RugbyFest 2009

PHOTO UPDATE - ST. STEPHEN BASKETBALL ASSOC. APRIL 19, 2009

SPARTANS WIN ST. STEPHEN INVITATIONAL

ST. STEPHEN – The St. Stephen Lady Spartans won their own tournament Saturday, defeating Rothesay Netherwood School in two straight games in the final.

The Spartans came back from 11 points down in game one of the final and never looked back.

For more, see the Courier, Tuesday, April 21.

Hache questioned by blogger

Environment Minister Roland Hache speaks with Tim Foulkes, of the Bayside Preservation Committee, and blogger Charles Leblanc about Wednesday's public meeting in St. Andrews.

JV Spartans take on Harbour View

 

Abbi Wilt returns a serve for the JV Spartans on April 9. For more, see Tuesday's Courier.

Gas leak report empties dorms

 

The residences of St. Stephen's University were emptied Saturday evening after someone reported the smell of gas. Firefighters investigated. For details, see Tuesday's Courier.

Breast Cancer fundraiser marred by cheating Ganong

I thought last week's Dooly's fundraiser for breast cancer was going great as members of the community like myself, some radio personalities and others took their turns behind the bar serving up drinks and donating all tips raised to cancer research.
Sadly the festivities were marred Sunday when "celebrity" bartender Nick Ganong cheated his way to becoming the top fundraiser.
After I obliterated amateur drink slingers like The Tide's Mark Downey ($58) and Bill and Tom - WQDY's undynamic duo of spilly servers ("I don't know how much we raised but you killed us, Chuck") I figured I had the top fundraiser title in the bag with my $189 raised on a slow Friday evening.
But with my total as a target, Ganong waited until his shift was almost over before begging patrons to empty their pockets to put him over the top. I wasn't there but witnesses tell me it was shameless. His unaudited total was in the $200 range but I bet his Foxy Ladies and Kinky Pinkies were way less delicious than mine.
We'll have more on this breaking news as it develops.
- Chuck

IDOL RETURNS

Downeast Idol host and producer Anthony Enman, left, with contestant David Humphreys during last summer's Charlotte County's Got Talent competition.


Popular competition will raise funds for high school theatre
ST. STEPHEN –Downeast Idol is back.
The popular singing competition returns for to St. Stephen for a third season, running for six weeks starting Wednesday, April 29.
Auditions for Idol are Sunday, April 19 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. at St. Stephen High School.
The competition is open to residents from St. Stephen, St. George, St. Andrews, Saint John and Calais. Only those 15 years of age and over are eligible to audition. Applications are available via e-mail, enmaprod@gmail.com or by contacting producer Anthony Enman at (506) 650-3113. If you can’t make the audition but still want to try out, contact Enman.
Up to 12 contestants will be chosen to compete in the six-week competition.
Unlike previous years, singers can audition with an instrument.
The show will run Wednesday, April 29, Wednesday, May 6, Monday, May 11, Wednesday, May 20, Wednesday, May 27 and the finale will be on Tuesday June 2.
Admission is $5 per person or an Idol Pass will be available for all shows.
Downeast Idol was created in the summer of 2006 to raise funds for the erection of the Charlotte County Civic Centre in St. Stephen. Since then organizers have added some great new ideas, and have changed their charity for donation. The competition is now raising money for the Save Our Theatre Campaign to refurbish the St. Stephen High School theatre and replace its lighting system.
Last year Enman produced Charlotte County’s Got Talent, won by singer/guitarist Nick Gay of Utopia. He said the show is going back to its idol format due to popular demand.

BREAKING NEWS

Deer Island teacher Jude O'Reilly has pleaded guilty Monday to a charge of indecent exposure over the Internet. Our reporter was in court and has all the details in Tuesdays Saint Croix Courier.

HARLEY WINNER

Congratulations to Bernie Mersereau, Lorneville, on winning the 2009 Harley Davidson Bike at the Old Town Tavern draw on Saturday night! This was the 10th Annual Harley Draw with proceeds going to Fundy Region Transition House.

- From Carole McKenzie

WHAT WE'RE WORKING ON

Tuesday, March 31

* Another candidate wants Tony Huntjens' job. Find out who.

* Get the details from Sarah Russell's bail hearing

* Southern Hockey League champion will be crowned Saturday or Sunday

BREAKING NEWS -- Russell gets bail

FRIDAY MARCH 27
ST. ANDREWS – A 19-year-old Moores Mills woman charged with manslaughter by criminal negligence and accessory after the fact to murder in connection with the death of her newborn son has been released on bail.
The court ordered that evidence presented at the bail hearing this week cannot be published - only the outcome. She was released from custody Friday afternoon and left the Court of Queens Bench in St. Andrews with her father.
Mr. Justice Raymond French heard evidence presented by Sarah Marie Russell’s lawyer, Randy Wilson, and Crown prosecutors Jim McAvity and Randy DiPaolo on Wednesday and Thursday, March 25 and 26.
Russell is also charged with disposing of the body of a dead child in an attempt to conceal its birth. She is due back in Provincial Court on April 20 when it will be decided if and when she will have a preliminary hearing into the first two charges. At that time she will also elect her mode of trial on the disposing of a dead body charge.
Russell and her boyfriend, Rodney Miller, 27, were arrested Jan. 29 and have been in custody since.
Miller is charged with first-degree murder in connection with the child’s death. No date has been set for his bail hearing. He is due back in Provincial Court on April 14 when it will be determined if and when he will have a preliminary hearing.
Both Miller and Russell have elected to be tried by Court of Queens Bench on their murder, manslaughter and accessory after the fact charges.
They both underwent court-ordered, 30-day psychiatric examinations which determined they were fit to stand trial and were not, at the time of the alleged offence, suffering from any mental disorder that would make them not criminally responsible.
The small house where Russell and Miller lived on Route 790 was cordoned off for several days after their arrest as local RCMP officers aided by those from the J Division Major Crime Unit South conducted the investigation into the infant’s death.

HEADLINES - Courier Weekend, March 27

In the Courier Weekend, March 27
Call 466-3220 to subscribe

Woman charged in infant’s death seeks bail
Out of the woods, deer pose highway hazard
By-election candidates have until April 17 to file
St. Stephen family heading north… way north
Thompson slams province for quarry defence
Malloch seeks PC nomination
Washington County: We want our LNG
Body recovered, search continues for second man
Silverkings, Thrashers all tied up

YOU SAID IT...

Quotes of the Week, Courier Weekend, March 27

“I’m just frustrated with the tactics of (Blacks Harbour Silverkings coach) Meryl (Stewart) and his nutbars.”
– St. Andrews Thrashers General Manager Murray Knox

(Meryl and the Nutbars would be a good name for a rock band).

“I am so confident in all the work that has been done by Calais LNG and I know this will be an excellent project for the area.”
– Calais Mayor Vinton Cassidy.

“The economy of Maine and Washington County is on thin ice, and Calais LNG will recharge our economy and help build a secure energy future.”
– Maine State Senator Kevin Shorey

“I don’t have a PhD or a college education but what I have got is a hard work ethic and very strong common sense values.”
– Curtis Malloch, PC candidate

“Does the province actually believe that these fines – which are supposedly now under strict conditions for on-site storage at the quarry – suddenly become safe when they are distributed into local communities? This is simply not believable.”
– Veterans Affairs Minister and MP Greg Thompson

“I just hate to see them killed.”
– Sharon Tucker, on the numbers of deer being killed on Highway One

QUOTES OF THE WEEK

“I didn’t support it or not support it."
“I just said, economically, it looks okay.”
– ST. STEPHEN MAYOR JED PURCELL (RIGHT)

“I think they have to hear both sides of the story and, once they do, I am sure they will change their opinion."
– ST. ANDREWS MAYOR JOHN CRAIG

"If these people are supportive of Jamer Materials, and believe in Jamer's solemn statements and science that they pose no threat to the environment (despite their operating history, and that of their parent company), let them host Jamer in St. Stephen. Let's plant a giant quarry dead-centre and sell it to the people as The St. Stephen Central Core Improvement Project."
– PAT MOWATT, BAYSIDE RESIDENT

“Did they not read the article?”
– PURCELL

“I didn’t have time to think."
– JERRICA BARTLETT, MEDAL OF BRAVERY WINNER

“They are putting us back 50 years. It makes no sense. They have wasted enough money on things that don’t add up. I don’t know how they came up with this.”
– JOYCE STUART, DEER ISLAND LSD

“People will have to adjust their travel plans.”
– ANDREW HOLLAND, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

“You can fight a better battle from within.”
– FORMER ST. STEPHEN MAYOR BOB BROWN CALLING RECENT RESIGNATIONS FROM COUNCIL A MISTAKE

“I am outraged. I am just vibrating."
– TERRY JAMES
BLACKS HARBOUR MAYOR ON THE PROVINCE'S FEE-BASED AMBULANCE PLAN.

"If someone wants to drop the mitts, we are more than happy to accommodate them."
– MATTY WALSH (RIGHT)
BLACKS HARBOUR SILVERKINGS

HEADLINES

John Gardner/Courier

The Bartlett family gather around Medal of Bravery winner, Jerrica Bartlett. From left Josh Bartlett, Sheila Bartlett, Randy Bartlett, Jerrica Bartlett, Leah Bartlett, and Roxanne Petitpas.


In the Saint Croix Courier, Tuesday March 24, 2009
Call 466-3220 to subscribe

Lack of support stings St. Andrews -- Anti-quarry mayor wants chance to convince St. Stephen to join the fight
Quarry 'looks okay' -- But that's not a vote of support, says St. Stephen mayor
Councillors shouldn't have quit, says a former St. Stephen mayor
St. Stephen girl earns Medal of Bravery
Council chickens out of animal ban after bylaw lays an egg
Katlyn keeps fighting
Ferry cuts set Deer Island back 50 years
Mayor slams ambulance fee plan
Province responds to Thompson's quarry claims
Calais LNG holds public meeting Tuesday

EDITORIAL
Gutless comments are getting too much attention
LETTERS
If mayor supports quarry, bring it to St. Stephen
St. Stephen mayor stabbed St. Andrews in the back
Quarry GM says watershed is safe

SPORTS
Silverkings hook series lead
Islanders compete for NB title


St. Stephen girl earns Medal of Bravery

By JOHN GARDNER
john@stcroixcourier.ca

ST. STEPHEN – On March 16, Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada, announced that Jerrica Bartlett, of St. Stephen, will be the recipient of a Medal of Bravery awarded in a ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa.
On Aug. 4, 2007, then 11-year-old Bartlett rescued her great-great-uncle from a possible drowning in North Head, Grand Manan...

See the full story in Tuesday's Saint Croix Courier

HEADLINES

JOHN GARDNER/COURIER Sarah Marie Russell, 19, is charged with manslaughter and being an accessory after the fact to the murder of an infant.

In the Courier Weekend, March 20, 2009...

Couple deemed fit to stand trial in infant death case
Hundreds tell province: We don't want a quarry
St. Stephen mayor, councillors support quarry
Islanders keep ferry hope afloat
ASF’s Wilfred Carter dies at 82
Blacks Harbour councillor resigns
St. George wakes up dry
St. Stephen liquor store on the move


FIT TO STAND TRIAL

By KATHY BOCKUS
kathy@stcroixcourier.ca

ST. STEPHEN – A Moores Mills couple has been found fit to stand trial on charges of murder and manslaughter in connection with the discovery of the dead body of their newborn son.
Rodney Stuart Miller, 27, has elected to be tried by judge alone in Court of Queen’s bench on a charge of first-degree murder.
Sarah Marie Russell, 19, chose the same mode of trial on her charges of manslaughter and being an accessory after the fact to the murder of an infant the court is calling “Baby Russell.”
After the couple’s court appearance in St. Stephen on Tuesday, Miller’s lawyer, Joel Hansen said he would not be asking for a preliminary inquiry on his client’s behalf.
He said he is pushing for the receipt of the autopsy report.
“There’s no report yet that says the infant was alive at birth,” said Hansen. “If the child was not alive, there is no murder.”

For more visit www.stcroixcourier.ca

HEADLINES

Dick Cornish, of Dooly’s Billiard Room in St. Stephen, is ready for a St. Patrick’s Day toast.

In the Saint Croix Courier Tuesday, March 17

Parker quits, St. Stephen council now down to four
Thompson urges quarry foes to attend meeting
Doucet sinks Campobello ferry dreams
Mayor John Craig wants to replace Huntjens
Parents charged in infant’s death return to court
Thompson demands clean-up of fines from granite quarry
Man who tried to rob video store gets treatment, not jail

St. Stephen Town Council... visionaries

Image copyright John Drysdale, used with permission

A few St. Stephen residents have asked the town to allow them to raise some hens in their yards. St. Stephen council has moved swiftly... to develop a bylaw banning chickens and any other livestock from town.

Meanwhile, in a forward-thinking, visionary city like Vancouver...

Cup comes to FHS

Barb Rayner/Courier
Former NHL stars Brian Trottier (left) and Butch Goring pose with a replica
of the Stanley cup with students from Fundy High where they made a
presentation Wednesday afternoon.