On today’s show, we speak with New Brunswick Green Party leader David Coon after a town hall session on health care which he and MLA Megan Mitton hosted on Tuesday night in Sackville.
We also hear about the recent loss of $1 million in private funding that had been promised to a project to build a pedestrian bridge to reconnect the Trans Canada Trail where it is bisected by the Trans Canada highway. Former volunteer Ross Thomas explains why he and his fellow volunteers are resigning from the project, while town staff reserve comment on the loss of funding. … Continue
On today’s show, we listen in as Mayor Andrew Black and Councillor Allison Butcher remember the late Wallie Sears, beloved Sackville journalist. And we break down an upcoming decision of Tantramar council regarding a plan to have the South East Regional Service Commission take over the collection of garbage and compost in Tantramar, as responsibility for recycling pick up shifts to a packaging industry group.
Plus in briefs, summer events planning has started with council asked to consider road closures for Sappyfest and the Friday Night Cruise; and Mount Allison University is sending condolences over the death of a 22-year old student last week. … Continue
Ashley Legere has trained many people in the region to administer intranasal Naloxone. She carries a kit with her to save lives, reduce stigma and to let people who use opioids know she cares. Photo: Tori Weldon
A potentially life saving measure that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose could be harder to get in the region soon.
Ashley Legere offers training and free intranasal naloxone kits to groups, businesses, and anyone else interested in knowing how to administer this life saving treatment. Each training session comes with two free intranasal naloxone kits. But the problem is, her access to free kits is ending on March 31, 2024, with no extension in sight.
Health Canada’s Substance Use and Addictions Program (SUAP) has been providing funds to St. John Ambulance to run the Reaching Home program that provides training and intranasal naloxone to Legere and as well as many others across the country.
“It is of the utmost importance,” says Legere, because it can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.
“Opioids are respiratory depressants,” she says. “The opiates in your system are depressing your respiratory system and Narcan [a brand name for naloxone] just goes in and enables you to breathe again.”
The opioid crisis is here in New Brunswick and in this area. The Department of Health says in the first half of 2023, there were 23 related opioid related deaths in this province, though it notes the data is still under review and is subject to change.… Continue
EOS Eco Energy director Brittany Cormier stands with one of five new energy efficiency kits available to borrow at local libraries. Photo: Erica Butler
The region’s public libraries have a new resource to help people make their homes more energy efficient. Patrons of the Dorchester, Port Elgin, Sackville and Dieppe public libraries can now borrow one of five new energy efficiency kits put together by EOS Eco Energy.
The kits are designed to help households learn where they could be wasting energy, and include simple tools like a shower timer, thermometer, and lightweight New Brunswick flag ideal for checking for drafts at windows and doors. There are also some tools which are harder to come by, such as a kilowatt meter and a heat imaging camera to find cold spots in walls and ceilings.
EOS Eco-Energy director Brittany Cormier says the kits come with instructions for how to use all the tools, and are meant to be accessible. “Nothing like you have to take a course on,” says Cormier. “They’re all very easy, user friendly, and accessible items.”
CHMA stopped by the library to find out more about the project.
The kilowatt meter looks similar to a timer for electrical lights and appliances. The device plugs into an outlet and then an appliance can be plugged into it, and it displays the energy usage for that appliance.
“This is something that we use with our school energy efficiency lesson plans,” says Cormier, referring to another project that EOS is completing as their funding year draws to a close on March 31.… Continue
On today’s show, the Tantramar Region could lose its free supply of intranasal naloxone by the end of March, without a last minute funding renewal from Health Canada. Ashley Legere, Executive Director of the Cumberland Homelessness & Housing Support Association talks about the importance of having access to these live saving kits. We’ll also hear from Saint John Ambulance, with statements from Health Canada and New Brunswick’s Department of Health.
Plus in news briefs: Green Party leader David Coon is coming to Sackville on Tuesday to talk about healthcare; Tantramar Council’s Committee of the Whole is meeting today at 3pm at Sackville Town Hall; and William Wallace (Wallie) Sears, a prominent and much decorated local journalist and columnist, has passed away.… Continue
Route 955, Acadian Coastal Route. Image from Loella’s Country Market facebook group.
According to the province of New Brunswick, there’s one kilometre of road for every 49 people in the province. And as any New Brunswicker knows, some of those kilometres are in better shape than others.
A group of residents from the Murray Corner area are meeting with Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Jeff Carr this week to ask that he consider some much needed repairs on their corner of the New Brunswick road network, route 955, which runs from Cape Tormentine to Mates Corner.
Stephen Robb is a resident of Little Shemogue in the municipality of Strait Shores. He operates Loella’s Country Market, right on route 955, and that’s put him at the centre of a community push to draw attention to the state of roadway.
During the high tourist season, Robb says he and his staff heard repeatedly from customers saying, “how awful the road is, and why aren’t residents up in arms about how bad this road is, and how unsafe it is?” The feedback prompted Robb to set up a petition in Loella’s, which collected hundreds of signatures over the past summer. Now Robb is helping organize the next step, a meeting in Fredericton with Minister Carr on Tuesday, February 27.
To prepare, Robb has been documenting the road’s condition with photos and measurements. He says in many places the shoulder is eroded and lane widths can be as little as 7 feet.… Continue
10-14 York Street at end of day on Thursday, February 22, 2024. Owner Sam Kim hopes eventual to rebuilt a similar structure in its place. Photo: Erica Butler
Another building is gone in downtown Sackville.
10-14 York Street, the building next to the former Joey’s Pizza and Pasta, was demolished on Thursday and is now a large pile of rubble.
The building sustained smoke and water damage during the April 2023 fire that destroyed the neighbouring Joey’s building, another part of the Hanson Block, built in 1927.
10-14 York has been home to a number of businesses over the years, and at the time of the Joey’s fire, Estheva Spa and Live Bait Theatre occupied the two storefronts.
The building is owned by Moncton restauranteur Sam Kim, who owns Kimganae Korean BBQ on Mountain Road. Kim told CHMA that he is still in the planning stages of replacing the building, but he expects eventually to build a similar structure with commercial space on the ground floor and apartments upstairs. … Continue
The Sackville RCMP have released a composite sketch of a suspect involved in a sexual assault in Sackville in October 2020. The assault took place near Mount Allison, and the victim was a Mount Allison university student who reported the incident to police in January.
Sergeant Eric Hanson of the Sackville RCMP says the force brought in a forensic sketch artist from another province to create the sketch, which has been released in hopes that “somebody may recognize that person and be able to provide us with some information as to his identity.”
A police news release says the individual has a slim build and is approximately five feet eleven inches tall. The sketch shows a relatively young, bald, white man, wearing a surgical mask, with a tattoo of a sword on his face. Hanson is hopeful that some of the unique identifying features of the man will increase the chances he can be identified.
Composite sketch of suspect in October 2020 sexual assault, released by Sackville RCMP on February 22, 2024.
Hanson says the assault involved someone threatening a Mount Allison student with a knife. There’s no reason to believe the attack is related to any other incidents, says Hanson, “however, it is very concerning and very scary for the victim. So we’re hoping that the public can help us try to identify who this person is.”
Hanson says it’s not unusual for victims of violent assaults to delay reporting incidents to the police. … Continue
On today’s show, we listen in as Memramcook-Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton questions deputy minister of health Eric Beaulieu about plans to improve access to primary care in Tantramar and the rest of the province. The back and forth was just a small part of an hours long Public Accounts committee hearing in Fredericton on Wednesday.
Plus in briefs, Sackville RCMP have released a composite sketch of a suspect in a 2020 sexual assault, 10-14 York Street in Sackville has been demolished, and Amlamgog chief Rebecca Knockwood has signed a funding agreement with the provincial government. … Continue
On today’s show, we drop by the Gemini Observatory on York Street in Sackville to speak with astronomer Catherine Lovekin about the upcoming total solar eclipse that will be visible all over New Brunswick on April 8. Lovekin says that weather depending, the observatory will be open to the public during the eclipse. There could be big turnout, because the Anglophone East School District has informed parents that school kids will be dismissed early on April 8, in time for the eclipse.
Plus in briefs, Warktimes.com reports that work has started to replace an aboiteau that drains into the Tantramar River, and the RCMP share statistics from a province-wide traffic operation last week. … Continue
