 thousand pages of evidence from 80 plus witnesses and over 100 recommendations. That's what jurors at the Ashley Smith inquest in Toronto will face going over after they receive final instructions today and then begin their deliberations.
 
The inquest into Smith’s choking death in a prison segregation cell in 2007 began last January. 

The jurors did receive conflicting advice on the question whether the 19-year-old Smith from Moncton meant to kill herself or died because the guards, under orders against intervening too quickly, waited too long to save her.

Tragedy In Southeastern New Brunswick

The small Acadian village of Cap Pele is in mourning after a tragic car crash over the weekend takes the lives of four teens, aged 17 and 18.
 
The four died when the car they were in went off the highway, struck a culvert and rolled over several times.
 
Three of the victims were not wearing their seatbelts and got ejected from the vehicle. The RCMP say speed was a factor in the crash. 

A funeral service for the four has been scheduled tomorrow afternoon and is being described as a celebration of their short lives. 

The people who live in Cap Pele have been asked not to turn their Christmas lights on until after the funeral.

Political Leaders React To Deadly Crash

Reaction from the Premier and the leader of the opposition on this weekend's tragic crash killing four teens from Cap Pele.

Liberal Leader Brian Gallant offering his sympathies to the families and friends of the four teens.

Shediac-Cap Pele Liberal MLA Victor Boudreau says he shares in the sadness and shock of the community.

Premier David Alward also offering his sympathies saying he is deeply saddened by news of the fatal collision.