The Central Newfoundland Morning Show from CBC Radio Nfld. and Labrador (Highlights)

The federal government is pushing closer to a deal on the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement with the European Union. The parties hope to have the agreement done by the end of the year. CETA will remove import tariffs, open markets and change regulations governing copyright and intellectual property. The deal will have significant impact on business, the cost of drugs and environmental protections in this country and here in our province. Keith Hutchings is the minister of Innovation, Business and Rural Development. He's representing the province in CETA negotiations,

Depending on who you talk to, the Muskrat Falls development project is going to be either the best thing to ever happen in regards to this province's future - or it's going to bankrupt Newfoundland and Labrador. You can my put next guest in the latter category. On Sunday, Con O'Brien and members of a group called People's Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador will be voicing their concern in downtown St. John's.

The Friends of Catalina Elementary met in Port Union last night. It's fighting to prevent the planned closure of Catalina Elementary, which would then see children bussed to Bonavista for school. Tom Cooper is a parent and attended las night meeting.

Schools across the province are finding all kinds of ways to kids about the realities of climate change. Students plant trees and measure rainfall, just to name a couple. Not many of them plan to take their entire school off the power grid and run it on green energy instead. That's what's happening at Glovertown Academy. Emily Dobbin is the teacher supervising the project, and Andrew Pike is one of the students involved.

The Canadian Institute of Health Information studies all aspects of health care in the country. This week, the institute has released a new report about doctors in Canada. It looks at numbers of doctors, where they're trained and where they practice. And, it turns out, this province is doing really well in training and recruiting physicians. Yvonne Rosehart is with the CIHI, and host Leigh Anne Power reached her in Ottawa.

There's no shortage of toys in stores. That's for sure. But they're not all equal when it comes to holding a child's interest. Whether you're looking for something educational or just plain fun, the Canadian Toy Testing Council has what you need. It's been compiling a list of the top toys for sixty years now. Angela Digout Erhardt is Vice-Chair of the Canadian Toy Testing Council, Board of Directors.

When is it time to hang up your the car keys for good? It's a tough question many drivers are facing as they age. In this province there's a system in place that's supposed to catch drivers who are in denial or are unaware that it's time to stop driving. The CBC's Mark Quinn has been looking into it

In the last week we've been discussing Central Health's decision to replace registered nurses in some locations with licenced practical nurses. Staff at several rural locations under the Central Health board have been told changes are coming. In Lewisporte, for example, the night shift will have only one RN instead of two. The other RN will be replaced with two LPNs, who have less training and don't make as much money. Matthew McHugh says that could be a costly decision for both staff and patients. He's a nursing professor at the University of Pennsylvania and has extensively researched the consequences of cutting nurses.

Giving to charity in the name of a person on your holiday gift list is becoming very popular. Now, Canadian Blood Services is joining the trend. The service is launching a new campaign to both attract new donors and honour those who've been giving for years. Paul Doucet is a spokesperson for Canadian Blood Services.

The town of Gander and the federal government have been in a legal tangle for the last several years. At issue is a payment in lieu of taxes the government made to the town for the Gander airport property. The money involved amounts to half a million dollars. Now the courts have decided Gander's got to pay that money back. Allan Scott is a Gander town councillor, and chair of the town finance committee.

Workers compensation was one of our topics on the Morning Show last week. Richard Alexander of the province's Employers' Council was our guest. He was speaking about how the workers compensation program is hurting businesses' ability to compete and, in turn, hurting the economy. We also spoke to Leslie Galway, the head of the Workplace Health and Compensation Commission. Today, we'll hear what users of the system have to say about it. Patricia Dodd is the president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Injured Workers Association.

NHL owners and players can't quite seem to hammer out a deal, but that doesn't mean we're going without hockey altogether in central Newfoundland. The provincial senior hockey league season is more than a month old now, and things are starting to heat up. The Gander Flyers haven't yet won a game, but they are showing they can compete in their first season in the league; The powerhouse Clarenville Caribous are playing well, with a three , two and one record. The Grand Falls-Windsor Cataracts are unbeaten so far this season, winning all six of their games. To get his thoughts on those clubs as well as the Eastlink Ceebee Stars and Western Royals, host Leigh Anne Power spoke with Barry Wheeler. He runs the popular NL Hockey Talk blog

A year ago, federal intergovernmental affairs minister Peter Penashue announced a chunk of money for Gander to launch outdoor markets. A hundred and five thousand dollars was supposed to support an arts festival this past spring, a farmer's market this fall, and a Christmas market in December. So far, neither the arts festival or the farmer's market have happened. The town's also reporting a loss of nine thousand dollars on those non-existant markets. Zane Tucker chairs the town of Gander's economic and social development committee.

The Nurses Union held a large rally in St. John's last week to protest changes to Central Health. The union says Registered Nurses are being displaced in favour of Licenced Practical Nurses who are cheaper to employee. Reporter David Zelcer sat down with the Chief Nursing Officer for Central Health... Trudy Stuckless... to get her take on what's planned:

Over the past several weeks we've been following the plight of Catalina Elementary. It's one of five schools in the province originally slated for closure by the Eastern School district. At least two of those schools have received some kind of reprieve and won't close to all students. But Catalina remains on the chopping block. Dr. Dennis Mulcahy is an education professor at Memorial University in St. John's, with a special interest in rural schools. He speaks with Dr.Mulcahy.