The House of Assembly opens for Fall Sittings next week.

Politicians will be back in the Legislature next week for a Fall Sitting and unlike the spring sitting, the general public will have access.

The House begins at 1:30 pm Monday, October 18th. House proceedings will be available via the House Assembly’s broadcast website.

As of Monday, October 25th, the gallery will be open to the public provided that public circumstances remain the same.

All visitors entering the galleries, including employees of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, will have to provide proof of vaccination. Physical distancing will be in place and those in attendance will have to always wear a mask. Seating will be limited on a first-come, first served basis.

There will be a journalist from a French and German TV Channel coming to Nain at the end of the month.

Magali Kreuzer is from the TV Channel called “Arte”.

She says she will be in town Tuesday, October 19th until Sunday, October 24th.

Kreuzer will be looking to do reports with children and families to talk about the Inuit culture.

Click here to hear more on what Kreuzer has to say.

Today, Tuesday, October 12, Newfoundland and Labrador has 21 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the last public advisory on Friday, October 8.

In the Eastern Health region:

· One under 20 years of age;
· One between 20-39 years of age;
· Three between 50-59 years of age; and
· Three between 60-69 years of age.

There are four females and four males. One case is a contact of a previous known case, six cases are related to travel within Canada and one is under investigation.

In the Central Health region:

· One under 20 years of age;
· Three between 20-39 years of age;
· One between 40-49 years of age;
· Two between 50-59 years of age;
· Three between 60-69 years of age; and
· Two 70 years of age and older.

There are five females and seven males. Five cases are a contacts of previous known cases and the others are under investigation.

In the Labrador-Grenfell region:

· One between 20-39 years of age.

The case is a female and is related to international travel.

Contact tracing by Public Health is underway and anyone considered a close contact has been advised regarding quarantine according to current guidelines.

Newfoundland and Labrador is reporting its twelfth and thirteenth deaths from COVID-19. There is one male from the Central Health region between 60-69 years of age and one male in the Central Health region 70 years of age and older. The department is sending its condolences to the families of these individuals and asks everyone to respect these families privacy at this time.

There have been 62 new recoveries, nine in the Eastern Health region, 50 in the Central Health region and three in the Western Health region and 1,780 people have recovered. There are 12 people in hospital because of COVID-19, seven in non-critical care and five in critical care.

There are three new presumptive positive cases in the province. Once presumptive positive cases are confirmed positive, they are reported in public updates as new confirmed cases.

There are currently 69 active cases of COVID-19 in the province. The regional breakdown of the active cases is as follows:

· Eastern Health – 21
· Central Health – 47
· Labrador-Grenfell Health – 1
· Western Health – 0

To date, 318,500 tests have been administered.

For the fans of the 2021-22 National Hockey League (NHL) season begins tonight Tuesday, October 12 with a doubleheader.

Before they can take on Pittsburgh Penguins, Tampa Bay Lightning will raise another Stanley Banner to the AMELIE arena rafters.

Following that game, the expansion Seattle Kraken will make their debut on the road against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Tonight’s doubleheader starts at 8:30 pm (EST) with Penguins vs Lightnings.

At 11pm (EST) Kraken vs Golden Lights.

Tomorrow night fans will be watching the Canadians vs Leaf’s at 8pm (EST).

With more teams to follow.

Newfoundland and Labrador has the highest gas prices in the country according to Gas Buddy dot com.

The average price to top up the fuel tank in this province is $1.59.1 cents per litre for regular gasoline according to the consumer group, somewhat puzzling since in the Maritimes the price is around $1.42. That’s about the same price which people in the remaining provinces pay with the exception being British Columbia where gas costs $1.53 per litre on average.

Meanwhile, oil prices are at their highest in seven years and some analysts predict they will go higher before they drop back.

Rory Johnston, an industry analyst who writes the Commodity Context Newsletter, says the energy crisis sweeping Europe and Asia right now is adding to the demand for crude. He says prices for natural gas are so high on a crude oil adjusted basis that it’s trading at over $200-bbl and causing industry to switch to diesel or oil.

The Thanksgiving sale turned out to be successful in the communities of Hopedale and Nain while Makkovik’s sale has been postponed.

We spoke with Joan Andersen in Makkovik.

Andersen says that the sale has been postponed to next week, October 18th, due to a funeral.

Donations of baked goods and other food items are still welcome at the church on the display in the Moravian church.

Sarah Jensen is from Hopedale.

She says the sale took place outside beside the church and there have been a total of $2630 donated to the church.

There were goods auctioned including sorts of birds, seal meat, ukalik, wood, and much more.

Jensen would like to thank everyone for the support and all donations will go towards the church.

We spoke with Deidi Kohlmeister here in Nain.

She says a total of $1,269 was raised for the church from donations around town and elsewhere. And Betsy Lidd was the winner of the ticket draw for the cake.

Kohlmeister says a big thank you to everyone that gave donations for the sale.

The Postville Inuit Community Government has been busy with their projects this past Summer and into this Fall.

Glenn Sheppard is the AngajukKâk for the Postville Inuit Community Government.

He says that the cleaning up of scrap metal is ongoing and will do so until the end of shipping season.

Sheppard adds that they got a black bear protection permit to keep any wildlife from roaming in the community.

Click here to find out more on the Postville ICG.

Today (October 8), Newfoundland and Labrador has eight new confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the last public advisory. Contact tracing by Public Health is underway and anyone considered a close contact has been advised regarding quarantine according to current guidelines.

In the Eastern Health region:
• One between 40-49 years of age; and
• One between 60-69 years of age.

There is one female and one male. One case is a contact of a previous known case and one case is related to travel within Canada.

In the Central Health region:
• One between 20-39 years of age;
• Two between 50-59 years of age; and
• Two between 60-69 years of age.

There are two females and three males. One case is a contact of a previous known case, two cases are related to travel within Canada and two are under investigation.

In the Western Health region:
• One between 40-49 years of age.

The case is female and is under investigation.

Newfoundland and Labrador is reporting its eleventh death from COVID-19. The individual, a female from the Central Health region, was between 70 years of age and older.

There have been 13 new recoveries in the Central Health region and 1, 718 people have recovered. There are 14 people in hospital because of COVID-19, eight in non-critical care and six in critical care.

There are currently 112 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.

To date, 315,745 tests have been administered.

For the most up-to-date information related to COVID-19, please visit www.gov.nl.ca/covid-19.

Ground Search and Rescue reaches final day of Public Hearings today.

Public Hearings started on Tuesday, September 7 in Makkovik.

They also went to Corner Brook, Grand Falls-Winsor and this week in St. John’s.

Today’s final session, including a round table discussion is set for this afternoon at MUN’S Signal Hill campus.

Commissioner, James Igloliorte must submit his final report by Tuesday, November 30th.

First Light in St. John’s has an ad for the Aboriginal Patient Navigator.

This position supports patients navigating healthcare in the city.

The program is based at the Health Science Centre, the coordinator oversees the APN program and its staff, and engages with patients daily to provide cultural and emotional support.

Please apply with cover letter and resume to: sonya@firstlight.ca, deadline is Wednesday, October 20, 2021.