Headline of the day so far...

They're doing WHAT NOW in the construction sector?

Car-truck collision closes Highway One

Chuck Brown/Courier photos
The driver of a Chevy Caprice was taken by ambulance to Charlotte County Hospital on Wednesday afternoon after a car and tractor trailer collided on Highway One by the Oak Bay weigh scales.
The road was closed for several hours and traffic was detoured.
For more, see the Courier Weekend, May 30.

TOP 5 - Charlotte County's Got Talent

ANTHONY ENMAN, LEFT, AND DAVID HUMPHREYS

TWENTY-NINE AND HOLDING: EMILY SOMERS,
KRISTA WHITE AND CHERI RUSSELL

Straight from Anthony EnDude's lips to my ears via Bill Conley's radio show... here's the Top 5. Catch them Tuesday night, 7:30 p.m.

29 and Holding
David Humphreys
Nick Gay
James DiPaolo
T-Crew

Gone this week is human beatboxer Colin Richards, a unique performer who brought something totally new to Charlotte County audiences. (One of the surviving acts might want to start talking to Colin about a collaboration).

TAVERN FOR SALE

When John and Donna Siefert purchased the Old Town Tavern in St. Stephen, they planned to sell the business after 10 years. On Nov. 11, the couple will have operated the popular watering hole for 15 years. Although they are sad to leave the friends they have made, they have decided that it’s time to bring some new blood into the establishment.

READ THE FULL STORY IN TUESDAY'S SAINT CROIX COURIER

WHO'S GOING TO BUY THE TAVERN? LEAVE A COMMENT IF YOU THINK YOU KNOW...

RECIPE CONTEST

We have five Company's Coming - Most Loved Summertime Desserts cookbooks up for grabs in our new recipe contest.

Get cooking, win prizes
Show off your great taste and win a Company’s Coming cookbook

By KATHY BOCKUS

We want you to win a cookbook.
It’s easy. All you have to do is send us a copy of your favourite summertime dessert recipe. Drop it off, e-mail it to us, or pop it in the mail. Make sure your name and phone number is clearly marked somewhere on your submission.
Five names will be drawn to each win a copy of Company’s Coming Most Loved Summertime Desserts cookbook, compliments of the Saint Croix Courier and Company’s Coming Publishing Limited.
It was from this cookbook that the winning recipe in the recent Charlotte County Hospital’s Staff Appreciation Week dessert contest was taken.
The hardcover book, with a suggested retail price of $24.99, has an assortment of delectable fresh fruit desserts like Peachy Rhubarb Cobbler, Berry Rhubarb Dumpling dessert (made in your slow cooker), Tropical Trifle and Apple Cream Quesadillas (made on the barbecue).
The cookbook also contains a section on “desserts that are almost weightless” such as Pavlova, Burnt Sugar Angel Food Cake and Chocolate Charlotte Russe. Then there’s the section on beating the heat with frosty frozen desserts like Frozen Mocha Cheesecake, Ice Cream Cake, pictured smothered in fresh strawberries, whipped cream and grated chocolate, and a Tri-Color Angel roll filled with raspberry, lime and orange sherbet.
The cook book is chock full of pictures of the desserts featured. Instructions are, as usual in Jean Pare’s books, simple and easy and use basic and easily found ingredients.
The draw will take place June 24 and the winners will be notified by telephone. Their names and their recipes will be published in The Saint Croix Courier on July 1.
Address your entries to The Saint Croix Courier’s Favourite Summertime Dessert Contest, 47 Milltown Boulevard, St. Stephen, N.B., E3L 2X2. Or you can email the recipe to kathy@stcroixcourier.ca

Don and The Grouse

Submitted photo
Don and The Grouse going for a walk up the drive.

Friends come in many sizes, shapes, forms and feathers. But Don Bacon wasn’t totally prepared for this “Fine Feathered Friendship.”
Read all about it in Hello From Beaver Harbour in the Saint Croix Courier, Tuesday, May 27.

Scrappin' Sweeney

St. Stephen's now-retired NHLer Don Sweeney wasn't known for chuckin' the knuckles... looks like he may have inflicted some damage to Recchi's hands with his face.

A slideshow history of Milltown Trucking

Elvis is coming to St. Andrews

Here's a taste of what the IODE Canada will get Friday night.

BREAKING NEWS

Stories we're working on for the Courier Weekend...
* Teacher charged with luring child online
* Pedestrian struck on King Street
* Cod Almighty
* Dunk tank redux

Read all about it in the Courier Weekend - on newsstands Thursday evening...

Swimming weather is here... believe it or not

Some Charlotte County folk went for an accidental swim last weekend while canoeing down the St. Croix - or Magaguadavic - Rivers but for those who prefer the cement pond, the new swimming pool in Milltown opens Saturday.
Public swimming is Saturday and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and for this, and all swimming in St. Stephen, there's no charge.
The pool is heated...

Top 6 - Charlotte County's Got Talent

Chuck Brown photo

CROWD-PLEASIN' COLIN RICHARDS, THE HUMAN BEATBOX

In case you missed it this morning on The Border 102.9 - here's your Top 6 in Charlotte County's Got Talent...

James DiPaolo
Nick Gay
29 and Holding
David Humphreys
Colin Richards
T-Crew

The Top 6 show is Tuesday, May 27, 7:30 p.m. (doors open at 7 p.m.) at the St. Stephen High School Theatre

Ask a town councillor

I just met with St. Stephen town councillor Ralph Williams who floated the idea of running a new column in the Courier to address concerns of citizens. We don't have a name for it yet but the format would be a Q and A – you provide the Qs and Ralph will supply the As.
As this new project develops, feel free to send questions about the Town of St. Stephen and issues that affect it and its residents to editor@stcroixcourier.ca
As always... we'd love to hear what you think of this idea.
- Chuck

Gabrielle bounces back

For full story visit www.stcroixcourier.ca or see Page A-1 of the May 20 Saint Croix Courier

ST. STEPHEN – Five-year-old Gabrielle Bartlett-Vaillancourt was wound up last Friday, May 16.
She climbed onto the lap of her mom, Cynthia Bartlett. She crawled up onto her mom’s shoulder, smiling triumphantly at visitors as she sat precariously high in the large rocking chair. She tossed her new Foxy stuffed fox animal into the air and bopped her mom on the nose with it a time or two.
In essence, she was a typical little kid showing off for visitors and soaking up the limelight. Not bad for a youngster who is currently undergoing chemotherapy.
“Believe me, she didn’t have this much energy in the hospital,” laughed Bartlett as she good naturedly wrestled her daughter into a sitting position once more and warned her of the hazards of climbing on the backs of rocking chairs.
Gabrielle was diagnosed March 29 with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), a form of leukemia that affects the body’s white blood cells that fight infection. Her dad, Andre Vaillancourt had taken her to the hospital for treatment for a nosebleed that wouldn’t stop.
Gabrielle came home the weekend of May 10 after a stay in the IWK Hospital for Sick Children that involved, according to Bartlett, some pretty intensive treatments. For part of her stay, Gabrielle was deemed to be a high-risk patient, said Bartlett, and needed treatments that were particularly hard on her....

EDITORIAL

STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE

Saint Croix Courier – May 20, 2008

Last week the RCMP from St. Stephen made a major announcement – 33 people have been arrested after a series of search warrants were executed. When the cases are brought to court, those arrested could face weapons, drug and child pornography charges.
Dubbed Operation Jerrican (a “J” operation because New Brunswick is the RCMP’s “J” Division), the arrests – 31 in St. Stephen and two in Saint John – followed a nine-month investigation and a series of raids at residences in St. Stephen and outlying areas as well as Saint John.
Our reporter set out to cover the press conference and to get a story on the police operation, the arrests and the possible nature of the charges. Word was already on the street about the raids, their nature and even their targets. The police, and the media, cannot name names at this stage. It’s a little caveat of our justice system that protects the rights of individuals until they have an opportunity to face their accusers in a court of law.
That has angered some citizens in the case of Operation Jerrican.
But the big story that our reporter and the other media came away with from last Thursday’s news conference was the outrage from a handful of citizens over the fact police made arrests yet those arrested aren’t in jail. At the news conference some of those citizens accused police of letting “criminals” roam free while the RCMP finish the “paperwork” in the case. Even the media has gotten on board with one editorial calling the force “irresponsible” and accusing the police of generating fear in the community by making a “premature announcement” of the arrests.
Someone needs to defend the Mounties here.
What happened last week is standard operating procedure. The Mounties do not, fortunately, have the authority to detain individuals unless they represent a clear and present danger to society. And when an alleged perpetrator is locked up, he or she is guaranteed a swift appearance in court while the onus to keep a person detained is entirely on the prosecution. We do not want to live in a society in which police can freely enter our homes and lock us up at will.
In a case like Operation Jerrican, the RCMP can’t and aren’t expected to lock up 33 people. Some of them may well face serious charges. Some may be charged with improperly storing a firearm. They can’t all be locked away until they appear before a judge and they can’t all be marched into court while police are still investigating, interviewing and gathering evidence. It isn’t feasible. It isn’t practical. It just doesn’t work that way.
Announcing the arrests was in no way irresponsible. St. Stephen is a small community. The police raids were no secret. People in town knew something was going on and they were already making up their own stories about it.
The RCMP simply did what the force does in these situations – they told the media and the public what has happened and what will happen next.
The reaction they’ve received has been out of line. It can be expected from people who are scared or frustrated or who don’t know a lot about how the justice system works. We in the media know better.
We know that those arrested in Operation Jerrican are not locked up now. They will appear in court at a later date when the charges they face will be read to them by a judge. They will plead guilty or not guilty. If they plead not guilty, trial dates will be set. It’s highly unlikely any of them will be incarcerated during any of this process (and it could be years-long). Jails are full already. There’s no room for people who have not even been found guilty.
We’re as repulsed at the nature of the charges as anyone. Drugs and child pornography are particularly stomach churning.
But the police are doing something. In a system that sometimes appears stacked against them, a system that so often handcuffs the police while protecting the rights of the accused, the RCMP are investigating. They are gathering enough information to gain search warrants. They are searching residences – an act, by the way, that by it’s very nature places the officers’ lives in jeopardy. And they are making arrests.
And then they’re telling the community about it. And for this, their community and the media are hammering them. Now that’s injustice.

Defence of the Mounties

The RCMP take their share of criticism - some warranted, some not. We believe the New Brunswick RCMP have been hammered by unfair criticism in the wake of last week's arrests in the St. Stephen area. We'll defend that view in today's editorial.

Sunday Bowling legalized!

Amid much debate and controversy the City of Calais allowed bowling on Sundays 60 years ago...

Read all about it in Joanne Mires' Looking Back column in the Tuesday, May 20, Saint Croix Courier.

Here's a historic photo of an early Sunday bowler...

33 arrested in Operation Jerrican

Residents say St. Stephen is a scary place to live, criticize police

ST. STEPHEN – Angry residents challenged the RCMP Thursday morning, demanding to know why, if police had enough evidence to raid homes and lay weapons, drug and child pornography charges against a number of individuals here, they didn’t keep the people they arrested locked up until their trials.
Surprised RCMP officers were caught off guard by the unexpected attack during a press conference to announce details of Operation Jerrican, a massive nine-month-long investigation in southwestern New Brunswick that resulted in 31 arrests in St. Stephen and two in Saint John and the seizure of at least five illegal firearms, one improvised explosive device, child pornography and cash as well as a number of other items not described in detail. The explosive device was seized in Saint John.
Search warrants were executed Tuesday, May 13 at seven residences in St. Stephen, two in Mayfield, one in Mohannes and two in Saint John.
During the course of those raids, 33 people were arrested, 23 males and 10 females, ranging in age from 15 years to 60 years. There were two youths arrested.
Police have not released the names of the people arrested and they have not been formally charged in court.
The investigation is ongoing and no court appearance dates have yet been set.
Staff Sgt. Mitch MacMillan, of the RCMP’s Customs and Excise section, described Operation Jerrican as a “major blow to organized crime in southwestern New Brunswick,” and said it was part of the RCMP’s ongoing crime reduction strategy.
However, MacMillan and the other high-level officers at the press conference Thursday, who represented the joint forces police agencies involved in Operation Jerrican, were hard pressed to convince residents that letting alleged criminals go free after their arrests was a routine course of action.
Police and residents expect to see many of those individuals end up in court.
One resident, Mindy Baxter, accused the RCMP of putting townspeople in danger by arresting suspected drug dealers and then letting them go free while they processed what she described as “paperwork” in the case.
Speaking with reporters afterwards, an irate Baxter, who said she is a lifelong resident of St. Stephen, replied with an emphatic “no” when asked by a reporter if St. Stephen was a safe place to live.
“They’ve identified all the drug dealers and brought them all out into the open. Do you think they’re gonna be happy about that?” said Baxter.
“The police need to get their ducks in a row. They say it’s legal things holding them back. Maybe they should go back to their paperwork, cross all the Ts and dot all the Is and make damn sure they have everything in order. That way they don’t put them back on the street the next day,” she said.
Baxter predicts those arrested are going to retaliate and “you’re gonna find things are going to be happening around St. Stephen that will fly under the radar because nobody can touch them.”
She’s concerned about how much protection the RCMP can provide to the town.
“The police say they are gonna protect everybody, but they don’t. They can’t be in every place at once,” she said.
Baxter said if those arrested find that someone “ratted them out” that person won’t be safe.
“We’re talking about organized crime,” she said.
During the press conference, Superintendent Rick Noble, the officer in charge of federal policing in New Brunswick, said that when police refer to organized crime they are not necessarily referring to biker gangs or mafia. He said organized crime can be any group of three or more people continually committing criminal activity and using the profits from those crimes to support their lifestyles.
He said the police departments were targeting people in New Brunswick communities who are causing the most harm.
“We’re getting them off our streets,” he said.
“By targeting these people, crime will go down significantly,” said Noble. “New Brunswick is a very safe place to live, but we would be naïve to think organized crime doesn’t exist in this province.”
Several women present in the crowd demanded to know if the child pornography police seized featured any local children.
Sgt. Derek Strong, the media relations officer for the RCMP, said all the pornography seized will be examined. He said child porn rarely features children who live in the community where it was seized.
“How do we know our kids are safe?” asked Denica Calhoun.
“Child pornography really shocks me and makes me sick to my stomach,” she said.
“Who’s to say it’s not local children. They could have gone on our school ground and taken pictures of our local children. You can do anything on the internet with a picture now. You can take a fully dressed child and put it naked on the internet and some child molester can get hold of it. It’s sick,” she said.
Strong noted that members of the public outnumbered members of the media and RCMP at the press conference, adding that was a good thing. Besides local residents, Mayor Allan Gillmor and mayor-designate Jed Purcell were in attendance as was deputy mayor Robert Tinker, fire chief Jeff Richardson and CAO Hendrik Slegtenhorst.
Purcell was asked if St. Stephen has a drug problem.
“I’m sure there is,” he said.
Purcell said Operation Jerrican was a good start to reducing that drug problem.
“We have a very good police force,” he said.
Purcell was asked if residents felt any frustration over the town’s drug problem.
“I can’t answer that. I don’t know, I’ve never experienced it, but I do think they’re afraid,” he said.
Operation Jerrican was launched last September, beginning as an investigation into the illegal importation of firearms from the United States into the St. Stephen area.
That investigation led police to a significant amount of other illegal activity, said MacMillan.
The operation was a joint effort between several RCMP districts and RCMP federal units in New Brunswick acting with the Canada Border Services Agency, the Saint John City Police Force, the Rothesay Regional Police Force, U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement, U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency.
The drugs seized included prescription drugs and crack cocaine. The cash seized was not a large amount, said police.

Tell me why I don't like Frondays...

The newspaper business runs on its own schedule and here at the Saint Croix Courier that means playing a fun little game on the Friday going into a long weekend – we're pretending it's MONDAY!
Yep. If you hate Mondays, you're gonna love Fridays that feel like Mondays.
It's one of the little hinks of the newspaper business. It turns out that holiday Monday or not, people still want their newspaper on Tuesday. Imagine!
That means we could either all come in and work on Monday to get it done or we can push a little harder Friday to get Monday's work done now. So off we go to work.

RCMP release details of arrests

33 arrested in weapons, child porn sweep

ST. STEPHEN – Angry residents challenged the RCMP Thursday morning, demanding to know why, if police had enough evidence to raid homes and lay weapons, drug and child pornography charges against a number of individuals here, they didn’t keep the people they arrested locked up until their trials.
Surprised RCMP officers were caught off guard by the unexpected attack during a press conference to announce details of Operation Jerrican, a massive nine-month-long investigation in southwestern New Brunswick that resulted in 31 arrests in St. Stephen and two in Saint John and the seizure of at least five illegal firearms, one improvised explosive device, child pornography and cash as well as a number of other items not described in detail. The explosive device was seized in Saint John.

READ THE FULL STORY IN THE COURIER WEEKEND


Read the RCMP press release HERE

RCMP holding news conference at 11 a.m. today

GET THE DETAILS IN THE COURIER WEEKEND, ON NEWSSTANDS THURSDAY EVENING

Media Advisory - RCMP conduct major investigation into organized crime in southwestern New Brunswick, St. Stephen, N.B.

The RCMP will be holding a news conference to provide details on a major operation codenamed “Jerrican” involving organized crime activity in southwestern New Brunswick.

The RCMP J Division Customs and Excise Section South has executed search warrants at a number of residences in the St. Stephen area. Search warrants have also been executed at two residences in the City of Saint John in partnership with the Saint John City Police Force. This operation is being conducted in partnership with a number of other law enforcement agencies as well.

This operation is the culmination of an investigation, which began in September 2007, targeting illegal weapons. The police have made more than 30 arrests and seized a number of items. Multiple charges are anticipated.

The news conference will be held at the Tourist Bureau on 5 King Street in St. Stephen, N.B. at 11am on Thursday, May 15, 2008.

Source: www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca

Weekend Sports Preview

Some of the stories we're working on for Courier Weekend Sports, May 16, 2008

WRESTLING SSMS Bobcats continue dominance

RUGBY SSHS Lady Spartans hand RNS another loss

FOOTBALL 10-man football axed, SSHS to jump to tough 12-man division

FUNNIES Neville Crabbe chats with comic Jimmy Flynn

Charlotte County's Got Talent Has It's Top 8

From Anthony...

Some Acts Brought Their A-Game While Others Fell Just Short of the Goal

Another stunning night of performances left the audience and judges astounded with the acts that took the stage Tuesday night. Some brought their A Game while others fell just short of a stellar performance. In no particular order: The 8 contestants that received the highest number of votes and will be moving on in the competition:

James DiPaolo
Ashley Lord
T-Crew
Jennifer Blackier
Colin Richards
David Humphries
Twenty-Nine and Holding
Nick Gay

Don't Miss Show 4. Will the Top 8 have what it takes to win your votes?
Will the judges agree or disagree with what the competitors bring to the stage?
Come Out for The Most Talked About Competition This Season


See What They've Got And Cast Your Vote
Tuesday May 20th @ 7:30pm
St. Stephen High School Auditorium
Admission: $5
It's Up To You Charlotte County!
Who Will Be Charlotte County's Next Big Talent?

Lady Spartans blank RNS

WWW.CHUCKBROWNPHOTO.COM

JENNIFER BALDWIN

WWW.CHUCKBROWNPHOTO.COM

KATIE MARSHALL

The SSHS Lady Spartans Rugby team ended the first half leading 5-0 and
exploded in the second half to defeat Rothesay Netherwood 24-0 Tuesday at St. Stephen High School.
The Spartans next game is Saturday, May 17, in Belleisle.

Charlotte County's Got Talent Update

SOMETHING FOR THE ENMANIACS

Charlotte County's Got Talent Top 10 Week is in the books.
Tune in to 102.9 The Border at 7:30 a.m. (Atlantic) on Wednesday for the results.

If the same type of improvement continues week after week this show is going to be must-see viewing for the next month and half!

29 and Holding got over their first-week jitters and delivered a stunning performance, The T-Crew bikers were near flawless and had the crowd on the edge of their seats while Jennifer Blackier brought a totally different look and feel from her Week One Shania Twain to her Top 10 Colors of the Wind throw down.

All the acts had a tough one to follow as Anthony Enman and his posse came through, as promised, with a well-choreographed version of Soulja Boy, Enman Style.

Who will make it through to the Top 8? Who am I to judge? Well, OK, I'm a judge... but I still don't have a clue.

Good job everyone - this was a seriously good show and well worth the price of admission.

Make sure you show up next week since James DiPaolo has promised that if he makes it through he's going to either light his piano on fire, bench press his piano or bench press his burning piano. It should be awesome.

To hold you over, there's ALWAYS THIS.

How'd we do?

Kathy Bockus/Courier

New St. Stephen Mayor Designate Jed Purcell celebrates with his wife, Pat, left and his daughter, Aaron Naccarato, right.


You voted, we voted, everyone voted on Monday and the Courier's coverage of the 2008 municipal election night is on newsstands now.

Two reporters, five election races, a few hours of time to work with... so, what do you think? Leave a comment or e-mail editor@stcroixcourier.ca

Election coverage was a little different this year due to automated vote counting - an efficient and awesome innovation that's going to be a standard soon. Normally the press and candidates sweat out election night together at the returning office. Votes are phoned in from the polls and an election worker writes the numbers on a mural in magic marker. We all do the math and hours later a winner emerges.

It was always handy to have most of the candidates in one place on election night but this year the rules changed. The candidates were spread all over Charlotte County but our news team of Kathy Bockus and Barb Rayner tracked them down.

We opted to go with Jed Purcell as our front page photo for a few reasons - 1. St. Stephen is still our biggest reader base; 2. Purcell's win was unique in that he defeated an experienced, veteran incumbent in Allan Gillmor while the rest of the county voted their incumbents back in and 3. It was a great photo that captured the spirit of last night's celebrations.

St. George and its new mayor, Sharon Tucker, became our line story because Tucker (or Ronnie Cousins had she won) made history as the Granite Town's first female mayor.

Anthony Soulja Boy Enman performs tonight

The election is old news now... it's on to other burning issues such as the election of Charlotte County's NEXT BIG TALENT...

Tonight is Top 10 night for Charlotte County's Got Talent and as one of the crowd's four favourite judges, I can't wait to see everyone step it up.

Also on tap is host/producer (I called him just "host" once and never saw my cat again) Anthony Enman who promises to show us his Soulja Boy dance.

SHOW TIME IS 7:30 p.m. in the St. Stephen High School sweatatorium.

IMPORTANT ELECTION UPDATE

Just kidding

Election Update

Purcell leads Gillmor
James leads Hooper
Greene leads Sturgeon
Craig leads Dowling
Tucker leads Cousins
Red Wings - Stars are tied

The Black Folder of Secrecy

Elections NB made a Canadian first today with its province-wide electronic voting system. Ballots were handed out not as slips of folded paper with golf-course-style mini pencils but in large, black privacy folders with Sharpie markers to colour in the ballot for easy computer reading.
The computerization of the vote means numbers are coming in fast and furious and they're being zapped directly to a web site, meaning the candidates aren't huddled with the press sweating out the results in some sparse backroom of a returning office picking from a meat and cheese tray.
Instead the press, at least some of the press, are at home watching the hockey game. I mean the election results. OK. Both.

St. Croix River deep and cold

Victoria Day paddlers urged to save partying for dry land
(For more on this, see the Saint Croix Courier, Tuesday, May 13)

For many local residents, canoeing the St. Croix is a Victoria Day weekend tradition. The St. Croix International Waterway Commission hopes that paddlers will make it an enjoyable and safe one.

River conditions

Water flows are expected to be 40-80 per cent higher than usual for the holiday weekend. A flow forecast should be available on the Domtar phone-in line (207-427-3117) by late Wednesday and will be posted at the St. Croix put-in site on Friday. Current flows can be viewed online at http://me.water.usgs.gov/stcroix.html (click on St. Croix River at Vanceboro at the bottom of the page).
The water temperature is currently at 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees Farenheit), which will quickly affect anyone's ability to function and can result in unconsciousness in 30 minutes.

Road conditions

Route 745 to Beaconsfield is in good condition and was graded this week by the Department of Transportation. Road shoulders are still soft in places, however, so avoid these if possible.
The County Line Road between Route 630 and Beaconsfield is currently impassable due to a culvert washout near the midpoint. If conditions change, this will be posted at the St. Croix put-in site on Friday. Better to go the long way around, using Route 745, than get stuck or have to backtrack.
Firewood
There is very little wood for fires at the campsites this year and it is illegal to cut live trees. Campers are asked to either bring firewood with them or to stop along the river or roadways between the campsites to pick up dead wood to burn.

In other election news...

Sometimes it seems like all you need is a pulse to get elected. Sometimes, not so much

Apparently there are other campaigns going on too...

Anyone hear about THIS?

Election Day Fever... catch it!

It's Municipal Election Day here in New Brunswick with hotly contested races shaping up all over Charlotte County. Polls opened about an hour and 15 minutes ago.
Here in the newsroom we're getting ready to spice the races up a little - by wagering. Oh but only for funsies. No money will change hands. No sir.

Courier Editor's Shocking Transformation

CHUCK BEFORE SUNDAY BRUNCH
AT THE ALGONQUIN





CHUCK AFTER SUNDAY BRUNCH
AT THE ALGONQUIN

How about a waffer-thin mint?

Photos by Chuck Brown

Fairmont Algonquin cooks Karin Smits, left, and Levon Kaprielian do their thing at the hotel's famous Mother's Day Brunch on Sunday, May 11.

CHUCK'S MOTHER'S DAY BRUNCH SCORECARD
I'm quite proud of today's display of intestinal fortitude at the Fairmont Algonquin in St. Andrews. Here are the dirty details about the dent I put in the buffet...

ROUND ONE (Breakfast)
* Custom-made omelet featuring ham, onion, green and red pepper, jalapenos, tomato, cheese. Oh, and eggs.
* Waffle with fruit and syrup
* Bacon
* A crepe-like sponge marinated in maple syrup
* Home fried potatoes

ROUND TWO (Lunch)
* Roast beef and a sauce the cook named and which I'll say I can't remember but the truth is I wasn't really listening because all I could focus on was how delicious that roast beef was going to be
* Caesar salad (gotta have SOME veggies)

ROUND THREE (Lunch v. 2.0)
* More roast beef
* Chicken breast
* Some sort of tasty rice dish

ROUND FOUR (Dessert)
With most of the family down for the count, it was up to me to finish this meal off with a proper treat... or four
* Pecan pie
* Strawberry mousse
* Strawberry tart
* One Nanaimo bar

NUTRITION INFORMATION: Estimated calories: Enough to feed a family of four for three days.

For the record, brunch was at 1:15 and it's now 7:40 and I STILL haven't eaten anything else.

IMPORTANT QUESTION: Does blogging about the Algonquin Brunch make it a tax write-off?

SPARTANS WIN AT RNS

Photo By Chuck Brown

Kicker Chrissi Nordstrom booted five points - a penalty kick for three and a conversion after a try for two - to help the St. Stephen Spartans down RNS 15-0 in Rothesay on Saturday, May 10. Amanda Stevenson put 10 points on the board as she led the offence with two tries.

MORE PICS HERE

Hooper supports Hooper

Fundy Nursing Home resident, Harvey Hooper, shares his thoughts about the upcoming election - "Hooper votes for Hooper".

Charlotte County's Got Talent Top 10

FROM CCGT PRODUCER/HOST/DANCE MACHINE ANTHONY ENMAN...

The Top 10 has been decided. After two great weeks of preliminary shows the audience and judges have chosen who they want to see carry on in the competition.

The Contestants to move on:

Rachel Gay
T-Crew
James DiPaolo
Colin Richards
Twenty-Nine and Holding
Ashley Lord
Nick Gay
Swollen Graves
David Humphries
Jennifer Blackier

As the weeks get fewer the competition gets even more fierce as things heat up on the talent stage.

Dont Miss Show 3 of CCGT.

Charlotte County's Got Talent
Show 3
TOP 10

Where: St. Stephen High School
When: Tuesday, May 13th
Time: Doors Open: 7:00pm/Show Starts: 7:30pm
Admission: $5

Who Will Be Charlotte County's Next Big Talent?!?

Quote of the Day so far...

"Bob has a hard time spelling 'Bob'."

- From a source close to the SSHS girls rugby team on some questionable player name spellings Coach Bob Coates supplied to the Courier

Another of our favourite Stan Smiths...

Courier Weekend May 9 lineup

Here are some of the stories rolling off the press right this very second... if you happen to be reading this on Thursday afternoon.

* SEE YA STAN -- One of the nicest mayors you'd want to meet, Stan Smith, is all done in St. George after 16 years.


* HOPE MOM ISN'T HANKERING FOR KFC ON SUNDAY -- Part of King Street in St. Stephen is shutting down for water main work... on Mother's Day



NOT THIS STAN SMITH

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We know you have something on your mind, something to get off your chest, something stuck in your craw, something under your skin, under your saddle, in your bonnet... have I missed anything?

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Courier Weekend - Friday, May 9, 2008

It's Thursday afternoon, 3:53 p.m. and the Courier Weekend is just about ready for press. That means if you're, say, a candidate in the May 12 municipal election this would be an excellent time for you to steal something, punch something or run naked through town. We don't publish again until after the election.