Seniors’ and downtown snow removal don’t get cut from this year’s budget
Halifax Regional Council’s committee of the whole made it through the second half of its budget adjustment list for this year’s recast budget on Friday. This article includes decisions made at Thursday’s meeting too, just to keep things all in one place. The budget adjustment list was the product of a motion allowing councillors to reconsider…
Hundreds protest Regis Korchinski-Paquet’s death in Halifax
Hundreds of people gathered at Victoria Park in Halifax on May 30 to protest and mourn the death of Afro-Indigenous woman, Regis Korchinski-Paquet who died on May 27 in Toronto. The protesters practiced COVID-19 safety guidelines as they marched from Victoria Park to the HRM Police headquarters with placards and banners as they chanted “No…
Quarantining with Like A Motorcycle
Like a Motorcycle is supposed to be on tour right now. But, with physical distancing making it impossible to throw a punk show, the group is finding new ways to stay present as it gears up to release its sophomore album, Dead Broke. The Halifax based four-piece has a full schedule in lock down. It…
It’s fiddlehead season, and they’re in danger of being over-picked
If you’ve ventured into the woods this spring, you may have come across the east coast delicacy that is fiddleheads. They usually pop up along streams or other water sources in small groups. If left unpicked, they’ll unfurl to become ostrich ferns. But for two or three weeks in May each year, fiddleheads are found…
Gather in groups of 10 this weekend, but stay two metres apart
Another Friday, another massive COVID-19 update in Nova Scotia. On the same day the province announced its first day of zero new cases since March 15, Nova Scotians are allowed an increased level of freedom. “The new gathering limit of 10 is effective immediately,” says a release from Communications Nova Scotia in advance of this…
Not today, COVID, not today
Zero new cases. Nada, none, zilch. The province is reporting that no new cases of COVID-19 have been diagnosed in Nova Scotia. It’s taken 75 days to get here, but Friday, May 29 the humans get a win. Public health doctor Robert Strang announced Nova Scotia’s first C19 infections on Sunday, March 15. We were…
Should it stay or should it go?
Halifax Regional Council’s committee of the whole made it halfway through its budget adjustment list AKA the parking lot AKA the wish list for this year’s recast budget today. This list includes things that Halifax councillors wanted to save from staff’s proposed $85 million in cuts, needed to keep the municipality in the black as…
Feed Nova Scotia adds home delivery to its arsenal of tools to fight food insecurity
In March, when COVID-19 began to hit the province with Canada’s highest rate of food insecurity, Feed Nova Scotia knew it needed to step up. “Our first priority was to make sure that we can continue to be sustainable as an organization that’s providing regular food support to our member agencies,” says Karen Theriault, the…
O funding, where art thou?
By now, 10 weeks in, it’s a sadly familiar scene for artists in all mediums: Galleries closed; tours and performances cancelled; revenue drying up quicker than a puddle on a hot, late-May sidewalk. Back when all this began, Neptune Theatre’s artistic director Jeremy Webb put it perfectly when he told The Coast: “The arts scene…
Bus Stop Theatre gets final batch of government funding
In what may be the only good news for arts organizations struggling to exist in the time of the coronavirus, The Bus Stop Theatre announced this week that its final pocket of government funding has been promised by Canadian Heritage. The commitment of $355,000 comes after an initial promise of $250,000 by Halifax Regional Council…
The universe will send you signals, Sagittarius
HAPPY BIRTHDAY GEMINI (May 21-June 20) I’ve got a message for you, courtesy of poet Lisel Mueller. I think her wisdom can help you thrive in the coming weeks. She writes, “The past pushed away, the future left unimagined, for the sake of the glorious, difficult, passionate present.” Of course, it’s always helpful for us…
Can people be bad at sex?
QI don’t want to become one of those people who write to you complaining about how I married someone I wasn’t sexually compatible with 10 years ago and now my sex life still sucks. I already know I need to break up with my boyfriend, and I was about to do it when he got…
Squint your eyes, purse your lips, pop your shoulder and say “Bus Rapid Transit”
via GIPHY In true Halifax Regional Council fashion, glam took centre stage at yesterday’s regional council meeting. That’s right, buses and the Bedford Highway, baby. Council approved the municipality’s Rapid Transit Strategy eight-year (or nine or ten or more) plan—accompanied by a snazzy map and a hearty “we need provincial and federal support if this…
Shuttered Nova Scotian businesses can re-open June 5
Premier Stephen McNeil announced on Wednesday that Nova Scotia’s economy is re-opening in just over a week. As of Friday, June 5, sectors from massage therapy to hair salons to bars will be allowed to open their doors to customers, provided they follow social distancing and other public health requirements such as cleaning. “Nova Scotians…
The Last Word says goodbye
For more than 20 years, The Last Word Bookstore on Windsor Street has provided stocked shelves for newcomers, north-enders, and bibliophiles alike. “Lots of students, lots of regulars. they’d sort of just come in, plop down and they’d be there for eight hours,” says Nate Crawford, who used to work at the store about 10…
Take a look at Zuppa’s stunning Vista
Vista 20 Available until May 31 download the free app via mayworkshalifax.ca. “Here’s a little experiment,” asks Vista20, a new web-based app by Halifax’s Zuppa Theatre Company. “Can you look around and drop the personal associations you have with your surroundings?” Is that hard to do? Is it difficult to see just the “wirings”, as…
At Home with Botfly
With its latest EP, At Home with Alex, Botfly has stripped its sound bare—releasing something vulnerable, beautiful and surreal in the process. Five of the group’s songs have been reworked into minimal arrangements of guitar and vocals. These recordings are raw. They allow the listener to process the emotional intensity of Botfly’s music in a…
Review: Kristen Martell’s Coming Home will heal you
Kristen Martell wants you to breathe. And you will, after listening to her latest EP, Coming Home. It’s an album with all the warmth of a summer sun which shines through acoustic pop that’s bright and hopeful — without sacrificing meaningful, insightful lyrics. The Mahone bay songwriter crafts her tunes in a reflective, introspective style—much…
Bring Halifax culture home with our May 25-31 streaming guide
Tuesday May 26 Vista Zuppa Theatre continues to push your mental boundaries of what a play can be—this time, taking you on a virtual walking tour that can be done anywhere (yes, even in your apartment) while asking big questions about what health means and how communities can stay healthy. An app-guided audio tour that…
Buy a pint for your favourite nurse, doctor, or hospital custodian
These past few months haven’t exactly been a cakewalk for medical professionals, and though we’re all thankful for the work they’re doing, clapping your pots and pans together on the front porch at 7pm isn’t exactly a tangible way of giving back. Why not buy them a beer? “They deserve more than a beer, but…
The class of 2020 feels quite blah, to be honest
May in Halifax usually means a few things: The leaves come back in Point Pleasant Park after a long winter away; The Public Gardens become a living Monet painting stuffed with blooms; Halifax’s student population shifts and jolts towards new beginnings as degrees wrap up and graduations draw near. While the ending of one chapter…
Halifax is dining together, at home to support Feed Nova Scotia
Colin Bebbington got laid off from his culinary position at the prestigious Claridge’s Hotel restaurant in London in the early days of the COVID pandemic. Forced to return to his hometown of Halifax for mandatory 14-day isolation, Bebbington got to thinking about how to give back the only way he knows how—through food. Bebbington called…
Coming to Halifax: Parking fees and (some) wider sidewalks
Halifax’s chief financial officer Jacques Dubé and mayor Mike Savage held a press conference today to give a lil’ update on HRM’s life in the time of coronavirus plans. The duo announced the first phase of the mobility response streets and spaces plan. This means wider sidewalks are coming to Quinpool Road between Quingate Place…
Just the news on COVID-19 in Nova Scotia, for the week starting May 25
Display problems with The Coast’s Nova Scotia COVID-19 case graph? For the mobile version click here. Editor’s note: In its 27 years The Coast has never been a just-the-facts news service, but for these strange times this news centre offers quick-hit updates. Sunday, May 31 None kind of wonderful Another day with zero new cases,…
Y’all shovel-ready for this?
Halifax Regional Council’s committee of the whole rounded out this week’s budget talks by approving a list of capital projects that are far along enough in the planning process that shovels could break ground asap. (Or could be brought to that point relatively quickly.) This comes in the middle of back-and-forth discussions about which projects…
5,000,000 cases
Y ou know this trajectory by now: After a slow build followed by a sharp upward spike in the infection curve to get to 1,000,000 cases on the planet, the curve basically flattened on the way to Wednesday’s milestone of five million cases. It wasn’t quite flat, however. This teeter totter tipped up slightly from one…
Laid-off restaurant staff in Atlantic Canada can apply for this fund every week
The Bartenders Benevolent Fund was originally started in Ontario back in 2013, but with the onslaught of COVID-19 layoffs it has expanded across the country. “It was definitely a lot more Ontario-focused before this happened,” says Lindsay Jones, bar manager at The Ostrich Club in Halifax and one of the BBF’s Atlantic region disbursement panellists.…
All the things the library has done for Halifax residents since shutting its doors for COVID-19
Since Halifax Public Libraries had to close its doors to the public on March 16 thanks to the coronavirus, its staff has worked to come up with creative and innovative ways to uphold the ever-expanding responsibilities libraries hold in our communities. HPL chief librarian and CEO Åsa Kachan appeared before regional council on Wednesday, in…
Power players
QHere’s a non-COVID question for you: I’m a queer white female in a monogamish marriage. I vote left, I abhor hatred and oppression, and I engage in activism when I can. I’m also turned on by power differentials: authority figures, uniforms, hot guys doing each other. Much to my horror this thing for power differentials…
It’s time for you to make a bold move, Libra
HAPPY BIRTHDAY GEMINI! (May 21-June 20) “The very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you hope for,” writes author Barbara Kingsolver. “And the most you can do is live inside that hope. Not admire it from a distance but live right in it, under its roof.” According to my…
Remembering Menz & Mollyz
Tonight at Menz & Mollyz, it would’ve been Thirsty Thursdays with DJ Dandersen—back in a world where such things could exist. Writing that sentence today, nine weeks (ish) into a global pandemic, feels like saying “this was a walking trail favoured by long-neck dinosaurs.” Writing that sentence today, five weeks after a Facebook post said…
What you need to know about COVID benefits: May edition
Since the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit AKA the CERB opened to Canadians in early April, over seven million people have applied. Stats Canada reported almost two million jobs lost in April, as the employment rate dipped by 11 percent. In Nova Scotia, unemployment is below the national average of 13 percent, but still climbed three…
Nick Nemeroff tells us a joke
Nick Nemeroff learned what makes a good one organically, working at Just For Laughs in Montreal and taking note of what was cutting it up onstage. Soon, the stand-up was diving headfirst into open mic nights, moving to Toronto to follow in the footsteps of indie comics like Chris Locke and Sara Hennessey. Then came…
David Suzuki: Many crises expose systemic failings
The coronavirus spreading COVID-19 around the globe isn’t the first disease microbe suspected to have jumped from other animals to humans, nor will it be the last. That we know to a large extent why so many diseases are making that leap should help us resolve the problem. Dealing with a swiftly spreading illness with many…
Some Tidal Bay for you city rollers
P icture yourself in mid-June. The first wave of COVID-19 has passed (hopefully) and you’re allowed to be with your friends again (or at least your family bubble). You’ve booked a cabin for the weekend, away from the hustle and bustle of the city, on a quiet lake in rural Nova Scotia. It’s Friday night,…
Bring Halifax culture home with our May 18-24 social distance streaming guide
Monday May 18 Marisa Anderson A photo essay, video premiere and playlist courtesy of the guitarist who’s worked with the likes of Sharon Van Etten and Beth Ditto is Monday’s contribution from EVERYSEEKER Festival. The fest describes Anderson’s sound as mixing “elements of minimalism, electronic music, drone and 20th century classical music” to “re-imagining the…
Just the news on COVID-19 in Nova Scotia, for the week starting May 18
NOTE: This week is now over. For the very latest news, please go here. But for an informative look back at exactly how Nova Scotia responded to COVID-19 in realtime, keep on reading. Display problems with The Coast’s Nova Scotia COVID-19 case graph? For the mobile version click here. Editor’s note: The Coast has never…
Century Egg’s new record is a sunny-side-up return
Century Egg, the Halifax-based Mandopop group, dropped its latest EP on Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Well, not really. But it did announce We Can Play, an exuberant collection of undeniably fun songs, via an Instagram post with a screen-shot of an Animal Crossing character sporting a custom-designed Century Egg t-shirt. After all, band members and partners…
Episode three of Budget is Blind streamed live on HRMflix today, here’s what happened
At today’s Halifax Regional Council committee of the whole meeting, councillors and mayor Savage went for round three of batting around the C19-revised budget. Today Brad Anguish, top boss of transportation and public works, was back on the line, answering questions about the difference between a prune (fruit) and pruning (the act of trimming back…
Response to violence against women shows how far we still have to go
It took 30 years for the Polytechnique massacre to be officially recognized as an act of violence against women and femicide. When 22 people were killed in Nova Scotia the RCMP skirted around the notion that the killer’s actions were spurred by misogyny. When we learned that the first victim of the attack was GW’s…
Ellie Black is soaking up the bright side of the pandemic
When Ellie Black met up with Coast photographer Meghan Tansey Whitton in January at her studio to shoot this photo, Team Coast had pencilled Black in to be on the cover of the newspaper this July, in the heat of the summer, when she would be on the other side of the world stepping onto…
David Myles, hopeless romantic
The first time you listen to David Myles’s Leave Tonight, you’ll bite your lip. Your teeth press down as the opening notes lift—because this is mood music and frankly, had you known, you’d have shown up better dressed. The bite becomes a chew as you realize oh, is this what smooth sounds like? (Spoiler alert:…
4,000,000 cases
The first million took a long time. The second million went by in a blink. The third million was even faster. And with the fourth million, the disease is still gaining speed. We’re all a little familiar by now with statistical curves and the idea that they can be flattened. The global COVID-19 infection curve…
Is it a problem if my horrible boyfriend leaves?
QIt’s taken a lot to do this, but here goes. I am a 38-year-old gay male. I have been dating this this guy for one year and 10 months. It’s been a lot of work. He cheated on me numerous times and he lives with me and doesn’t work and I’ve been taking care of…
Love is a superpower you can use to make practical miracles
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAURUS! (April 20-May 20) Of all the signs, Tauruses are among the least likely to be egomaniacs. Most of you aren’t inclined to indulge in fits of braggadocio or outbreaks of narcissism. (I just heard one of my favourite virtuoso Taurus singers say she wasn’t a very good singer!) That’s why one of…
Re-casting a municipal budget in a pandemic is a clusterfuck
Halifax Regional Municipality’s budget process is dense and confusing in a good year, where there are just normal spats about rural transit versus downtown development versus community programming versus big honking armoured vehicles versus new books for the library or a football stadium. Halifax Regional Council made it through all that—and then came COVID-19. It…
Are online shows live music’s new lifeline?
Open Instagram these days and chances are that you’ll see performers broadcasting live into the online world from their homes. Those shows are usually free. For many, live music online has been a light during these tough days. But, at the same time, they can be read as a sign of longstanding rot in the…
Hello Delaware’s Dana Beeler knows how you feel
Dana Beeler was all set to go on tour. Her band Hello Delaware—which carries the same indie rock swagger of No Doubt and lyrics as sharp as a Lorelai Gilmore comeback—was about to play 10 dates across the UK, the band’s biggest international outing to date. Newly released material (the first since a five-track EP,…
Should we be scared of murder hornets?
AAs if we didn’t have enough to contend with, now we’re facing a “murder hornet” invasion—but it’s more an invasion of newsfeeds than an actual descending plague of killer insects. Numerous media outlets have carried ominous stories about whether the giant hornets will pillage honeybee hives. It’s not an imminent threat throughout North America, but…
Council kicks off budget round two in the only way it can
We thought the end of this road was near the last time we wrote about it. But then COVID-19 happened and here we are—and the job is tougher this time around. @tikcoast Two TikTok’s does not a commitment make. Halifax Regional Council’s budget talks kick off. Cuts are on the agenda. ##fyp ##blindinglightschallenge ♬ original…
So I guess we’re all about to become Hat People
Spring fashion is yet another casualty on the list of things cancelled in 2020. As COVID-19 continues, it can feel particularly frivolous to think about the ways florals can be groundbreaking. That old adage/Reba McEntire song about being all dressed up and, well, you know the rest, rings particularly true. We have entered the age…
RCMP investigation christened “H-Strong” in latest update
Nova Scotia RCMP have now been investigating the country’s largest shooting massacre in history for just over three weeks. Police say the events of April 18 and 19 have been given the name of H-Strong, a portmanteau of the Nova Scotia “H Division” of RCMP and the #NovaScotiaStrong hashtag on social media. In a May…
How to quench your thirst in a COVID-19 world
Sick of waiting in long lines wrapped around the NSLC to pick up some wobbly-pops and maybe that banana liqueur that’s always on sale? We’ve got you. From cider to craft beer to mixed drinks, Nova Scotian producers have stepped up their game to offer curbside pickup, delivery, and special deals to get you through…
Bring Halifax culture home with The Coast’s arts streaming guide May 11-17
Monday May 11 Trivia for Shut-ins Halifax trivia hosts-about-town Jason Dorey and Andrew Evans have shifted their popular triv game from pubs like Durty Nelly’s, the Lion’s Head and The Fickle Frog, to a Facebook livestream. Three 20-question rounds will challenge, amuse and delight, and with no prizes on the line, you won’t even mind missing a…
Just the news on COVID-19 in Nova Scotia, for the week starting May 11
NOTE: This week is now over. For the very latest news, please go here. But for an informative look back at exactly how Nova Scotia responded to COVID-19 in realtime, keep on reading. For a smaller, mobile-friendly version of The Coast’s Nova Scotia COVID-19 case graph, click here. Editor’s note: The Coast has never aimed…
It’s quite easy to get RCMP and HRP memorabilia online
Nova Scotia’s most recent massacre was committed by a man who has been described to have an “obsession” with policing. Across social media, there are many more with the same obsession who fit a similar profile: middle-aged, white men with conservative values. On Facebook, you can search “police collectors” and come across dozens of groups…
3 Coast stories win journalism awards
Normally this happens Saturday night in a hotel ballroom with plenty of wine, but that was a habit from the old normal. In the current normal, the winners of the 2019 Atlantic Journalism Awards were announced this morning by email, prompting lots of heartfelt texting and Tweeting, and very few drunk tears. Hmmm. Journalism awards…
Dartmouth High School student scores big scholarship money to study at Dal
Dartmouth High student Maliek Beals was playing a video game in his room last month when he opened an email from Dalhousie University about some scholarship money he’d just been awarded. He’d made bets with his friends about how much he’d get—maybe $1,000 or even $5,000, enough to make a dent in the student loans…
EVERYSEEKER Festival moves online, continues melting your mind with offbeat art
The festival formerly known as OBEY knows that, while we still have to keep our distance socially, nothing need stop our minds converging under art’s wild and varied umbrella. And, by moving to a completely online, 100 percent free festival, EVERYSEEKER is making sure of just that. From May 15 to June 30, a series…
New take-out joints open despite challenges COVID brings
Opening a new restaurant is never easy, and the public health order that shut down dining rooms isn’t making that any better. But even in the time of COVID, local food entrepreneurs are still starting businesses. These vendors have been limited to operating solely online, getting their goods to customers via either curbside pickup or…
1,000 cases of COVID-19 in Nova Scotia
Can’t see anything? Turn off your adblocker and refresh the page. While you’re at it, consider turning off your adblocker forever—or at least adding thecoast.ca to your exemptions list. COVID-19 has decimated a reliable stream of print ad income for newspapers, and ads on our website are vital for us to be able to keep…
Aquakultre’s feast of a lifetime
It’s clear from the very first guitar strum that opens Legacy—the long-awaited debut LP from neo-soul superstar-in-the-making Aquakultre—that the table is set. The CBC Searchlight winner’s record asks upon entry that you taste its opulence. There are pomegranates strewn on the linen; deep bowls of cold-skinned grapes; flaky sea salt swimming atop combs of honey.…
One marriage, two sex drives
QI’ve been with the same amazing man a dozen years. We’ve had our ups and our downs, same as any other couple, but these days life is better then it ever has been for us. Except in the bedroom. A few years ago he started having fantasies about sucking dick. Specifically, he wanted to suck…
Use the Global Healing Crisis to discover what’s absent in your life, Aquarius
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAURUS! (April 20-May 20) “The future belongs to those who see possibilities before they become obvious,” says businessperson and entrepreneur John Sculley. You Tauruses aren’t renowned for such foresight. It’s more likely to belong to Aries and Sagittarius people. Your tribe is more likely to specialize in doing the good work that turns…
Halifax’s police state of emergency
When Nova Scotia announced it would be enacting a state of emergency—giving police officers new powers to enforce social distancing rules—the first thing Kate Macdonald did was try to learn as much as she could, as fast as she could, about the new rules. “How does community keep community safe in these times? Because it’s…
Frances Dadin-Alli is cooking up Nigerian delicacies for international students stuck in Halifax
Halifax chef and entrepreneur Frances Dadin-Alli of Franyz Kitchen has been giving out free food to African international students still staying at Dalhousie University residence during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dadin-Alli took to social media to spread the word that she’d be providing Nigerian delicacies for 55 students stuck in residence–and has since expanded her offerings to…
Just the news on COVID-19 in Nova Scotia, for the week starting May 4
NOTE: This week is now over. For the very latest news, please go here. But for an informative look back at exactly how Nova Scotia responded to COVID-19 in realtime, keep on reading. Click here for a smaller, mobile-friendly version of The Coast’s Nova Scotia COVID-19 case graph. Editor’s note: The Coast has never aimed…
Bring Halifax culture home with The Coast’s arts streaming guide May 4-10
Monday, May 4 Campbell Woods Fresh folk for your ears at 4pm via Facebook Live. Trivia for Shut-ins Halifax trivia hosts-about-town Jason Dorey and Andrew Evans have shifted their popular triv game from pubs like Durty Nelly’s, the Lion’s Head and The Fickle Frog, to a Facebook livestream. Three 20-question rounds will challenge, amuse and…
From day one, advocates knew shooting was linked to domestic violence
Although it took RCMP over a week to address the Nova Scotia massacre’s relation to domestic violence, Canadian feminists and activists say they saw the telltale signs from the start. “I immediately thought this probably had a domestic violence event that precipitated it or was an element to it,” says Leighann Burns, a founder of…
You can go outside, but don’t fuck it up
Before the dessert, the vegetables. And not broccoli-with-cheese-sauce or sweet-potato-fries vegetables, either. Premier Stephen McNeil and NS top doc Robert Strang brought the boiled turnips to their webcast C19 briefing on Friday. “I know many people are tired of staying home and that we all just want to see some light at the end of…
Canada bans military-style assault rifles 12 days after mass shooting
On May 1, less than two weeks after Canada’s worst mass shooting to date, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a ban on military-style assault weapons. “These weapons were designed for one purpose and one purpose only — to kill the largest amount of people in the shortest amount of time,” he told the public during his…