Order Of New Brunswick Recipients Named

Premier David Alward announcing ten people in the province being recognised with the Order of New Brunswick. 

They are Joanna Bernard, of Madawaska Maliseet First Nation, for her tireless efforts to ensure the well being and economic prosperity of her community as well as of all First Nations communities in the province.

Édith Butler, from Paquetville, for her remarkable contributions to the advancement of Acadian culture and heritage.

Alida Clément, from Dieppe, for her dedication and volunteer efforts to ensure the well being and quality of life of disabled persons, seniors, and her community at large.

Eugène Durette, from Edmundston, for the impact he has had in advancing business in Edmundston and throughout the province, as well as the many ways in which he has given back to his community.
 
Dr. Dana Hanson, from Fredericton, for his outstanding leadership in the medical profession in New Brunswick and around the world. Dr. Hanson is a former President of the Canadian Medical Association.

Jean Irving, from Rothesay, for her passion and commitment to bettering the quality of life of communities throughout the province.

Freeman Patterson, from Shampers Bluff, for his exceptional talents as a photographer and his passion for sharing his skills and knowledge the world over.
  
Gerry Pond, one time head of NB Tel, for his innovative spirit and for being the driving force behind so many of New Brunswick's information technology and telecommunications success stories.

Gordon Porter, from Woodstock, for his efforts in advancing inclusive education and the rights of persons with disabilities in New Brunswick and throughout the world.

Lionel Poitras, from Saint-André, for his contributions to ensuring the sustainability of the potato farming industry in the province.

Mill Rats Get Fifth Pick In 2013 NBL Canada Draft

To play on the Saint John Mill Rats, you can’t just play a good game, you’ve got to have a good personality. 

That’s according to the President and General Manager of the team, Ian McCarthy, and the philosophy he’ll be bringing to the National Basketball League of Canada’s draft later this month as they add a few new faces to the team.

McCarthy tells CHSJ News the players have to be willing to be involved in the community, they have to be amiable and willing to sign autographs for the kids. In terms of on-the-court play, he says the top two things they're looking for is athleticism and talent.

The Mill Rats have fifth pick in the 2013 National Basketball League of Canada draft on Monday, August 19 in Markham, Ontario.

Cherry Brook Zoo Seeks Closure After Tiger's Death

As the Cherry Brook Zoo comes to grips with the sudden loss of its young Siberian tiger, their Director of Zoo Development says they’re focusing on the present before they start to think about the future. 

Linda Collrin tells CHSJ News another tiger will be brought into the zoo eventually—she says it would be a dishonour to six year-old Nyla if they didn't—but first, they want to find out exactly what happened to her through a necropsy.

The tiger became sick on July 18, going blind, having seizures and losing weight and the zoo was forced to euthanize her on Wednesday. While results have shown she had an pneumonia, Collrin says she caught it as a result of being in such a weak state. That doesn't tell them why she became sick in the first place. 

Collrin says they'll be working with the SSP Program or International Species Survival Program again when bringing in a new tiger.

Swimmers Brave Northumberland Strait For Charity

A group of swimmers are back on dry land after diving into the frigid waters of the Northumberland Strait. 

The 34 participants in the Big Swim fundraiser swam a 15-kilometre stretch from New Brunswick to Prince Edward Island to raise money for people living with chronic illness and disease.

They brought in more than $130,000 dollars during this year's swim, most of which will be split between Cystic Fibrosis Canada and Brigadoon Village. Since it started three years ago, The Big Swim has raised more than $230,000 dollars for charity.

Todd McDonald is the co-founder of the event, and he says they set two records this year: the largest group to swim the Strait at once and the youngest female swimmer to make the crossing—15 year-old Jessica Plummer from Hammonds Plains, Nova Scotia finished her swim in four and half hours.

Smoke From Kitchen Fire Wakes Homeowner

A man and woman evacuating their smoke-filled home as a fire burned in the kitchen.

Platoon Chief Eric Garland says crews were called around 5:30am to 401 Churchland Road in Saint John and knocked down the blaze. 

Garland says the woman was woken up by the smoke, and she woke up her husband—the smoke detector didn't go off.

The house has some smoke damage and there is fire damage in the kitchen, but nobody was hurt and the fire is not considered suspicious.

Development Of Former Coast Guard Site in Saint John "Signifcant"

Development of the former Coast Guard site down by Market Square will take 7 years to complete over 4 phases. 

The General Manager of Saint John Waterfront Development Kent MacIntyre predicts this will have a significant impact for the good on the uptown and tells the Tide whenever you have a developer from outside showing confidence in the city, it can build momentum because local businesspeople take note of that.

MacIntyre points out there will be a strong residential component to the development and with more people in a neighbourhood, you tend to get new businesses springing up.

Stock Car Driver Dies During P.E.I. Speedway Race

Tragedy on the race track—a 30 year-old stock car racer from Riverview died after his vehicle flipped onto its roof during the 98th lap of a 100-lap competition. 

He started to take off his own safety equipment while suspended upside down, but the effort somehow strangled him, leading to his death.

The race was hosted Saturday at the Oyster Bed Speedway race track, about 15 kilometres north of Charlottetown.

RCMP say reasonable safety protocols were followed during the race.

New Nature Preserve On Saint John's West Side

A large parcel of land on the West side of Saint John is now under protection. 

Jane Barry of the Nature Trust of New Brunswick says 122 acres of marshland, shoreline and forests in Saints Rest have been donated to the group for preservation. 

Barry tells CHSJ News the land has a rich history—about 300 years ago it was diked by Acadian settlers, and the settlers used the dried-up area for harvesting hay. In the 1940s, the the dikes were washed away and the land became reclaimed by the Bay of Fundy. Now, it's one of the largest salt water marshes in the area.

The area is home to the American black duck and the Savannah Sparrow, along with a number of rare plant species.

The Nature Trust of New Brunswick is hosting a reception and tour of the new nature preserve, called Saints Rest Marsh-F. Gordon Carvell, on Tuesday from 1-2pm, starting at the Tourism Information Centre.

South End Residents Disgusted By Crude Oil Smell

The stench of crude oil being unloaded near the Courtney Bay train tracks drawing concern and disgust from some residents.

South Ender Julie Dingwell tells CHSJ News the overpowering smell woke up her entire family in the middle of the night last week, and they called the fire department thinking there was a gas leak.

Dingwell says if it's that bad where she lives she can't imagine what it would be like on Bayside Drive.

Irving tells CHSJ News they are investigating but believe it was the result of the type and amount of crude being unloaded at the time, and it won't happen again.

Police Investigating ATV Theft

Police are investigating the theft of an ATV—and they're looking for your help.

The robbery happened overnight on Thursday.

The ATV is a yellow Can Am Renegade with two decals, one the gas tank that reads "Hot Balls" and the other on the front fender that reads "Metal Mulisha". 

If you have any information, you're being asked to contact the Rothesay Regional Police Department by calling 847-6300 or Crimestoppers by calling 1-800-222-8477.

Siberian Tiger Dies At Cherry Brook Zoo

The staff at the Cherry Brook Zoo are mourning the loss of one of their animals—a Siberian tiger named Nyla.

The zoo saying in a release they were forced to euthanize the six year-old animal on Wednesday. 

After becoming suddenly ill on July 18, Nyla went blind, started having seizures and began losing weight—they consulted with other zoos and veterinarians from across Canada and the U.S., but she didn't respond to any treatments. The cause of death has been labelled a pneumonia.

As to whether or not they'll bring another tiger into the zoo, they say they're waiting on necropsy results first. They say they need to know what happened to Nyla before moving on.

The zoo says tigers can live into their twenties.

Brewery Projects How Much Beer NBers Will Buy This Weekend

It's no surprise New Brunswickers love their suds, but what might surprise you is the number of brews we're projected to buy over this long weekend.

Moosehead Breweries says it's expected that 130 to 140 thousand 12-packs of beer will be purchased during the New Brunswick Day weekend.

NB liquor will be open during regular hours tomorrow, but will be closed on Monday. You can visit their store locator site for the complete list of store locations and services available.

Police Increasing Presence On Roads During Long Weekend

Stay sober, buckle up and don't answer that call. Long weekends mean more traffic on the roadways, and police are heightening their presence to crack down on dangerous driving. 

Sergeant Claude Tremblay of RCMP's Traffic Services tells CHSJ News some people say they don't need to wear a seat belt because they're not driving very far, but Tremblay says statistics show that 80% of people drive within 25 to 30 kilometres of where they live, so that argument doesn't hold water. 

He says if you're not wearing a seat belt in a crash, you'll be knocked around or ejected from the car, and if you're ejected, 95% of the time you'll be seriously injured or killed.

The percentage of fatal crashes where the victims weren't wearing a seat belt has gone up, from 23 per cent last year to 40 per cent so far this year.

Charges Laid In Cochran's Country Market Robbery

All three involved in the armed robbery of a small grocery store in Rothesay have now been charged. 

On July 16, three people with weapons entered Cochran's Country Market on Hampton Road, bound two employees and made away with an undisclosed amount of cash.

27 year-old Blake Andrew Smith, 26 year-old Stephen Corey Richard and 47 year old Keith Oliver Dixon have all been charged with armed robbery, wearing a disguise, and unlawful confinement. 

Smith and Richard will be back in court on Tuesday, and Dixon will be in court again next Monday.

Fire Crews Battling Concession Stand Blaze

An old, vacant concession stand in Quispamsis going up in flames.

Rothesay Regional Police say the stand at the old drive-in near Carpenter's Pit off of Parkside Road was set on fire around 3am.

Fire crews from the KV Fire Department battling the fire were able to get it under control, and nobody was hurt.

Boardwalk Rescue In Saint John

An early morning rescue on the boardwalk.

City police say a woman was brought to the hospital with at least one broken leg after falling off of the boardwalk railing and onto the rocks below.

Crews spent nearly an hour and a half on the scene rescuing the woman.

MLA Praises Efforts Of Emergency Personnel

Charlotte-Campobello M-L-A Curtis Malloch is singing the praises of emergency personnel in the wake of last week's flash flood in the St Stephen area.
Record rainfall dumped on the area causing road washouts and flooded basements - and - Malloch can't say enough about the efforts of volunteers and first responders trying to help those affected by the rising water levels.
Malloch says he toured a number of businesses and homes in the area - the flooding wasn't near the disastrous levels experienced in the December 2010 flooding - but - he says it did cause damage and upset for a lot of people.

Liberal Leader Comes To See Flood Damage First Hand

"It really opens your eyes when you see someone's driveway ripped apart."

That word from Provincial Liberal Leader Brian Gallant after touring the devastation in St. Stephen caused by Friday's flood. On July 26th, 2013, St. Stephen was drenched under 165mm of rain.

Gallant meeting in Border-town with St. Stephen Mayor John Quartermain, Deputy Mayor John Ames, and MLA for Charlotte-The Isles Rick Doucet to tour the devastation in flood-prone areas.

Gallant tells Tide News it's imperative that we find out exactly why this happened. "You hear people talking all over the community and they keep saying, 'We thought last time was a once-in-a-hundred-year storm and we'd never get it again,' and obviously two and a half years later having something very similar happen raises concerns."

Gallant tells Tide News he supports local MLA Rick Doucet in his push for amending the Emergency Measures Act. "As Liberal leader, if there is ever anything we think we can push in the legislature, we'll be glad to do so. Rick Doucet, he is obviously very attuned to this, and he has proposed many legislations and many ideas as to how we can make sure that this doesn't happen again and doesn't affect communities in the future, so we will continue to do that as a Party."

Gallant says they are working with Doucet to organize public consultation so everyone can fully understand the impact of the situation from engineers and other officials.

A public meeting has been scheduled in St. George at the Magaguadavic Place on Tuesday, August 13th.

Poverty Seen As The Key Factor Affecting Your Health

A newly released report concludes how much you earn, what sort of housing you have, early childhood development and how well you eat are viewed as key factors that affect your health. 

Those conclusions were reached after the Canadian Medical Association held a series of town hall meetings and heard from something like a thousand people.

The provincial co-ordinator of the Common Front for Social Justice Jean-Claude Basque isn't surprised at the extent of food insecurity in New Brunswick. He says the main problem is that people in the province on the lower end of the income ladder just don't make enough money.
 
He claims if you're working, you should not be in a position where it's tough to eat well because you're not making enough money.

Basque tells Tide News if you have to rely on food banks, as more and more people in the province are doing, you likely won't have access to fruits and vegetables.

Pension Coalition Hires Lawyer

The New Brunswick Pension Coalition is pulling out the legal big guns in their fight to get the provincial government to adopt the Shared Risk Model for its pension plan on a go-forward basis only. 

Coalition spokesperson Clifford Kennedy tells Tide News their goals haven't changed since they've hired Toronto lawyer Ari N. Kaplan, who has a track record of successfully counseling public sector pensioners. He says they simply want the existing agreement to be respected.
 
Kennedy says they decided to hire a lawyer now because the government has been clear that they want to go ahead with the Shared Risk Model---and the Coalition wants to make sure the plan members are protected.