By The Sea Playground Grand Opening This Weekend

A local tourist attraction for children is back up and running.

The Grand Opening of the St. Andrews Community Playground will be held this Saturday, and families, friends, and children of all ages and abilities are invited.

A parade will begin at the W.C. O'Neill Arena, go down Water Street, and end at the playground, where there will be a BBQ and clown will be provided by the Shriners, and a Mega Bloks play area will be open.

Mayor Stan Choptiany and MLA Curtis Malloch are expected to be there.

The Grand Opening begins at 10:30 am.

Over $40K In Equipment Stolen From Business

City Police's Major Crime Unit is investigating after more than $40,000 in equipment was stolen from a commercial business on the Manawagonish Road on the West side.

Sergeant Jay Henderson explains two diesel plate compactors worth up to $18,000 each were swiped, and he says they are very heavy and the thief or thieves would have needed a large truck or trailer to move them. 300 traffic pylons were also lifted worth an estimated $9000.

Henderson says they believe the theft happened between Sunday May 18 and Tuesday May 20 of this year.

Perry Family Says They Won't Give Up

A sad, delayed, painful matter--that's Mr Justice Hugh McLellan's estimate of the Serena Perry case.

 Perry died at the Regional Hospital back in February 2012. Today at the Court of Queen's Bench, members of the family and lawyers were present for yet another tiny step toward setting a date for the inquest, which has become mired in questions over which parties should get standing and what information can be made public.

The victim's mother, Rose, says she won't give up.

According to John Gillis, the lawyer for the family, we're still no closer to setting a date for the actual inquest into Perry's death.

New Markets Being Explored For Canaport LNG

More attention has been focused on Saint John of late as a place where natural gas could be exported to Europe in light of what has been happening in Russia and the Ukraine. 

The Europeans are said to want to lessen their dependence on Russian natural gas. Irving Oil President Paul Browning can see the potential for Canaport L-N-G. He says Europe would be the most obvious choice as a market, and also talks about South America and India.

Browning says what the company needs before anything else takes place is an abundant supply of natural gas that's cost competitive.

It appears Irving Oil and all four Atlantic Premiers who met in Saint John agree on the need on commercializing natural resources.

Shale Gas Protester Sentenced

A 34-year-old man from the Elsipogtog First Nation has been ordered to steer clear of any shale gas protests in the future and placed on 18 months probation.

Jason Augustine pleaded guilty to mischief, two charges of obstructing a police officer and one count of assaulting a police officer. 

Those charges were laid after violence on October 17th near Rexton when police moved in to control what they called a dangerous situation involving firearms, improvised explosive devices and other weapons.
 
Augustine also pleaded guilty to mischief in connection with another incident July 27th near Harcourt where he was blocking equipment.

Large Container Ship Visits The Port

The largest container ship to ever visit Saint John is on the west side of the port until 11 tonight.
 
Andrew Dixon of Port Saint John tells Tide News they are very pleased with the growth in the container sector.

He says Tropical Shipping continues to be a regular service caller and MSC has been coming to Saint John for two years and they are continuing to grow in volume every quarter.