Residents in Nain experienced a few power interruptions yesterday evening.

We spoke with Mark King who is a Spokesperson for NL Hydro.

King says the cause of the outages was determined by an electrical issue with the unit.

He says with the electrical issue with one of the units caused the voltage problem.

The brief interruption caused 5 short power outages for the community.

He adds there are no concerns of the generation availability now and NL Hydro does have an electrician coming to Nain to fix the issue on site.

NL Hydro apologizes for this inconvenience.

The Nunatsiavut Group of Companies (NGC) announced today that it will match the $54,500 donation that the Nunatsiavut Government is making to food banks and community freezer projects in Nunatsiavut communities and Upper Lake Melville.

“This direct financial assistance will allow food banks and community freezers to purchase food that local communities need,” says NGC President and CEO Chris Webb.

“Food security is a major challenge in northern communities, and this is especially so with winter coming on and during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.”

The program of giving back to communities started when NGC was established a decade ago.

It began with a firewood project for communities where wood is not easily accessible.

In more recent years, with food insecurity becoming an increasing concern, the program has transitioned to support for Nunatsiavut and Upper Lake Melville food banks and community freezers.

“NGC is pleased to be in a position to make this donation to people in need,” says Webb.

“Our company is owned by Nunatsiavut Beneficiaries and our goal is to support Nunatsiavut through employment, infrastructure development and provision of services, and through contributions like this one.

We are in business for Nunatsiavut.” The $54,500 donation will be distributed as follows:

TaKuaKautik – Nain Food Bank $22,000
Hopedale Inuit Community Government $11,500 Makkovik Pantry/Woodbox Committee $7,000
St. Timothy’s Food Bank (Rigolet) $6,000
Postville Food Bank Committee $3,500
NunaKatiget Inuit Community Corporation (Happy Valley-Goose Bay/Mud Lake) $3,500
Sivunivut Inuit Community Corporation (North West River) $1,000.

For further information, contact: Sarah Leo, NGC Chief Operating Officer (709)897-4684.

It’s a big day for the Early Childhood Education students today.

Melissa Mercer is the Instructor for the ECE Program.

She says there are 8 students that will be graduating and the ceremony will be held at the Illusuak at 2pm.

Mercer says in this program, they deliver programs to children to enhance their development, doing activities that are appropriate and many more.

Stay tuned to AtjiKangitut today to hear more from Mercer on the ECE Program.

And congratulations to the ECE Students coming from the OK Radio Society.

Today, Thursday, December 10, Newfoundland and Labrador has one new confirmed case of COVID-19.

The one new confirmed case is a male in the Central Health region between 60-69 years of age. The individual is a resident of Newfoundland and Labrador.

The source of the infection is under investigation by Public Health and is connected to the ongoing investigation in Harbour Breton.

With today’s case, there are now three active cases in that community.

The individual is self-isolating and contact tracing by Public Health officials is underway.

Newfoundland and Labrador has 20 active cases of COVID-19.

There has been one new recovery in the Western Health region. This means 330 people have recovered from the virus.

No one is in hospital due to the virus.

To date, 65,793 people have been tested.

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

Yesterday, Wednesday, December 9, Newfoundland and Labrador had one new confirmed case of COVID-19.

The one new confirmed case is a male in the Eastern Health region between 20-39 years of age.

The case is travel-related. The individual, who is not a resident of Newfoundland and Labrador, came to the province from Asia.

The individual is self-isolating and contact tracing by Public Health officials is complete.

The investigation by Public Health into the source of the infection for the case announced Saturday, December 5 is ongoing.

Newfoundland and Labrador has 20 active cases of COVID-19.

There have been nine new recoveries in the Eastern Health region. This means:

329 people have recovered from the virus.

No one is in hospital due to the virus and to date, 65,333 people have been tested.

In Alert Level 2, Newfoundlanders and Labradorians should continue to practice good infection prevention and control practices.

Also, effective 12:01 a.m. on Thursday, December 10, informal gatherings with family and friends are reduced to a maximum of 20 people from 50.

The National Inuit Youth Summit for this year has been postponed due to COVID-19.

It was hosted here in Nain in 2017 and will be hosted in the summer of 2021 in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut.

This event is held for all Inuit youth between the ages of 15-30.

Eligibilities include:

• Must be an Inuit youth between the ages of 15-30 at the time of the Summit
• Willing to travel and be away from home for up to 7-10 days
• Demonstrate some or all of the following qualities: a passion for learning, interest in Inuit culture, leadership qualities and/or potential to develop these qualities; a desire to make a difference, become an NIYC ambassador and be an active and responsible citizen
• Understand that the Summit is alcohol and drug free. The Summit has a zero-tolerance policy. Use or possession of drugs or alcohol is strictly prohibited
• Understand that this is a unique experiential education and leadership development program – Full participation in all aspects of the program is expected
• Accept the responsibility to act as an ambassador for his/her community and region

Depending on the COVID-19, it will be an in-person gathering or a virtual gathering.

So if any youth that wanted to apply for the youth summit, can contact Mary Binky Andersen at binkyandersen@icloud.com or call her at 709-899-0476.

The deadline is on December 18, 2020, and will make participant selections in January 2021.

With Christmas around the corner, we called most of the schools on getting updates with their Virtual School Christmas Concerts.

Dean Coombs is the Principal for the Amos Comenius Memorial School in Hopedale.

They have been setting up videos for the past two weeks.

They are done recording for the virtual concert, they are now setting up the whole presentations on a website for the parents to see before the holiday break begins.

They are now waiting for the parent’s approval to post their children in the concert.

Dion Rideout is the Principal for the J.C. Erhardt Memorial School in Makkovik.

Rideout says that they are now filming and will be streaming the presentations sometime next week.

Carmine Sheppard is the principal for the BL. Morrison Memorial School in Postville.

Due to COVID-19, they decided to not go with the Christmas concert this year.

In Rigolet, Gervis House is the principal for the Northern Lights Academy School

Each class are now recording their presentations, the teachers still need to get an agreement on when they will be posting it.

The Annual Senior’s Dinner was quite different this year but it was also a huge success yesterday.

The Nain Department of Health and Social Development and the Nain Recreation Department partnered up this year to hold the Annual Seniors Dinner.

We spoke with Jane Merkuratsuk who is the Community Health Worker.

She says this year the Nain DHSD and the Nain Recreation Dept made 200 plates and 188 plates were delivered to every senior in Nain.

Merkuratsuk says they did the food preparations at the Jeremias Sillitt Community Centre.

The seniors were really happy.

Members from the Nain DHSD, Nigivik Center, and Recreation Department and a volunteer helped make this possible.

There have been programs being held at the Youth Centre here in Nain.

Denise Cole is the SHIELD Project Coordinator.

She says they launched Ethan Angnatok’s music video, “Sightless Birds” last night that he won in Labrador Unplugged.

Anyone wanting to watch his music video can check out the Nain Bulletin Board on Facebook.

She says she has been holding programs not just for youth but also for adults as well.

So, tonight from 6:30-8:30, she will be holding a music and craft night for ages 12-18.

Stay tuned to our Teen Rockers to hear more from Cole on her projects.

Here is a press release dated December 8th, 2020 made by the Nunatsiavut Government, regarding Nalcor downplaying elevated concentrations of methylmercury in Muskrat Falls Reservoir.

The Nunatsiavut Government has raised concerns over recent statements made by Nalcor Energy, and that increases in concentration of methylmercury in the Muskrat Falls reservoir and Churchill River are in line with what was initially projected before impoundment.

“Nalcor is intentionally misrepresenting the numbers by suggesting that the concentrations of methylmercury are substantially lower than guideline levels in drinking water.”

We spoke with The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources for the Nunatsiavut Government, Greg Flowers, to find out more about NG’s position.

Ministers Flowers says that this is not the issue nor the concern, but rather the increases in methylmercury in species like fish and seals.

Minister Flowers is still encouraging the harvesting and consumption of healthy, nutritious and culturally appropriate food like fish, birds and seals from Lake Melville.

Meanwhile, staff with the Department of Lands and Natural Resources is planning to hold meetings this winter with Beneficiaries of the Labrador Inuit Land Claims Agreement residing in Rigolet and Upper Lake Melville to discuss ongoing concerns related to Muskrat Falls.

As well as to provide an overview on the Nunatsiavut Government’s monitoring programs.

We will be speaking with Minister Flowers later in the AtjiKangitut Program to find out more.