Another Sunday Storm Is Coming Our Way

Charlotte County can expect 20 centimetres of snow by tomorrow morning.

Environment Canada meterologist Jeremy March tells Tide News we are on the western end of the storm system.
 
He says the entire province will experience the high winds and blowing snow.

Saint John is looking at 25 centimetres of snow while Quispamsis, Rothesay, Hampton and Sussex could get up to 35 centimetres of snow. 

Due to the impending storm, the Princess of Acadia will be leaving early at 2pm from Digby for Saint John.

Upper Mills Man In Hot Water

A Upper Mills man has been arrested for assaulting three peace officers and resisting arrest in an incident near a home near St. Stephen.

Early Friday afternoon two District 1 RCMP and an SPCA officer went to the home to look into the welfare of a dog.

 A 57-year-old man at a home in Upper Mills became violent and assaulted the SPCA officer. 

When police attempted to arrest him, he resisted and physically assaulted one of the police officers. The second officer stepped in and the man was eventually taken into custody.

He was later released on a promise to appear and is expected to face charges of assaulting peace officers and resisting arrest.

Government Warned Shale Gas Will Need Better Oversight Of Air Quality

If and when full scale shale gas production moves ahead in the province and becomes a reality, there has to be better monitoring of air quality at production sites because there isn't any now. 

That, according to the Health Watch Advisor for the Conservation Council who points to Penobsquis with its 16 gas well pads and 30 gas wells. Inka Milewski tells Tide News government oversight is among the missing despite all the industrialisation with no permanent air quality monitoring regime in place and the province not reporting publicly on how good or bad the air is.
 
Milewski claims the air at gas production sites is a major public health concern because of the presence of carcinogens in the form of volatile organic compounds like benzine.

2 Dead, Child Injured After Car Crash

A man and a woman are dead and a child serious injured following a two-vehicle crash on the TransCanada Highway near Salisbury.

The collision occurring at around 8:20 p.m. A vehicle heading westbound was hit by a vehicle travelling the wrong way, eastbound in the westbound lane.

Both drivers, a 24-year-old man from Havelock and a 69-year-old woman from Grande-Digue, died at the scene. The woman was the lone occupant in the vehicle that was travelling in the wrong direction on the divided highway.

A 25-year-old woman and two young children, aged three and four, who were passengers in the other vehicle were transported to hospital. One of the children was airlifted to the IWK Hospital in Halifax.

The names of the deceased are not being released at this time pending proper notification of their families.

Fredericton Woman Charged With Attempted Murder

A Fredericton woman charged with faking a home invasion in a bid to murder her husband.

Police in Fredericton say they have charged a 51-year-old woman with the attempted murder.  Officers responded to 911 call regarding a break and enter at a home on Anderson Street on the city's south side around 10:45 p.m. Wednesday.

A 57-year-old man was taken to hospital where he was treated and later released. Police say their investigation has determined that there wasn't a break and enter.Police say 51-year-old Rada Veselinovic was subsequently arrested and appeared in court today where she was charged with attempted murder.

Hockey Team Filling Shelves At Wood & Wardrobe

Do some spring cleaning before you hit up the hockey game.

The Spartans Boys hockey team is asking for spectators to bring in a bag of household items to donate to the St. Croix Vocational Centre when coming to their home game against Rothesay tomorrow night at the Border Arena in St. Stephen.

The Vocational Centre has been hit hard, as of late, with low donations, which they sell at the Wood & Wardrobe Thrift Store to fund programs for intellectually disabled adults in Charlotte County.

Tomorrow is also Spartan Subway Seniors Night with special events planned for intermissions.

The boys hit the ice for warm-up at 7:30, puck drops at 7:50pm.

Man Dies Before Movie About Him Can Be Released

A funeral service will be held this Friday morning at 11 in St. Martins United Church for a man from West Quaco about whom a movie has been made to be released in the spring.
 
Craig Morrison's ordeal has been turned into a movie called "Still" starring character actor James Cromwell who played the warden in the Tom Hanks' movie "The Green Mile".  

Morrison, who passed away at the age of 93, had a running battle with the New Brunswick Royal District Planning Commission about building and staying in his own home without using stamped lumber. The province charged he was not following the national building code.

Coats For Kids Drive Sets Record For NBCC

The numbers are in for the annual Coats 4 Kids Drive put on by our local community college.

NBCC Student Services Representative Carolyn Tatton tells Tide News a total of 205 coats were donated from October through to January.

Tatton says, this is not just the most ever collected at the St. Andrews school, its almost double their record.

She says among other winter clothing, an anonymous donor gave more than a dozen pairs of homemade mittens, as well as one of their students knitted winter hats.

All donations will be split between the Volunteer Centre of Charlotte County in St. Stephen and the Community Living Centre in St. George.

Tatton says she is very excited to begin the Drive again and she already has people telling her they are saving their coats to donate for next year.

Blood Clinic Today In St. Stephen

Blood. It's in you to give.

Canadian Blood Services coming to St. Stephen this afternoon for a blood donor clinic.

CBS Community Development Coordinator Thomas Bishop tells Tide News the blood can be used for infants, blood transfusions, and most commonly -- victims in car crashes and accidents.

The clinic will be held at the St. Stephen Legion, located at 43 Queen Street, today from 2-4 and again from 5:30-7:30 tonight.

Saint John Doctor Facing More Charges

More charges of sexual assault have been laid against a doctor who has practiced medicine in the Saint John area for more than 25 years. 

8 of 9 charges were laid a couple of days ago against Dr. Alan Cockeram, a gastroenterologist who has an office in the north end. 

In response, Horizon Health has announced restrictions will be imposed on Dr. Cockeram when he treats female patients for an undetermined amount of time. No decision has been made on whether his license to practice medicine will be suspended. 

A preliminary hearing on the charges will in June which will determine if there's enough evidence to warrant a trial.

Strong Winds Coming With Weekend Storm

From the deep freeze to a winter wonderland.... Southern New Brunswick is bracing for a weekend storm.

Claude Cote of Environment Canada tells Tide News the snow will start falling tomorrow.

He says when expect about a centimetre of snow during the day tomorrow with conditions worsening Friday night and most of the snow will fall Saturday along with high winds causing reduced visibility.

Cote says the storm's track has changed so they are now predicting 10 to 15 centimetres of snow by daybreak on Sunday.

A Covered Bridge Seems To Be What The People Want

A meeting held last night (Wednesday) to discuss options for the Maxwell Crossing Covered Bridge stirred up a lot of debate, answered a lot of questions, and left many unanswered. 

Regardless, Department of Transportation representative Alan Kerr said he believed it was a unanimous decision from the public that residents want their covered bridge repaired.

Money wasn't the only thing on the table, the value of the covered bridge as a tourist attraction to Charlotte County is a key component.

Local Resident Annabelle Juneau tells Tide News besides fixing the bridge, we need to start spending some tourism dollars on signage to better promote the covered bridges throughout the province. "At the end of the day, this is something, especially with the new highway being there, that we need to promote those covered bridges. Get the signs out, and I'm hoping we'll see the Department of Tourism step up to the plate as well."
Juneau says New Brunswick is known for covered bridges, "I think if we reach out to other people in New Brunswick that they will probably feel as we do. That we have to keep these covered bridges, there aren't many left."

Some members of St. Stephen Town Council were also present. Councillor Jim Maxwell spoke on stage making his opinion quite clear to DOT representatives. He told them, "We know you're not here to tell us you're tearing down that bridge."

Councillor Allan MacEachern tells Tide News even looking at the financial side of things, repairing the bridge makes sense. "I'm in favor of the covered bridge because it is return, and I'm all about return on investment. It just makes sense to get money out of tourism later, it makes it worth more as a covered bridge."

Before LSD President Vern Faulkner closed the meeting, he handed out parting gifts to each of the DOT representatives -- bags of Covered Bridge potato chips.

DOT's Side Of The Covered Bridge

The future of the Maxwell Crossing Covered Bridge is now in the hands of Minister of Transportation, Claude Williams.

A group of approximately 70 people coming to a public meeting last night (Wednesday) to share their opinions on whether the historical bridge should be repaired, or replaced with a modular one.






DOT Representative Alan Kerr said his purpose was to gather information from taxpayers and then forward that information to the Minister of Transportation. Kerr said, "It's not a matter of if the bridge can be repaired, but is it financially feasible." Kerr estimated the costs of $300 thousand dollars to build a run-of-the-mill bridge, compared to $500 thousand to repair the old one.
One resident noted the life expectancy of a covered bridge is practically double that of a metal one. The man asked Kerr, "Let's say a covered bridge will last 80 years. How long will a metal bridge last?" Kerr responded, "Forty to fifty years." The man then asked if it would not be more financially feasible to build a covered bridge for the same cost in the long term, only a covered bridge would have the tourism factor.


Another question that was hot on everyone's mind was "Why can't the insurance from the car owner pay for the damages?" Kerr says they are currently pursuing an insurance claim, but it would be highly unlikely insurance would cover the entire cost. Many payment options were discussed, including money the province and fundraising by the people.

Kerr told the audience he believed it was obvious, the decision from residents was unanimous in keeping the covered bridge.
He is urging all residents to write or email the Minister with their concerns before a decision is made.
(Picture from left to right: DOT District Highway Superintendant Allan Acheson, DOT Asst. District Transport Engineer Mike Roseheart, DOT District Transport Engineer Alan Kerr, and Local Service District Dennis-Weston President Vern Faulkner )

NB Power Responds To CCNB Criticism

NB Power responding to the Conservation Council's claim Point Lepreau is 40 times more likely to suffer an earthquake leading to a nuclear accident than previously thought.

The Crown utility says Point Lepreau is safe and the misleading comments by the Conservation council are an attempt to undermine trust in the generating station.

In a release, NB Power refers to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission who state the structures and systems have been designed to safely survive earthquakes.

It goes on to say that Point Lepreau is located in an area of much lower seismic hazard risk than Fukushima.

Point Lepreau Reactor: Safe Or Dangerous?

How well would the Point Lepreau nuclear power plant handle an earthquake?
The Conservation Council's Action Group is pointing to the preliminary results of a new study released by NB Power.
Chris Rouse of the Action Group tells Tide News it shows a severe nuclear accident at Lepreau is 40 times more likely than originally thought. He says the next significant earthquake to hit New Brunswick is expected in Passamaquoddy Bay. "From research done from Natural Resources Canada that shows if a 6.0 earthquake happened within 10 kms of Point Lepreau, it would cause a lot of damage."

Rouse charges the nuclear power plant at Lepreau no longer meets internationally accepted safety goals. He goes so far as to say Point Lepreau is now one of the most dangerous reactors in North America.

More Charges For Snook?

Even more alleged victims are coming forward against former Common Councillor Donnie Snook.
Police Chief Bill Reid says their main concern is working with them and putting the charges together. He says, "We're still working interviewing people, talking to parents, children, etc. So that will be an investigation we will be working on for quite a while."
Reid couldn't specify how many more people have come forward, but doesn't believe it will push back Snook's bail hearing on March 11.

40-year-old Snook is facing 8 charges in total, relating to child pornography, child exploitation, and sexual interference with a child under 16.

Future Of Covered Bridge To Be Discussed Tonight

The future of the Maxwell Crossing covered bridge, which was damaged severely on January 21st after a car went out of control, will be discussed at a public meeting. The covered bridge, built in 1910, is located just outside of St. Stephen.
Vern Faulkner of the Local Service District tells Tide News people are worried the covered bridge will be replaced by a boring, concrete run of the mill bridge.
He says, "The bridge does not appear to be significantly damaged. I mean, it looks nasty in the sense that there's a lot of material that was knocked out. To the untrained eye, it looks like there's enough of an opportunity to basically rebuild it, it just a matter of where the money comes from and who is going to do the work." Faulkner adds, it's not a write-off. "A lot of siding was destroyed, but a number of pillars, even though they've been destroyed, doesn't seem like it's affected the structural integrity. The horizontal surface of the bridge is still intact and the roof line is still intact."

Faulkner tells us, people who live in the area fear the Department of Transportation doesn't see the bridge as they do. "A heritage facility that is used and enjoyed by hundreds of people and in many cases, could and can be part of a tourism venture because a lot of people come to New Brunswick to see the covered bridges."

You can have your say at the meeting to be held tonight at the St. Stephen Middle School auditorium beginning at 7:00.
(Photo by Murray Weeks)

Power Is Back For Many, 400 Still Without

Power is back for a lot more people in the region today.

NB Power reporting just over 400 people in Rothesay and Quispamsis are without juice, that's a very different number from the 5,000 in the dark yesterday.

The power company says they've hired extra crews and been working around the clock to fix up power lines since Thursday's storm, restoring over 100,000 homes. They say restoration will still be ongoing until tonight.

To get the latest update, click here.

Blankets To Help The Homeless

Warmth is coming to those who need it most.

Bee Green Removal's "Blanket Of Hope" has spent the past month collecting over 30 blankets for the homeless in Saint John. Organizer Brandi Green tells Tide news that's double the amount of blankets they collected last year.

They'll drive out with the Romero Mobile Unit tomorrow at 7pm to pass out the blankets.

Green says both her and fiance knew what it was like to live on the streets, and a warm blanket is a tremendous help.

Basketball Popularity Growing In Saint John

The popularity of basketball in Saint John has grown an incredible amount over the past 3 years.

That's according to David Cooper, coach of the Saint John Mill Rats. He says local kids are being scouted and getting full scholarships to play in Canada and the United States. Cooper calls it an exciting time, where there's a lot of chances for kids as young as 14 to play in showcases across the states. He says Saint John will always be a hockey town, but basketball gives kids another popular option.

Mill Rats GM Ian McCarthy adds a lot of people who never thought they were basketball fans have become one after they see a live game.