CBC Newfoundland Morning

If you’ve been in the Bonavista area recently, you may have noticed an enormous sea monster! But it's not a real one. it's a wooden sculpture sitting on the dock outside Skippers Restaurant. Jeremy Hicks, the owner of Rugged Coast Woodwork and Gallery in Newmans Cove created "Skippy," as the sea serpent has been named. The CBC’s Amy Feehan met up with Jeremy at his shop.

Traffic was backed up getting into and out of Corner Brook yesterday, after a fuel tanker truck overturned on the Trans Canada near the city. The driver of the fuel tanker truck had to be removed from his vehicle. For a while, drivers looking to travel to or from the Humber Valley had to just wait it out. The city was cut off in that direction, until another route was opened up. Aaron O’Brien is the manager of engineering services with the City of Corner Brook.

Most of us know that, when you get a loan or a gift of money, you should be accountable for what you do with it. But a provincial government investigation concluded that a town in Western Newfoundland didn't exactly do that, according to an access to information request. The Town of Kippens applied for and was approved to receive more than 120-thousand dollars in Covid stimulus funding, to renovate its council chambers. But the renovations to council chambers didn't proceed - and the provincial Municipal Affairs department got involved to investigate. In the end, the money was paid back. But the situation doesn't sit well with former Kippens town councillor Jeffrey Young.

If you think there are no snakes in Newfoundland, think again. There have been sightings through the years, but reports of the reptiles have become more common since about 2010, especially in Bay St. George South. The topic is of great interest to many people, not just those who are squeamish, but also to researchers. Andrea Gigeroff is a PhD researcher who's studying the mystery of snakes on the island.

The Nature Conservancy of Canada is continuing its conservation work in this province. It has announced an addition to the already protected lands in the Grand Codroy Valley. Piers Evans is the group's Newfoundland and Labrador Program Director.

Trucks have been coming and going from an old landfill site on the Northern Peninsula for more than a week now. It's just north of Sally's Cove, at a location called Martin Point, or Martin's Point. The area hasn't been used as a dumpsite since the late 1970s, but what's in the ground IS causing problems now. Charles-Vincent Lussier is a project manager with Parks Canada.

"CONSTABLE Feehan reportIng for duty?..." Last week, Cst. James Cadigan of the RNC told us about the physical fitness assessment that officers must go through to enter the police cadet program. We wanted to know just how hard the testing is, so we sent Newfoundland Morning reporter Amy Feehan to try the Physical Abilities Requirement Evaluation - or PARE test.

The province has announced it will give NL Health Services 100-thousand dollars to review inpatient addiction services across the Island. The review will involve treatment and recovery centres in Grand Falls-Windsor, Corner Brook, Harbour Grace, and St. John's. Government says it will issue a call-for-proposals for the review.

It's left some people wondering if it's money well spent, or just another review and another report. Scott Pynn is an artist based in Labrador City. He is also a recovering addict, who shares his journey of recovery on social media. He spoke with the CBC's Martin Jones.

For years, women in early menopause who experienced uncomfortable symptoms, such as hot flashes, had been told not to use hormone replacement therapy (HRT). It had long been suspected of causing an increase in the risk of developing breast cancer. But further research has proven that's not true. Garnet Anderson is a scientist with the Women's Health Initiative, based out of the University of Washington. She spoke with CBC's Leigh Anne Power.

Missed deadlines, overworked staff, and a lack of training: That’s some of what auditors found when they reviewed how serious workplace incidents are investigated in this province. Those findings sparked calls for change, more resources, and improvements to the system. Our CBC Investigates producer Rob Antle brought us the details.