More Delays At Point Lepreau

(Energy Minister Jack Keir)
(File Photo)

The refurbishment of the Point Lepreau nuclear power plant is delayed by at least another year, putting the project 2 1/2 years behind schedule.

The latest delay today is caused by problems sealing the ends of tubes inside the reactor.

Energy Minister Jack Keir tells us he wants an independent mediation process with Ottawa to examine the contract and decide who pays for the cost overruns. 

He says of the 380 tubes-- 80 failed the pressure test, 80 passed and 220 haven't been tested yet.

Retired Senator Receives Award

A retired Senator from the province is travelling to Hartford this weekend to get an award for her efforts in promoting local adoption.

Erminie Cohen tells us the award is from the North American Council on Adoptable Children.

Cohen heads the province's Adoption Foundation that has helped over 800 children in the province find families.

Candidate Upset With Closure Of Food Bank

Sharon Tucker, the Conservative candidate running in the riding of Charlotte-the-Isles, is furious that the Liberal government is ignoring the closure of the St. George food bank.

She says MLA Rick Doucet's suggestion of hosting a forum to promote donations is not enough.

Tucker is promising to immediately fix the issue if elected in the September provincial election.

RCMP Seize Drugs & Cash In Blacks Harbour

RCMP making quite a find yesterday after conducting a search warrant on a home in Blacks Harbour.
Police seized a quantity of marijuana which could have potentially produced an excess of 5000 joints. They also seized drug paraphernalia and over $4000 in cash.

A 33-year-old-man and a 39-year-old woman were arrested and later released.

The warrant was executed as a result of several weeks of investigation into drug trade activities.

They will be appearing in court at a later date to face drug trafficking charges.

Newcomb Cuts hair For Charity

One little girl with a big heart did a big thing today.Kneviah Newcomb cut her hair today to donate it Angel Hair for Kids Foundation. She's originally St. Stephen but now lives in Eastport Maine.

Newcomb is only ten old and tells Tide News she was inspired by a friend in the past who had cancer and at that time offered her hair.

Since then kneviah has only received trims to her hair and has grown it long and today with the help of Tammy Mersereau from Talk Of The Town in St. Stephen Newcomb cut her hair and will donate about 12 inches to the foundation.

In addition this ten year old girl has managed to also raise just over $400.00 dollars to send to the Angel Hair for kids foundation. It takes about 10 hair cuts to make one wig for a child in need.

Canadian Navy Makes Presentation To Mayor Of St. Stephen

The Canadian Navy celebrating it's 2010 Anniversary has launched an iniative to honour 320 towns and cities who's names have been shared with Canadian war ships and submarines since 1910.

St. Stephen was among the stop this morning as Navy Officials presented Mayor Jed Purcell with two framed pictures of the warships HMCS St. Stephen and HMCS Milltown ...

HMCS Milltown was a Bangor class minesweepers and it was used in 1943 in Canadain Waters and HMCS St. Stephen was the only vessells named St. Stephen in the Canadian Navy and was used in 1944.

Moncton RCMP Investigate Court house Vandalism

RCMP are investigating after vandals caused an estimated $10,000 in damage at the construction site of a new Moncton courthouse.

In a statement released by police they say cabinets and paint that were thrown off the roof landed on heavy machinery causing extensive damage.

Work crew's arrived Tuesday morning to find a broken window and graffiti painted on the interior and exterior walls of the building.

Apple Auto Glass Helps Youth Prepare for the Labour Market

Apple Auto Glass along with The Government of Canada will provide job preparation training and work experience to our local youth. The Honourable Greg Thompson, Member of Parliament for New Brunswick Southwest, made the announcement on behalf of the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development.

Apple Auto Glass will receive just over $10,000 in federal Skills Link funding to support its youth employment program.

Skills Link focuses on helping youth facing barriers to employment, such as single parents, Aboriginal youth, young persons with disabilities, recent immigrants, youth living in rural and remote areas, and youth who have dropped out of high school.

Troy Weeks, co-owner of Apple Auto Glass Oak Bay said this is a good opportunity for our youth, and we hope that other employers will see the benefits and support this program.

The federal government is working with the provinces and territories, community organizations and other stakeholders to provide Canadians with the training, skills and opportunities they need to get jobs and contribute to their communities.

Garbage Causing Problems In Our Waters

After looking at beaches from St. Andrews to Saint John, the province's Conservation Council is worried about litter and garbage appearing along the shorelines.

David Thompson with the Conservation Council says they're still finding a lot of Styrofoam floating around as wells as plastic bags and wrappers.

Thompson says when birds and fish see small pieces of rope or Styrofoam, they mistake it for jellyfish and end up eating it.

Thompson says the material they are finding comes from fishing boats, smaller commercial vessels, illegal dumping, and material that is just blown around.

Eastport's 5th Annual Pirate Festival

The Eastport Pirate Festival is seeking entrants from both Maine and New Brunswick for the first International Lobster Boat Race to be held in the waters off Eastport on Sunday, September 12.

The Eastport Pirate Festival Lobster Boat Race will have multiple categories for Race Day on Sunday, September 12th. Every Boat that enters will have a shot at the $1000.00 Grand Prize. Each race category will offer a prize of either cash or product and all entrants will go into the drawing for the $1000.00. The Race Committee is seeking working boats of all kinds, as well as pleasure boats.

The Eastport Pirate Festival runs September 10-12. For more race information or to register your boat for one of the races you can contact Chris Brown at 207-853-4343 or visit the Pirate Festival website at http://www.eastportpiratefestival.com/

Lumberjack Competition

The 37th Annual International Homecoming Festival continues in St. Stephen & Calais today with the International Lumberjack Competition.  20 lumberjacks and lumberjills were competing for cash prizes and trophies.  Hundreds of spectatiors came out and cheered on the contestants.
For a complete list of other festival events happening today and throughout the week, visit http://www.thetide.ca/

Iggy Speaks On Lepreau Refurbishment

(Michael Ignatieff gives a speech at Paul Zed's BBQ)
(Photo by Sherry Aske)

A crowd of people turned up to watch Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff roll into town on the Liberal Express.

Ignatieff was in Rothesay last night for a barbecue at former MP Paul Zed's house.

He spoke about his stance on the Point Lepreau refurbishments, saying his focus as a federal politician is that Stephen Harper has walked away from the Canadian nuclear industry for the past four years. 

Ignatieff says we need to make sure we have nuclear technologies and the capacity to repair our nuclear stations. 

He says we're losing nuclear scientists almost daily now, and the responsibility for that is ultimately not with AECL, but with the Conservative government.

Fewer Forest Fires

The number of forest fires around the Province are way down this year and that might come as a surprise to many with the all the hot, humid weather.

So far, there have been 120 fires which have burned 110 hectares.

Jeff Betts is the Provincial Fire Center Operations Officer and tells us, it doesn't seem like it, but the rain is spaced out enough that the woods are not tinder dry and campers are being very cautious to extinguish any fires before leaving their site.

Betts says last year, 230 hectares of forest was lost around the Province which is also low with the ten year average being close to 400.

New Event For Chocolate Fest

Area Teens will think there is definetly a sweet new event added to Chocolate Fest this year.

Maria Kulcher of the Chocolate Fest Board of Directors tells us a Much Music Videodance will be held at the Border Arena on Aug 3rd.

It's for kids between the ages of 12 and 18 and will have wicked sound, killer lighting and the hotest new and old school videos.

For more information you can go to http://www.chocolate-fest.ca/index.php.

Call For More Diversity On EUB

An anti-poverty group would like to see even more change with the Energy and Utilities Board than what has been proposed by Provincial Energy Minister Jack Keir.

Bethany Thorne Dykstra of Voice of Real Poverty tells us members of the Board should be elected instead of appointed.

She would like to see representation on the E-U-B from someone who can speak up for the interests of consumers, especially those who don't have a lot of money to work with.

Iggy Comes To Town

(Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff)
(File Photo)

Liberal Party Leader Michael Ignatieff continues his cross province tour this weekend with a stop-over in Rothesay today.

Former Saint John MP Paul Zed is hosting the get-together at his home and tells us he expects there will be several hundred people on hand to greet Ignatieff when he arrives.

Zed points out this is Ignatieff's fifth trip to Saint John and there is no political agenda, just a chance to come and have a more relaxed visit to the area.

Mayor Holds Riding Rally

Mayor of Blacks Harbour Terry James will be holding her first riding rally to be held at the Eastern Charlotte Lion’s Club in Pennfield today between 2 and 5.

James tells Tide News she's up for the challenge and she's up against our current MLA Rick Doucet and Mayor of St. George Sharon Tucker.

Tide news asked James how she felt running against them as she has built a different relationship with them in the past as the Mayor of Blacks Harbour.

She says she has the utmost respect for both of them and she's hoping they have equal respect for her.

PANB Leader Kris Austin will be on hand today to show his support for James. The People’s Alliance of New Brunswick is the newest official political party in New Brunswick.

New Flavour Doing Well

Something that certainly goes well with a sunny long weekend is a cold beer.

Joel Levesque is Vice President of Communications with Moosehead Breweries and tells us since launching their newest summer flavour -Moose Light Blackberry- at the end of June, sales have been great.

He says they've achieved their sales objectives and they're getting great feedback about it.

Levesque says the Moose Light Blackberry might be back next summer, or they might have a new flavour because consumers seem to be really interested in experimenting and product innovation.

Bay Of Fundy At Risk

(Marine biologist Jamie Steele)
(Photo by Gary MacDonald)

A St. Andrews marine biologist says the Bay of Fundy remains a resource at risk.

Jamie Steele tells us the bay's fragile ecosystem is linked to influences around it.

Steele says even though we strive for a balance between uses such as shipping or tourism -- we usually go too far the other way and have to backtrack to repair any damage to the ecosystem.

But -- Steele says talk of tidal power generators in the bay is miles ahead of past suggestions of large damns to harness the tides which would have a significant impact on the bay's marine life.

He says we have to become more aware of our own backyard and how we influence what happens in it.

Nature Trust Cleans Beaches

The Nature Trust of New Brunswick is making an effort to clean up the beaches in Bocabec Bay near St. Andrews today.

The stretch of shoreline was chosen for this year's Charlotte Isles clean-up and Executive Director Renata Woodward tells us they normally collect just over one ton of garbage.

Woodward says they see a lot of commercial bins, plastic containers and oil containers that get washed in from the ocean.

She says the goal is to get people involved in land conservation and land stewardship.