CBC Newfoundland Morning

There are 253 schools in the province, and the provincial government says more than half of them - 156 - have no school lunch program. In Tuesday's federal budget, the Liberal government confirmed it will spend a billion dollars in the next five years to feed more kids better food at school. Emily Doyle has a PhD in the study of Newfoundland and Labrador's school food program, and she has ideas about how that federal money should be put to work in this province. Doyle spoke with the CBC's Leigh Anne Power.

Team Canada; Olympics and Paralympics; athletes struggle to live and train on federal grants; Athletic Assistance Program; new money; Liberals announced an extra 35-million dollars over the next five years for elite athletes; Katarina Roxon of Kippens; hoping to make it to her fourth Paralympic Games; in Paris this summer;CBC's Leigh Anne Power.

Elks Canada has served across the country since 1912. They volunteer their time on their own projects and on those arranged by other people in their communities. This year, they've organized The NL Provincial Elks convention in Corner Brook. The two-day conference starts this evening, and the CBC's Hillary Johnson spoke with two members of Elks Canada.

When Progressive Conservative Jim McKenna won the Fogo Island-Cape Freels by-election this week, it flipped a district that had been Liberal since it was created in 2015. McKenna took the district by more than a thousand votes over the Liberal candidate. He says important issues for rural voters, such as ferry service and the inshore fishery, have been ignored by the Furey government. To find out whether McKenna's election is a one-off, or could be an indication of more change to come, we reached political psychologist Amanda Bittner. at Memorial University.

When fewer and fewer young people were registering a few years for minor hockey, one of the reasons was the number of parents worried about concussions. Science has proven multiple hits to the head over time can lead to a brain condition called CTE. Those who suffer from it have many of the same symptoms as people with early-onset dementia. Scientist Adam Bartsch invented the "smart" mouthguard, which is now in use for all players in the World Rugby Association. He spoke with the CBC's Leigh Anne Power.

It’s a big day for Conne River. People in the community are rolling out the red carpet for the premiere of a new documentary called Forgotten Warriors, which makes its premiere in the community tonight. It takes a look at the hunger strike that happened in the 1980s against the provincial government and paved the way for a brighter future in Miawpukek. Chief Misel Joe led the nine-day protest. He and the CBC’s Jessica Singer were in the community for the big event.

Young people who live outside of St. John's can find it hard to find the support they need. Many have to travel to the city to receive mental health care, housing support, and many other services that can be impossible to get in rural communities. Choices For Youth is a non-profit organization that gives young people access to those services as well as housing supports. The Newfoundland and Labrador government says 4.3 million dollars will fund the Choices for Youth hub project program. Jen Crowe is the senior director of strategy, fund development and external relations at Choices for Youth.

If you think NL isn't able to provide enough of our own food in this province - you'd be wrong! That's according to a survey, conducted by the Community Food Producers Forum, on the topic of food production, It's called the "Where's The Food?" survey, and it looked at how much food is produced, and what types. Dan Rubin is the founding chair of the Community Food Producers Forum and one of the researchers behind the survey.

Students at Grenfell Campus, Memorial University in Corner Brook are still dealing with issues related to the cyberattack that happened in January of this year. Many students and professors have faced multiple problems with their internet connections and have had to find other ways to get by. Grenfell administration say they'll be offering a twenty-five dollar reimbursement for the internet service fee. Many students think this falls short. Grenfell Campus Student Union Academic Vice President Syed Saif Saedyei spoke with us.

In the last few years, we've heard a lot about measles outbreaks around the world. Anti-vaccine rhetoric is responsible for some of that, but some cases occur because people didn't get enough vaccine as children. Now health officials are seeing a rise in pertussis...whooping cough...cases. Dr. Janice Fitzgerald is the province's chief medical officer of health, and she spoke with CBC's Leigh Anne Power.

There's a new member of the House of Assembly this morning. A byelection was called for the district of Cape Freels-Fogo after the passing of MHA Derrick Bragg in January. Progressive Conservative candidate Jim McKenna was the winner.

After a little more than a week's delay, the snow crab season in the province will begin. The Fish, Food & Allied Workers union announced last evening that it has reached a deal with the Association of Seafood Producers for this year's fishery. It happened just before fish harvesters were supposed to head back to Confederation Building in protest. Greg Pretty is the president of the FFAW.

Crab harvesters have a deal for their catch this morning. The crab season was supposed to start last week, but boats have been tied up due to the dispute about prices. Late Sunday, a deal was announced between the Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union and the Association of Seafood Producers. John Efford Jr. has had a lot to say in recent weeks about the dispute. He's taken a leadership role in this spring's protests, which is reminding a lot of people of his dad, former federal fisheries minister John Efford.

The NL provincial government approved World Energy GH2's amended environmental assessment last week. That means the company's proposed mega project to produce hydrogen from wind energy generated on the Port au Port Peninsula and Codroy Valley will go ahead. But even after the company had done more work on that assessment, as the government demanded, some people were still concerned about the plans. Claudelle Devoe is a tourism operator in the Codroy Valley and a member of the citizen's group Codroy Valley United.

44 years ago today, Terry Fox dipped his artificial leg into the Atlantic Ocean and started his Marathon of Hope in St. John's, to raise money and awareness for cancer research. On Thursday, students at C.C. Loughlin Elementary in Corner Brook had a special visitor - Terry's brother, Fred Fox - who told them all about the late hero.

The Journey Project is touring NL with an exhibit of survivor-created photography. It's the third PhotoVoice project that includes images created by survivors of sexual violence and intimate partner violence from across the province. This year's collection is called TRANSFORMation: A Photo Journey. Ashley MacDonald is a legal navigator with The Journey Project and an organizer of the PhotoVoice project. Martin spoke with her at the Arts and Culture Centre in Grand Falls-Windsor.

The Grand Falls-Windsor community kitchen helps thousands of people every year. The group provides hot meals for people who can't afford groceries. They'll deliver firewood to people who need it and visit seniors who find it difficult to leave their homes. This week, all their hard work was undone when thieves broke in and stole the food they were planning to serve this month. Laurie Ballard is the community kitchen's executive director, and she spoke with the CBC's Troy Turner.

NL's crab fishery was slated to start this past Saturday, but most harvesters across the province have kept their boats tied up at the wharf That's because they are demanding a better price than what they're being offered now The delay is having an impact on other people employed in the fishery, including plant workers. Craig Pardy is the Member of the House of Assembly for Bonavista and the opposition critic for fisheries.

NL's Housing Minister, Fred Hutton was at Vine Place Community Centre in Corner Brook on Wednesday to give details about the recent provincial budget announcement for housing. Over the next two years, the province will tear down and and rebuild 32 vacant homes in the city, while building an extra 18 units. CBC’s Amy Feehan was there and spoke with Mayor Jim Parsons and the Vine Place Community Centre’s Executive Director Mike Kearley about the housing project.

The Vatican says gender-affirming surgery and surrogacy are serious violations of "human dignity" that reject God's plan for human life. That's part of its new 20-page doctrine called "Infinite Dignity," which it issued this week. Pope Francis approved the declaration last month and ordered it to be published. Gemma Hickey is the president of the global human rights organization, Ending Clergy Abuse.