January Seal vs. Fish: With overwhelming population numbers, Ward Samson is concerned seals are slowing the rebound of cod and salmon.
Samson says a seal s diet can be made up of four per cent cod and four per cent salmon.
With an estimated 7.4 million harp seals, Samson said that works out to 400,000 metric tonnes per species.
He thinks a reduction in the seal population will help thwart the consumption numbers, allowing cod and salmon a stronger chance at rebounding. Stranded waiting for ferry: Cancelled crossings for the MV Apollo left a number of travellers stranded and unhappy last weekend.
After a scheduled 8:00 am crossing on Friday, January 9 made it through a patch of thick slob to get to St. Barbe, the ferry sat at the dock until Sunday morning due to ice and weather concerns.
Meanwhile, stranded travellers took on additional expense as they waited for the Apollo to go back in service. Hoping for a dialysis unit: With darkness setting in and snow hitting the ground, Melvin Genge prepares to leave St. Anthony for another long drive back to Anchor Point.
It s a routine that plays out three times a week, 52 weeks a year, so his son Rocky can receive kidney dialysis.
While the provincial government incurs the travel expense for the Genges, the trip itself is not by any means a day at the park.
Melvin believes there should be a dialysis unit in Flower s Cove, as it would significantly reduce the travel time.
February
Northern boundaries: After lengthy debate, legislation introduced by provincial government is looking to have the House of Assembly reduced by eight seats (from 48 to 40) with none of the four seats in Labrador being touched.
With Labrador deemed a safe zone, many are wondering what it means for the Great Northern Peninsula s two district seats.
Based on the geography and population of the area, Straits-White Bay North MHA Christopher Mitchelmore says there could be little in the way of change, if any at all.
I still believe at the end of the day there will be two members representing the Great Northern Peninsula, whatever variance is used we have a population that would allow. Expanding internet service in St. Anthony area: Broadband internet service is expanding to new areas of the Northern Peninsula.
Investments from the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, Bell Aliant, and St. Anthony Basin Resources Inc. will see the communities of Great Brehat, St. Carols, and St. Anthony Bight receive the service in the near future.
The work on this project is presently underway. Mineral discovery in SE Labrador: Canadian mining company Search Minerals announced on January 27 a critical Rare Earth Element discovery near Port Hope Simpson, Labrador.
The site, called Deepwater Fox, is the second major find in the Port Hope Simpson Rare Earth Element area, which stretches 62 kilometres long and eight kilometres wide. Search Minerals first major Rare Element Earth discovery was Foxtrot in 2010. Since then, 22 other sites have been discovered or outlined for upcoming prospecting.
Roof collapse closes businesses: Perry Fillier remembers hearing a large bang around lunchtime on Tuesday, Feb. 17.
When he went to find out what had made the noise, the owner of Home Hardware and Foodland in Roddickton-Bide Arm discovered that the building s roof had collapsed onto the second floor, affecting bother businesses. The building also served as a Sears Canada outlet.
The collapse has forced the two businesses to temporarily shut down. And how long the doors will remain closed is up in the air, as everything is still preliminary. March
Feeling snubbed: Keith Billard is feeling slighted by his government.
The Flower s Cove mayor recently found out there s no pre-budget consultation scheduled for the Northern Peninsula. The closest location to present in person is in Corner Brook tomorrow.
For the last two years Billard has been advocating the need for a central location when it comes to consultations on the Northern Peninsula. St. Anthony weighs in: Karl Ove Knausgaard s remarks have struck a nerve with the people of St. Anthony.
In his New York Times piece, My Saga, Part 1 the Norwegian writer was commissioned to travel to L Anse aux Meadows, where the Vikings settled, and then to drive into other North American locations where Norwegian-American immigrants had settled.
He arrived in the area back in January.
During one particular outing to Jungle Jim s, Knausgaard questioned the menu and called the restaurant patrons fat.
Main Brook gets water back: Every home but one had some water running in Main Brook, as of Wednesday, and Mayor Leander Pilgrim was hopeful that home would get water in short order.
He said the town s water pressure is slowly building back up and expected it to return to normal in the coming days.
The town lost its water supply when a winter storm knocked out the power to the pump house, on March 3. Without power to operate the town s two pumps, the reservoir that gravity feeds the town through more than six kilometres of six to eight-inch line quickly went dry. Moving property: It looks like two of the five vacant schools on the Northern Peninsula could soon be in the hands of new owners.
Back in February the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District announced it was looking to divest properties in Port aux Choix, Port Saunders, St. Lunaire-Griquet and St. Anthony. It s also looking to sell a school in West St. Modeste.
The District put the buildings to tender to try and save some £400,000 annually.
Since tenders have closed, two of the buildings have been approved for sale. Exploring the possibilities: Provincial government is hoping to have a better sense of where Labrador ferry contracts lie after Easter, according to Transportation Minister David Brazil.
Liberal MHA Lisa Dempster, in a recent press release, criticized government for not moving forward with contracts after the Request For Proposals for the construction of two new ferries for Labrador closed towards the end of 2014.
April
Flying the flag: After much public pressure and demonstrations that saw Labradorians erect Labrador flags at the two Labrador-Quebec borders, the provincial government has finally committed to officially flying the Labrador flag.
One border is located between L Anse au Clair and Blanc Sablon and the other is located between Labrador City and Fermont. DFO says no change to salmon retention policy this year: When federal Fisheries minister Gail Shea announced that the Maritimes would be strictly catch and release only for salmon this year, many Newfoundland and Labrador anglers were concerned about what it meant for this province.
One concerned angler is Ward Samson from Main Brook.
Ward, the past-president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Wildlife Federation, is fearful that the changes brought to New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and P.E.I. will bring an end to the retention of salmon for anglers here. Drawing the line: If everything moves forward as proposed St. Barbe MHA Jim Bennett won t have a district to represent come election time.
The Electoral Boundaries Commission has released its recommendations as to where eight legislature seats can be moved and St. Barbe was one of them.
To make up the difference, the commission proposed a district called St. Barbe-White Bay North that would start at the tip of the Northern Peninsula and extend south to River of Ponds; it will take in 12,241 residents. A district called Gros Morne would extend from Deer Lake to Bellburns. It would take in 12,509 residents.
Hold the line: There wasn t a big lot said about the proposed redrawing of the district boundaries on the Great Northern Peninsula.
Out of the seven who showed up for the public consultation, only one presented.
Boyd Noel, of St. Anthony, told the commission, which attended through online video conferencing, the Peninsula s districts should be left alone. May
An upgrade needed: Every day Cherie Lee Campbell-Oram boards her new Jeep Wrangler and makes her way over a washed-out, pothole-filled, mucky road on her way to work.
Regularly having to drive from Charlottetown to Port Hope Simpson, and elsewhere, should not bring about so many issues; but in the past two years, Campbell-Oram has paid £11,000 in damages to her vehicle sustained on the Trans-Labrador Highway.
She says the government needs to step in, to possibly build the road up and put new culverts in; and to then add a re-topping and a new layer of crushed stone. Signing off: By late August St. Anthony Coast Guard Radio (MCTS St. Anthony) will be signing off.
That s when the Canadian Coast Guard is hoping to have its technological upgrades and additional staff in place at the Goose Bay station, which will be consolidated to serve both areas.
St. Anthony mayor Ernest Simms is very worried about what this means for his town and the surrounding coastal fishermen.
Shears employees win £167,792.90: Craig Ball could barely contain his excitement when he walked into Shears Building Supplies, in St. Anthony, on the morning of May 7.
He was the holder of the employees group Lotto 649 ticket that was good for half of the second prize – £167,792.90. A second matching ticket was sold in Quebec.
With 20 people in on the ticket current employees and a few former employees who still contribute to the pot each person will walk away with £8,300. Roddickton home destroyed by fire: A Roddickton home belonging to Kirby and Bertha Hancock was completely destroyed by fire last Monday morning.
According to Corporal Desmond Mollon, who was on patrol that morning, the fire started as a result of home repairs around 8 a.m.
The homeowners didn t have any insurance, and following the fire an online Go Fund Me campaign Fire Fund-Kirby and Bertha Hancock was started. Tragic accident claims the life of Roddickton woman: A tragic accident near Reef s Harbour claimed the life of 58-year-old Katie Wilcox, of Roddickton, on May 18.
Wilcox was travelling south along Route 430 with three friends on their way to catch a flight to a church retreat in Ontario, when a rock from a north bound truck went through the windshield and struck the driver in the head and chest area.
Wilcox succumbed to her injuries en route to hospital.
No one else in the vehicle was physically hurt.
June
Back on line: After eight days the remaining five Main Brook homes got its water back on Wednesday.
According to mayor Leander Pilgrim, the leak originally cut off water to about half of the town. But in working the situation, employees were able to restore water to all but five homes.
Fishers call for investigation into the FFAW: Anger and frustration was the only way to sum up fishermen s feelings.
They re upset with the Fish, Food and Allied Workers (FFAW) handling of the Gulf fisheries and last Sunday they laid it all on the table.
A few issues raised were quota cuts, having to buy halibut tags from the FFAW, the handling of the lobster buyout, claims that the FFAW is co-managing the fishery with the DFO, putting rules, regulations and fees in place that impact fishermen. Scallop fishers taking FFAW to court: Straits fishermen have been trying to change how the Fish, Food and Allied Workers (FFAW) allocates a settlement fund, for a loss of fishing grounds, since last year.
In Feb. 2014, it was announced that a £2.6 million payout, plus an additional 15 per cent for an FFAW administrative cost, was negotiated for Area 14 scallop fishermen by the FFAW.
It was compensation for the loss of fishing grounds as a result of the Muskrat Falls transmission cable that will be laid across the Strait of Belle Isle. Flower s Cove wharf to receive upgrade: The Flower s Cove government wharf is about to receive a major upgrade.
Public Works & Government Services Canada has awarded a £1,579,712 contract to Rocky Harbour company Floyd s Construction Limited to reconstruct a timber crib marginal wharf.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans says completion of this work will ensure that fishers have safe berthing and offloading facilities in the harbour.
Conche man doesn t remember hitting moose: Other than what he s been told, Steve Bromley has no recollection of what happened.
The Conche resident was heading back from St. Anthony when he struck a moose near Route 432 highway depot in the early morning hours of June 22.
The collision beat out the windshield and peeled back the roof, but Bromley continued on for another 18 kilometres to the Route 434 turnoff Conche branch until another traveller flagged him down. July
Examining the Baffin Sound: St. Anthony Port Authority is continuing to push forward with its quest to have the Baffin Sound removed from its wharf.
For the past number of years the 80-foot vessel has been tied to the wharf on St. Anthony s Eastside, engine parts are scattered next to the vessel, and it s been impeding what the Authority is calling potential business opportunities. St. Anthony reconsiders CHY contribution: The Town of St. Anthony appears to have reconsidered providing a contribution towards upcoming Come Home Year celebrations.
When the event was first announced in 2013, a year after the previous Come Home Year which saw massive cost overruns that the town covered, council decided to distance itself from the 2015 event.
And as a result, a 2013 in-kind donation request to the town from the organizing committee was denied.
I m the one who caused all the trouble : I m the one who caused all the trouble, said Charles Budgell as he sat back in his chair reflecting on the years.
The 90-year-old St. Anthony resident was talking about how the St. Anthony Elementary verse All thy children shall be taught of the lord, and great shall be the peace of thy children. got placed on the school.
The bible verse has spent a lot of time in the headlines lately because the Newfoundland and Labrador English School district has decided it won t be transferred to White Hills Academy. Because the sign has been placed on town schools since the early 1900s, the town has been trying to have the sign transferred to continue its historic significance.
Which is why Budgell placed it there in the first place.
Northern Peninsula wharfs get multi-million dollar funding: Federal government has taken an interest in Small Craft Harbour infrastructure.
Over the next two years, according to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, £288-million will be spent to accelerate repair and maintenance of Small Craft Harbours across Canada.
It means big things for the Great Northern Peninsula. August
More than 30 salmon found dead at Parker s Brook: Something happened to the salmon at Parker s Brook (locally known as Western Brook) and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada is still trying to determine exactly what happened.
On Sunday, July 26, several salmon were found dead or near death at the bridge near Parker s Brook s headwaters. Amongst the orcas: Milton Offrey has encountered orcas here and there, but last Sunday was the closest encounter he s ever had.
The Port-au-Choix fisherman was spending a day on the water trying to mackerel, in preparation for the halibut fishery, and on his way back from the Point Riche area he spied what he thought to be porpoises.
He figured they were chasing fish, so Offrey decided to approach, with hopes of stocking up on his bait supply.
But the closer I got I noticed that it was too big to be porpoises, and I could see the dorsal fins rising out of the water, he said.
He knew right then he was amongst killer whales.
St. Anthony councillor resigns: The town of St. Anthony accepted councillor Marilyn Walker s resignation letter at its Aug. 8 meeting of council.
In the letter Walker said she certainly appreciated the opportunity to represent the people of St. Anthony over the last 12 years. A celebration of life: Family and friends filled the John Wesley United Church in Roddickton to celebrate the life for their loved one Christopher R. Decker on Aug 12.
After a long battle with cancer, the former MHA passed peacefully on Aug. 8. He was 74-years-old.
While Decker had many accomplishments throughout his life, including United Church minister, businessman and politician, to name a few, his true passion was his family. St. Anthony Coast Guard Radio officially signs off: After months of waiting, St. Anthony Coast Guard Radio is signing off.
On August 19, the process to consolidate St. Anthony Marine Communications and Traffic Centres (MCTS) with MCTS Goose Bay took place. The Goose Bay centre will service both areas.
Save the Canso a step closer to completion: The Save the Canso project is inching ever closer to completion, and the Town of St. Anthony was of big service to its progression.
In the summer of 2013, a crew arrived in St. Anthony and Stephenville to remove the bomber engines from the Cansos located in those towns and use them potentially on their plane. The Canso Crew s mission, based out of Fairview, Alberta, is to return the Canso FNJE to flying condition and to tour the country as a flying museum, attending air shows and stopping in smaller communities to share the history with school children and the public. September
This money will keep me home : Jonathan Patey, 29, says the best thing about his winning the Set for Life lottery is he can stay home with his family instead of working out of province.
A heavy equipment operator from River of Ponds on the Northern Peninsula, Patey is the province s latest Set For Life winner. William s Harbour votes on relocation: Permanent residents of William s Harbour have voted to determine their future, and they are overwhelmingly in favour of relocation. Twenty-five out of the town s 26 permanent residents, or 96 per cent, voted in favour of the move. This met the provincial government s threshold of 90 per cent.
Conche stone mystery solved: A stone found at Moncy-Le-Preux Memorial in France, honouring a fallen Conche war hero garnered a lot of attention last week.
The stone, which had Bernard Carroll Conche Newfoundland etched into it was discovered by Peter Morris, Special Assistant (Strategic Communications) to the Office of the Premier, who was on a Trail of the Caribou pilgrimage back in June and July.
According to Joan Simmonds, of Conche, the stone is actually from the small community and contains an interesting origin story.
Back in 2011, Theresa Carroll Collins of Mount Pearl, was planning on making a trip to France. She had been doing research on a distant relative, Bernard Carroll, of Conche, who had died in the Great War. Trying to save the Sylvialyn II: Listed on her side, the charred remains of Sylvialyn II were strapped to an excavator and boom truck, last Monday; it was all that was keeping her at the Cook s Harbour wharf. The plan was to place air bags underneath her so she could be towed to the beach for demolition. October
Calling for full-time psychiatry: Protestors are standing up and fighting for the right to proper mental health care access.
Outside Charles S. Curtis Memorial Hospital in St. Anthony on Friday, October 9, a group held a staged protest to bring awareness to the matter of Labrador-Grenfell Health s permanent full-time psychiatry position being vacated on October 15. Up until this date, Dr. Mistry had serviced the entire Labrador-Grenfell Health region as the psychiatrist.
Big Land stays red: Liberal incumbent Yvonne Jones got caught up in the red wave that swept across Atlantic Canada and most of Canada in Monday s federal election, as Justin Trudeau s Liberals made up a majority government.
Jones received 8,878 votes a staggering 7,099 votes ahead of her closest competitor. Hutchings wins by landslide in Long Range Mountains: Gudie Hutchings entered her victory celebration in Corner Brook to roaring applause and chants of Gudie! Gudie! Gudie! ringing throughout the packed Glynmill Inn.
The Liberal candidate was expected to win in the traditionally red district, and it took only half an hour after polls closed in Newfoundland, on Oct. 19, for Hutchings to be declared the winner. By the time all 255 polls were counted, Hutchings had nearly 75 per cent of the votes. November:
MV Apollo going off on maintenance in January: Changes are coming temporarily to the Labrador ferry service in January.
On November 3, the Department of Transportation and Works released a public advisory to Labrador ferry users, informing them that an alternate ferry schedule and temporary air service would be in place for a two and a half week period from January 5 to 22. This will be to allow an annual maintenance of the MV Apollo prior to the ice season, they say.
Paying respect: Residents across the Northern Peninsula and Southern Labrador paid their respects to those who served and are currently serving in the armed forces during Remembrance Day ceremonies on Nov. 11. Hope Air receives £25k donation from SABRI: A recent donation from St. Anthony Basin Resources is allowing Hope Air to continue a vital, potentially life-saving service, in the St. Anthony region.
Recently the group donated £25,000 to help Hope Air continue providing free flights for individuals with low income salaries to get vital medical care. Hope Air offers flights for people with any kind of illness. Conche still waiting to hear from Transportation and Works: The Town Council of Conche is getting tired from the never-ending battle to keep their gravel road in satisfactory condition.
Numerous calls have been placed to the local highways depot and regional offices to have the road graded, potholes in remaining chip seal patched and areas of the road repaired since July but there has been no effort made by the Department of Transportation and Works to complete any of the work.
December
People remain the priority: There was a quiet excitement from the more than 30 Liberal supporters who gathered at Thirsty s, near Plum Point last Monday, to back St. Barbe-L Anse aux Meadows candidate Christopher Mitchelmore.
When everything was allied for the district, which had a 52.65 per cent voter turnout, Chris had 4359 votes (89.3 per cent), Ford Mitchelmore had 404 votes (8.3 per cent) and Genevieve Brouillette 117 votes (2.3 per cent). Never in question: In Cartwright-L Anse-au-Clair it was an overwhelming victory for the Liberal Party as incumbent Lisa Dempster was re-elected with 93 per cent of the vote. Biggest budget yet: At £2.9-million, an increase of £120,000, the 2016 budget was the largest ever brought down by the Town of St. Anthony.
As far as budgets go, it pretty much had a steady as she goes vibe with plans to have funding in place should the £9.25-million in government asks for asphalt, waterline repairs, a new fire station and rescue truck come forward.