CBC Newfoundland Morning

Athletes are into the final push of the provincial winter games, and no matter where you go in Gander, there's so much support for those young competitors. But two characters keep stealing the show. Commander Gander and Blaze the Torch are mascots for the Town of Gander and the provincial games. CBC's Cherie Wheeler caught up with the two 11th graders under the costume.

All this week, we brought you stories from the Newfoundland and Labrador Winter Games in Gander. But Lewisporte was part of all the excitement, too. That's where the figure skating competitions took place. Susan Dean was the convener of the events there, and she spoke with Martin Jones now, at the Mike Austin Arena in Lewisporte.

Medical students at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City got some fantastic news this week: Their tuition will be free later this year. The announcement came from former professor Ruth Gottesman, who donated one billion dollars. While free tuition doesn't go into full effect until later this year, all fourth-year students will be reimbursed for their current semester. That made the CBC's Amy Feehan wonder: What if something like this happened here? She headed up to Grenfell Campus, Memorial University in Corner Brook, to see what students had to say.

Lewisporte was one of the two alternative sites for competition in the provincial Winter Games, along with Glovertown. The Mike Austin Arena is where many of the figure skaters showed their hours of practice. Leila and Payton Mercer from Team Labrador and coach Alice Peddle spoke with the CBC's Martin Jones.

The company that wants to develop wind energy in Western Newfoundland received a big boost this week. World Energy GH2 is getting a loan of 128 million dollars from the federal government. The company is proposing to build a wind-to-hydrogen plant in Stephenville, powered by wind turbines on the Port au Port Peninsula and the Codroy Valley. The company had said in the past that it wouldn't require government money for the five BILLION dollar project. Sean Leet is CEO of World Energy GH2.

A disease most of us haven't thought about in years is back in the news. Measles cases have been popping up across North America and Europe. There's a vaccine against it, so most people have been immunized. But for some of us, it's been many decades since our last shot. So how might a measles outbreak affect us? Dr. Janice Fitzgerald is Newfoundland and Labrador's chief medical officer of health.

We're now into the second half of the provincial Winter Games, and over the next couple of days girls hockey, wrestling, figure skating and basketball will be in full swing. That brings a lot of excitement to the town of Gander and especially Percy Farwell, the mayor. He's a former Winter Games athlete himself.

The federal government is giving a 128-million-dollar loan to a company that wants to generate wind power in Western Newfoundland. World Energy GH2 has an agreement with Export Development Canada for a loan of up to 128-million dollars. The announcement was made yesterday. The loan is meant to support the development of one of Canada's first commercial scale wind-to-hydrogen facilities, proposed for Stephenville. It will be powered by wind turbines on the Port au Port Peninsula and the Codroy Valley. Federal minister and Newfoundland and Labrador MP Seamus O'Regan made the loan announcement yesterday. Nick Mercer is an expert on renewable energy and is on the executive of Enviro Watch NL. The group that has been urging caution throughout the approval process for wind energy in this province.

St. Anthony and surrounding areas are about to get a new public transit system. The Northpine Foundation and St. Anthony Basin Resources Inc. announced the investment on Wednesday. SABRI Transit Solutions will receive $250,000 over the next two years for the project. The system will connect about 600 residents living and working in St. Anthony and the surrounding region, Chris Mitchelmore is the Executive Director of St. Anthony Basin Resources Inc.

February is Psychology Month in Canada, which highlights the contributions of Canadian psychologists and the crucial work they do. Every Thursday this month, we've been focusing on psychology in THIS province, discussing a specific form of therapy and meeting a psychologist who provides it. Today in the final part of our series, we looked at Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, or EMDR. This therapy helps people ease the distressing symptoms associated with trauma. Laura Casey Foss is a registered psychologist who is trained in EMDR.