Resident Cautiously Optimistic About New Drug Plan

Lots of patients have been waiting for the prescription and catastrophic drug plan unveiled earlier this week. 

One of them is Saint John resident Mark Brennan, who tells Tide News, he has a very serious kidney condition called PHP and the medication to treat it would cost 6 figures if he had to pay for it out of pocket.

"If it is covered under this new plan, it would certainly be a big load off of my mind. I know I don't just speak for myself in that regard, a lot of people have been waiting for this," he says. 


Brennan says he's cautiously optimistic that the plan will be a game-changer for him and others in his situation.

Prosecution Argues Snook Should Spend More Time Locked Up

The Prosecution claims former Saint John Common Councillor Donnie Snook should spend more time in prison and is appealing the 18 year sentence he received on 46 charges of sexually abusing boys.
 
Prosecutor Karen Lee Lamrock argues Judge Alfred Brien erred by giving Snook too much credit for time he served in jail prior to sentencing. 

She also says the judge failed to consider a section of the Criminal Code that would require an offender to serve half their sentence or 10 years, whichever is less, before coming up for parole. Snook is eligible for parole after serving just over 6 years of his sentence.

At the trial, Lamrock told the court if Snook were sentenced on each individual charge, he would serve 75 years in prison.

Premier Alward Sings Praises Of New Drug Plan

The Premier says while we can always wish that the new prescription and catastrophic drug plan would have been rolled out sooner, he's more than thrilled it's happening now.

Liberal Leader Brian Gallant had asked the Health Minister if the plan is voluntary in the first phase...David Alward tells Tide News it is to begin with but by May of 2015 it will become mandatory for all New Brunswickers without a health care plan to have insurance. 

He says the plan will be set up based on a person's ability to pay, meaning, that means a person or family's income will determine the amount they contribute.

Alward says volunteers alone spent 6000 hours developing the plan, and that number speaks to the amount of work that has gone into the creation of the program. He says all of that work has produced a good end result for New Brunswickers.

Road Closed

Part of the Lorneville Road is closed to traffic in both directions until further notice because concerns over the structural integrity of a large underground pipe which has compromised the road itself.

Repair options are being examined.

Flemming and Gallant Duke It Out Over The Drug Plan

A lively back and forth on the new drug plan in the Legislature this morning.

Liberal Liberal Brian Gallant asking the health minister if the program is voluntary in the first phase beginning next spring.

He asking Flemming if its true in the second phase of the plan after April 2015 that it will be mandatory for New Brunswickers to pay into the plan.

Health Minister Ted Flemming says the first phase of the plan is voluntary where people can assess their drug use and the extent to which they have to pay and they have the option to make that kind of decision.

Gallant does say the Liberals do support the new drug plan in principle but they do have questions they think the government should answer.

Union Questions Millions Being Paid To Quebec Consulting Firm

When the Canadian Union of Public Employees complained about cuts to the winter highway maintenance program, the more than 6 million dollars that could be paid to a consultant was prominently mentioned. 

The President of CUPE Local 1190 Andy Hardy has more to say on that.

"What they were hired to do was to find a savings of 44.5 million dollars in the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Budget, and if they do that, they're going to be paid 6.2 million dollars," he says.

Hardy says, the consulting work has been going on all year. He has no doubt there will recommendations forthcoming to save the designated amount of money.

Threat Leads To Another High School Evacuation

Police in Fredericton are on the scene at Fredericton High School, which received an unspecified threat earlier this morning.

The students were dismissed to return home beginning at 10:30am--and students were dismissed from the Ecole Ste. Anne location as well.

No word on the exact nature of the threat but Simonds High School received a call earlier this month about weapons in the school that turned out to be the work of online hackers. No one was injured and no weapons were found.

Prison Drug Bust

Authorities at the maximum security prison at Renous are investigating after a drug seizure. 

An arrest was made after an attempt to smuggle between 15 and 20 thousand dollars worth of drugs into the penetentiary. 

The drugs confiscated included hash, hash oil and hydromorphone.

Doucet Wants New Brunswick To Take A Stand For Injured Vets

A Liberal MLA is calling on the Alward government to send a dire message to the Capitol.

Rick Doucet for Charlotte-The Isles tells Tide News Canadian law requires armed forces to be ready for deployment for 10 years of service in order to be eligible for a pension.

Doucet says vets who are injured in the line of duty are losing their pensions because they are not able to fulfill their deployment duties.

He says, "Something has gone off track in the last year or so, where what's happening is injured veterans are being put out on the streets prior to their ten years. All I want to do is let's see if we can't work together and get it fixed."

Doucet says Motion 8 is currently being debated in the Legislature.

He wants to province to take a stand for vets and tell Ottawa its "the right thing to do".

Grand Manan Police Search For Driver In Hit & Run

Crimestoppers believe someone out there could help solve a hit and run case in Grand Manan.

Police say on the afternoon of August 6th, a cyclist was biking in Castalia, when he was struck by a vehicle on Route 776.

RCMP say the driver didn't stop and remain at the scene.

The cyclist was taken to the Grand Manan hospital for minor injuries, before being taken to the mainland for further testing.

If you know anything about this case, please contact Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or log on to www.crimenb.ca . Crimestoppers will pay up to $2000 for information leading to an arrest.

Alward Says They Will Find Efficiencies -- Not Cuts -- To Healthcare

Can our local hospitals and health clinics handle anymore cutbacks?

With the provincial deficit rising, many Charlotte County residents wondering what else will be on the chopping block in healthcare.

Premier David Alward in St. Stephen last night, addressing the pros and cons of the provincial economy.

Alward tells Tide News they will be looking for ways to carry on services more efficiently -- like they did with the laundry services. He says, "What I can tell New Brunswickers is we are committed to providing excellent healthcare, we have been changing how we do things, and I know people don't always like change, but what I can say is that this will allow us to focus on those things that are most important."

Alward says one example they want to concentrate on would be the catastrophic drug plan, in which New Brunswick is the only province without access.

St. Joe's Closes Because Of Watermain Break

St. Joseph's Hospital has been closed because of the water problems on the east side of Saint John.

This closure affected the operating rooms, all out-patient clinics and the Urgent Care Centre.

Patients needing care are being told to visit another clinic or go to the E-R at the Regional with the public being asked to not come to St. Joe's until further notice.

Alward Defends Provincially-Funded Ad

No doubt you have seen the ad during the commercial breaks on your favourite tv show.    

It's from the Province and features many New Brunswickers speaking about having to leave home to find work.
 
Premier David Alward says the ad sends a strong message to the folks working out west to not give up hope on be able to return home someday.

He says our young people and men and woman don't have the opportunities to stay home and build their lives here.

So how will the province sold the problem? Alward suggests the work the province is doing on developing our natural resources and investing in innovation will do the trick.


You can check out the ad yourself by clicking here

Water Problems Close St. Joe's

The water problems in the City of Saint John forcing the closure of St. Joseph's Hospital.

Operating rooms and all out-patient clinics at St. Joseph’s Hospital have been closed.

The Urgent Care Centre is closed until further notice. 

Patients needing care should arrange to visit another clinic or go to the ER at the Regional.

The public is asked to not come to St. Joe's until further notice.

Boil Water Order For Most Of City

A boil water order has been issued for everyone living east of the Reversing Falls Bridge because of a water main break on a transmission line near the Lakewood Heights Pump Station on the east side.

 Due to the water main break there was increased water flow at the Latimer Lake Treatment Facility resulting in insufficient chlorine being added to disinfect the water.
 
The West side, west of the Reversing Falls Bridge, is not affected. The boil water order is expected to last until early next week.

Alward Hopeful SWN Project Will Proceed

Premier David Alward attracting a large crowd to speak of the pros and cons of the provincial economy and the many projects on the horizon.
 
He was asking about when SWN resources might return now that testing in finished and he tells us he feels very good that they were able to finish their exploration phase.

He says now they will go back and analyze their information and making a decision on whether or not they would put in test wells but he adds he is hopeful.

Alward says he looks forward to meeting with company representatives in the coming weeks to hear about their results.

Provincial NDP Say Give Municipalities More Power

Provincial NDP leader Dominic Cardy says municipalities around the province are being hamstrung because they don't know until late in the year how much money they'll have to work with. 

Cardy says the provincial Department of Economic Development should be scrapped and that money, amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars, should be divided up among the various municipalities.
 
Cardy says the current system with the provincial government giving out unconditional grants, which can change drastically from year to year, prevents long term planning from taking place on the municipal level.


If the municipal politicians don't spend the money wisely, Cardy says voters can then give them the heave ho.

New Brunswick Medical Society Launching "Make Menus Matter."

The New Brunswick Medical Society is asking parents and teachers to take a second look at school menus. 

The group is launching "Make Menus Matter", a campaign to raise awareness about eating healthy at school. 

CEO Anthony Knight tells CHSJ News, when it comes to healthy school menus, there's still room for improvement. He says, unhealthy options are still available on school menus.

"There's all different forms of burgers, whether they're chicken, fish or hamburgers, lot of pizza and some variations of fried foods. We want to encourage more whole grain products, more fruits and vegetables, and more lean meat," he says.

Parents are being asked to submit their child's school menu to the Medical Society, for a chance to with a healthy lunch prepared by doctors and dietitians.

Quispamsis Council Requesting Update On State Of Emergency

Quispamsis council making sure they are prepared for the worst...the town making a request to be updated on the state of emergency and local state of emergency legislation. 

Regional Emergency Management Coordinator for Saint John and Sussex Brent Whalen tells CHSJ News, it all starts at the municipal level.

"If an emergency occurs...multiple police departments, multiple fire departments from adjacent municipalities have to come in to assist a single municipality. It becomes overwhelming, and so an escalation in support is going to be required," he says.

Whelan and KV E-M-O Director Brian Shanks making a presentation to council at their last meeting.

SCAN Program Helping Residents File Complaints Against Problem Tenants

It started as a pilot program, but now the SCAN program is helping residents file complaints against problem tenants and residents on a permanent basis. 

That's thanks to funding from the province. Police Chief Bill Reid tells CHSJ News, they have a lot of tips coming in, and they work with SCAN to deal with complaints about drug dealers, squats, and other issues.

 "Scan is not connected to police, it's an outside provincial unit and once we have information we certainly pass it along," he says.

 Reid says the city's fortunate the provincial government has continued funding for the program.