Show me a
plan, if there is one, to ensure New Brunswick doesn't have a critical
shortage of nurses down the road because of retirements. That plea
coming from the President of the New Brunswick Nurses Union, Marilyn
Quinn.
She
tells Tide News the assumption should not be made that nursing grads who
settle elsewhere will come back to the province, especially if they put
down roots. Quinn says nursing jobs are going unfilled at the present
time on top of the cuts already made.
The New
Brunswick Senior Citizens Federation is now publicly speaking out
against the nursing cuts, arguing there are other areas of healthcare
where money could be saved.
Quinn
says all the cutting is accomplishing is more stress in the workplace
which will lead to senior nurses retiring sooner than they might as well
as prompting new graduates to leave the province.
While
many provinces have a Prescription Monitoring program in place to battle
prescription drug abuse, no such program currently exists here in New
Brunswick, and the Executive Director of the provincial Pharmacists
Association wants to see that change.
Paul Blanchard says there has been a lot of talk about implementing a drug information system where pharmacists and doctors can see
all the medications patients are have been prescribed, and from what he understands it may be coming in the next budget.
Blanchard
says because we don't have this type of electronic system in the
province, it's very important people make their doctors and pharmacists
aware of all the medication they are taking.
The body of a missing 21-year old being discovered two days after his disappearance.
RCMP confirming search and rescue found Adam Joseph Andrews of Saint John at noon yesterday. Rothesay
Regional Police say his body was in the Quispamsis area, so they
will be handling the investigation from this point forward.
Andrews
was reported missing to Saint John City Police on Saturday after not showing up to
work. The search started in Saint John but moved to the Hammond River
area after his empty vehicle was found in that location that same night.
Police found his cellphone and sneaker near the car.
An autopsy being conducted tomorrow to determine the cause of death. The RRPD say they will be releasing a statement after they review the details of the postmortem.
Volunteer search groups looking for clues in a teenager's disappearance now moving into the upper West side of Saint John.
Search
coordinator and family friend Amanda Hensey tells Tide News they have
covered a large portion of the wooded areas on the West side, but so
far, they have come up empty. She says 19-year old Gen Cormier was not
the type of person to simply vanish without telling anyone where she was
going and calls her disappearance very out of character.
Hensey says they are not losing hope that they will find her.
Cormier
was last seen on September 29 in the back parking lot of the Reversing
Falls restaurant. A fund has been set up online for people who want to
donate to the volunteer search effort, click here for a link.
A heads up to drivers planning on crossing the border.
The
Milltown International Bridge temporarily closed to
traffic coming into the province today and tomorrow between 8am 1pm.
Regular service starts back up at 1pm each day.
Drivers are
encouraged to use the St. Stephen Third Bridge or the St. Stephen Ferry
Point International Bridge as alternate routes in the meantime. The
closure is because of construction in the US.
Progress
is being made but more has to be done to ensure young people with
mental disorders in the province get the treatment they need. That claim
being made by Maureen Bilerman of Dots NB who became an activist when
her own teenage daughter ran into trouble getting the help she needed.
Bilerman
tells Tide News the early intervention being done at schools in
Charlotte County and the Acadian Peninsula is producing, in her words,
some amazing results.
Bilerman
uses Ashley Smith as her touchstone and, if she were here today, would
the mental health treatment be there to make a difference in her life
and avoid a tragic end.
The 19
year old Smith choked herself to death while jailed in Kitchener,
Ontario. Her death is now the subject of an inquest in Toronto.
New
Brunswick is missing the boat when it comes to funding clean energy
projects according to Mark D'Arcy of the Council of Canadians.
He tells
Tide News the provincial government could create jobs by following the
lead of other jurisdictions in giving tax credits for investing in such
things as a community economic development fund and co-ops along with
payback loan programmes for residential energy retrofits to make your
home more energy efficient.
D'Arcy
says this is happening right now in Nova Scotia, P-E-I, Ontario,
Vermont, Massachusetts, Germany and Scandanavia but not in New
Brunswick.
A fleet
of 17 fishing boats sailing out from the wharf in Alma bright and early
tomorrow morning to mark the opening of the fall lobster season.
The town
of 251 people celebrating the occasion with the fleet launch and a
community festival. They are promoting the event as "pajama-friendly"
because as Event Coordinator Jane Chrysostom tells Tide News, the
festivities start bright and early.
The town
kicking off the day with the ringing of church bells at 6am tomorrow
morning and the launch of the boats a half an hour later, at
high tide. A hot breakfast will be served at the wharf.
Chrysostom
says the interpretive staff at neighboring Fundy National Park will be
on hand giving demonstration about the habitat and life of the Fundy
lobster.
Police
say a 30-year old motorcycle driver and his passenger, a 27-year old
woman, are dead after a crash between the bike and a pickup truck.
It
happened at around 12:30 yesterday afternoon on Route 134 near
Campbellton. The motorcycle colliding with the truck as it was turning
into a driveway. Police say the motorcycle was trying to pass vehicles
at the time of the crash.
RCMP say the names of the victims are not being released at this time.
After a half century of touring, the Irish Rovers will say goodbye to the road.
The band
that shot to stardom with songs like The Unicorn and Black Velvet Band
embarking on their last tour of the Maritimes this fall with a show in
the Port City.
Frontman
George Millar tells Tide News as you get older, touring starts to take
its toll on you. But while he won't miss the grind of touring, Millar
says he will miss playing shows which he calls the "prize" at the end of
a long day of traveling.
In the
new year, they will tour the US. Their global Farewell to Rovin' Tour
ends in 2015. For a complete list of tour dates, click here. You can see them next Thursday at the Imperial Theatre at 7:30pm. To buy tickets, click here.
The demand for fresh, locally raised turkeys to top Thanksgiving tables has been on the rise.
That's
according to Tim Cochran, the owner of Cochran’s Country Market in
Rothesay who says since the business opened in 1996, the store has gone
from selling 20 of their Sussex-raised turkeys around the holidays to
around 300.
Over the
last five years, Cochran tells Tide News he has seen more people taking
a greater interest in where their food is coming from, how it was grown
or raised and in the case of an animal like a turkey, what type of food
it was fed.
The open
for business signs in some storefronts will be lighting up a little
earlier today, as extended Sunday shopping hours begin in the Port City.
June
Anderson, the manager of the Liquid Gold Tasting Bar & All Things
Olive on Prince William Street in uptown Saint John tells Tide News they will
continue to stay closed on Sundays but she is glad businesses are now
able to set their own hours.
Anderson says the time has come for businesses to be able to decide when they open.
Wal-Mart will now be opening at 7 in the morning and Costco will be opening at 10am. McAllister Place and Brunswick Square Shopping Centres will not be changing their hours.
Crews responding to a crash between two vehicles near the Gondola Point ferry.
It happened just before 2pm on the Kingston Peninsula side in the turnaround.
There are reports of minor injuries.
A woman from Rothesay has been named a finalist for Canada's Best Sandwich Contest.
Ashley
Seeley is one of four people who will compete for the title this
Thursday in front of a judging panel led by Food Network Canada
personality Bob Blumer. Seeley will be making a spicy berbere steak with
fresh cheese and lemon vinaigrette salad on sourdough.
She tells Tide News the sandwich was inspired by Ethiopian cuisine, which she discovered while she was in university in Halifax.
If
Seeley wins the title, she gets $10,000 for her and $10,000 for the
charity of her choice, which is L'Arche Cape Breton. For more
information on the contest, click here.
The New
Brunswick Lung Association joining the Canadian Cancer Society in their
call for a ban on all flavoured tobacco to curb youth smoking.
A recently released Youth Smoking Survey revealing more than half of high school students who used tobacco products in the last 30 days used flavoured tobacco.
Barbara Walls, the Director of Health Promotion for the NB Lung Association tells Tide News in 2010, the federal
government banned candy and fruit flavoured cigarettes, cigarillos and
blunt wraps, but tobacco companies were able to keep adding flavours
like bubblegum, cherry and watermelon to cigarillos by avoiding the
legal definition of the product.
Walls
believes if there is another ban, the industry will find another way to
continue selling flavoured tobacco, because that's their business. She
says part of the reason for the call is about education and raising
awareness.
Canadian Blood Services needs plasma all year round, and this long weekend is no exception.
Clinic
doors are closed on Monday for the holiday, and Michelle Thibodeau
Coates of the group tells Tide News because of the closure, they won't
be getting as many people in the door donating plasma so she's
encouraging more people to come out and roll up their sleeves.
Thibodeau
Coates says many of us can be thankful for our good health this
Thanksgiving, and we can share that good health with somebody who needs
it.
To find a donation site near you, click here. They're open on Tuesday from 11am to 3pm
First
Nations Chief Aaron Sock, who has been at the forefront of the
opposition to shale gas exploration, is meeting this afternoon with
Premier David Alward in Moncton
The
Premier believes shale gas is key to turning around the sluggish
provincial economy and he doesn't appear ready to make a U-turn on that,
saying his government is determined to responsibly develop the
province's natural resources.
Shale gas protestors have blockaded Highway 134 near Rexton and demanded SWN Resources leave the province.
A judge granted a court injunction late last week ordering an end to the blockade.
RCMP looking for your help finding a missing man.
51-year-old
Roger Allen McLaughlin was last seen in the St. Stephen area last
Monday. Family and friends have not been able to contact him since. He
was reported missing on Friday.
Police
say McLaughlin is described as being 5 feet 9 inches tall, 160 pounds
with brown hair and a moustache. They don't believe he has a car.
Anyone with any information about where he could be is asked to contact the RCMP at (506) 466-7030 or 1-888-506-RCMP (7267).
An awards ceremony honouring the heroic acts of city firefighters at their inaugural gala.
District
Chief Donald Walker was recognized with the Award of Distinction for
rescuing a woman trapped behind a door during a fire at 45 St. Paul
Street. Walker tells Tide News he simply went and did what he had to
do.
Firefighters
Peter Alexander and Doug Trentowsky and Lieutenants Peter Woodhouse and
Mike Shelley getting the Award of Distinction for rescuing a woman
whose car was in the water back in 1995. Shelley tells us he remembers
the top of the vehicle was about a foot underwater—they were only able to see it because the lights were still on.
City
Fire Chief Kevin Clifford says their actions serve as a
reminder of the dangerous situations firefighters put themselves in when
they go out on calls. The sold-out charity event marked 227 years of service for the Saint John Fire Department
Certificates of Merit:
Salvation Army Major Rowena Wiseman
Salvation Army Member Dorothy 'Dot' Porter
Former Police Officer George Stackhouse, now of the Salvage Corps
Firefighter Corey Cassidy
Award of Distinction:
Captain Kenneth 'Kenny' MacDonald
District Chief Donald Walker
Firefighters Peter Alexander and Doug Trentowsky and Lieutenants Peter Woodhouse and Mike Shelley
Medal of Valor:
Lieutenant Conrad Northrup
Firefighter Gary Breen
Two food items you can buy at major retailers being recalled.
The
Canadian Food Inspection Agency warning the public not to eat Reser's
Fine Foods brand cheesy macaroni salad because it could be contaminated
with a bacteria that can cause listeriosis,
leading to high fever, severe headache, stiff neck, and nausea. They
are sold in Wal-Mart stores across the province and nationally at Loblaw
banner stores.
They're also advising people with allergies not
to eat Armella Duo brand Hazelnut Spread with Milk and Cocoa because it
may contain almonds which is not written on the label. The product is
sold at Dollarama stores across Canada.
Both companies
voluntarily recalling the products. The CFIA has not received any
reports of people getting sick from eating these products.
