Daily News Archives » Page 13 of 231 » CHMA, Voice of the Marshes

New Salem ballfield opens during surge in minor baseball participation

On today’s show, minor baseball is experiencing an upsurge in participation in Sackville. We head over to a refurbished ballfield behind Salem Elementary School to celebrate the inaugural game on the “Field of Dreams” diamond, funded in part by the Jays Care Foundation. We talk with local baseball rising star Kipling Cober, Sackville Minor Baseball’s Mike Reid, Jays Care director Robert Witchel, Salem principal Ada Phinney, and some of the U10 Sackville Hurricanes, who were excited to break in the new field.

Plus in briefs, a Chignecto Isthmus bill is back in the Senate, the Mount Allison community meets its new Provost candidates this week, and EOS Eco Energy hosts annual meeting in its 20th year. … Continue

Clock is running out on paid sick days report, but Accessibility Act could still pass, says Mitton

This is the last week for the New Brunswick legislature to sit in its current configuration, before a provincial election set for October 21.

CHMA called up Memramcook-Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton to get an update on what’s going on this week in Fredericton, including a sick days report that has yet to see the light of day, and hopes for an Accessibility Act for New Brunswick.

“It’s almost like kids getting excited about summer,” says Mitton. “I feel like the energy gets a bit different in the legislature as we get towards June.”

Mitton says that in addition to being very concerned about revelations in recent Auditor Generals reports documenting a lack of oversight of travel nurse contracts, she’s also concerned that a report into sick days legislation will get lost with the end of the session.

“They did consultations, they wrote a report, and the minister won’t release it,” says Mitton. “I think he’s going to wait till the last day we’re sitting to release it, unfortunately.”

This week the Green Party expects to debate their environmental rights bill, “which would guarantee rights to clean air, clean water, to not have to be breathing in pollution,” says Mitton. “And this would especially protect the most vulnerable, such as children, and would give recourse for people when things aren’t going that way.”

Mitton also introduced an act to ban the use of replacement workers, which she says will most likely “die on the order paper” for this session.… Continue

A woman stands holding a spool of yarn, in front of shelves filled with many different colours of similar spools

Sackville’s ‘dye power’ increases with new retail space for Gobsmacked Yarn

Gobsmacked Yarn is the newest addition to downtown Sackville’s commercial landscape.

Owner Marit Munson has been dyeing yarn since 2012, and when she outgrew her space at home, decided to expand into a space that allowed for both her studio and a retail shop. Gobsmacked Yarn opens officially this Saturday, in a space on Ford Lane, in the rear of the Goya’s Pizza building in downtown Sackville.

CHMA dropped by the new location to speak with Munson:

The grand opening of the Gobsmacked Yarn shop coincides with Worldwide Knit in Public Day, and to celebrate, Munson is collaborating with another Sackville dyer, Megan Ingman of Lichen and Lace, for a ‘mini yarn crawl’ between the two studios.

“The dye power here in Sackville is pretty incredible,” says Munson. “Lichen and Lace is a business that’s known worldwide, and then there’s a bunch of artists in town who also have really amazing practices with natural dyes and all kinds of neat things going on.”

Munson works with and carries both treated ‘superwash’ yarns, as well as what she calls ‘farm yarns’, which are sourced from sheep farms in Nova Scotia and Ontario.

“People are really rediscovering wool,” says Munson. “I think because it’s a natural material, it’s warm, it absorbs a lot of water. It keeps you warm in the winter, and it actually keeps you a bit cool in the summertime as well, which is fantastic… And when you’re done with it, it will biodegrade and go back into the soil in a way that modern synthetics absolutely don’t.”… Continue

Clock is running out on paid sick days report, but Accessibility Act could still pass, says Mitton

On today’s show, the New Brunswick legislature is in the final week of its last session before a provincial election slated for October. CHMA called up Memramcook-Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton to get an update on what’s going on this week in Fredericton, including a sick days report that has yet to see the light of day, and hopes for an Accessibility Act for New Brunswick.

Plus in briefs, the Anglophone East School District is asking the province to double its repair projects in the coming year, the municipality of Tantramar is selling a surplus Zamboni and other items, and a raccoon caused a power outage and emergency response in Sackville Monday night. … Continue

Gobsmacked Yarns to open retail shop in Sackville this Saturday

On today’s show, we talk with Marit Munson, owner and head wool dyer at Gobsmacked Yarns, which is opening a retail shop and studio on Ford Lane in downtown Sackville this Saturday. Munson’s opening coincides with Worldwide Knit in Public Day, and so the fibre arts entrepreneur has teamed up with another local wool studio, Lichen and Lace, for a mini yarn crawl on Saturday from noon to 4pm.

Plus in news briefs, Sackville-based writer Anne Koval wins a New Brunswick Book Award, Gaspereau Press is moving to Sackville in 2026, and MLA Megan Mitton wants to ban the use of replacement workers during strikes.… Continue

Tantramar’s proposed confidentiality policy includes council members along with employees

New Tantramar councillors lined up and ready to be sworn in, December 20, 2022. Photo: Erica Butler

Tantramar council is considering a new confidentiality policy that would add council members themselves to a list of people required to sign a Pledge of Confidentiality to protect “confidential, personal or health information” of the municipality, its residents, employees and clients.

Councillors are already required to adhere to confidentiality rules outlined in the munipality’s Code of Conduct bylaw, but CAO Jennifer Borne says the addition of councillors to the pledge policy will serve as “an acknowledgement, by employees, by council, that would go on a personnel file, acknowledging that they’re familiar with the information and that they will adhere to it.”

Assistant Clerk Becky Goodwin presented the new Tantramar-wide policy for council’s consideration on Monday at a committee of the whole meeting.

The new policy is a near word-for-word copy of the former town of Sackville confidentiality policy (passed in January 2020) but with a few key changes: it removes a requirement for a pledge to be signed by employees annually, it specifically lists firefighters in addition to employees, and it adds council members as one of the groups required to sign the pledge.

CHMA asked Goodwin to confirm that list, and in an email reply, Goodwin said, “when reviewing policies, we review policies from Municipalities across New Brunswick, as well as our own former municipalities.” CHMA asked what other municipal policies were consulted before proposing the new confidentiality policy, and have yet to receive a response.… Continue

Sackville residents voice concerns and offer ideas at 3rd Tantramar Roadshow

On today’s show: the third edition of the Tantramar Roadshow came to Sackville on Thursday, and a small group of residents asked about a range of issues including pedestrian safety, ATVs on town streets, public transportation opportunities for seniors, and the lack of heritage bylaws in Sackville. CHMA spoke with RCMP Sergeant Eric Hanson, Tantramar CAO Jennifer Borne, and Sackville resident Percy Best.

Plus in news briefs: a judge issued her first ruling in the case between the Anglophone East District Education Council and the province over Policy 713, and a Sackville student is bringing home a gold medal from the Canada Wide Science Fair being held in Ottawa this week

… Continue

Marshlight Theatre presents inaugural production The Wyrd Sisters in revamped space

The witches of Wyrd Sisters conjure a demon. Sue Rose as Nanny, Allison Bernardi as Magrat, Susan Amos as Granny. Photo: Ryan Slashinsky

Marshlight Theatre launches its first production, The Wyrd Sisters, on Friday. CHMA popped by the new theatre company’s newly renovated space to talk to managing director Ryan Slashinsky.

“We’re just so thrilled to have this beautiful new venue to perform in,” says Slashinsky, who thanks Marshlight member Laura Thurston for “managing the whole reconfiguration and rejuvenation of our space.”

Marshlight was formed this spring by the merger of Live Bait Theatre and Performers Theatre, and took over the former Performers’ space on Fairfield Road. Now the reconfigured black box theatre features expanded seating, a larger backstage area, a tech booth and coat check.

Audiences for The Wyrd Sisters can expect “a hilarious, zany, fantastical romp through [a] pseudo-medieval world,” says Slashinsky, “but really it’s a satire on modern society.”

“We’re working on developing a season for next year, which will be our first official season,” says Slashinsky. “But we wanted to kick things off with a nice big production within our brand new space that everyone can come and enjoy.”

Schedule and ticket information ore information is online at marshlight.ca… Continue

Senate committee considers whether feds should take over Isthmus protection

On today’s show, we listen in as New Brunswick senator Jim Quinn, Premier Blaine Higgs, and Amlamgog (Fort Folly) Chief Rebecca Knockwood talk to a senate committee about whether or not the federal government should take control of the protection of the Chignecto Isthmus transportation corridor.

Plus in news briefs, a vacant downtown Sackville property is for sale four years after fire destroyed the historic building that once occupied it, and the town of Amherst considers making way for auxiliary officers to assist its town police force.… Continue

Tantramar switches gears in provincial environmental project funding

Members of the Climate Change Advisory Committee and former climate change coordinator Brittany Cormier (second from left) cut the ribbon on the solar array installation at Bill Johnston Memorial Park in November, 2022. Photo: Erica Butler

After three years of using the province’s Environmental Trust Fund to pay for a part-time climate change coordinator to work with town staff, the municipality is moving in a new direction this year, and has obtained a grant of just over $24,000 to produce a wetlands-themed play for youth and tour the production to local schools.

The province’s Environmental Trust Fund supports 190 environmental initiatives throughout the province, including about ten in the Tantramar region which take on things like watershed monitoring, energy efficiency, and wetlands education.

Since 2021, the town has received roughly $35,000 per year from the fund to help pay for a part-time climate change coordinator. The position was created in partnership with EOS Eco Energy, and so was never part of Tantramar’s unionized staff, but worked closely with the town’s Community and Corporate Services department.

Over the years, three different climate change coordinators have helped with research and recommendations for initiatives like electrifying the town’s vehicle fleet, coordinating the installation of solar panels on the Bill Johnstone Park building, and creating a ‘climate lens’ system in staff reporting to council.

At the end of Monday’s committee of the whole meeting, CHMA asked about the decision not to seek further funding for a part time climate change coordinator.… Continue

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