Tennis Club Celebrating Improvements To Facility

Time to practice your serve. The Quispamsis Community Tennis Club is celebrating improvements made to the facility, including the installation of a fourth court, over the last year and half.

Additionally, the courts have been refurbished, the clubhouse has been completed, new lights are in, and the new washrooms are up and running.

President Dana Brown tells CHSJ News, tennis is supposedly is the fastest-growing of the traditional sports throughout Canada, and in Quispamsis they've seen it become popular among kids. But it wasn't always that way. He says it has gone through peaks and troughs alongside national trends in tennis, but in the last six years it's seen phenomenal growth.

Man Rescued At Log Falls Dam

Photo courtesy of Musquash Fire Dept.

A man who lost his footing while fishing with friends and fell into water behind a dam, has been rescued safely. 

When the Musquash Fire Department arrived at Log Falls Dam, they spotted the man standing, almost completely submerged in water. The currents were too strong for him to get himself out of the water. 

Firefighters threw him a rope to wrap around himself, then a firefighter went to the man and brought him to shore. Though he was conscious and alert, he was brought to hospital by paramedics to be checked out. Witnesses say he went under the water multiple times.

Start Your Engines: It's Redneck Raceway Season

A dirt track, souped up cars and hard racing, that's what you'll see at the Redneck Raceway in Norton.

That's according to owner Mark Muir. He tells CHSJ News drivers put a lot of hard work into modifying their cars and that they're passionate about racing. He says that's all they live for; they work all week and race whenever they get a chance. 

When local race tracks started shutting down, Muir says they built a small track in the first season, but outgrew it that same year so they built a regulation-sized track to fit their needs. For more information, including when races are happening, visit their website: redneckraceway.ca.

Province Appoints Three New Legislative Officers

The premier has announced three new legislative officers: a new child and youth advocate, official languages commissioner and ombudsman.

Lawyer Norman Bosse has been named the child and youth advocate, the new ombudsman is Charles Murray, the executive director of the province's Electoral Boundaries and Representation Commission and filling the role of official languages commissioner is Katherine d'Entremont, who has worked in public service for over 30 years. 
 
The positions are seven year appointments.

Police Arrest Shale Gas Protestors

More arrests made by the RCMP at a shale gas protest. This one north of Moncton in the Harcourt area.

RCMP Corporal Chantal Farrah says 12 protesters were disrupting work and traffic on Highway 126. The seven men and five women are facing mischief charges.
    
This is the latest of several protests over shale gas over the last couple of weeks. Six other people have been arrested for mischief. 

Buy Local Van Touring Province This Summer

A home-grown initiative is going on the road. 

The provincial government rolling out a traveling buy local initiative, taking a specially-decorated van on a summer tour of the province. 

Agriculture & Fisheries Minister Michael Olscamp tells CHSJ News this province is brimming with healthy food produced by local farmers and fishermen, and the tour will highlight that.

They're teaming up with agriculture, aquaculture and fisheries organizations and associations to take part in the tour. They'll be making stops at fairs, festivals and markets. 

The first stop of the tour is today at the W.W. Boyce Farmer's Market in downtown Fredericton. Tim Livingstone of Strawberry Hill Farm will be there, explaining their fresh produce box program. On Sunday, June 23, there will be a "Meet Your Fisherman" day in Alma.

Trudeau Being Called On To Return His Speaking Fee

Give back your speaking fee to a Saint John charity.

That's what Fundy Royal M-P Rob Moore is calling on Federal Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau to do. 

This stems from a fundraiser that was held in June of 2012 at the Imperial Theatre. 

Trudeau came to the city to raise money for the Grace Foundation to buy furniture for local seniors. He charged $20,000 for his speaking fee but only 120 tickets were sold and as a result, the Grace Foundation wound up with a deficit of $21,000. 

Enbridge Gas Applies For Rate Increase

If Enbridge Gas has its way, large industrial and commercial users of natural gas will be paying 20 per cent more as of July 1st. The Energy and Utilities Board would have to approve the rate increase application. 

Large users like Ganongs and J-D Irving received a 32 per cent reduction in distribution costs last fall after complaining to the provincial government about how much they were paying as opposed to their competitors in other jurisdictions. 

Enbridge maintains they will still be getting an average savings of 20 per cent over their previous rates even with the propose

J-D Irving Random Alcohol Testing Makes It To The Supreme Court

The Supreme Court in a 6-3 decision overturned mandatory, random alcohol testing of workers even if their workplace is considered to be dangerous. 

Back in 2006, Irving Pulp and Paper unilaterally imposed such a policy and local 30 of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union filed a grievance. 

The worker who was tested had a blood alcohol level of zero and called the experience unfair and humiliating.

The company says it will review the court's decision. 

The court left open the door for such a policy to be implemented if it's part of a collective agreement.

Benefit Organized For Daughter Of Murdered Woman

A benefit will be held at the Q-Plex in Rothesay on June 23rd for the 6 year old daughter of 33 year old Tanya Shand who was murdered by her common law partner, May 23rd in her Dolan Road apartment. 

The little girl was in the apartment and saw what was happening. She's now living with her grandparents. 

It's hoped a scholarship fund will be set up for her. A Facebook page has been set up and is attracting large numbers and Rothesay Town Council is throwing its support behind the effort.

Higgs Cuts Some Tax Red Tape

Some provincial tax regulations are going to be a little easier to deal with thanks to changes announced in the Legislature by Finance Minister Blaine Higgs.

One of those changes will impact the amount of sales tax you pay on a used vehicle if it's not listed in the valuation books used by Service New Brunswick - the government agency will provide what Higgs calls "a common sense estimate."

But the Minister says you will still have the option of obtaining an independent appraisal of the vehicle for tax purposes - meantime Higgs is also reducing the amount of paperwork required by companies and independent businesses to claim tax free amounts of fuel - and - reporting will now be based on the company's fiscal year rather than the provincial government's fiscal year.

Woman Dies After Being Struck By Car At Marden's

A 49-year-old woman is dead after being struck by a car over the border.
Police say the incident happened around 1:20 yesterday afternoon in the Marden's parking lot.
Calais Police Sgt. Chris Donahue tells Tide News 74-year-old Kenneth Martin of Eastport, Maine was pulling his car into a parking spot near the entrance of the store and struck the woman.
Donahue says Zina Eller of East Machias died at the scene.
He says an investigation is underway and no further details are available.

Most Of Us Think Parliamentarians Fudge Their Expenses

86 per cent of us, according to a new poll, believe Senators and M-P's, are cheating on their expense claims. The overwhelming percent of people surveyed also want to see parliamentarians make public all their expenses online. 

The Atlantic Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation Kevin Lacey tells Tide News they're just hoping the scandal over improper expense claims will just fade away which reflects how tone deaf they actually are.
 
Lacey says the one thing the Senators and M-P's agree on, no matter what party they belong to, is defending their entitlements. 

The Taxpayers Federation wants people to keep putting pressure on their M-P to bring about change and Lacey says if you look at how the M-L-A's pension plan was reformed after public outrage, it can be accomplished.

St. Andrews Native Wins Canadian National Sculpture Competition

Let the ARTrageous-ness begin!

The kick off the St. Andrews festival this afternoon, Kingsbrae Garden hosting the Canadian National Sculpture Competition Awards Ceremony.

Out of 15 finalists, St. Andrews native Alanna Baird winning the grand prize of $10,000.

Baird's sculpture titled "Salmon Vortex" features three wild salmon made from recycled copper roofing. The sculpture now sits in the centre of a pond at Kingsbrae Garden. Baird tells Tide News, "It's exciting for me as a sculptor to get my work out of my studio, out of the tools, out of a chaos, and get them into this kind of setting."

Tide News asked how long it took to make the piece. Her response? "Well, that's something everyone always asks me. I tell them it took me 21 years to figure out how to do it, and then 2 months to build it."

The ARTrageous Festival continues tonight at Kingsbrae with an evening of Jazz, and Saturday is all-day Free admission.

For details on events and tickets, go to their website www.artrageousnb.com .

Student Numbers Drop

Fewer students in the Anglophone South School District in the school year just ending means fewer teachers.
 
Enrollment numbers are down by 650 and Superintendent Zoe Watson says the one place where there had been increases, the Kennebecasis Valley, the numbers have levelled off. 

On the other side of the coin the number of foreign students this year at 15 schools exceeded 500. They're here from China,  Mexico, Colombia, Brazil and Europe.
 
The school district is hoping the foreign student programme will be expanded next year to 20 schools.

Security Exercise At Lepreau

Point Lepreau will be conducting a security exercise today.

It involves  the Nuclear Response Force team and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission testing security procedures.

Residents may see emergency vehicles in the community and hear radio communications simulating a security event at the station.

Pensioners Still Demanding Answers

Switching to the Shared Risk Model is an attempt by the provincial government to offload the pension deficit onto the shoulders of pensioners, according to Clifford Kennedy of the NB Pension Coalition.

Kennedy tells Tide News the members are considering legal action, but it's difficult where  there's no other case they can find when a guaranteed plan has been switched to the Shared Risk Model over the objections of the plan members.

Finance Minister Blaine Higgs has said despite the plan's strong returns in the past year, the changes are going to go ahead; however, Kennedy calls it "damning" that the government hasn't released to the pensioners the actual amount of the deficit.

Distracted Driving Pays High Price

Jim Morrison was right when he sang "keep your eyes on the road and your hands upon the wheel."

CAA is warning you that cellphones and texting aren't the only dangerous distactions to drivers. Gary Howard of CAA tells Tide News anything that takes your attention of the road dramatically increases your chances of having an accident, including audio books and even your onboard GPS.

A University of Utah study found drivers had slower reaction times, compromised brain function, and less awareness of cues like stop signs when they were distracted by a GPS system or listening to an audio book.

Howard points out phones conversations are more distracting that those you might have with passengers in the vehicle, because the person on the other end of the line can't see whether you're doing a tricky lane change or coping with difficult road conditions, and don't adjust their conversation accordingly as would a passenger.

Widespread Internet Outage Across Maritimes

If you can read this, you're one of the lucky ones.

According to a Bell representative it's not you....it's them. Customers have been complaining of no internet service all over the Atlantic provinces. The representative was unable to say how many customers are affected but confirmed it's a significant number.

Bell says it's working to resolve the problem as quickly as possible. In the meantime, you can stop desperately re-setting your router and spending your precious time on tech support.

20 Year Old Playground In Need Of Repair

A local playground -- built by the hands of many Charlotte County volunteers -- is in desperate need of a make-over.

Chair of the St. Andrews Community Playground Restoration Fundraising Committee Isabelle Micheud tells Tide News the unique playground was built 20 years ago. She says, "After 20 years, things have deteriorated. There are pieces that need to be replaced. Areas where the children are walking or touching with their hands, those are all made of wood and need to be replaced with a composite material for safety reasons."

Micheud tells us it's a really big fundraising project with a budget of $120, 000. "So far, we aren't doing too bad. We currently have raised about $70,000, but we need to raise another $50,000 by the end of July."


She adds a Lobster Roll-A-Palooza -- as part of the Seafood Festival -- will be a major fundraiser this Saturday for the project. A 62 foot lobster roll will be sold in 4-inch sections with a drink and chips. She says tickets are $15 and the event will take place at Town Hall on Water Street in St. Andrews, starting at 11am. She tells us Water Street will be barricaded off to vehicles.
Tickets for the Lobster Roll-A-Palooza can be bought at the Vincent Massey Elementary School and Cockburn's Drug Store. If you want to get your tickets Saturday, they will begin selling them at 10:30 with the big roll being made at 11am.


Micheud says they are also looking for volunteers to help rebuild the playground between September 25th to the 29th. For details on volunteering or fundraising, go to their website at www.standrewsplayground.com .