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Bryan Tait

About Bryan Tait

Bryan Tait is an award-winning journalist based in New Brunswick. He’s a 2008 graduate of St. Thomas University’s journalism program, and a 2021 graduate of the University of New Brunswick’s law program. Contact Bryan at taitb@radioabl.ca.

Posts by Bryan Tait:

people gathering at soccer field

St. Stephen Sports Wall of Fame announces class of ’26

A multi-sport athlete and a three-time championship soccer team will be part of the Greater St. Stephen Sports Wall of Fame’s newest class.

The inductees for 2026 were announced recently for the eighth annual induction ceremony.

In the athlete category, multi-sport athlete Kim Stringer-Hansen joins the Wall.

Donald Brown will enter posthumously as a builder. Brown worked with the St. Croix Sportsman Club, specifically air rifle shooting.

In the team category, the St. Stephen High School men’s varsity soccer team of 1962-64 will be inducted. The team was the Class ‘L’ provincial champions for three years in a row.

St. Stephen Harness Racing and William H. Keyes and W.F. Todd will enter in the Special Achievement category, representing the harness racing era of 1886 to 1959.

The ceremony will take place Saturday, May 23 at the Garcelon Civic Center in St. Stephen, beginning with a meet and greet at 5 p.m., followed by dinner and the ceremony at 6 p.m.

Tickets are $50 and are available beginning April 8. They can be purchased from any board member or by calling Jim Maxwell at 506-466-1798.






a person's hand is holding a gas pump

Interrupter clause strikes again in New Brunswick

Not a very Good Friday for New Brunswick drivers.

On top of the icy, snowy mess across the province, the Energy and Utilities Board appears set to invoke that dreaded interrupter clause yet again.

According to a source, the price of regular self-serve will jump seven or eight cents Friday night.

The price of diesel will do the same.

It would bring the maximum price of regular gas as high as $1.95 per litre.

On the diesel side, it would wipe out Thursday night’s decrease and put the price back to about $2.58 per litre.

Weather update

Maritimes remain under weather warnings

All of New Brunswick and most of Nova Scotia are under yellow weather alerts Friday, as wintry weather continues to pass through the region.

Environment Canada has issued yellow-level snowfall warnings for some northern areas of New Brunswick, with yellow-level freezing rain warnings for the other northern regions and the southeastern part of the province.

Freezing rain warnings in the southwest were lifted late Friday afternoon.

It’s much the same for Nova Scotia, with yellow-level freezing rain warnings in effect everywhere except the southwestern part of the province.

Precipitation is expected to change to rain in the afternoon or evening, depending on the location.

Railway crossing signals display a red warning.

Police looking into train-pedestrian incident in downtown Moncton

Codiac RCMP are looking for information after a pedestrian was reportedly struck by a train earlier this week.

According to Cpl. Luc Picard, the incident was reported on Tuesday afternoon around 1 p.m.

Picard said a train had apparently struck a pedestrian at a level crossing at Victoria and Robinson streets in downtown Moncton.

But by the time emergency crews arrived at the scene, the individual had left the scene.

Moncton Fire Department platoon chief Scott Brown said firefighters spoke to the train driver.

“He says he’s pretty sure that he struck a glancing blow,” Brown said. “But that the person then jumped up and ran away.”

Picard said the incident is being investigated, but RCMP would like to ensure the well-being of the person who was hit.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Codiac RCMP.

Close-up of a person refueling a car at a gas pump during night.

Gas goes up, diesel goes down in New Brunswick

Some drivers are paying more at the pumps Friday after the weekly price adjustment.

The maximum price of regular self-serve is up 3.1 cents to about $1.87 a litre.

But it’s good news for diesel users.

The maximum price for diesel is down 7.2 cents per litre to a $2.50.

Furnace oil is also down to a maximum of $2.42, and propane is down about 1.5 cents to $1.18.

The New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board adjusts prices every Friday at 12:01 a.m.

In Nova Scotia, regular self-serve ranges from about $1.89 to $1.91 per litre while diesel is selling for between $2.46 and $2.48 per litre.

On Prince Edward Island, the maximum prices are just over $1.99 a litre for regular self-serve, more than $2.57 per litre for diesel and $1.93 per litre for home heating oil.

a woman filling a car with gas at a gas station

Gas to rise, diesel to drop in N.B.

It’s a mixed basket of Easter treats at gas pumps across the province this week.

According to an industry source, the price of regular self-serve gas is going up three cents tonight when the Energy and Utilities Board makes its weekly adjustment.

That would but the maximum price to nearly $1.87 per litre.

But diesel prices look to be dropping more than seven cents, bringing the maximum price down to about $2.50 per litre.

The maximum for regular gas is currently at just under $1.84 per litre, while diesel sits at nearly $2.58 per litre.

In Nova Scotia, maximum regular self-serve prices range from about $1.85 to $1.87 per litre while diesel is selling for between $2.49 and $2.51 per litre.

On Prince Edward Island, the maximum prices are $1.96 a litre for regular self-serve, more than $2.57 per litre for diesel and above $1.93 per litre for home heating oil.

The New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board adjusts prices every Friday at 12:01 a.m.

NB Power Head Office

NB Power gets its rate hike

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It didn’t take long, but New Brunswick’s Energy and Utilities Board gave NB Power almost everything it asked for.

After nearly two weeks of hearings last month, the EUB announced Wednesday it had approved a 4.75 per cent rate hike for the fiscal year ending in 2027.

When it made the request, NB Power said it needed the increase in order to address a material and growing infrastructure deficit that would put reliability at risk and lead to higher costs in the future because of unplanned outages.

In its decision, the EUB said it had considered a number of factors raised by interveners during the hearings, including affordability and the effect of rate increases on low-income and other vulnerable New Brunswickers.

“The Board is acutely aware of the effect of increased rates on NB Power’s customers but cannot arbitrarily reduce rates to punish the utility for past shortcomings,” the decision stated.

“Preventing NB Power from recovering costs where the evidence demonstrates those costs are prudent would harm ratepayers by leading to higher rates in the future or creating unacceptable reliability and safety risks.

“For better or worse, NB Power’s current financial circumstances cannot be ignored.”

NB Power also asked the EUB to approve new rate designs and rates related to electric vehicle charging and optional net-zero rate offering, rental rates increases for its customer energy solutions products and services, a higher wind balancing charge, an AMI opt-out fee (a fee for customers who refuse to have the new smart meters installed), and other rates, charges and proposals.

Everything was approved except NB Power’s request to implement a rate rider to recover revenue that would be lost because the new rates would be implemented after April 1.

NB Power must now refile certain documents to the EUB.

After the board approves them, an order will be issued approving rates for each customer class and the related rate schedules and the EUB will set dates for the new rates to go into effect.

Dorchester Penitentiary 4

Inmate dies at Dorchester Penitentiary

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An inmate has died in custody at Dorchester Penitentiary.

According to a press release from Correctional Service Canada, 70-year-old Melvin Glen Stanton died on March 31.

Stanton had been serving a life sentence since March 16, 1971.

CSC said his next of kin have been notified.

Per CSC policy, the coroner has been notified of Stanton’s death.

In January 1988, after escaping from a community corrections centre in Toronto, Stanton murdered 25-year-old Tema Conter in her apartment building.

Conter was born and raised in Halifax.

Her death led to changes in how CSC works with volunteer organizations.

Established in her memory, the Tema Foundation works with first responders and frontline workers to support their mental health.

Saint John Law Courts

Saint John man sentenced after child sexual abuse and exploitation investigation

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A Saint John man has been sentenced to four years in prison following an investigation into child sexual abuse and exploitation material.

Anthony Lee Guthrie, 51, pleaded guilty in January to charges of possession, making available and accessing child sexual abuse and exploitation material.

He was sentenced March 24.

Guthrie was arrested in June 2021 after members of the RCMP Internet Child Exploitation Unit, the Saint John Police Force and the RCMP’s Digital Forensic Services executed a search warrant at a residence on Wallace Court in Saint John.

Police seized several electronic devices during their search.

In addition to his prison sentence, Guthrie was ordered to register with the National Sex Offender Registry and to provide a DNA sample.

Once released from prison, he’ll have to follow conditions imposed by the court.

Donnie Snook

Convicted sex offender Snook has release conditions changed

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A former youth minister and Saint John city councillor has had his statutory release conditions altered.

Donnie Snook was convicted in 2013 of various sexual offences involving youth and was sentenced to 18 years in prison.

In February, the Parole of Board of Canada released a decision removing certain conditions related to Snook’s statutory release.

Specifically, he is no longer required to reside at a designated community-based residential facility or psychiatric facility approved by the Correctional Service of Canada.

A condition requiring Snook to not associate or communicate with any person he knows or has reason to believe is involved in criminal activity was also removed.

A third condition regarding Snook’s possession and use of a cellphone was altered to make it more specific as to features and applications on a phone that can be reviewed by Snook’s parole supervisor.

Other conditions, including no contact with victims or their families, no unsupervised internet access, and no unsupervised contact with children, remain in effect.

The Parole Board’s decision said Snook has made progress in completing certain objectives that demonstrate he’s been addressing factors that contributed to his crimes.

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