It’s official. The province has announced St. John’s will host next year’s East Coast Music Awards.

The provincial is providing a total of $300,000 through Celebrate NL and the Department of Industry, Energy and Technology, and the City of St. John’s is contributing $200,000. The awards and associated events will take place from May 7-11, 2025. The five-day event will offer musical showcases, special events, seminars and industry gatherings.

“Thousands of participants and industry professionals will come to Newfoundland and Labrador to attend the East Coast Music Awards,” says tourism minister Steve Crocker. “Our tourism and hospitality operators will also feel the residual economic benefits coming to St. John’s over the course of the event.”

The East Coast Music Awards attract industry professionals, talent buyers, media and record labels from around the world. The 2025 Export Buyers Program expects in excess of 120 Canadian and International talent buyers to Newfoundland and Labrador.

Cruise ship season has officially begun in St. John’s, with the first ship of the season having arrived on this chilly Sunday.

The Phoenix Reisen Amera, with approximately 900 passengers, docked early this morning in the harbour.

It’s the first of 18 cruise lines that are scheduled to make 40 visits to the capital city between May and October this year. In all, they will bring more than 54 thousand passengers.

St. John’s is regularly included on cruise vessels’ itineraries, including those on Northern Trans-Atlantic, Adventure Expedition, Canada-New England and home-porting itineraries.

The public is reminded that parking on Harbour Drive is limited during cruise ship stays. 

The full schedule of cruise visits is available on the city of St. John’s website.

May is Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month and as riding season begins, RCMP reminds all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians that road safety is everyone’s responsibility.  Please be mindful of the increased presence of motorcycles on our roadways.

For increased safety, motorcycle operators should incorporate the following: 

• Obey the speed limit
• Driver sober and well-rested 
• Check, and double check, blind spots before changing lanes
• Ride within your ability and skill level, and ride with others
• Wear approved helmets
• Consider wearing high visibility and/or protective clothing

All other motorists who share the roadway should:

• Keep your eyes on the road – don’t drive while distracted or fatigued
• Check, and double check, blind spots and mirrors, remembering that motorcycles are much smaller than other vehicles
• Give motorcycles space on the roadway – increase your following distance

The Department of Health and Community Services has provided $550,000 in funding to the Canadian Mental Health Association to support mental health and suicide prevention training initiatives.

This funding will enable CMHA-NL to continue to partner with Lifewise NL and Richard’s Legacy Foundation for Survivors of Suicide Loss to provide essential training programs across the province. This aligns with the recommendations in Our Path of Resilience: An Action Plan to Promote Life and Prevent Suicide in Newfoundland and Labrador to increase access to evidence-based mental health and suicide prevention training, thereby enhancing community resources and creating more resilient and supportive communities.

Building upon earlier funding, 62 courses have been offered with 630 people attending training in either Mental Health First Aid, Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) or SafeTalk across the province as of March 2024. This investment will further support a coordinated and efficient approach to mental health training across the province.

Centralizing training with CMHA-NL, in collaboration with Lifewise NL and Richard’s Legacy Foundation for Survivors of Suicide Loss, will also help streamline administration, reduce per-participant costs, and allow Community Addictions Prevention and Mental Health Promotion (CAPMHP) Program funds historically used for this purpose to support additional community initiatives.

Budget 2024 includes more than $17 million to help improve access to mental health and addictions services by expanding options for individuals seeking help when and where needed.

The 2024 forest fire season for the province began May 1 for the island portion of the province, while May 15 is the beginning of forest fire season in Labrador, with both remaining in effect until Sept. 30.

The public is reminded a permit to burn must be obtained from a provincial forest management district office to burn vegetation, wood and paper products during forest fire season. A permit is not required for backyard fires, recreational campfires and boil-ups on forest land, or within 300 metres of forest land, on condition the fire is prepared in accordance with strict Provincial Forest Fire Regulations.

Anyone planning outdoor fires should first check the provincial online forest fire hazard rating maps to determine the level of forest fire risk. Fire hazard maps can be viewed at the Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture website and are updated daily. To report a wildfire, call: 1-866-709-FIRE (3473).

The provincial government has expanded the electronic monitoring program to the Clarenville region. The region spans from Bellevue to Port Blandford along the Trans-Canada Highway and all of the Bonavista Peninsula.

The program allows for enhanced supervision for offenders on probation and conditional sentence orders where the court has imposed the electronic monitoring condition. It also enhances the supervision of those on a temporary absence from correctional facilities where electronic monitoring is deemed appropriate.

Offenders in the program wear ankle bracelets that provide 24/7 location data to probation officers to help enforce conditions such as curfews and no-contact orders. Electronic monitoring also allows offenders to work and support their families and be contributing members of society.

Deer Lake RCMP and the Town of Deer Lake is seeing increased violations by off-road vehicle users and remind operators to adhere to the Off-Road Vehicles Act and Highway Traffic Act. While the town has a by-law allowing licenced operators of off-road vehicles to travel on municipal roads to access trails, they are also using town roads for regular transportation in the community, which is not permitted.

Other violations being seen include operators not wearing helmets and seatbelts; operation without a licence, registration or insurance; and youth operating ATVs without supervision. Parents are reminded of the requirement of proper supervision of youth on off-road vehicles – the adult must be able to see the young operator at all times and be able to communicate with them. The town’s by-law allowing travel on roads to access trails does not apply to youth under the age of 16 as they are too young for a valid driver’s licence.

Deer Lake RCMP continues to enforce the Off-Road Vehicles Act and Highway Traffic Act, violations of which can result in tickets, fines and seizure of off-road vehicles. Operators are urged to only use the roadways in Deer Lake as a means to access trails but also to ensure safety by wearing helmets and seatbelts, and having a valid licence, registration and insurance.

Ontario Provincial Police are now looking for dash camera video in connection with the search for a Newfoundland man who is missing in Ontario.

Investigators are seeking dashcam video from Highway 401 in Whitby Ontario, in the Boundary Road area from April 25, between 10:30am and noon. OPP is also asking those with trail cameras in the S. Glengarry, S. Stormont and Cornwall area to check for any possible sightings.

Brian lush, originally from Stephenville, is a long-haul trucker with Downhome Movers.

He was last seen on Wednesday entering a petro pass on country road in Summerstown near Cornwall, Ontario.

He is described as 5-foot-11, weighing 200 punds with brown hair and brown eyes. He last spoke to his family at around 2:00 PM on Wednesday.