County Aces Announced At Garcelon

It's a big day for hockey fans in Charlotte County.

The new Jr. A Hockey team showing off their logo for the 1st time this afternoon as the County Aces.

Club President John Hyslop tells Tide News the team will be St. Stephen based -- but Hockey Canada will allow the team up to 8 American players, so the team will be open for Washington County as well as Charlotte and York Counties.



Hyslop says the team logo relates to both sides of the border -- with a puck and maple leaf representing Canada, and stars around it for the US. The "Aces" leads back to the history of the old Aces Hockey team decades ago in St. Stephen as well as the history of the airstrip in WW2 in Pennfield. 

They estimate the Aces 1st exhibition game will be scheduled around September 6th or 7th of this year.

Flooding Could Be A Concern In Many Areas

The provincial River Watch warning New Brunswickers that over the past 48 hours,water levels have risen and ice movement has begun in some waterways.

Warmer temps for the next few days could lead to melting snow pack and ice covers throughout the province, leading to localized flooding. There are currently ice jams on the Kennebecasis River at Hillsdale and Norton and Hammond River between Smithtown and Upham.

Water levels on the Nashwaak River remain a concern.

Tenative Agreement Reached Between Department Of Heatlth and Pharmacists

The Department of Health has reached a tentative agreement with the New Brunswick Pharmacists' Association.

Both sides have agreed to withhold details until the agreement is finalized.

The Pharmacists' Association claims the memorandum of understanding provides pharmacists with some predictability and helps to establish a foundation for future discussions.

The MOU will be retroactive to April 1.

Improved Literacy Could Be The Game-Changer NB Needs

Many adults in New Brunswick are struggling with basic literacy skills--as many as 60%, according to some polls. Liberal Leader Brian Gallant slamming the Alward government for what he calculates are 1.4 million dollars in cuts to adult literacy since the Tories took power.

He says in its first budget the Alward Government cut funding to the community adult learning services by $395,000, and in its second budget they cut even more than that.

Post-Secondary Education Minister Jody Carr counters that throwing money at problems isn't enough--and while cuts have been made that doesn't mean the quality of the services has suffered.

According to Life Literacy Canada, about 13% of workers in Canada are under-qualified for their jobs, which has a significant effect on wages and productivity.

Parent Unhappy At Washroom Investigation By Education Department

A parent whose son attends Kennebecasis Valley High says he's dissatisfied with the investigation that was carried out by the Education Department into whether all the boy's washrooms but one were closed for 2 and a half days recently.

Blair Surette tells Tide News he was told by a senior official in the Education Dcepartment that Superintendent Zoe Watson denied it happened which was what she told us in an interview. Surette questions how all the boys he talked to could be wrong and points out Watson wasn't there are the school.

We also heard from another parent, who did not what her name used, who told us she was told by her daughter one boys' washroom and two washrooms for the girls were open.

Surette is vowing not to let the matter drop and is nowlooking at writing a letter of complaint to the Premier.

Warning About Cellphone Scam

The Kennebecasis Regional Police have received several calls about a cell phone scam where victims buy a used cell phone on Kijiji or other on-line sales sites.

The scammer goes to any mobile phone shop, receives a phone at a significant discount or even for free, based on a promotion which involves a contract, which the receiver agrees to abide by. The person may use their own name or a fraudulent name to receive the phone and then sells the phone which technically has not been paid for and is now your problem.

Police say the easiest way to avoid being conned is to meet the seller at any mobile service provider and let them know you're going to have the mobile service provider check to see if the phone has been flagged in their database.

Former Soldier Will Not Be Tried In Machete Attack

There will be no trial in the aftermath of a violent attack January 20th at Eastern College on Prospect Street in Fredericton.

A judge has ruled a former soldier, accused of attacking a classmate and an instructor in a criminology class with a machete is unfit to stand trial.

The decision is based on the findings of a mental health evaluation at Restigouche for 31 year old Luke Thomas Walter Powers. It determined he was not criminally responsible for his actions.

Powers has been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder.