Balancing Act In Car Accident

A car accident in St. Stephen, could have ended tragically.

The St. Stephen Fire Department tells Tide News, a car hit the guardrail on the Route 3 overpass by the St. Stephen High School , Saturday afternoon.

Officials say the car went on its side and was very close to rolling down the embankment, and onto the highway below.

2 dogs remained inside, until a crane was able to move the car to safety.

The driver was taken to hospital and released.

( Photo By Kendra Madsen )

Tinker For Mayor

It seems the new fad for the municipal elections -- is Facebook!


Town Councillor Robert Tinker announcing to the internet world today, he is running for Mayor of St. Stephen.

Tinker tells Tide News he believes in the future of St. Stephen, wanting to make it a better place to live with decent, well-paying jobs, as well as finding a team of people who can find where the best opportunities are to bring them to our town.
Blacks Harbour Mayor Terry James also announcing first to Facebook of her re-offer.

Do Not Drink The Water!

Do Not Drink The Water!


All residents of Blacks Harbour are being warned not to consume any water until further notice.

Mayor Terry James tells Tide News, significantly discolored water brought concern for health this morning.
James says it will be at least 24-48 hours before the water is drinkable.

Blacks Harbour Bad Water

Residents of Blacks Harbour are being warned to lower their water consumption, ASAP.


Mayor Terry James tells Tide News, significantly discolored water in the area has caused a concern for health.

She says Connors Bros. and the Village of Blacks Harbour are working to fix the problem through an aggressive flushing program.

James adds, there is no boil order as of now, but that may change after direction from the Department of Health.

More details on the situation coming this afternoon.

Saint John Completes Harbour Cleanup

A huge milestone is approaching for the city -- with the recent approval of the 2012 Capital Utility Budget, City Manager Pat Woods says Harbour Clean-Up will be complete by the end of the year.

Mayor Ivan Court says it took 10 years to get the funding for the project but less than 4 years to complete it.

The 2012 Utility Budget comes in at almost 20 million dollars with almost 40 million dollars in carry-over projects.

The price tag for Harbour Clean-up is about 87 million dollars.

Farren Re-Offering in Saint John

On the heels of public criticism from Mayor Ivan Court regarding his constant questioning of pension issues, Councillor Bill Farren says he wants another chance to address what he calls the city's Achilles heel.

Councillor Farren tells CHSJ News that he is re-offering for common council, but he won't be joining the pension board---because as he puts it, its operations are currently clouded with "shenanigans."

Farren says he hopes the electorate will support him in his bid to tackle the issues and help the city move forward.

Drugs and Ruckus in Rothesay

A quantity of marijuana was seized after a traffic stop on the Gondola Point arterial. The Rothesay Police pulled over a man driving with a female passenger, and noticed there appeared to be marijuana laying on the floor of the car. Both were arrested and the car was searched. The woman admitted to owning the drugs and was booked for possession of a controlled substance, then released.

Police also responded to a call from the McDonald's on Hampton Road, where some young men were causing a ruckus by screaming and swearing inside the restaurant. They were trespassed from the restaurant and taken home to be dealt with by their parents.

MP Gives Kudos to Federal Budget

The federal budget is in line with protecting social programs, balancing the budget, finding efficiencies in government, and boosting the economy--that from John Williamson, the MP for Southwest New Brunswick. He says the best way to achieve those mandates is to keep taxes low and debt down.

CHSJ News asked Williamson if he's heard any concerns over changes to the age requirements for Old Age Security. He tells us its such a long-range time-frame that a lot of the backlash has quieted down. The changes won't be phased in until 2023-2029--and the demographic who was most concerned were people currently on the edge of retirement.
 

Regarding another high-profile decision--to phase out the penny--Williamson said he's heard mostly positive feedback.

Nugent Says Ferguson Compared Him To Martha Stewart

The defamation trial of former Common Councillor - and current St. Stephen Town Manager - John Ferguson hears how angry and outraged City Solicitor John Nugent was at what he calls sensational assertions that were left hanging without any proof being offered to back them up.


Nugent testifies his anger was ratcheted up when Ferguson compared accepting legal advice from him to Martha Stewart whom everyone knew had been charged with illegal insider stock trading. He was already incredibly offended at Ferguson claiming senior city staff were blocking him from getting outside advice on the pension plan which Nugent maintains was not the case. Nugent also telling the jury he found it puzzling Ferguson would not identify who was giving him legal advice.

The Pros & Cons Of East-West Corridor On Milltown Blvd

 The East-West Corridor being the big topic in St. Stephen.


President and CEO of Cianbro Corporation Peter Vigue tells Tide News the proposed highway will connect Calais to Coburn Gore -- another border town -- making travel more covenient between here, and big cities like Montreal, Chicago and Detroit.

Meanwhile...


Not everyone is happy about the East-West Corridor Project.

Sidney Mitchell, seen protesting on Milltown Blvd in St. Stephen tells Tide News she is with the group "Friends of Piscadaquis Valley".

She says they are concerned about the possible pipelines and trucking routes disrupting rivers, watersheds, and wildlife.

Mitchell adds Maine has the means to become an eco-tourist area, and the East-West corridor will ruin that opportunity.

Earth Hour on Saturday

A chance to do your part to save the earth.
Tomorrow night between 8:30 and 9:30 your invited to join the hundreds of Millions of people , businesses and governments around the world as we unite each year to support the largest environmental event in history....Earth Hour.
More than 5200 cities and towns in 135 countries worldwide will be switching off their lights, sending a powerfull message for action on climate change.  The Algonquin Hotel in Saint Andrews will be participating in this event.  The lights will go out for an hour starting at 8:30 tomorrow night.

Saint John Mayor Wants Respect From Ferguson Lawyer

Saint John Mayor Ivan Court clashed with the lawyer for John Ferguson at the former Common Councillor -- and current St. Stephen Town Manager's trial for defamation.

Court admonished Gillis to show him some respect as Mayor and member of Common Council. Gillis was pressing Court on whether he had an obligation to the taxpayer in 2003 to make changes to the city's pension plan. Court told the jury the city received actuarial advice in 2006 not to make any changes because the plan was in good shape but then the financial collapse happened in 2008.

Court maintains there was no mismanagement on the part of the pension board even with a deficit exceeding 190 million dollars.

Ferguson's lawyer, Rod Gillis told Court the only people who are losing are the taxpayers but the Mayor disagreed with the suggestion that the pension plans financial woes will drive the city into bankruptcy.

Court admits he was never comfortable with the early retirement buyouts but told the jury Ferguson went down a dangerous road and was reckless.

Still No Sign Of Missing St. Stephen Man

Local police say there are many concerned citizens asking about a missing St. Stephen man.


60-year-old Kenneth Lee has been missing since Sunday, March 18th.

District 1 RCMP Sgt. Bob MacKnight says an RCMP helicopter searched isolated areas and points of interest for Lee this past weekend, with negative results.

Lee is 5'9, 175 lbs, wth a full beard and ponytail.

Police say he is driving a green 1993 Toyota Camry, with New Brunswick license plate BPN 513.
He was last seen wearing a beige, long-sleeve shirt and blue jeans.

If you have any information on Lee's whereabouts, please contact St. Stephen District 1 RCMP at 466-7030.

Mayor Thinks Ferguson "Just Didn't Like City Management"

Saint John Mayor Ivan Court has told the defamation trial of former Common Councillor John Ferguson, the city pension plan's deficit was like an iceberg coming towards the city and he was concerned about the cost of the early retirement packages.

Ferguson is currently the Town Manager of St. Stephen.


Court says he became friends with Ferguson in 2004 but disillusionment set in when Ferguson wouldn't share pertinent information with Common Council or offer up any proof to back his accusations of gross negligence.
 
Court testified he believes Ferguson's real problem was that he just didn't like city management for some reason.
 
He also told the jury the accusations were defamatory because members of the public started to believe pension board members did something wrong or illegal.

Door Not Slammed Shut On More Powerful Imaging Unit

The Health Minister is downplaying any suggestion politics are involved in a decision to move forward with a less powerful M-R-I machine for the Regional Hospital.
Madeleine Dube says it's about providing a standard level of service to all New Brunswickers.
But -- Dube says her department will monitor ongoing upgrades to units that are available and she's not closing the door to upgrading the Regional to the higher powered unit at some point in the future.
The Alward government is taking heat for refusing a million dollar donation from the Regional Hospital Foundation to upgrade the new M-R-I machine to the more powerful unit.


Attempts In Preventing The Lawsuit From Happening

The defamation trial of former Saint John Common Councillor John Ferguson was told he made three attempts to prevent the lawsuit from proceeding.


Pension Board lawyer Hugh Wright agreed with Ferguson's lawyer, Rod Gillis the costs would have been substantially lower had he been successful. Common Councillor and former Pension Board trustee, Chris Titus wrote a letter saying questions were being raised about the city's pension plan with good intentions but without a full understanding of the facts. Another letter written by then Councillor Ivan Court in 2007 warned going ahead with the lawsuit against Ferguson would set a dangerous precedent.
 
Ferguson is currently the Town Manager of St. Stephen.

ATV Causes Serious Injuries After Landing On Local Man

Local police were called to an accident over the weekend in Flume Ridge.


District 1 RCMP say the call came around 2:30 Saturday afternoon, of a man who was seriously injured while driving an ATV.

Sgt. Bob MacKnight says it appears the ATV went end over end, landing on top of the man.

Paramedics arrived via all-terrained-vehicle, and the man was taken to a hospital in Fredericton.

MacKnight says this is the second incident, within the past 10 days, of an AVT operator being seriously injured.

Another Telephone Scam Involving Power Bills

St Martins residents are the latest to be hit by yet another telephone scam - this one claiming to represent N-B Power and it deals with a change in billing procedures.
One resident who received the call tells us it came from a California area code.
N-B Power spokesperson Melissa Morton says it's part of the ongoing telephone scams with callers claiming to represent the utility.
She says if you receive one of these calls - don't give any information and contact your local police or the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre - contact the centre at 1-888-495-8501or click here.

Who Cracked The Cheese?!

The St. Stephen Superstore, St. George Save-Easy, along with over 250 other select Loblaw banner stores across Canada, simultaneously broke 305 wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese for world record Saturday afternoon, March 24th.


Loblaw Companies became the new official world record holder for the most wheels of cheese cracked simultaneously.

It was declared by Guinness World Records.

Northumberland Teams Up With NCC

Milk cartons here in the province are getting a temporary makeover--Nothumberland Dairies is partnering up with the Nature Conservancy of Canada to promote conserving the province's wetlands, forests, and coastal habitats. The limited-edition white cartons feature a sketch of a sandpiper by Sackville artist Robert Lyon.

Jack Christie of Nothumberland Dairies tells CHSJ News teaming up with the NCC was a natural choice because they represent what farmers stand for: living responsibly off the land.


Over 6 hundred thousand cartons are now being distributed all over New Brunswick.