D8

The Sleuth

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Now that good ol' Metro has shown it has the upper hand on those wannabes in Saint John, it is time for our little city to step up to the plate yet again.

The inaugural Rivalry Cup, which Sleuth hears is larger than even Lord Stanley's silver mug, will make its way to Moncton in time for a presentation at centre ice during Tuesday night's game between the Moncton Wildcats and Saint John Sea Dogs.

So what's next on Moncton's conquest list?

Those who are close to the music scene have been working for months -- in fact, since the last echoes of the Eagles' harmonies reverberated off Magnetic Hill -- to line up another smashing concert success in Moncton. The concert business is hyper-competitive these days, with both Halifax and P.E.I. already announcing summer shows.

KISS will headline a show on the Halifax Common and Sleuth hears the painted-up rockers will likely draw a decent crowd. Meanwhile, the P.E.I. government decided to throw its $200,000 in seed money at a country-themed show for Cavendish featuring Reba McEntire and Tim McGraw. Remember Tim? We had him in Moncton two years ago.

So what is Moncton waiting for? Sleuth hears there are multiple irons in the city's fire. While at least one show seems a definite, there is a real possibility a second summer extravaganza could be held.

The names of the would-be performers are a super-secret, but Sleuth wonders if Ian Fowler and his crew of concert chasers may be interested in the concert that got away from P.E.I. Summerside is still pouting after a deal that would have seen Fleetwood Mac, Lynyrd Skynyrd and John Fogerty was passed over by the P.E.I. government in favour of the Cavendish country show.

Moncton could certainly do worse than the Summerside lineup, even if Fogerty performed here last year. The old Creedence Clearwater Revival lead singer and songwriter stole last summer's show, according to many concertgoers.

The heat will definitely be on the Moncton music-makers to announce something big soon. And if Sleuth knows Moncton music fans like he thinks he does, they won't settle for just a show of similar scope as the already-announced P.E.I. and Halifax shows.

Game on!

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Sticking with city business for a moment, Moncton city council should be pleased with a survey released this week by Maclean's Magazine that showed Metro was a safer city than its counterparts Saint John and Fredericton.

If only Maclean's had realized there is no such place as "Codiac Region, N.B." Data taken for its national crime survey obviously came from police forces and since the Codiac RCMP patrols Metro streets, the deep-thinkers at Maclean's couldn't quite figure out that Codiac is code for Metro Moncton.

In any event, Metro placed 50th of 100 cities surveyed, with a crime rate ranked 25 per cent lower than the national average. Fredericton was more criminal, placing 34th and only seven per cent lower than the national rate.

And then there was poor Saint John, trying so hard to shake its hardscrabble image. Saint John scored the worst of any city for sexual assaults, and 15th overall for crime, a full 47 per cent higher than the national average.

If you want to feel safe in N.B., however, you could always move to Oromocto, the second safest community in the 100 surveyed. It must be the presence of all those men and women in fatigues, eh?

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Sleuth had to scratch his head at the clarification letter published this week by backers of the Sigfreid Janzen Peace Centre planned for downtown Moncton.

This old gumshoe reported last week that federal funding appears secure for the project, which would link the Central United Church building with the back of the Capitol Theatre, using some of the land in a municipal parking lot.

Not so fast, Peace Centre backers declared. They haven't even made a pitch for money yet to Stephen (I'm All for Peace) Harper.

Then what are we to make of an e-mail that landed in Sleuth's inbox last week from Mike Randall, the local PR guru who is handling much of the media correspondence for Moncton-Riverview-Dieppe MP Brian Murphy.

"Brian learned today from government officials that the proposed Sigfreid Janzen Peace Centre for downtown Moncton will receive funding from the federal government," Mike wrote on Smilin' Brian's behalf.

So which is it folks? Is our MP out to lunch on this file or do the Peace Centre supporters simply want to keep the federal gift under wraps until later this spring?

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Just how big was Captain Molly Kool?

Big enough that the prestigious New York Times ran a 1,000-word obituary on her in Monday's edition.

Captain Molly, who died last week at the age of 93, was the first woman to captain a ship in North America.

If the esteemed Times is interested enough to devote that much space to a New Brunswick folk hero, don't you think we should get our act together and save her birthplace in Alma as a tourism showpiece and museum?

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And finally . . .

The fine people at Petitcodiac Riverkeeper are on the move. Starting yesterday, the Riverkeeper set up housekeeping in Suite 407, Commerce House, 236 St. George St. Riverkeeper had been housed for several years in the Architects 4 building at 18 Botsford St.

n Have you heard some juicy gossip? Do you know the latest rumours? Sleuth wants to know what you know. Send your best information to sleuth@timestranscript.com, fax it to (506) 859-4904 or drop it off to Sleuth c/o Times & Transcript, 939 Main St., Moncton.