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Politics

N.B. MPs named to committees

OTTAWA - New Brunswick MPs have been named to several committees for the 40th Parliament - should it last. Conservative Rob Moore, parliamentary secretary to Justice Minister Rob Nicholson, will square off against Liberal justice critic Brian Murphy on the justice and human rights committee. Conservatives Mike Allen and Rodney Weston are on the fisheries and oceans committee. Allen, the MP for Tobique-Mactaquac, also returns to the natural resources committee. New Democrat MP Yvon Godin and Liberal Jean-Claude D'Amours are both back on the official languages committee. Conservative rookie MP Tilly O'Neill-Gordon is on the status of women committee and on veterans affairs.

Safety

Search called off for missing American

CAMPOBELLO - The search has been called off for a missing man from Lubec, Maine. Chris Ferguson, 30, went missing while harvesting periwinkles at low tide in an area between Campobello Island and Lubec earlier this week. Ferguson was looking for periwinkles with a friend, but the two became separated. The friend said he heard Ferguson calling for help and ran to shore to get assistance.Two Coast Guard boats, a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter, a Canadian Coast Guard helicopter, a Maine Marine Patrol boat, Washington County sheriffs, the Lubec Fire Department, and the RCMP scoured the area during a 17-hour search for Ferguson.

Chemical spill

Restrictions eased on well water

FREDERICTON - The Department of Health says people affected by a recent chemical spill in the Fredericton area now can use their well water for activities such as showering and washing clothes. However, the advisory not to drink or consume well water still applies to 10 homeowners and 20 businesses in the Evergreen Park area. The initial water ban followed a chromium trioxide spill in late October. People were told not to use their well water for any activity that brought water into contact with their bodies. The Department of Environment has been providing drinking water to those to whom the advisory applies.

Security

Roads closed to Canadians

WOODSTOCK - U.S. border officials say the days of travelling unchallenged from Canada into the United States along two roads in the Woodstock area are over. The Brown and Russell Roads are closed to Canadian vehicles using the roads to gain access to the Aroostook Valley County Club or any Canadian property located on the United States-Canadian border. For 80 years, Canadians and Americans have been making technically illegal entries into both countries to play golf or visit the home of Nickolaj Pedersen, who must drive on the U.S. road to access his Canadian farm. Chief Patrol Agent Joseph Mellia told a recent community meeting the roads are a big gap in U.S. security. He says Canada has an "undisputed presence" of international extremists like Hezbollah, Hamas and other terrorist groups.

Crime

Moncton woman gets jail time

MONCTON - A woman was sentenced to jail time in a Moncton court today in connection with a drug bust in Newfoundland and Labrador. Laurie Coates, 31, earlier admitted to trafficking about 11 kilograms of marijuana and one kilogram of cannabis resin. The bust occurred last February in St. George's, N.L. A judge gave Coates two years less a day, to be followed by two years of probation. Coates has family in the Moncton area and asked for the charges to be transferred to the New Brunswick city.

Investigation

Dead man's ID still a mystery

MONCTON - Codiac Regional RCMP have not been able to identify a man found dead on the side of Mapleton Road one year ago. Police say they have received several tips, but the results have been inconclusive and they continue to seek public assistance. The man was of average height with a slim build, dark brown hair with a natural auburn tint and an unkempt beard. He appeared to be in his forties. The man was wearing an old down-filled jacket, two leather jackets, blue jeans, a blue hat and blue mittens. Anyone with information is asked to contact Codiac Regional RCMP at (506) 857-2400.

Construction

Building sector active in Dieppe

DIEPPE - The building sector was once again active in the City of Dieppe for the month of November, with the issuance of 33 building permits with a value of $2,036,262 according to statistics released by the municipality's Building Inspection Department. The municipality issued 12 permits in the residential sector with a value of $1.1 million and eight in the commercial sector worth approximately $800,000. The total for the first 11 months of the year is $77.2 million compared to $71.1 million for the same period in 2007.

Internet

Archives launches communities site

FREDERICTON - A new website identifying thousands of communities where people live or have lived in New Brunswick over the past 150 years has been launched by the Provincial Archives. Where Is Home? New Brunswick Communities Past and Present contains the names and locations of more than 4,600 communities. The database also has the derivations of each community name; listings of the changes those names may have undergone and descriptions of distinctive features of communities. More than 600 documents and 900 photographs are connected to the community descriptions. The public is encouraged to provide the archives with additional information for the website, found at www.archives.gnb.ca.

Arts

Beaverbrook work on loan in Europe

FREDERICTON - One of the most valuable, and most contested, paintings in the Beaverbrook Art Gallery's collection is currently on loan to two European Galleries. The Fountain of Indolence, J.M.W. Turner's 1834 oil on canvas, is included in the exhibition, Turner in Italy, which opened this month at the À Palazzo dei Diamanti in Ferrara, Italy. The exhibition, co-organized by the Italian gallery and the National Gallery of Scotland, then travels to Edinburgh for display from March 27 to June 7, 2009. The masterpiece is key to an ownership dispute between the New Brunswick gallery and the Beaverbrook U.K. Foundation, which claims it owns the painting and wants it back.