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Thursday, February 13, 2014

Barry Ogden Gets Major Award

He's been giving back to the community for many decades now as the founder of the Marigold Project and Marco Polo project, a Seawolves coach and high school teacher.

Now, Barry Ogden is getting a major nod from the Saint John Community Fund.
Ogden is receiving $5000 to donate to a charity of his choice--and he's chosen the Promise Partnership, the Community Food Basket and Romero House.
He tells CHSJ News this area is struggling with a lot of complex issues, but he's hoping as the economy starts to turn around we won't forget those in trouble.

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City Crews Are Ready For the Snow And Rain




The City of Saint John crews will be out clearing streets and sidewalks of snow and getting ready for potential flooding.

We are looking at 15 cm's of snow before it changes to rain after midnight.
 

Kevin Rice of Transportation and Environment Services tells CHSJ News they encourage people to be very aware of the road conditions.

He says they encourage people to stay off the roads if they don't need to be there and the keep their vehicles off the street so their crews can remove snow from the streets as efficiently as possible.

Rice says crews are inspecting storm water outlets and inlets and catch basins are clear.

Cause Of Death Released In Irishtown Fire

A 48 year old man who was found deceased after a house fire on Communication Road in Irishtown died of smoke inhalation according to the RCMP. That call came in at 12:30am this past Sunday.

At the request of the family, the name of the victim will not be released. No word yet on what caused the blaze, but it's still being investigated.

Clash In The Legislature Over New Fees

Opposition Liberal Leader Brian Gallant is accusing the finance minister of trying to sneak in fee increases for expedited services at Service NB, licensing applications for seafood processing, and more--despite saying in the provincial budget that no new feeds would be introduced.

Higgs says none of the fees are new--they've all been announced previously and they're necessary to make sure we don't get behind financially.

Gallant calls that disingenuous, pointing out some fees have gone from $0 to $100, and if you tried to calculate what that percentage increase is on a calculator it would give you an error message.

The Union Is Upset About Nursing Layoffs

The Provincial nurses union is upset to hear of 23 layoffs to nurses working at inpatient surgery programs.
 

President Marilyn Quinn says they want hear from the nurses about how these changes impact patient care.

She says if they are replacing RN's with other healthcare workers and if that impacts patient care they want nurses to report it back to the union.

In addition to layoffs this week, Horizon Health also announcing some RN's will have their hours reduced which does include the Regional Hospital.

Dogs Hire New GM


 The Sea Dogs hiring Darrell Young as their new general manager.

The 55 year old Haligonian has signed a three year deal.

Young has been an amateur scout for the Canucks for the last 6 seasons and before that he worked with the Capitals, Predators and Lightning in a 25-year NHL scouting career.

Young previously worked as the Director of Hockey Operations for the Moncton Wildcats between 2000 and 2002.

What's Next For Partridge Island?

Partridge Island has been abandoned and a target for vandals for decades now--but that could change in the coming years with $200,000 earmarked from the feds for a study on how to repair the breakwater.

Saint John historian Harold Wright tells CHSJ News the first step is establishing whether the breakwater or a new dock would provide the best land access to the island--and after that's decided, we can figure out the best way to present the island's cultural and physical history.


Wright says restoring the island (which implies making it look like it did in centuries past) would cost hundreds of millions of dollars; however, but walking trails and an interpretation center would be doable if you had a live-in caretaker to protect the investment.

Storm Will Disrupt Ferry Service

Tomorrow morning's crossing of the Princess of Acadia ferry from Saint John to Digby has been cancelled because of the weather.

The Department of Transportation telling us there's only one ferry operating at Gondola Point because of maintenance. It's expected to be back up and running by the afternoon commute.

School District Focusing This Week On Internet Safety

It's estimated 5 per cent of students need intensive intervention to improve their behaviour at school. 

The Anglophone South School District has been spending the week concentrating on internet safety and being respectful on social media. Superintendent Zoe Watson tells CHSJ News the message doesn't necessarily gets through to everyone and sometimes police have to be called.
 

A member of the District Education Council from Charlotte County, Wayne Spires says children have to be taken seriously when they complain about inappropriate behaviour. He maintains that wasn't the case with former Common Councillor and youth minister Donnie Snook which is why he wasn't caught sooner.

Brochures on internet safety were given to parents and they were urged to go to the school district's website to see a video on what they can do to ensure their children are safe while on the internet.

You'll Have To Pay More To Fill Up

The maximum price for self serve regular rising by about 2 and a half cents. 

Diesel is up by just under 2 cents.

Heating oil is about the same but the maximum price for propane has risen again by just just 2 cents a litre.

More Layoffs In Healthcare

The cost cutting continues at Horizon Health as we hear from the New Brunswick Nurses Union that 23 registered nurses have been laid off at both of the Regional Health Authorites with other R-N's getting their hours cut. 

16 of the nurses who got pink slips are with Horizon Health including a few in Saint John. 

These layoffs follow cuts to 120 registered nursing positions last year. 

In addition to the layoffs, more than 20 jobs that are vacant will remain unfilled.

Rationalisation Of Schools Just A Matter Of Time

Some schools will have to close in the future because of declining enrollments in the Anglophone South School District which stretches from Sussex to St. Stephen. So says the chair of the District Education Council Rob Fowler.
 

Fowler making the comment after hearing parents in eastern Charlotte County are not happy a middle school is not on a list of priorities given to the provincial government. 

Instead, the School District will take a look at having grade six students from Blacks Harbour and St. George Elementary attend middle school at Fundy High and have a combined grade 4 and 5 at Pennfield School.

Stormy By Tonight

The weather will turn messy tonight with snowfall and rainfall warnings in effect. 

Environment Canada calling for 15 centimeters of snow tonight followed by 20 millimeters of rain that will be heavy at times after midnight with strong winds. 

That rain continuing tomorrow and then Ming Szto of Environment Canada tells CHSJ News another storm will be moving in on Saturday but he's not certain how much snow that will bring.