Saint John Murder Trial Nearing A Verdict

It's into the home stretch at the second degree murder trial of 28 year old Crystal Dawn McKenzie after she testified in her own defense. The case will be going to the jury later today.

 McKenzie is charged in the stabbing death last March of her common law husband 29 year old Pat Thomas on Alma Street just off Waterloo. The court was told she had been dragged along the street by her hair just before the stabbing.

Her lawyer David Kelly claims McKenzie acted in self defense after years of abuse while the prosecution maintains she could have called police.

Calais LNG Hit's Another Hurdles

Yet another bump in the road for the Calais Liquefied Natural Gas Terminal project. The project has lost its right to the 250-acre parcel of land required for the project pushing the LNG proposal to the close to collapse.

Calais LNG has failed to renew it's option to the purchase agreement with the Board Of Environmental Protection and  the land owners are asking the board of environmental protection to suspend the application.

 

CTF Launches No Tax Hike Campaign

A new campaign getting underway today by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation to urge the Alward government not to raise taxes in the 2010-11 budget.

Kevin Lacey, Atlantic Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation says the massive spending binge that has gone on over the past five years, the government should cut spending and not raise taxes.

David Alward has said that he doesn't want to raise taxes and will balance the budget on spending cuts.

The campaign includes a petition drive asking New Brunswickers to oppose tax increases. The petition can be found at http://www.taxpayer.com/atlantic/no-tax-hikes-2011-budget.

Growing an Appetite for Local Food

Two films will be in the spotlight this month to encourage us to eat more local food. The Quoddy Future Foundation and Eastern Charlotte Waterways and  will show a film in St. Andrews and St. Stephen as part of the Growing an Appetite for Local Food project.

Mad City Chicken will be shown in St. Stephen on Thursday November 25th at 7:00pm at the Ganong Nature Park. On Monday November 29th ECW and QFF will partner with the St. Andrews Film Society to host a screening of FRESH at 7:00 pm at the St. Andrews W.C. O’Neill arena theatre.

There will be discussions following the screenings of each of these films for those who are interested in hearing more or would like to comment, focusing in part on the local food initiatives that are underway in or planned for our region.

This project aims to bring awareness to the importance and also the rewards of eating local food and supporting food producers and processors in and near Charlotte County.

Crime Stoppers Crime of the Week Missing Person Bathurst Area/Tremblay

Crime Stoppers and the District 9 RCMP, Bathurst Detachment are looking for information regarding the disappearance of Robert Arseneau of Tremblay, N.B.

On June 4 of 2006 the  RCMP were called to the scene of a vehicle fire in the Janeville area on Route 11.  Police say the vehicle was registered to Robert Arseneau and that the fire had been set.

All attempts to locate Robert have failed and his  disappearance is considered suspicious. Robert would now be 59 years old.

If you have any information that might shed light on Robert’s disappearance, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.

Saint Andrews Host Special Guest Freeman Patterson

An Evening With Freeman Patterson will take place tonight  at the Royal Canadian Legion Hall, corner of Queen and Princess Royal Streets in St. Andrews.

Most people know him as a world-famous photographer, however Patterson also works in visual design, and is a teacher, lecturer, author, gardener and avid motorcyclist.

He has served as an elected trustee of School District 19 in the Hampton-Kingston Peninsula area, on the board of AIDS Saint John, and the Nature Conservancy of Canada.

Patterson's lecture, The Call of Creativity, will begin at 7 PM, followed by a question period. During the dessert hour after the question period attendees can enjoy meeting guest speaker Patterson while having a scrumptious dessert and beverage.

Saint Andrews Water Flushing

Due to unforeseen circumstances the Town of Saint Andrews did not flush watermains on the scheduled dates in October.  Instead please note that the Town of Saint Andrews will be flushing watermains on Tuesday, November 23rd & Wednesday, November 24th.

The flushing will take place between the hours of 7:00 am and 4:00 pm.

You may notice   low water pressure and you may experience discolored water.  

Two New Brunswick Teachers Support Anti-Bullying Efforts By Recording Song

Two Teachers from Fredericton have found a unique way to help in the effort to fight bullying.
Mark Garnett and Peter Cook have both recorded a song.

They say it  will bring the  issue of bullying to back in the spotlights. Rob Frenette, Co-Founder of Bullying  Canada says he commends these two men as leaders within their community for taking a stand and supporting. 

The song is done to the beat of Dynamite can be accessed here: http://twaud.io/qskC  

Secretary of State Announces Waldo County Commissioner District 1 Recount Results

Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap announced  that a recount of results from the General Election in Waldo County Commissioner District 1 was conducted and completed.

Waldo County Commissioner District 1 is  Betty I. Johnson  of Lincolnville remained the winner.

Donald P. Berry  Sr. of Belmont requested the recount after unofficial results from Election Day indicated that he lost the election. The recount determined that 2,883 votes were cast for Johnson, while 2,881 were cast for Berry.

Hestia Says No To Used Goods While Transition House Says No To Used Beds

Used goods are no longer being accepted at Hestia House  in Saint John due to the recent out-break of bed bugs around the Province.

Director Elaine Northrup says  this is a direct hit to it's residents who are looking for clothing and furniture to set up an apartment with.
Northrup says the shelter has not been hit with bed-bugs and by putting this measure in place, they hope to keep it that way.

Meanwhile here at home The Executive Director Lynn Matheson of The Fundy Regional Transition house tells us they will not be accepting any donations of used beds at this time until spring although they welcome all other donations. 

Tree Lighting & Food Drive Contest

A contest will be held tomorrow evening to help us give back to our community and to kick off the 20th Annual Retailers Christmas Promotion.

You could have the chance to win $250 dollars in Christmas cash all by bringing a donation for the
Charlotte County Food Bank to the Tree Lighting at the Town Square.

Cash donations or non-perishable food items will be accepted.  Santa is expected to arrive at 7.

Christmas Card For Troops In Afghanistan Vandalised In Market Square

Someone with a black felt marker has vandalised the large Christmas card at the Saint John Market Square kiosk that people were signing for the troops in Afghanistan.

Some sort of grafitti type marking was scrawled on the inside of the card. Artist Norm Jackson came up with the idea of the card and says he's disappointed.

Jackson is hoping he can clean the card up but concedes some of the names and messages might be lost.

He's urging those who signed the inside to come down and have a look to see if their names and messages are lost. If so, they can sign again once the card is cleaned up.

    Photo by Brian McLain

Gas Prices Go Up

If your stopping to get some gas, propane, diesel or furnace oil....it will cost you more than it would have yesterday.

The Energy and Utilities Board has released it's latest weekly price setting which shows the maximum retail for  regular self serve is  gasoline is $107.9, meanwhile gas stations around St. Stephen a selling a litre of self serve regular for 105.8.

Diesel comes in at $111.9, furnace oil is selling for 92.1 a litter and propane tops off at 97.8.

If your headed to Calais today  gas is only going to cost you .84 cents a litre Canadian.

Mealey Road Intersection Closure

As part of the construction of the new Route 1 Gateway, the Mealey Road Intersection to the north of Route 1 Highway will be permanently closed starting today. 

Residents and commuters will have access to Mealey Road and the Route 1 Highway from the Pennfield Corner Exit 60. 

 The Route 1 Gateway project will see the completion of the final 55 kilometres of four lane highway on Route 1 from Waweig to St.George and between Pennfield and Lepreau.

New Used Clothing Store To Open

A new store will be opening in St. Stephen at the old Guardian Drug store location on Milltown Blvd.

Dee's Clothing Outlet is expected to open it's door's next week.  The store will offer new to you clothing. This is the second location for Dee's with another store in St. George.

Riverview Women Remembered

A Riverview woman remembered yesterday as a loving mother and compassionate friend.
Friends and family gathered at a funeral home in Sackville to say goodbye to Sabrina Patterson.

The 25-year-old's body was discovered earlier this month in woods near Moncton, her death is being treated by police as a homicide.

Her funeral was broadcast on speakers outside the funeral home so that loved ones who couldn't fit inside the packed building could listen to the emotional service.

Police have not laid any charges in her death.

Ten Thousand Villages Festival to Take Place In St. Stephen

For two days the St. Stephen area churches will offer the St. Stephen Community an opportunity to shop fair trade.

Shoppers will have the chance to discover some beautiful handcrafted home decor items by skilled artisan in more than 30 developing countries. The hand made products will be offered thru ten thousand villages.

Ten Thousand Villages provides fair  income to artisans around the world by marketing their products in North America.

Over 100 Festival have taken place this past year in communities from Newfoundland to Vancouver Island.

The festival takes place November 26 and 27th at The Kirk McColl United Church Hall on King Street.

Windstar Safety Recall

Ford is voluntarily recalling older, high-mileage Windstar minivans produced between mid-1997 and early 2003 for rear axles. In a very small number of cases, the axles have fractured in certain locations on the right or left side, and affected vehicle handling.

Affected owners will notified.  Media rep for Ford  Wes Shirwood tells Tide News is rare conditions the vechile may be bought back if the part can not be replaced.

The recall for the Windstar which is no longer in production applies to vehicles in 21 states, the District of Columbia and Canada where road salt corrosion is more common.

Ford dealers at no charge to customers will reinforce the axles of the affected vehicles as parts are available. If it’s determined the axle can’t be reinforced, it will be replaced as soon as parts are available. Ford will provide for rental vehicles for customers until the rear axle of their vehicle has been replaced.

Fall Lobster Season Underway

After a delay in the fishing season in the area Lobster fishermen finally made it out this morning for setting day.

Last week the high winds were blamed for delaying the start of the fall lobster season in the south-western half of the Province.

Record Rainfall In The Area

 Days of heavy rain in St. Stephen and across the province have broken a number of rainfall records.
  
Mechanic Settlement comes out on top with just over 339 millimetres.
 
More than 166 millimetres fell on Greater Saint John, while Grand Manan received 133.
  
In Gagetown, 120 millimetres fell while St. Stephen recorded 117 millimetres over the past six days.

Photo By Mark Downey
Photo shows Behind Miss D's