The stars are set to align today for an astronomical phenomenon that hasn’t been seen on Earth in hundreds of years.

Today, Jupiter and Saturn will appear to be the closest they have to each other in about 800 years.

Gary Diamond, President of the local Astronomical Society, explains that Saturn will be white and Jupiter will have a tinge of yellow.

Today, when they appear at their closest, they will look like one big star in the sky and it will be visible to watch with the naked eye.

With the phenomenon happening mere days before Christmas, Diamond says there is a scientific hypothesis connecting it to the holiday.

He says some scientists believe the “Christmas Star” seen when Jesus was born was the two planets crossing paths again.

There won’t be much difference between the view tonight and tomorrow so look towards the southwest as soon as it starts to get dark enough to see Jupiter.

There’ll be another close Great Conjunction in 2080 if you miss this one.

A recorded Candlelight Service will be aired on OKâlaKatiget Radio on Thursday, December 24th, at 4pm this year.

Families can tune into OK Radio at that time and follow along with the church scheduled paper that will be given to parents when they pick up the bagged apples, candles and biscuit for their children.

Parents can pick up the bagged apples, candles and biscuits for their children on Thursday, Dec 24th, from 1-3:30 from the Nain Moravian Church.

Once you are tuned in on December 24th, parents are asked to give the lighted candles with the apple and biscuits for your child or to your children.

There will be no Children’s Day service for Monday, December 28th, including 3pm, and again on Nalujuit Day on Friday, January 6th, 2021.

The Memorabilia Service will be going ahead this year starting at 7pm on Thursday, December 31st.

A collection plate will be readily available for any donations when parents are picking up the candles, apples and biscuits on December 24th from 1pm to 3:30pm.

The Department of Health and Social Development in Nain will be picking lucky winner for their contest at 2 o’clock.

The contest is for Best Christmas Decorated Windows, and this is being done virtually.

Jane Merkuratsuk is a Community Health Worker for DHSD.

She says as of now they have 16 home owners who entered into the draw.

Merkuratsuk says that there are three prizes to be won, and they are all gift certificates from the Northern Store.

1st place will receive a $150.00 gift card, second place will be receive a $100.00 gift card and the third place winner will receive a $75 gift card.

OKâlaKatiget Radio will be airing the second recordings from businesses and people saying their Christmas Greetings to their families and friends.

Stay tuned to AtjiKangitut today, we will air them at 2:30.

Newfoundland and Labrador have 5 new confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Three of the cases are in Central Health and two are in Eastern region.

Four of the new cases are travel related, while one of the cases in Eastern is under investigation, by Public Health officials said Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Janice Fitzgerald today, Friday December 18th, during the COVID-19 briefing.

One person remain in the hospital due to the virus. The total number of cases in NL is now 372.

Two new recoveries were also reported, bringing the total number of recoveries to 341 with 4 deaths since the pandemic hit the province. There are 27 active cases.

Health Minister John Haggie said higher daily numbers of cases is expected as people return to the province this time of the year, but that’s not a reason to be complacent.

“The concern for our point of view is that everyone follows the rules of quarantine and listens to Dr. Janice Fitzgerald advice.”

Haggie says the province has received a vaccine delivery schedule from Pfizer-BioNTech, and there will be another shipment to take the province through until the new year.

The Health Minister said Moderna, says whose vaccine is waiting for approval by Health Canada, is changing some restrictions on how its vaccine can be transported to make it easier to ship to rural areas.

In total 69,461 people have been tested, that’s an increase of 663 in the last day, the second-highest single-day total since testing began.

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 ensure the safety of 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 per 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.

The Makkovik Pantry & Woodbox Committee has received donations for food baskets for the Christmas holidays.

They are providing each household in the community with a $100 food voucher based on your own family needs.

PO’s have been sent to both Frank’s and A&K Variety. You can only shop from one store under this initiative, and it’s to be used for food items only.

The deadline to pick up your items is Wednesday, December 23rd.

If you have any questions, please contact either Kate or Carol Gear.

We wish everyone a very safe and Happy Christmas holiday!

RCMP Constable (Cst.) Dylan Bergmark took a unique approach to re-connect with youth in the community after in-school activities were restricted at Amos Comenius Memorial School in Hopedale due to COVID-19. He built an outdoor ice rink for the whole community to enjoy.

“Dylan was always popping into the school before COVID-19, saying hello and even participating in a few northern games challenges during sports meet practices,” said Nicole McLean, a physical education teacher at the school and north coast representative for School Sports NL. “It’s great to reconnect and see the community active and safely together at a time like this through the outdoor rink the Constable built.”

It has been many years since Hopedale has had an ice rink. It is not an easy job to make ice and then maintain it, given the weather conditions in the area. Cst. Bergmark gets help from his colleagues and other community members. In addition to maintaining the ice, he is also working on getting some better equipment such as nets for the rink.

Kendra, a student of Amos Comenius Memorial School, said everyone loves the rink.

“Teens, families and all ages are enjoying being out there on the ice,” said Kendra “I am not sure how he is flooding it, but it is very smooth and the edges of the rink are very straight.”

Cst. Bergmark, who is very active and has played hockey in the past, enjoys challenging the kids to a game of shinny. Often, he will gear up and play in goal so the kids can take a few shots while he is minding the net. Goalies typically don’t score a lot of goals but in this case, we’re counting this one as a hat trick.

The medals and banner have finally arrived for the athletes that took part in the Senior Boys Virtual Cross Country Running in Nain this fall.

Julie Dicker is the Physical Education teacher at JHMS.

She says the medals and banner have been presented to the Huskies, since they placed 1st overall as a team.

Dicker says 6 teams from the Labrador Region competed in the race, with 29 runners.

Here are the JHMS Huskies individual placings:

Garnet Nochasak – 2nd silver medal.
Samuel Jararuse- Flowers- 3rd bronze medal
Trevor Dicker – 5th
Shanon Holwell- 6th
Curtis Dicker – 15th.

Dicker says Congratulations Huskikut, your hard work and determination shines on! Atsot Huskikut Atsot!

Christmas is upon us once again and there will be many decorations and Christmas lights throughout the communities.

The Nain Fire Department met with the Fire Chief yesterday to come up with some safety tips that people can use over the holidays.

Henry Broomfield of Nain is a fire fighter; he says that they came up with four tips that people can use.

Stay tuned to AtjiKangitut today to hear more tips from Broomfield.