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Thursday, March 7, 2013

Henry Says Connors Wrote About Us

He was born here so Saint Johners feel a special connection to Stompin Tom Connors.
 

The iconic Canadian entertainer passed away in Ontario at the age of 77.
 

Weekend Jamboree host Bob Henry tells CHSJ News that Connors captured the Canadian experience in his songs. 

Henry says Tom wrote about us, good, bad and indifferent, and he had a way of reflecting us. 


As a born and bred Prince Edward Islander, Henry remembers when "Bud the Spud" arrived at the radio station in the late 60's and thinking it was a great tune.

Country 94's Weekend Jamboree will pay tribute to Stompin Tom this weekend.  

Last Sea Dogs Home Game Nearly Sold Out

It's hard to believe but the Sea Dogs are gearing up for their final home game of the season and it's bound to be a barn burner.
 

Only 400 tickets remain for the contest between the Dogs and the Titan.
 

Dogs president Wayne Long tells CHSJ News it's been a great season and they knew where they would be in a rebuilding year.

He says they are as excited to rebuild the franchise to elite status as they are about winning.

Tomorrow night is Fan Appreciation Night with more $6000 in prizes to be given away.
For ticket, call 657-1234 or click here

Leblanc Running In Ward 3 By-Election

Candidates are coming out of the woodwork for the Ward 3 By-election this spring.
 

Mark Leblanc tells CHSJ News it's his third time running for municipal politics having run previously at large in 2008 and last year in Ward 4.
 

He tells us the jury is still out on how this new council is doing.

He says he's happy with the service they are providing to the citizens but with less than a year on the job it's too early to say for sure.

Leblanc tells us Brian Boyd and Allen Leslie are also running for the Ward 3 seat.

A Boost For The Community College

Education budgets are tight these days so every little bit counts for a great deal. 

The Industrial Mechanics programme at the Community College on Grandview Avenue has gotten a bit of help with a donation from Canaport L-N-G........A forklift with a value of 96 thousand dollars.
 

The Industrial Mechanics program has an 85 per cent employment rate after graduation. President and C-E-O Marilyn Luscombe tells CHSJ News the overall rate for graduates is 90 per cent which might explain the popularity of attending community college so more spaces are being made available.


Luscombe says the number of places for students to take courses at the Community College has been going up with 140 more this academic year following an increase of 250 the previous year. 

Last June saw the largest number of graduates, over 2 thousand students provincewide.

Stompin Tom's Saint John Roots

Tributes are pouring in after the death by natural causes of Stompin' Tom Connors who was born Charles Thomas Connors (known as Tommy Messer) in Saint John. 

He was a cousin of Saint John fiddling sensation, Ned Landry. He spent a short time living with his mother in a low-security women's penitentiary before he was seized by Children's Aid Society and was later adopted by a family in Skinners Pond, Prince Edward Island.
 

At the age of 15 he left his adoptive family to hitchhike across Canada, a journey that consumed the next 13 years of his life as he travelled between various part time jobs while writing songs on his guitar. 

At his last stop in Timmins, Ontario, which may also have been his big "break", he found himself a nickel short of a beer at the city's Maple Leaf Hotel. The bartender agreed to give Tom a beer if he would play a few songs. These few songs turned into a 13 month contract to play at the hotel.

A public celebration of Connors' life will be held next Wednesday in Peterborough, Ontario.

Another Suspicious Fire At Same North End Building

Just before midnight, a fire was reported in the north end at 168 Main Street. 

Acting Platoon Chief Barry Oickle says it started on the outside wall at the rear of the building and that's where firefighters managed to contain it.

This is the third time in the past sixty days, fire crews have been called to that same building.

A Price Break At The Pumps

Gas prices have gone down after the weekly setting. 

Self serve regular in the city has declined by just over 3 cents a litre to stand at $1.30.9. 

Diesel has dropped by over 4 cents to $1.38.8 around town. 

Heating oil is also less expensive at a maximum price of $1.19.2 a litre, a drop of almost 4 cents a litre.