Registered nurses got a tour of the new mental health and addictions facility in St. John’s this week, and RNU President Yvette Coffey says while the new building is bright and beautiful, the space is not there to meet mental health care needs in the province.

Coffey says the new facility has 30 fewer beds than the old Waterford which it is replacing.

That, says Coffey, is a great concern “because the resources are not out there throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. We have a new facility in Goose Bay that they can’t even staff…they’re staffing it with agency nurses last I heard. I don’t even know if they’ve been able to fill permanent positions up there. It’s a nice space, but there’s not enough to meet the mandate of the province in my opinion.”

Coffey says the emphasis is on trying to move away from people living long-term at the facility, but she says there’s no room for mental health outpatient services.

“That was supposed to go to the Health Sciences inpatient unit, and that’s now on hold because they don’t even know where to put them.”

Newfoundland and Labrador's auditor general is warning the provincial government to keep an eye on its big financial incentives to lure and retain health-care workers.

The investigation into an unusual incident on the Port au Port Peninsula that sent a man to hospital with serious injuries continues.

One person was detained for a period of time while police conducted a search of a home on Front Road in Port au Port West, but no charges have been laid.

RCMP launched their investigation after a snowmobiler was sent to hospital after falling from his machine while crossing Gravel’s Pond.

Police say the injuries suffered are not consistent with a fall from a snow machine.

Some residents on the Northern Peninsula are experiencing a communications outage this morning.

Bell Aliant wireless, landline, television and internet services have been disrupted between Flowers Cove and St. Anthony.

The cause of the outage is under investigation. It’s hoped that service can be restored sometime this afternoon.

The President of the Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador is commending Andrew Furey for his accomplishments as the province’s 14th premier.

Furey this week announced his intention to step down once a new leader is chosen, sparking a leadership race.

While no-one has yet to step forward, speculation is swirling about the intentions of a long list of prominent Liberals.

President Ashley Power Stack says the party’s first priority is election readiness since 2025 is an election year.

While unexpected, Furey’s decision to resign hasn’t hurt the party.

She says Furey is leaving the party on solid ground. “We are ready to do this,” says Power Stack.

Abbott, Coady and Hogan considering

Current provincial cabinet ministers John Abbott, John Hogan and Siobhan Coady have all confirmed for VOCM News that they are actively considering a run at the Liberal party leadership.

Abbott says he is giving full and careful consideration to all the implications of the job, including the impact on his family and time commitments.

Hogan says he is “absolutely” considering putting his name in the hat, and he is still talking it over with family, friends, and supporters.

Deputy Premier Siobhan Coady says she too is considering running for the top job, and is talking it over with colleagues and friends.

Tickets for the Montana’s Brier in St. John’s next year go on sale a week from today.

Curling Canada says the buzz has increased since the men’s championship tournament was announced a few weeks ago.

You can get pre-sale purchasing opportunities if you sign up to be a 2026 Montana’s Brier insider or join the Curling Canada Collective. Signing up for that will provide information on ticket launches and volunteer opportunities.

The pre-sale will be online only for a 24-hour period on Tuesday.

Tickets go on sale to the public next Thursday, online and in-person at the Mary Brown’s Centre box office or by phone at 709-576-7657.

Full-event packages range from $552-$594 plus service fees.

The price of gas has lowered in Newfoundland and Labrador for the first time since the end of January.

A man wanted on an arrest warrant is now in police custody.

Fifty-four-year-old Paul Torraville was wanted by RCMP in Bay St. George on charges of assault, assault by choking, and four counts of failing to comply with court orders.

Police say Torraville was arrested earlier today.

Bell is advising that an outage on the Northern Peninsula is impacting wireless, landline, television, and internet services for residents between Flowers Cove and St. Anthony at this time.

he cause of the outage is under investigation, and Bell says while they are unable to provide an exact restoration time, repair work is underway, and they hope to have their services restored in this area by this afternoon.

Hockey NL says it is aware of a social media post made by a parent alleging that their child was bullied during a U13 hockey game.

A frustrated parent took to social media this week expressing dismay over a group of parents who chirped at an 11 year old player throughout the entire game.

Hockey NL says it is reviewing the situation and will work closely with the respective minor hockey associations to address an inappropriate behaviour.

Hockey NL says it does not condone bullying or inappropriate use of social media and says it is committed to fostering a positive culture, and is in the process of implementing a recent review of social media and behaviour to better support members in dealing with certain issues.

For the first time in a decade, the East Coast Music Awards will come back to St. John’s, with a five-day event starting on May 7th. The countdown to the festivities has already begun with over 20 nominees from this province in the running for awards.

PC Leader Tony Wakeham says his party’s focus will remain on issues affecting the province now that Premier Andrew Furey has decided to step down.

Furey made the shock announcement on Tuesday, indicating that there will be a leadership review to replace him.

When asked how this changes the province’s political landscape, Wakeham says his party will be staying the course in terms of matters that concern residents.

He says there are a lot of significant issues in the province today, such as those around the cost of living, health care, and safer communities.

Another factor that complicates the situation, according to Wakeham, is threats of tariffs from US President Donald Trump—who he argues is “acting like a dictator.”

He says they need to make sure that conversations continue around expanding product lines and look for new opportunities for provincial resources.

The person who heads up maintenance at the Health Sciences Centre says conditions recently discovered in a cardiac patient’s room are “not something (they) can be proud of.”

Earlier this week, PC Health critic Barry Petten shared photos of what appeared to be water damage, dirt, and mould in the shower area of a hospital room.

Steven Lockyer, the Senior Director of Facilities and Support Services in the Eastern Urban Zone says when he saw the photos he immediately went up the room to see it for himself.

Once Lockyer did that, he called his team to conduct the necessary renovations.

He says any issues any issues should be reported to staff on the ward, who will get in touch with the maintenance team to get it fixed.

He says they have a continuous maintenance program on site, and any issues reported will be addressed right away.

Today Minister Responsible for Women and Gender Equality Pam Parsons will make a funding announcement for the PerSIStence Theatre Company’s ‘Raise Her Up’ Statue Campaign.

The announcement takes place at 2:30 p.m. in the Colonial Building’s Legislative Chamber on Military Road in St. John’s.

Parsons will be joined by the chair of the PerSIStence Theatre Company’s Armine Gosling Statue Committee Dr. Margot Duley.

The province’s 2024 Financial Statements will be released to the House of Assembly today.

Auditor General Denise Hanrahan will deliver a report and will take questions afterward. 

The report is expected to include audit results and opportunities for improvement similar to those in previous years.

St. John’s city council has approved a new daycare centre for the west end of St. John’s.

It will house up to 58 kids and a dozen staff in an existing building at 603 Topsail Road, just west of Brookfield Road.

The city required seven parking spaces for the operation but it was approved with just six due to limited space.

That issue, along with four-lane traffic and high speeds in that area was enough for Councillor Tom Davis to question the idea.

“Although I know we need daycare spots, and I don’t want to be anti-daycare, I am really concerned with the safety factor,” said Davis, who grew up in the neighbourhood. “People won’t be able to back in there, so they’ll be going in head-on and backing out into traffic, so I’m not sure we’ve really had a good look at it.”

Chief city planner Ken O’Brien assured council that staff have looked at it “in depth.”

“We don’t anticipate problems on the lot with it being jammed up and people waiting on Topsail Road,” he said. “Of course it remains to be seen if it’s approved and in operation but our engineers are OK with the setup.”

A recall has been issued on a product from Thermo Fisher Scientific. 

Between January 4, 2021, and June 25, 2024, a defective heater was installed on CryoMedTM, Controlled-Rate Freezer and CryoMedTM, Controlled-Rate Freezer with OPC UA.

Thermo Fisher Scientific is deploying a corrective field action to replace the defective heater. The heater in the unit may not meet factory specifications and could cause a circuit breaker to trip or deliver an electrical shock to the user. There are no documented specific instances of injury from this equipment.

Customers are asked to verify the Product Model, Serial Number and Manufactured date to confirm the unit is impacted by the potential issue with the heater. The company will send a qualified Field Service Representative or Authorized Service Provider to your facility to install a new heater in your unit.

There will be no charge for this service visit or replacement heater. 

Those who have shipped this unit outside of your facility must notify those customers or facilities of this corrective field action.

A number of items were seized during a police search of a home in Port au Port West as investigators try to determine how a snowmobiler suffered serious injuries in an unusual incident last week.

The man had reportedly fallen from his snowmachine Friday afternoon while crossing Gravel’s Pond in Port au Port.

Police say the snowmobiler’s injuries are not consistent with a fall, and they’re trying to determine how the injuries occurred.

The incident occurred by the popular Gravels walking trail at the isthmus of the Port au Port Peninsula.

A home on nearby Front Road was searched on Tuesday.

RCMP are asking anyone with information or surveillance images from the area at the time of the incident Friday afternoon between 3:30 and 4:30 to contact them.

Across central and western Newfoundland roads are snow-covered with fair visibility. On the Avalon, travel is not recommended from Green’s Harbour to Brownsdale and roads are wet.

Roads across Labrador are partly snow-covered with icy patches and good visibility.

Marine Atlantic anticipates an impact on crossings tonight and Friday morning. The MV Astron W and MV Sound of Islay are out of service and the MV Qajaq W is in service but off schedule.

At the St. John’s International Airport, Air Canada Flight 689 is cancelled. In Deer Lake, Provincial Airlines Flight 902 is delayed. Flights are on time in Gander.

Legendary actor Gene Hackman and his wife have been pronounced dead at their home in New Mexico.

Police were called for a wellness check at the couple’s Santa Fe home yesterday afternoon where Hackman, wife Betsy Arakawa and family dog were found dead.

Authorities have not provided any further details on the circumstances surrounding their deaths, but say foul play is not suspected.

Hackman began his acting career in the 1950s, but did not get his breakout role until he got the role of Buck Barrow in the 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde.

He went on to appear in several award-winning films over the span of four decades, including The French Connection, Unforgiven, and Mississippi Burning.

Hackman was 95.

The City of Mount Pearl had to call in the RNC to help them deal with an aggressive dog at a home in the city this week—with Humane Services in neighbouring St. John’s offering advice to police.

The animal had apparently attacked a person in the home on Monday, sending them to hospital with injuries.

Mount Pearl officials had to call in the RNC for assistance when they tried to retrieve the dog, because of its aggressive nature.

Photo via Facebook

The City of St. John’s has a Humane Services division that sometimes gets called in those types of incidents. St. John’s City Manager Kevin Breen says Humane Services is not a regional service, but as a neighbour they do provide advice and support when asked.

In this case, the capital city’s Humane Services team provided advice to RNC during the incident, but were not directly involved.

The dog was eventually sedated and removed, and was later euthanized.

A number of schools in central Newfoundland have a delayed opening this morning. The following schools are delayed opening by two hours:

• Cottrell’s Cove Academy
• Donald C. Jamieson Academy
• Gill Memorial Academy
• Greenwood Academy
• Hillview Academy
• J.M. Olds Collegiate
• Lewisporte Academy
• Lewisporte Collegiate
• Lewisporte Intermediate
• Marystown Central High
• Pearce Junior High
• Riverwood Academy
• Sacred Heart Academy
• Twillingate Island Elementary

Across Newfoundland, the cost of gasoline decreased by up to 1.6 cents per litre while diesel saw an increase of 1.1 cents. Furnace oil heating fuel increased by 0.92 cents and propane heating fuel decreased by 0.5 cents.

In Labrador gas in fuel in Zones 13 and 13a decreased by 2.7 cents per litre and diesel decreased by 0.1 cents. Stove oil heating fuel in Zones 13 and 13a increased by 0.32 cents and propane heating fuel in all Labrador zones decreased by 0.5 cents per litre.

The next regularly scheduled price adjustment is on Thursday, March 6.

Auditor General Denise Hanrahan will release her latest audit report on government spending this morning.

The AG’s report on the province’s 2024 financial statements to the House of Assembly will be delivered this morning.

VOCM News is following the story and will have updates as they become available.

It costs less to fill up on gas this morning.

Gas on the island drops by a cent and a half per litre. The price of diesel and furnace oil is up by about a cent.

In Labrador West, the price of gas drops by just over 2 and a half cents. Diesel and stove oil prices remain fairly steady.

The price of propane drops by half a cent in all areas.

Over the past month, federal and provincial governments have been meeting with industry leaders to plan and prepare for possible U.S. tariffs. Newfoundland and Labrador has been considering trade diversification, internal trade and income supports to strengthen the economy.

Alice Cumby started working with the Town of Heart's Content in the winter of 1968, and retires on Friday following a 57-year career with this picturesque Trinity Bay community.

Visual artist Leslie Sasaki likes incorporating unexpected and unusual objects in his work. Most recently, he’s been using clear tape, plexiglass and a boxcutter to create incredible portraits that are on display at Gander International Airport.

An estimated 6.5 million Canadians don’t have access to a primary care provider. Doctors say eliminating sick notes for minor illnesses and cutting back on other administrative tasks and paperwork could free up valuable time they could be spending with patients.

The driver of a vehicle that rolled over onto its roof on Wednesday evening was uninjured in the ordeal.

Shortly after 10:00 p.m. emergency crews were called to a portion of Pitts Memorial Drive, between Ruth Avenue and Southlands Boulevard. The driver of an eastbound vehicle had lost control, leaving the roadway. The vehicle went into the snow on the side of the road and rolled over onto its roof.

The driver, who was the only person in the vehicle at the time, was checked by paramedics at the scene, but was uninjured.

There was standing water in the area at the time of the crash.

A recent Pew Research Center poll suggests that the decline in the number of people in the U.S. identifying as Christian has slowed down and stabilized. The study found that 62% of respondents identify as Christian while 29% are religiously unaffiliated. Younger people are far less religious than older Americans. (UPI)

A child in rural West Texas, who wasn't vaccinated, has become the first U.S. measles death since 2015, amid a widespread outbreak with 124 cases across nine counties. Federal officials, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., are monitoring the situation closely, with the CDC confirming one death, not two as initially stated. (AP)

The federal government issued a memo directing executive branch agencies to submit reorganization plans and prepare for large-scale firings by March 13. Supported by the Office of Management and Budget and Office of Personnel Management, the memo aims to streamline agencies and reduce costs, excluding specific positions. (CBS News)

Robin Deaton of Matthews, North Carolina, is wanted for attempted murder for locking her boyfriend in a storage unit without food or water. The man called 911 after being trapped in the unit for several days, leading police to seek Deaton on possible false imprisonment and kidnapping charges as well. (ABC News)

Lucy Grace Nelson was arrested in connection with the attempted arson and vandalism at a Northern Colorado Tesla dealership following multiple incidents in recent weeks, with police finding her in possession of incendiary devices upon her return to the location. Nelson was hit with multiple charges, with an arraignment date pending. (NBC News)

The dust is still settling on Andrew Furey’s surprise resignation.

The Liberal Party is planning how they will hold a leadership race. NTV’s Legislative Reporter Ben Cleary joins us with the latest.

With Premier Andrew Furey he’s leaving politics to return to the operating room, the Registered Nurses’ Union is highlighting some of the good Furey has done for its members over the last number of years.

As NTV’s Beth Penney tells us, they say the next premier has a long list of outstanding issues to address. 

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has released its latest assessment of snow crab stocks. With the biomass looking similar to last year, the FFAW says it’s optimistic for this year’s fishing season, but that could change with U.S. tariffs.

NTV’s Bailey Howard tells us more.

The RCMP are continuing their investigation into an incident that happened in Port au Port West last Friday, after a man on snowmobile was taken to hospital with serious injuries. 

Police have now searched a home in the same area where the man was injured.

NTV’s Becky Daley has been following the story and brings us the latest.

Dozens of parishioners from an Anglican church in Corner Brook took to the streets Wednesday, demanding the resignation of their bishop and the reinstatement of a minister removed from her post earlier this year. NTV’s Don Bradshaw reports.

The Official Opposition is sounding the alarm once again, calling on government to take action after they received pictures of mold in a patients’ room at the Health Sciences Centre. NTV’s Marykate O’Neill has the story. 

The 2025 East Coast Music week is heading to St. John’s this May, with incredible Newfoundland and Labrador representation across ECMA award categories. NTV’s Amanda Mews is here with the Backstage Pass.

Premier Andrew Furey spoke to reporters again a day after his resignation announcement. He faced questions about who his successor will be and what will happen with the Churchill Falls MOU with Quebec.

The rain and snow will ease off overnight as the area of low pressure bringing us this round winter (and spring) weather departs. The risk of coastal flooding will be highest over southern areas tonight and from Notre Dame Bay to Conception Bay on Thursday morning. Get the full forecast by watching the video above!

Greg Wells is back in Newfoundland this week, visiting his non-profit Trinity Hall in Winterton, a rural community about 140kms from St. John's. He came for work, but was also looking for some much needed rest time after a chaotic few months in Los Angeles.

Just a day after Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey announced his resignation, at least three high profile Liberal candidates say they're considering putting their names forward to be the next leader of the party.

Three people managed to escape with minor injuries, but a home on Cherry Lane in CBS was extensively damaged as a result of a fire early this afternoon.

Emergency responders got the call around 1:45 this afternoon.

CBS Fire Chief John Heffernan says the blaze was a stubborn one to fight, but they’ve since gotten the upper hand and have now turned the scene over to RNC for investigation.

Drivers will have to slow down on the supper commute as roads on the Avalon and in eastern and southern Newfoundland are waterlogged.

Heavy rain combined with snowmelt and clogged drainage systems are creating pools of water where there shouldn’t be pools of water.

About 40 mm of rain is forecast to fall on the region before tapering off overnight.