Latest / VOCM On Demand / VOCM News Morning Update October 13th

Transcript

VOCM News Morning Update October 13th · VOCM On Demand

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: I'm Sarah Strickland. A woman has been charged after a
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: fire near the wharf in St. Anthony Sunday night. First
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: responders rushed to the scene after a commercial building went
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: up in flame. RCMP searched the property and confirmed there
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: was no one inside. The fire spread to other structures
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: before it was doused by the local fire department. Not
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: long after, RCMP located the 33-year-old suspect. She was taken
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: to hospital as a precaution. She now faces charges of arson,
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: break and enter, and failure to comply with her court-ordered conditions.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: The investigation continues. Deaths related to substance use in Newfoundland
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: and Labrador are down substantially compared with the peak scene
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: over the last several years. Richard Duggan reports.
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has provided VOCM
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: news with data going back to 2018. It shows that
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: between 2018 and 2022, the total number of substance-related toxicity
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: deaths per year ranged from 44 to 57. The number
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: started to spike in 2023 with 77 deaths, and peaked
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: in 2024 with 92 lives lost. Last year, the number
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: of deaths dropped to 80. So far this year, 25
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: people have died. In each year since 2018, the majority
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: of deaths have been classified as accidents, while some have
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: either been ruled as a suicide or undetermined. With the
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: exception of 2018, men have accounted for more than half
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: of the substance-related deaths in the province each year. The
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: information for 2025 and 2026 is classified as open-year data,
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: as investigations are still ongoing. Charts outlining the information can
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: be found online at vocm.com.
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: Flu season has arrived in Newfoundland and Labrador with a
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: handful of cases confirmed by the Department of Health. Three
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: people have been hospitalized as of October 9th, with one
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: in critical care. Nobody has died. There have also been
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: a few people diagnosed with COVID-19. While government has not
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: given the official date for the rollout of flu and
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: COVID shots, some local pharmacies are already booking appointments for
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: October 19th onward. Meanwhile, health experts are urging Canadians to
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: get flu shots as soon as they become available in
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: their area, given predictions that this year's flu season is
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: an early one. The head of the Firestone Institute for
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: Respiratory Health, Dawn Boudish, says flu is really bad for kids.
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: She says the flu vaccine works for about six months,
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: but peak protection lasts for about three months. It's looking
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: as though the province's promised electricity rebate may not be
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: in place in time for the coldest months this winter.
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: Government promised the rebate on the back of the Churchill
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: Falls deal with Quebec. However, its implementation is contingent on
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: the deal being signed. With the newly elected PQ government
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: in Quebec wanting to take time to review the deal,
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: Premier Tony Wakeham has indicated that they're willing to extend
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: the deadline to get the final agreement signed to the
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: end of March. If negotiations go down to the wire,
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: that could mean the rebate won't show up on people's
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: bills until April. In a statement to VOCM News, the
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: Department of Finance says plans for the rebate have not
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: changed and it will be implemented as soon as possible
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: once the deal is finalized. Premier Tony Wakeham believes the
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: deal will be finalized long before the March 31st deadline.
• 3:24
  Speaker 3: What I meant is that the agreement allows for us
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: to go up to March 31st, 2027. confident and hopeful
• 3:32
  Speaker 3: that this will be done before then. On the rebate question,
• 3:36
  Speaker 3: I think that you're all going to be pleased. The
• 3:39
  Speaker 3: people of Newfoundland and Labrador are going to be pleased
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: with announcements that we will make very soon.
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: We're getting into the time of year when we need
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: a little extra protection against the elements, but not everyone
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: can afford winter outerwear. Newfoundland Power is teaming up with
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: the VOCM Cares Foundation again this year for the annual
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: Coats for Kids campaign. From now until Friday, donations of
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: new or gently used winter wear can be dropped off
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: at any one of Newfoundland Power's offices across the province.
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: Communications officer with the utility, Glenda Power, says that despite
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: the name, they'll be collecting adult winter gear as well.
• 4:17
  Speaker 4: We're looking for gently used or new coats, snow pants, hats, mittens, scarves,
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  Speaker 4: winter boots. And you can bring them right to our
• 4:26
  Speaker 4: regional offices or our offices on Kimball Road, Delphi Place,
• 4:30
  Speaker 4: and St. John's. And we'll collect those. And then in
• 4:34
  Speaker 4: partnership with VOCM Cares, make sure that those items get
• 4:37
  Speaker 4: to those in need.
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: Donations will be distributed in the area they are collected.
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: The VOCM Cares Foundation will also be running a free
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: pop-up shop at the Village Shopping Center within the coming weeks.
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: That's your news. I'm Sarah Strickland.