The St. John's Morning Show

The all-day Best Kind BBQ festival features electronic, hip hop, and indie music. And this Saturday at St. David's Park in Mount Pearl, they have their largest headliner yet. Brent McNamara (or Mac for short) is the co-founder and organizer of the Best Kind BBQ, he joined us live in studio to talk about it.

An accessible mat is now installed at Rotary Sunshine Park. It extends from the trail, down across the sand, and into the shore, allowing wheelchair users to enjoy the water with ease. The Morning Show's Katherine Crummey stopped by the beach, and spoke with Mayor Danny Breen and Rotary Club president Nancy Hollett about the collaboration.

For over a century, artists have worked on their craft in a cottage over Brigus. Now, the cottage is under the care of Landfall Trust, and some of this province's most well-known authors and musicians have stayed there. Christina Wells was last month's writer in residence, and our Morning Show reporter Darrell Roberts visited Kent Cottage on her last day.

Spanish, as a native language, is spoken by about 486 million people, and a further 75 million speak it as a second language. After a quick language lesson from grad student and singer Estefania Arreguin Vera, the CBC's Sandi Noseworthy tried to make that number 75 million and one!

With the constant delays for Marine Atlantic's new vessel on the North Sydney to Argentia run, tourism services in Placentia have been bone dry. But the boat is scheduled to dock in Argentia this morning. We speak with the Deputy Mayor of Placentia, Wayne Power, about the reprieve this will give business owners. 

75 years after the people of Harbour Grace said "no" to Confederation, Joey Smallwood is giving it another try, and Peter Cashin is ready to shout him down. They're both back in Harbour Grace, or that's what everyone will be invited to imagine, when they gather at the Conception Bay Museum at noon. Pat Collins will play the role of Smallwood, and make his pitch to the audience. Among the crowd will be a sworn enemy of Confederation, Peter Cashin, as played by Dave Moriarity. Today both of them joined us on the line to give us a preview of their upcoming battle.

The Canadian Liver Journal estimates more than 3 million Canadians are living with a liver disease, and many of them need transplants. Janet Hong is a Maddox Cove woman who needs a new liver, and she's turned to social media for help. Dr. Nazia Selzner is the director of live liver transplantation at the UHN Ajmera Transplant Centre in Toronto. The Morning Show's Katherine Crummey asked Dr. Selzner about the process of live liver donations.

This year's Pride celebrations have had its fair share of controversy after the Pride board invited Palestine Action YYT to lead this year's parade, and one company cancelled its sponsored event. But the rest of the festival is going ahead as usual, and in Mount Pearl, they are set to kick off the week right now. Our Morning show reporter Darrell Roberts visited Mount Pearl today, where the city was about raise the Pride flag.

Living in a coastal community, going boating in the summer is almost inevitable. But summer fun requires summer safety. According to the Lifesaving Society of Newfoundland and Labrador, 40 per cent of drownings in 2023 occurred while boating. Sean Fitzpatrick, the manager of boating safety in St. John’s, joined us in studio today to share some tips.

The province allotted 8-million dollars for improvements to His Majesty's Penitentiary, and tenders went out last month. Yesterday, the minister of transportation and infrastructure told reporters the province is "slowly but surely" moving forward with that plan. But John Abbott added that only "minor work" has been done at this point. Cindy Murphy is the Executive Director of the John Howard Society, and she joined us on the line today to discuss the situation.