Cultural Policy Still In Process Of Being Renewed

 A set of directives for culture in the province penned over ten years ago is still in the process of being rewritten. 

Last year, the government announced they were consulting with residents and cultural stakeholders to update the current cultural policy. 

The Minister of Tourism, Heritage and Culture Trevor Holder tells CHSJ News they had an election promise to renew the document, and in the meantime, there have been a host of public engagement opportunities around the province over the last year. That public consultation component of the cultural policy renewal has already wrapped up.

The last cultural policy was adopted back in 2002 under Premier Bernard Lord.

Fire Set Outside RCMP Station In Elsipogtog

Police are investigating a blaze they say was deliberately set outside the RCMP station in Elsipogtog First Nation on Friday. 

The fire started on the outside of the building but members of the community and fire crews kept it from spreading. A 14-year-old boy and a 15-year-old boy were arrested in connection to the fire but were later released. 

The Elsipogtog First Nation is the site of last week's violent clash between shale gas protestors and RCMP.

Duhamel & Radford Take Bronze In the Pairs Free Program

Canadian figure skaters Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford winning bronze in the pairs free program as Skate Canada International continues at Harbour Station.

Italian duo Stefania Berton and Ondrej Hotarek took the gold.
 
Hotarak told reporters following the performance they are just happy to be here saying they tried to do their best as they always do and today they had a little bit of luck.

Duhamel says they are not used to very high artistic scores and lower technical scores.   

Radford says he thinks that program has podium potential at the Olympics.    

Wenjing Sui and Cong Han of China won the silver medal.

Skate Canada Int'l Competition Enters Day Two

The competition is heating up as we head into day two of Skate Canada International at Harbour Station.

The first day saw three-time world champ Patrick Chan winning the men's short program, while Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir won the short dance. American Gracie Gold got first in the women's short program.

17-year old Canadian skater Kaetlyn Osmond, who came in fifth in the women's short program yesterday, says she feeds off of the energy of the fans, and fans in the Maritimes are always fantastic.

Four events happening at Skate Canada International today at Harbour Station including the Ladies Free Program at 3:15pm and the Ice Free Dance at 5:30pm. Click here for a complete schedule of events.

Crews Search For Woman With Severe Head Injury

Emergency crews spending a half hour searching buildings in Saint John's uptown for a woman who did not know where she was after falling down a flight of concrete stairs. 

The woman sustained a severe head injury from the fall and kept going in and out of consciousness while on the phone with 911 at around 11:30 last night. Police and fire found the woman in a stairwell in the Delta and she was taken to hospital. 

Divisional Fire Chief Mark Wilson says she was very fortunate and says good cooperation between police fire and the emergency centre led to a successful conclusion.

Another woman being brought to hospital after she was found bleeding from her head in the North end this morning. City Police say a passerby saw the woman on Bridge Street and called for medical assistance just after 9am. She has undetermined injuries.

Allergy Advisory Issued For Marshmallows

If your child is allergic to milk, you are going to want to check their Halloween haul for a certain brand of sweets.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is advising people that there is milk in Clic's Strawberry Flavored Marshmallows, which is not printed on the label. The CFIA says there has been one report of someone getting sick from eating the product. 

The advisory affects the 250-gram size bags best before January 17, 2014. The product is sold nationally.

One In Hospital After Millidgeville Crash

One person brought to hospital with undetermined injuries after a car crash in the Millidgeville area.

It happened in front of 80 University Avenue just before 4 in the afternoon. 

Divisional Fire Chief Mark Wilson says the injuries are not life-threatening.

Fire Guts Home On Route # 3 in Old Ridge

A fire at a home on Route #3 being gutted by fire.

St. Stephen and Moores Mills Fire Departments responding to the call just before 1 o'clock this afternoon.

Officials tell Tide News the owner of the mobile home at 8881 in Old Ridge was inside the home sleeping when the fire started.

He was able to escape without injuries.

The cause of the fire has not been released.

Senator Complains "This Is Canada, Not Putin's Russia"

"A show trial"........That's how New Brunswick Senator Jim Munson characterises the goings on in the Senate to suspend Senators Pamela Wallin, Mike Duffy and Patrick Brazeau without pay because they have become a political embarrassment.
 
Munson goes so far as to call the motion a violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms by assuming guilt in advance of a hearing of any kind where the rights of the accused are defended by lawyers. Duffy and Wallin were given all of 20 minutes to make the case why they should not be suspended. 

Munson says Senators have not had a chance to see the Deloitte report on Senator Wallin's expenses and even the residency requirement is not clearly defined because it doesn't stipulate how many days you have to live in that residence in the province where you're appointed from.
 
He suspects the government chose to move ahead on this at a politically expedient time just before the opening of Parliament.

Gallant Wants Alward To Slow Down On Fracking

The Opposition wants Premier Alward to hit the pause button on fracking.

Liberal Leader Brian Gallant says they have repeatedly expressed their concerns about the government blindly pushing ahead with shale gas development without addressing people's concerns in a meaningful way.

Gallant says people in the province do not trust the Premier when it comes to this topic adding he's also ignored the recommendations of the Chief Medical officer of Health, Dr. Eilish Cleary.

He says the Alward government has failed to provide the reassurances New Brunswickers want with respect to the impact of shale gas development on the environment and human health.

Skating Competition Brings International Athletes To Saint John

Harbour Station is buzzing with activity as Skate Canada International gets underway.

The venue is a busy spot with hundreds of volunteers, athletes, coaches and international media in town for the event.

4-time Canadian skating champs Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir spoke to the media ahead of a practice this morning.

She told reporters gathering in the media centre that they are very pleased to be in Saint John and are already enjoying the Maritime hospitality.

Athletes are practicing all day today with the competition beginning tomorrow afternoon. The event runs until Sunday. 

For ticket information, click here.

Premier Standing Firm On Shale Gas

Premier David Alward making it clear he has no intention of stopping the testing for shale gas in the province one week after a protest outside the SWN Resources compound near Rexton turned violent. 

Shale gas opponents, meantime, releasing a poll showing people in Nova Scotia support a continued ban on fracking. According to the polling done by Abacus Data, 69% of Nova Scotians strongly support or support a continued moratorium on fracking, unless an independent review finds there's no risk to drinking water, human health, the climate or communities. 

The poll was commissioned by the Nova Scotia Fracking Resource and Action Coalition known, which is also known as NOFRAC, the Council of Canadians and the Sierra Club.

Mom Aquitted Of Child Abandonment Charges

An acquittal today for Caleigh Dawn Shea--the mother accused of endangering her baby by leaving it out on Paddock Street in Saint John last January. Charges were laid after neighbors called the police, saying they had found the baby crying outside with no one in sight.

Judge Henrik Tonning ruling there is no evidence Shea wanted to abandon the child or that it was in any danger. Shea tells Tide News she has moved and the case has been difficult on her family.

Defence lawyer Brian Munroe tells Tide News police didn't find anything amiss at the Shea household--rather, the house was clean, fridge stocked, and the children properly dressed. Judge Henrik Tonning called it "one of those weird cases" in which circumstances result in criminal charges
 
One of Shea's four children--one of whom has autism--is already at home with her, and the other three return to her care this week.

Friends, Family Of Gen Cormier Offer 10k Reward

With nearly a month passing since there has been any sign of missing Saint John teen Gen Cormier, friends and family offering a $10,000 reward for information that will get her home safely. 

The last confirmed sighting of the 19-year old was on September 29 in the back parking lot of the Reversing Falls restaurant.

Cormier's father, Jason, tells Tide News his daughter is the kind of person to always keep in contact with her family. He says the day before his daughter disappeared, they were on the phone together for 20 minutes, which wasn't unusual for them. Cormier says not having any solid leads is frustrating and describes the not knowing as a nightmare.

Sergeant Jay Henderson of City Police says this is a unique case, because there is no crime scene and no physical evidence. He says he has never seen anything like this. 

Anyone with information or tips about Cormier's disappearance are being asked to call the Public Safety Commnications Centre at 648-3333 and the tips will then be forwarded on to Constable Tony Gilbert, who is in charge of the investigation.

McAdam Train Station Can Still Be A Great Place

The Train Station in McAdam is a finalist in the contest for Great Places in Canada.
 
More than 100 thousand votes have been cast over four months right across the country and the train station remains in the running for Great Public Spaces. Also in that same category is the Saint John City Market. 

Three Grand Winners will be announced November 8th for Great Public Spaces, Great Neighbourhoods and Great Streets on the basis of popularity and planning excellence. 

There will also be three People's Choice winners based on the number of votes received.

Woman Who Robbed Garden Street Irving With Syringe Comes Clean, 7 Years Later

In what the judge called a "highly unusual" case, a young woman who robbed the Garden Street Irving in Saint John  with a syringe seven years ago, turned herself over to police in the hope of finally kicking her drug addiction.

The robbery happened on Boxing Day in 2006, when 32 year old Patricia Joy Honeywell threatened staff at the gas station with what she described as a "dirty" needle and demanded cash. Honeywell told the court she wants to get the treatment available in jail so she can get off drugs and be a mother to her three kids again.

In his sentencing, Judge LeMesurier asked Honeywell whether she would want her children working late nights at a gas station after what she did, reminding her that the employees she "traumatized" are also someone else's children.

In his sentencing, the judge said he tried to take into account both the seriousness of the offence and Honeywell's honesty in finally coming clean. Ultimately, she was  sentenced to 3 years federal time.

Ground Beef Recalled Due To Risk Of E. Coli

It might not look or smell spoiled, but that burger you're about to bite into could be contaminated with a potentially deadly bacteria. 

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Belmont Meats Ltd., warning the public not to eat the brand's uncooked lean ground beef because it could contain E. coli. This is the third E. coli-related beef recall from the Toronto factory this month. 

Eating food containing the bacteria can cause severe abdominal pain, bloody diarrhea, seizures strokes, and in extreme cases, death. The Belmont Meats Ltd. brand distributes products nationwide to stores including Sobeys, Wal-Mart and Superstore.

Local Activists Backing Rexton Protests

Protestors in Saint John are standing behind the anti-shale gas movement on the Elsipogtog First Nation.

Joel Butler was in attendance at a demonstration in uptown Saint John this afternoon.
Butler tells Tide News the pipeline could provide cheaper crude oil for the refinery, but that wouldn't help consumer prices in gas--nor are there are any details on how it would benefit our local economy.

Further talks between native leaders and Premier David Alward have been discussed for later this week.

Provincial Chiefs Want Leonard To Suspend SWN Permits

The Provincial Assembly of First Nations’ Chiefs want Energy and Mines Minister Craig Leonard to suspend permits granted to SWN Resources for shale gas testing near Rexton to ensure a cooling off period can take hold.

Elsipogtog First Nation Chief Aaron Sock describes the RCMP's actions against his people in a violent protest last week as almost horrendous.

Assembly of First Nations' Chiefs co-chair George Ginnish says the province has to acknowledge that the consultation process has failed.

They go on to say that once the licenses are suspended the government must return to the table and have a consultation that isn’t rushed and that leads to a complete understanding of how the shale gas industry would impact Aboriginal and Treaty Rights.

Ashley Smith Remembered

The Elizabeth Fry Society held its annual candlelight vigil in King Square for Ashley Smith, the 19 year old woman from Moncton, who choked herself to death in a Kitchenoer, Ontario jail cell while guards looked on and did not intervene. 

A lengthy inquest in Toronto is being held into her death but Marianna Stack, President of the Elizabeth Fry Society in Saint John, tells Tide News it should be even broader and go back to the very start of her problems in New Brunswick. Stack says while Ashley had difficulties, how she was treated in prison made matters worse and broke her. 

She adds New Brunswick has an abysmal history when it comes to young people if you consider the cases of not only Ashley Smith but the crimes perpetrated by Karl Toft at Kingsclear, former Saint John Common Councillor Donnie Snook and now deceased former SJ police sergeant and city works employee Ken Estabrooks before that.