Tara Clow is a multi-award-winning news anchor and reporter with more than 30 years of experience at radio stations across Canada. She is a graduate of the Radio and TV Arts program at Toronto Metropolitan University and the Humber College radio broadcasting program. She is based in Moncton and covers stories across Canada. Contact Tara at clow.tara@radioabl.ca.
An Elsipogtog man is facing charges after fleeing police.
RCMP say on March 17, a suspicious vehicle pulled into a driveway on Sunset Drive in Elsipogtog, but when officers pulled in behind, the driver and passenger fled on foot.
Tracks in the snow led officers to a nearby residence. RCMP say the man was arrested after reportedly forcing himself inside.
After a further investigation, police determined that the vehicle had been reported stolen. Numerous items, including over $100,000 in Canadian counterfeit cash, drug paraphernalia and a small amount of cocaine, were seized from the vehicle.
Charges, including forcible entry and resisting arrest, have been laid against a 32-year-old man.
The man has been released from custody pending a court date in April.
The province is investing $96.5 million in a new Kindergarten to grade 8 facility for 990 students.
Forest Glen School and Sunny Brae Middle School will become one.
“Bringing these two school communities together into a modern, purpose-built learning environment allows us to better support teaching and learning in ways that reflect today’s classrooms,” said Randolph MacLean, superintendent of Anglophone East School District.
Sunny Brae Middle School serves students in grades 5 through 8, while Forest Glen teaches children in kindergarten through Grade 4.
The new school will be built on the site of Forest Glen School on Keenan Drive. Construction is expected to begin in 2027 with an anticipated opening date of September 2030. Both existing schools will remain open until the new facility is ready.
A second person has now been charged in connection with the murder of Melissa Price.
A 36-year-old man appeared in court on Friday. He is facing several charges of being an accessory after the fact of murder and indignity to a human body. He remains in custody with a future court date on March 24.
Recruitment efforts for firefighters are getting more difficult, and a 16-year volunteer firefighting veteran in Hillsborough hopes to inspire more youth for the future.
“We have seen a lot of decline in recruitments in and across the province, and all across Canada, we’re not getting a lot of the younger generation,” Maritime Ignite Fire Academy President Jessica O’Dell told us.
She started as a volunteer firefighter when she was 18 years old. As she moved up, more training was offered, and she decided this year she was ready to start the Academy.
We asked if the Maritime Ignite Fire Academy resembles one on the television program Chicago Fire called ‘Girls on Fire.’ O’Dell told us she gets asked that a lot, “That’s kind of where it stemmed from, because we don’t have programs like that a lot down here.”
Participants will learn everything from firefighter drills, ladders, hoses, and advancements. O’Dell also plans to do a smoke simulation instead of exposing the youth to live fire.
Jessica O’Dell (March 2026) IMAGE: SUBMITTED WITH PERMISSION
“I have a fog machine that we’re going to use to kind of smoke up like a training prop. So they’ll be able to get their experience with that. We’re hoping to be able to do like an auto extrication demonstration, then they’ll be able to utilize all of the tools, get a feeling for things,” O’Dell explained.
Each participant will have their own set of bunker gear to use for the week. O’Dell is also hoping for them to walk out with their first aid CPR certification as well.
Applications are expected to come out on March 31, but O’Dell says she has already had a lot of interest and many questions about the program. “I’ve been receiving messages in the inbox. I have been receiving messages on my personal Facebook asking for more information on it. So I think it’ll be really good.”
The first camp is expected in August. They’ll do a max of 20 participants per week
“If things go well this year, maybe we’ll look at increasing the numbers next year by putting in an extra week or two, depending on how things go. But right now, just to keep the numbers suitable for instructors to participant ratio, we would like to keep it at 20 participants each week,” O’Dell stressed.
Members of the Hillsborough Fire Department will be involved, but O’Dell says she has others coming from as far away as Ontario to help with the academy.
There is one other program similar to the Maritime Ignite Fire Academy in New Brunswick. O’Dell said there is one called Camp Courage, based in Saint John.
“When I went to Ontario in October for Fire Service Women Ontario Symposium, there were firefighters who were there who actually went through these camps and are now full-time firefighters today,” O’Dell stated.
The academy is open to youth between 14 and 18 years old.
Applications are expected to be available by the end of March, with a deadline at the end of June.
In Nova Scotia, regular self-serve ranges from about $1.74 to $1.78 per litre while diesel is selling for between $2.29 and $2.34 per litre.
On Prince Edward Island, the maximum prices are more than $1.86 a litre for regular self-serve, $2.42 per litre for diesel and over $1.86 per litre for home heating oil.
