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Thursday, November 7, 2013

Princess Of Acadia Ferry Runs Aground

It was not the boat ride these 63 passengers signed up for...the Princess of Acadia briefly running aground as it made the approach to the Digby terminal.
 

Don Cormier of Bay Ferries tells CHSJ News the boat lost power touching ground around noon, however the boat was able to dock and the passengers disembarked. Nobody was hurt.

The passengers' tickets were refunded and Cormier says they hope to restore service soon.

Man Pleads Guilty To Robbing Convenience Store

Six years behind bars for a man who held up Shawn's Variety on Broad Street with a knife back in September.

The robbery happening just before noon on September 6, when 35-year old Robin Edward Dillabough came into the convenience store, held a knife to the owner's throat and left with $600. The owner was not hurt. 

Dillabough was arrested later in the day in the uptown, telling police he had been on a crack cocaine binge and needed the money to buy more drugs.

He plead guilty in provincial court, where he expressed some remorse for pain and suffering he caused and a desire to help help for his addiction while in jail.

Eastbound Lanes Open This Weekend

Motorists will see some improvement on the Harbour Bridge this weekend.

The province letting us know that the eastbound lanes will be open this weekend while the westbound lanes are closed as work continues on the expansion joints.

The Chesley Drive on and off ramps will be closed until the bridge reopens to four-lane traffic in the middle of the month.

Signs will be installed between Tuesday and Friday of next week and you should expect delays during that process.

The Department of Transportation expects all the work to be complete by the end of November.

Pourbaix Speaks To Outlook 2014 In Saint John

TransCanada's Alex Pourbaix visiting the Port City to speak about the proposed Energy East Pipeline.

Pourbaix says they will hiring New Brunswick companies in the first phase for engineering and environmental work.

He says they find in polling people are overwhelmingly support of the project saying Canadians understand that when we have Canadian refineries importanting oil from overseas while producers in Alberta are exporting two-thirds of its production...that doesn't make sense for Canada.

Pourbaix expects a good portion of the oil coming from Alberta via the pipeline will be used by the Maritime refineries and those in the Eastern U.S.

City Man Facing Arson Charges In Dever Road Fires

A 40 year old man is facing arson charges in connection with two fires on the Dever road including one last night.

Crews responded to a fire at 864 Dever Road just before 5 this morning and on arrival found a back building engulfed in flames.


Fire Chief Kevin Clifford says the building was full of 100 pound propane cylinders which should not be stored inside and the building was very secure making it difficult to get access.

Once they gained access, the fire was so intense they had to take a defensive tact on it. 

The blaze was knocked down and no one was hurt.

The man accused of setting the fire is is court today on charges relating to last night's fire and another fire on the Dever Road on October 22nd.

Roadbuilders Claim The Public Is On Their Side

A new poll released by New Brunswick roadbuilders that shows only 13 per cent of people surveyed agree with the current policy of limiting spending on highway maintenance and 90 per cent say making the roads and highways better should be a government priority. 

The Executive Director of the Roadbuilders Association Tom McGinn tells CHSJ News if the province doesn't start spending more now to maintain the roads, it will cost a lot more money a few years down the road. 

McGinn is warning there's a danger some roads may eventually have to be closed although he admits there are some people in government who believe there are too many roads in the province which cost money to service. 

The poll was commissioned by the roadbuilders and conducted by Corporate Research Associates.

Cherry Brook Zoo Has 10 Year Plan Mapped Out

Cherry Brook Zoo is looking for 100 thousand dollars in funding from the municipalities that make up the Saint John region. 

It costs 455 thousand dollars a year to run the zoo which raises 355 thousand of that total. Last year, the zoo received 60 thousand dollars from the city and 5 thousand from Rothesay.

Cherry Brook's director of development Lynda Collrin tells CHSJ they have an ambitious 10 year plan which includes an expanded primate house for endangered species of monkeys. 

The newest addition to the zoo, a two year old Siberian tiger named Karma will be arriving from Winnipeg in a few days.

Fire On West Side

Another fire early this morning at a building off the Dever Road. It was called in shortly before 5:00. 

Firefighters had to be wary in extinguishing this blaze after learning about the presence of propane cyclinders inside the building. 

This is the third such fire on the Dever Road in the last few weeks. The first of those fires destroyed an auto body shop.