The Department of Justice and Public Safety is providing tips on how to protect yourself and your family this holiday season through its ‘Tis the Season to Practice Fire Safety campaign.

Sitting around a fireplace with ‘Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire’ is a tradition of the holiday season. Here are some tips on how to safeguard your home, family, and guests:

• Inspect, maintain, and clean your chimney regularly to prevent chimney fires;
• Use a small amount of dry wood to build your fire. Do not overload your wood stove or fireplace as this may cause overheating which can lead to damage to the wood burning unit and piping;
• Always remove any stockings or decorations hanging on or near the wood stove or fireplace before lighting a fire;
• Never add highly flammable materials or substances such as wrapping paper or gasoline to your fire;
• Never set up a Christmas tree close to a wood stove or fireplace;
• Carbon monoxide alarms are necessary if you have a wood burning unit in your home. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for correct installation;
• Open the damper in a fireplace to enable proper air flow and keep it open until the fire is out and ashes have cooled; and
• Never go to bed with a fireplace still burning.

Once a week during December, the department is issuing a Public Advisory to ensure residents keep fire safety top-of-mind as they celebrate the holidays.

The Department of Justice and Public Safety wishes all residents a safe and happy holiday season.

Students at the Amos Comenius Memorial School of Hopedale, J.C. Erhardt Memorial School of Makkovik, and Northern Lights Academy of Rigolet had their Christmas concerts this week.

In Nain, the Jens Haven Memorial School will be having their Christmas concert on Monday, December 19th in the gymnasium starting at 1:30pm.

The B.L. Morrison Memorial School of Postville will be having their Christmas concert on Tuesday, December 20th.

Students will be going home for the holidays on December 2nd and back to school on January 3rd, 2023.

Newfoundland and Labrador doctors say residents should be getting vaccinated against influenza immediately as the province surpasses its previous peaks in cases dating back as far as 2014.

According to the latest weekly influenza report, the province recorded more confirmed cases in a single week than any previous report in the last six years.

Hospitalizations more than doubled in the Week 48 report, with 62 cases reported for this flu season so for. Of those, 12 have been admitted to intensive care.

Right now, fewer than one in four people in the province have had this year’s flu shot.

The province recorded 148 cases in the first week of December alone.

The increase in respiratory viruses throughout Newfoundland and Labrador recently prompted the province’s top doctor to issue a public service announcement.

Two individuals, both from out of the country were transported for urgent medical attention following a plane crash that occurred yesterday morning in Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

At approximately 10:30am, police received the report of the plane crash which occurred near the airport in Happy Valley-Goose Bay. The PA-46 Malibu non-commercial aircraft was carrying a man and a woman.

Both were airlifted to the Labrador Health Centre in Happy Valley-Goose Bay with serious injuries.

A 52-year-old man from Switzerland, who was an occupant of a small plane that crashed in Happy Valley-Goose Bay Wednesday morning, died at the hospital late that afternoon.

The aircraft’s other occupant, a 45-year-old woman also from Switzerland, remains in serious condition.

Police can confirm that the personally owned aircraft departed Nashua, New Hampshire earlier this week.

Happy Valley-Goose Bay RCMP continues to work in consultation with the Transportation Safety Board and the investigation into the cause of the crash is continuing.

There will be an annual youth Christmas supper today Friday, December 16, sponsored by the Recreation Department.

It will be an eat in supper with meals provided by Mary Brown’s at the Jeremias Sillitt Community Center gym for all ages up to 30 years of age, starting at 5pm and children under the age of 8 must be accompanied by an adult.

On Sunday, December 18, there will be a Santa Claus Parade starting at 1pm, starting at the airstrip and ending at the JS Community Centre.

Santa will be giving out treats and gifts for children ages 12 years and under from Toys for the North donated by the RCMP.

A prize of $500 will also be awarded for best Individual Float, and a Business Float prize awarded to Charity of your choice in Nain, for an example Nain Care, Food Bank, or church.

For more information contact Recreation Department at 922-2690 or 922-2691.

We will have more of the Christmas events with recreation on Monday.

SmartIce is looking to hire on three youth trainees and three part time operators in each of the five Inuit communities.

We spoke with Rex Holwell Jr., Manager of Nunatsiavut Operations in Nain.

He says he recently got back from Rigolet and spoke with the AngajukKâk Chesley Sheppard, as well as the wildlife officer, and discussed the plans for the upcoming ice season.

He adds that the youth trainees will be getting paid $20 and hour, for the operators they will be getting paid $25 and hour.

Click here to hear more from Holwell on the 2 job positions for the coastal communities.

The provincial government’s latest numbers released yesterday, showing 11 people in hospital, including 4 in critical care, and 6 people have died in the last week, raising the province’s total deaths to 285 since the pandemic began in March 2020.

Hospitalizations have fallen since last week, when 15 people were in hospital, with 5 in critical care.

The province has also recorded 142 new cases of COVID-19 since last week’s update, but the numbers don’t reflect the true prevalence of the disease, since it records only positive PCR tests done by provincial health authorities, and doesn’t include rapid tests done by the public on their own.

Last Thursday marked the 1,000th day of the pandemic in Newfoundland and Labrador, which registered its first presumptive positive case of COVID-19 on March 14, 2020.

The Labrador Winter Games will go ahead for 2023 and the Nain team are practicing for the games.

Kelly Edmunds is the Coordinator for Nain.

She says the Labrador Winter Games will be in Happy Valley-Goose Bay from March 12-18, 2023.

Nine men and eight women have registered to be part of Team Nain.

They’ll be playing mandatory sports such as Northern games, skiing, snowshoeing, duathlon, Labrathon, target shooting, and snowshoe biathlon, and also optional sports such as volleyball, ball hockey, badminton, table tennis and road running race.

They have practices following the Jeremias Sillitt Recreation schedule to practice what sports will be played at LWG.

Edmunds says they are accepting any donations that would help with their uniforms, team registrations, and other things they need for this event.

If anyone would like to donate or help, you can reach out to Edmunds or any of the members of Team Nain.

The Nain Moravian Church Members held a meeting at the NG’s Boardroom yesterday afternoon and was a good turnout.

Simon Kohlmeister took a few months break and has returned as Leader for the Church and Chapel Servants.

At the meeting, the issues discussed was the CEEP workers painted the Church floor and was going the start the floor upstairs.

Those workers will also help the chapel servants on Monday, December 19 at 9:30am, and put up the two Christmas Trees, decorate the poles, and put up the Christmas Lights up the Steeple.

There will also be two church services on the Candle Light day one at 4pm and at 7pm. The OK Radio will air the 4pm church service, starting from the 6 plex upwards.

The lower end of town will go to church from the 6 plex downwards and across the brook at 7pm.

This year we will have Mary Binky Andersen as our organist who will play the Christmas tunes.

The Northern manager told Simon that he ordered 3 boxes of apples, gave two sugar and two packs of teabags, and milk lunch biscuits.

The Chapel Servants and their helpers will start putting the candles on the apples in the morning at 9:30am on Saturday, December 24.

The Nunatsiavut Government held a meeting in Ottawa this week.

Johannes Lampe is the NG President.

He says a few of its officials also attended; Melva Williams, First Minister, and Roxanne Barbour, Minister of Language, Culture and Tourism.

ITk’s President, Natan Obed and other Ministers from Ottawa also attended.

Lampe says this was the first meeting ever held about Indigenous people land claims.

Click here to hear Lampe give you more information about the meeting.