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Monday, July 2, 2012

Two Dead In House Fire

A deadly house fire near Oromocto has left two people dead.

Officials are investigating the incident that occurred near yesterday morning on Highway 102 in the Burton-area. The victims are a 61 year old woman and her 88 year old father. Their names have not been released. The Fire chief believes cigarettes were the cause. The fire began in the women's room. Autopsies are scheduled for today.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, but officials say foul play is not suspected at this time.

Doubts In Heritage Financial Support

Saint John has one of the largest inventories of heritage buildings of any city in the country with 770 properties holding the heritage designation. 90 thousand dollars worth of grants were handed out last year to heritage property owners but Chief City Planner Ken Forrest is expressing doubt whether that level of support can continue considering the financial realities today.

"So we have a significant number of designated properties, and we have challenges with respect to meeting the needs of those properties with the resourcing that's available. So those are our challenges."

Forrest says the new Common Council will have to figure out what the right level of regulation should be.

Canadians Optimistic On Economy

A Canada Day study done by the Bank of Montreal shows we are an optimistic lot about our future economic prospects. Paul Taylor is Chief Investment Officer with B-M-O Harris Private Banking and he tells CHSJ News 83% of us are proud of how this country's economy has performed.

"Half of Canadians expect their investment portfolios to grow by Canada Day 2013, which is kind of interesting given the mackerel head winds we see out there in the financial press."

Taylor is surprised at the level of optimism which hasn't been dampened by the cutbacks announced of late by the Harper Government.

Pollution In Fundy Better & Worse

There's been a significant reduction with large industrial debris (such as styrofoam, large pieces of pipe and nets) in the Bay of Fundy, so says Fundy Bay Keeper Matt Abbott. The Bay Keeper has been keeping the waters of Fundy clean since 2003. He tells CHSJ news there's still problems with ocean acidification, nets and rope garbage and waste from salmon aquaculture, but he's seen some major clean up of the Saint John sewer system.

"We've got a long, long way to go but at the same time there's a lot of people working on this and we certainly hope we can continue to harness that energy and keep our Bay vibrant and give it it's best shot against these big changes that are coming down the pipe."

Abbott would like to see more clean up of municipal waste, which overloads and spills into the Bay during heaving rain. He adds that his advocacy works has paid off, finding that many people bring waste to shore.

The Bay Keeper patrols the Fundy coastline from Alma to St. Stephen.

Skin Cancer Rising In NB

The provinces Chief Medical Officer of Health is warning New Brunswickers' to take care when in the sun. Doctor Eilish Cleary tells CHSJ news the number of skin cancer cases in the province is increasing.
"We had over a 100 cases in 2000, and a 168 cases in 2009, so it is an issue which can cause serious illness and death."

Cleary adds tanning and sun exposure also ages skin. She advises people to avoid sun rays when they're highest between midday and 4:00pm, to wear a hat and loose clothing, and most importantly... put sunscreen on before exposure. She says children and people with fair skin are most at risk.

The province introduced voluntary tanning guidelines two years ago including an age limit of 18 and limiting of one tan every 48 hours.