Latest news with #SaintJohn
Ottawa Citizen
2 hours ago
- Business
- Ottawa Citizen
Around the Q: Teams shift focus to 2025-26 season
It was less than 12 hours after the London Knights hoisted the 2025 Memorial Cup Sunday evening that the transactions for 2025-26 got underway in the QMJHL. Article content That's when the QMJHL champion Moncton Wildcats announced that Rian Chudzinski, a member of the USA Hockey's National Program, was joining the team and has committed to Boston University following his junior career. Article content Article content Article content And with the league's draft slated for Friday and Saturday in Quebec City, the quick transition to next year continued in full swing on Tuesday, as teams finalized trades from the past season and to complement earlier moves to bolster their lineups for the upcoming season. Article content Article content The past couple of QMJHL drafts have thrust the Wildcats into the spotlight, first with the Caleb Desnoyers pick as No. 1 overall in 2023 and then last June when they hosted the draft at the Avenir Centre. Article content This year, the Saint John Sea Dogs will stand front and centre as for the seventh time in their history, they will select first overall when the session opens Friday evening in Quebec. Saint John finished 17th overall last season and won the draft lottery for the right to pick first on Friday. Article content The Sea Dogs enjoyed a strong draft in 2024 in Moncton, when they landed forwards William Yared fifth overall and Dylan Rozzi at No. 8. They also secured the rights to defenceman Cameron Chartrand at No. 19, and he inked with the team late in the regular season. Further, they added former first rounder forward Zachary Morin and he inked with the squad early in the year. Morin, Rozzi and Yared all finished in the top eight of rookie scorers this past season. Article content Article content The No. 1 ranked player this year is Alexis Joseph, who turns 16 on June 16. Article content He is a six-foot-four centre whose talent has shone throughout his career, including key evaluation periods and tournaments. That includes last season, when he registered 56 points in 42 games with the Quebec Under 18 AAA College Esther Blondin Phoenix. Article content Saint John also holds the No. 10 and 18 picks in what promises to be a significant building block for the organization, which is looking to move forward after three tough campaigns after winning the Memorial Cup in 2022.
CBC
5 hours ago
- Politics
- CBC
South end space for arts and community groups in Saint John could become housing
Social Sharing Saint John council has taken steps toward approving a B.C. developer's plan to turn a former church that became home to arts and community groups into a residential and commercial building. The south end building in the Trinity Royal Heritage Conservation Area includes the former Germain Street United-Baptist church, built 200 years ago, at Germain and Queen streets. Council gave first and second reading Monday night to the proposed rezoning of the property from neighbourhood community facility to urban centre residential. Community organizations, including the InterAction School of Performing Arts and Chroma NB, which provides services and resources to 2SLGBTQ+ residents, will vacate the space. Young people's arts group sold building InterAction, which provides arts programs for children, bought the building in 2013, according to the group's website. The group sold the building to B.C. architect Bruce Wilkin last October for $150,000, about a quarter of its assessed value. Bruce Wilkin, of Victoria-based contracting company Bruce Wilkin Inc., attended the meeting virtually. He told council he wants to create 25 new housing units on the site. The sizes would range from bachelor to two-bedroom units. Staff reports say part of the ground floor of the building could be used for commercial purposes such as a business office, bakery, restaurant or art studio. Sale a shock to community groups Community groups were blindsided when they learned of the sale of the property, according to Chuck Teed, the former executive director of InterAction School of Performing Arts, who spoke against the proposed rezoning at a hearing Monday. "The community did not get an adequate chance to weigh in on this until very recently," Teed told council. "It was [sold] so quietly, quickly and privately. … Despite the fact that it should have fetched the highest price on the market I feel like the community would have stepped in to save the building had they had any inclination that it was going up for sale." Service New Brunswick's property assessment information page shows the site sold for $450,000 in 2013. When the site was sold again in October, it was for $150,000. The assessed value of the property last year was $597,700. Housing beats community space No current representatives of InterAction, the previous owners of the building, attended the public hearing on the rezoning, and none sent a letter in support or opposition. Two councillors, Gary Sullivan and Brent Harris, voted against the proposal, saying the community space was a loss and could have been saved. Wilkin said the site has two buildings. One is the old church, which Wilkin called "the Institute," and a smaller building next to it housing the theatre space, which he called "the Sanctuary Theatre." Teed said the property sale led some groups to vacate the building immediately. ArtsLink New Brunswick, a non-profit that promotes arts and culture in the province, announced on its Faebook page after the sale that it was moving out. Monopolized Records, an independent studio, was on the property until November, when it announced, also on Facebook, it was moving to Market Square. ArtsLink NB now operates on Prince William Street. Teed said these groups were not consulted about the sale until it was too late. He said the city needs housing, but it also needs spaces for the arts. Responding to Teed's comments, Wilkin said he gave Chroma NB and InterAction free rent until June 30, and he wanted to include community spaces in the zoning to accommodate the two groups. "But both InterAction and Chroma have decided to leave," Wilkin said. "They made that decision on their own. I offered other space in the building to both groups if they wanted to carry on but because of the financial condition that InterAction was in, I don't think they were able to continue." Wilkin said the cost of heating was a factor in the group's decision. Coun. Joanna Killen praised Wilkin for trying to rehabilitate the space, saying the city "desperately needs housing." But Harris suggested council needed more information and he found it perplexing that no one from InterAction's board expressed said anything to council. "It's difficult for me without InterAction here to vote in favour of this," Harris said. "For an organization that's been here for 13 years and has had various board members, why there wasn't an effort to continue the use of that building in its state is beyond me. And why don't we have a letter from the board, a comment, nothing — it's suspicious." Harris said he agreed with Teed that if there had been a public call to the community, the space could have been saved for continued community use. "Yes, we need housing," Harris said. "But there's more to this application because of that legacy organization and its failure to be here. So, I am not going to approve of this application. I'm going to reject it." Housing would make sense as a use for the church building, Sullivan said, but the cultural space with the theatre should be preserved.
CBC
10 hours ago
- General
- CBC
Saint John to make east end intersection more accessible after 20-year push
The City of Saint John is upgrading an intersection that has long troubled the disabled community. Audible pedestrian signals and ramps to traffic islands are among the changes.
CTV News
a day ago
- General
- CTV News
Saint John police searching for suspects involved in two assaults
Two suspects who were believed to be involved in two assaults in Saint John, N.B., on April 12 are pictured. Saint John Police Force is seeking public assistance to identify two suspects who allegedly committed two assaults on April 12. Three males were walking west on Lansdowne Avenue around 9:40 p.m. when one of them tried to smash the window of a parked vehicle, according to a news release from the Saint John Police Force. When the owner of the vehicle confronted the suspect, police say they were assaulted by two of the males. At 10:25 p.m. the same night, two males matching the description of suspects from the prior incident allegedly assaulted another person at a bus stop near a restaurant in the 400 block of Main Street North and demanded money and property. The victim fled on foot. Police have not been able to identify the suspects who pulled up their hoods during the second assault, but they released the following descriptions: Suspect 1: Short Caucasian male, wearing beige pants, white sneakers, black hooded sweater and a black baseball hat with a small white logo on the front. Suspect 2: Thin Caucasian male, taller than suspect number 1, blond hair pulled into a short ponytail with hair on the sides of the head cut short, grey plaid jacket with black hood, dark pants, dark footwear. Investigators are asking witnesses or anyone with surveillance or dashcam footage of either assault to contact police at 506-648-3333 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 if they wish to remain anonymous. For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
CBC
2 days ago
- Health
- CBC
Saint John to fix up 'accessibility nightmare' at intersection
Social Sharing A two-decade push to make a major Saint John intersection more accessible to people with disabilities will be seeing results in the coming months, city hall says. Work this summer at McAllister Drive and Westmorland Road will include upgrades such as audible pedestrian traffic signals and ramps onto sidewalks and island. The four-way intersection — near McAllister Place mall and other large and small commercial businesses — has crosswalks that require getting across pedestrian islands. But the islands from three of the intersection's four corners are small and none have ramps, meaning pedestrians and people in wheelchairs, are confronted by a curb as they cross. The islands are also not fully aligned with crosswalk lines. "Some of the crossings actually bypass the islands, which is not to standard," Jill DeMerchant, the city's traffic and municipal engineer said at a recent information session about the intersection. "So we're going to be making that improvement as part of this project." The construction will bring the area larger pedestrian islands that have ramps. The sidewalks will also have tactile walking surfaces, which are textured patches of sidewalk near the street that serve as cues for pedestrians who are blind and using canes. "Currently, there are no audible pedestrian signals for the pedestrian crossings, so we'll be adding those as part of this project as well, which are the countdown timers for the crosswalks," DeMerchant said. Marisa Hersey-Misner, the chair of the city's ability advisory committee, said the changes will make an important difference to people's access to banks, shops, theatre and transit. "People need to get to their doctor's appointments, their shopping, to just have social interaction, all these things," she says. "If you can't have access, then you end up having other issues such as mental health issues. You don't have that ability to get out and walk and get exercise and all those things. So it is very important for us to improve accessibility." Statistics Canada's most recent numbers on disabilities — released in 2022 — show 35 per cent of New Brunswick's population with at least one disability, the second-highest proportion in the country. Over a five-year period, the province also had the largest increase in the country — 8.6 percentage points — in people with disabilities. The roughly $900,000 project, a part of the summer's slew of construction activity in the city, is to start in July and continue until September, according to a staff report. Construction is expected to have a considerable impact on traffic. The east end project will also include work on the storm-sewer infrastructure. Hersey-Misner said the intersection is one of the most dangerous in the city, calling it an "accessibility nightmare" for those with mobility disabilities. "The ability advisory committee has had this particular intersection on our priority list since 2005," Hersey-Misner said. The city has been resistant, she said, because of the traffic volume, the size of the intersection and the steep cost of upgrading it. Being legally blind since birth, Hersey-Misner said that after a few bad experiences, she tries to avoid the area. "One of the last times I used this intersection, I didn't have a guide dog. I wasn't using my white cane and the sun was glaring right in my eyes, and I couldn't see anything, and I was really afraid to even cross the street," she said. "I was trying to get to McAllister Place to catch a bus. So I basically had to stand at the intersection, listen to all the traffic and how the traffic flow was going. I did probably three or four rotations of the light before even trying to venture out." Hersey-Misner also said the time the signals allow pedestrians to cross is often too short, even for pedestrians without disabilities. "So you take somebody with the mobility disability or a senior that walks slower — they're really struggling to get across the intersection." Hersey-Misner said the changes coming to the area are positive, but she wants the city to go further and be a leader in accessibility. Other intersections have similar problems, she said. Her committee is also trying to make parking more accessible in the uptown. DeMerchant said other infrastructure projects in progress, such as one on Main Street into the city's north end, will include accessibility improvements where needed.
