Linked Header

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Food Drive Underway In East Saint John


Romero House serves up hot meals to 400 people each day and now the soup kitchen is asking for your help with its 6th Annual Christmas Food Drive.

Romero House founder Carolyn McNulty tells CHSJ News the fundraiser is absolutely essential to what they do every day.


The 6th Annual Christmas Food Drive for Romero House is happening in the parking lot next to Ritchie's on Rothesay Avenue until December 8th.

You can drop off donations any day between 6am and 8pm during the week and from 8 to 8 on weekends.

Saint John Changing Its Image

Saint John isn't just a blue collar industrial town any more, and Discover Saint John wants to make sure people know that. 

Ross Jefferson of Discover Saint John telling Common Council the city has made a lot of strides in the past decade and we should be showing that off.

Jefferson says boosting the image of Saint John has broader implications than simply attracting tourist dollars......It also encourages people to live and invest here.

Discover Saint John is looking to market the city as a tourist destination with a great arts and cultural scene as well as natural beauty.

Outlying Communities Feel The Pinch

There are some significant funding cuts for some of the outlying communities in addition to the big 3 cities.

Quispamsis sees a funding reduction of more than $240,000 dollars next year while Rothesay is out nearly $100,000 in grant money next year.

St. Stephen sees a reduction of more than 160,000 dollars while the town of Hampton will be working with $85,000 fewer dollars in 2013.

Search Called Off For Missing Man

The active ground search for a missing 20 year old man from Sackville has been called off. 

Christopher Metallic of Sackville was last seen during the early morning hours of November 25th. Searchers have looked in a number of areas but have not been able to find him.

Christopher Metallic is described as aboriginal, 6 feet tall, 180 lbs, with short dark black hair and wears glasses. He was last seen wearing a shiny bright blue sweater and jeans.

Body Of Saint John Woman Discovered

The RCMP have confirmed the human remains found in a tent in the woods near the Penniac Bridge, north of Fredericton, are of a 56 year old local woman. 

Hikers first discovered the body along with personal items on November 24th.
 

Using dental and medical records, the woman has been identified as Susan Lynn Burnside from Saint John. She had lost touch with her family and was considered to be a transient with no fixed address. She was never reported missing to police.

How she died and how long the human remains were in the tent are still unknown. The RCMP say there are no obvious signs of foul play.

Saint John To Get Less Money From Province

A financial hit for the three largest cities under a new municipal funding model announced by the provincial government. 

Saint John will receive about 350 thousand dollars less while Fredericton gets 1.3 million fewer dollars next year. 

Local Government Minister Bruce Fitch says those cities can absorb the change because of increases in their tax bases.

Provincial NDP leader Dominic Cardy is calling the Alward Government's new municipal funding model an attack on the largest cities in the province and a step backward.

Cardy tells CHSJ News cities and towns in the province should have greater powers to fix their own problems and not be stifled by the province and its bureaucrats.

M.A.D.D. Canada Responds To Operation Red Nose Ending


The President of the Saint John Chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving calls the end of Operation Red Nose a shame.

The program had volunteers pick people up at holiday gatherings driving them and their vehicles home.

Raylene Wallace tells CHSJ News both M.A.D.D. and Operation Red Nose have the same goals in keeping everyone safe.

She says it's definitely a disappointment that the service will not be available this year.

Wallace says they will still be focusing on the Red Ribbon campaign and encouraging motorists to call 911 when they see a drunk driver on the roads.

The annual M.A.D.D. Red Ribbon Tree lighting is coming up December 7th in Kings Square.

School Board Responds On Bus Incident

The school district in Saint John responding to a story we ran Tuesday about a student being kicked off a bus leaving Quispamsis Middle School.

Superintendent Zoe Watson tells CHSJ News if a student needed to be removed from a bus while the bus was in the yard they would be taken into the school and a parent would be called.

Watson goes on to say a student would not be removed from a bus while it's completing its run to or from school.

She adds she cannot go into the specifics of this case.







No Seismic Price Change For Gas

You won't see that much of a change with gas prices if you have to fill up.

Self serve regular was being sold in the city early this morning for $1.22.4 a litre with diesel up a bit at $1.37.1.

There's Room At The Top At Irving Shipbuilding

Irving Shipbuilding is on the lookout for a new company President.
    

In a brief e-mailed statement, Mary Keith of J-D Irving says Steve Durrell is no longer working with the shipbuilder but is not spelling out the reason or reasons behind his departure after more than 27 years with the company.
    

She does say a replacement is being sought but Ross Langley who's vice chairman of Irving Shipbuilding, will take over in the interim. 

Last year Ottawa announced that the Irving shipyard would receive the lion's share of its $35-billion federal shipbuilding procurement project.
    

Under the deal, the shipyard won the right to bid on $25 billion worth of combat vessels.