Be the first to know about breaking news, articles, and updates.
The Coast | News, events, restaurants, concerts and Burger Week for Halifax, Nova Scotia
Home of the Best of Halifax Reader's Choice Awards, the award-winning independent newspaper covers the Halifax news, politics, events, concerts, movies, restaurants, and nightlife scene.
The Flower Shop has blossomed and outgrown its current 1887 Granville Street location. In June, the much-loved florist is making the move to Barrington—1705 Barrington Street, the former Foreign Affair, to be exact—and the new digs mean additional storage space and a basement office. Owner Charlotte Pierce is particularly excited about the new walk-in cooler.…
Few people know Nova Scotia’s mental health system as well as Truro’s Twyla Wilband. “It’s been a long road to say the least,” Wilband said, who was first diagnosed with anxiety and depression at the age of 14. Living in New Brunswick, Wilband received some counselling at school but the illness became increasingly severe, leading…
The past year was pivotal for pop/EDM band Neon Dreams, composed of four locals riding the high of recognition. They landed among the stars on top 40 charts with their single,”Marching Bands” and performed at the 2017 Juno Awards gala dinner. “It felt like a level-up,” says songwriter and producer Corey LeRue. Neon Dreams’ roots…
As with physical ailments, the treatment you get for mental illness depends on its seriousness. Some illness is treated in the offices of family doctors, often with drugs such as antidepressants. For those needing more intensive help, specialized services are provided by community-based clinics and programs. Patients can be referred to these clinics by their…
Overburdened is the work of students in the investigative reporting workshop at the University of King’s College in Halifax, Nova Scotia. During February and March, a team of students interviewed more than 50 people in Nova Scotia and PEI, including many users of the mental health system, doctors, experts and others. A few of the…
Amy Chandler embroiders every chance she gets—seriously. “I work full-time, and I literally come home, try to eat things while embroidering, and embroider from the time I wake up to the time I go to sleep and any time that I’m off,” she says. “I love it, I love it a lot.” The 24 year-old…
You have no idea how much my heart pitter patters in your presence. A gal like me could only wish to be with a gal like you. Your friendship means the world to me. I always look forward to spending time with you. Do you have any idea how beautiful you are? I can’t help…
Information security in this province is in a poor state and at risk of similar cyber attacks like the ransomware that’s been paralyzing computer systems around the world. “I would suspect that if a large British hospital is vulnerable, then a Nova Scotian hospital is,” says Catherine Tully, the province’s information and privacy commissioner. Britain’s…
You can do your homework and compare the platforms yourself. I genuinely believe that those who decide to take a leap into public office want to serve for the greater good in our province…. But somehow these human beings (reminder: politicians are daughters, mothers, fathers, sons, etc.) get abused by all of you in the…
I was disappointed to see an article celebrating a design construction company recently. I had hired this company to do a project in the past year and had a horrible experience. The work was of poor quality, overpriced and at times I felt under personal attack from the owner of the company. The unprofessionalism was…
Most people understand that human-caused climate change is a real and serious threat. True, some still reject the mountains of evidence amassed by scientists from around the world over many decades, and accepted by every legitimate scientific academy and institution. But as the physical evidence builds daily—from increasingly frequent and intense extreme weather events like…
Deleting your social media accounts is the secret to a happier, more fulfilling life, but it’s also particularly important if running for public office. Case in point, this week on the provincial campaign trail two more political candidates were betrayed by their timelines. On Monday evening, NDP candidate Bill McEwen withdrew from the race for…
Cheers to the one household on a certain south-of-Quinpool street with an orange sign amidst a sea of red!! My timid spirit bows to your boldness and you inspire me to act. I am with you in the hope for change. —So done with red
Multiple award winning, Grammy-nominated R&B/hip hop artist, drummer and producer Anderson .Paak & The Free Nationals play the Halifax Jazz Festival Waterfront Main Stage Saturday, July 15, 2017. Festival passes are available for purchase beginning today, May 16. Tickets for individual shows go on sale this Thursday, May 18 at 10am AST. Shows at St.…
“Change will never be delivered to you on a golden plate,” says filmmaker Fateh Ahmed. “If you want to experience change you need to pursue it.” That’s what Ahmed is trying to do through his documentary Without Consultation. For the past two years, he has gathered footage and conducted interviews about the Film Industry Tax…
I am taxed the fuck out. Taxes on taxes for gas. High taxes for water. Taxes on products that tax has already been paid on ( used cars ). Higher power rates. Fucking insane costs for internet/phone/TV. Fucking cost at the grocery stores now…through the fucking roof. Fucking Zoolander imposing a carbon tax now. Fucking…
2b Theatre’s latest show tells the true story of the playwright Hannah Moscovitch’s great-grandparents who came to Canada from Romania in 1908. The beloved Ben Caplan is at the helm of the play, guiding the evening along with story and song, leading to flashbacks performed out of a shipping container-turned magnificent modular set. Mary Fay…
I hit the button to cross the street but the lights don’t activate. Why not? Pffft, I’m not an electrician. A fast moving motorist, in her benevolence, chooses not to hit me, but aghast, cranes her head to confirm the lack of flashing lights as proof that she was in the right to do so.…
Ben O’Toole and Morgan Zwicker are challenging the idea that there’s no such thing as vegan comfort food. Later this week, they’ll start slinging all sorts of tasty creations at Benny’s Burgers. “We realized there’s a lack of vegan street food in Halifax,” says O’Toole. He adds that there are some great “clean eating” and…
There I was walking down Agricola on a windy night when…boom. A sign, my hand, and then my thigh. The next few moments were filled with pain and shock. What was that object that just slashed open my hand and smacked my thigh? As I turned my head and watched it blow away, I realized…
I’m trying to find a job and I’m finding it really annoying that every fucking place makes you sign up to their web site and basically recreate your entire fucking resume on their site. Why can’t these idiot employers just allow you to upload a resume? I already wrote a resume and an entire cover…
Here is the correct order in which the weekend’s events should have occurred: Make me a banana choc smoothie, tell me about your ‘technical’ breakup, I’ll throw said smoothie in your face, and we can skip the rest. Thank you for understanding. Sincerely, —I would advise not messing with a Scorpio, particularly not a brunette…
Nova Scotia is gearing up to decide which white man will become premier on May 30. In the meantime, the Nova Scotia Women Vote rally is taking place Saturday to mobilize political action around women’s issues, during a provincial election where two-thirds of major party candidates are men. Pamela Lovelace, chair of Equal Voice NS,…
Whatever plans the Liberal party has for cleaning up toxic water in Harrietsfield, HRM knows as much about it as the general public. In a Facebook Live announcement on Wednesday, incumbent MLA candidate Brendan Maguire announced the province and HRM would be working together to finally flush out toxic heavy metals leaking from the RDM…
I’ve never been stoned. I don’t smoke. I used to drink, but the cost to feel good, was taken away by paying 25 bucks for a bottle of booze that has $15 in taxes attached to it! So, back to the marihuana. It’s illegal right now. The debate is endless about the stuff. Is it…
So, when I saw The Coast had a new column called ASK HOLE, I immediately got all excited. Finally, I could have all my personal dilemmas addressed by one of the 90’s edgiest alt-rock bands. Instead, people’s questions are being answered by some rando who is definitely not Courtney Love, Eric Erlandson and/or Melissa Auf…
I miss you everyday. I mistreated you when I was in your warm embrace. With some time apart, I realize just how much you mean to me. I hope when I return home, you’ll welcome me again. I miss your freedom and your small-town smile. I miss your art and connection. Please forgive me, I…
Another business dedicated to quality is leaving the Halifax shopping scene—this time Daun Windover’s furniture and home decor shop Abode Boutique. After stints on Granville and Doyle streets, the source for mid-century modern pieces, Scandinavian designs and dishes and accessories settled into its current home at 5881 Almon Street in early 2016, which will close…
Even in terms of Andrew Younger’s headline-filled political career, last week was a whopper. The former Dartmouth East MLA was hospitalized over a still-undisclosed health concern, which prompted his wife to file an emergency protection order with the courts. Both Andrew and Katia Younger maintain it was to ensure safe supervision for their son and…
Five years after opening in the Trillium building, Preamble Footwear (1457 South Park Street) has announced that the end of May will also be the end of the store. A spin-off shop from the nearly 40-year shoe veterans at Aerobics First (6166 Quinpool Road), Preamble opened its doors in 2012, offering Haligonians fashionable footwear that…
Let’s hear it for politicians who try to create harmony rather than discord and who believe in trying to build a better Nova Scotia by bringing people together and treating them in a polite and respectful way. —I believe in harmony
25 years ago the Westray mine exploded in Plymouth, Nova Scotia killing all 26 miners who were down below. It will happen again. The last five years have seen an unprecedented attack on labour rights in the province. The Liberal government has passed at least nine separate pieces of legislation to limit the rights of…
Dear Ask Hole, I’ve come to accept my downstairs neighbours’ love of loud country music. Live and let live, I say. Only now it’s election season, and my good neighbours are proudly displaying a campaign sign for a political candidate and party I detest. A party I’d wager the whole neighbourhood detests. What should I…
Atlantic Book Awards Festival May 11-19 atlanticbookawards.ca The eighth annual Atlantic Book Awards Festival draws attention to Atlantic Canadian writing, which can be “overwhelmed by the huge amount of books coming out of Ontario and Quebec,” says Heather MacKenzie, president of the Atlantic Book Awards Society. “The wealth of talent that’s coming out of this…
Jenn Grant Saturday, May 13, 8pm Rebecca Cohn Auditorium 6101 University Avenue $27-$32 Breaking apart a peanut butter cookie in the sunny window of a cafe on Gottingen Street, Jenn Grant glows. The singer-songwriter has just returned to Nova Scotia after weeks of touring behind her sixth album, Paradise. It’s a beautiful, subtly adventurous record…
Jim Gaffigan Friday, May 12 Scotiabank Centre, 5284 Duke Street You know who Jim Gaffigan is. Maybe you listen to or watched his stand-up. Maybe you caught him in an age magic movie like 13 Going on 30 or 17 Again or in one of the Law and Orders. Or maybe you were a regular…
If you are the type of person who finds it hard to secure adequate table space for all of your brunch beverages (the dehydration/caffeination is real)—read on, you parched little camel. Here are some classics and some soon-to-be classic sips that you’re going to want to integrate into your drink game. Vietnamese coffee Pho Hoang…
Liberal win unsure The McNeil Liberals enter the election campaign with hurdles to clear. Provincial civil servants, nurses and, most recently, teachers, have much to be unhappy about. It didn’t get any easier last week when the premier took heat over a campaign appointment and was blamed, perhaps unfairly, for our overextended and understaffed…
The Archive of Missing Things May 15-27 Dalhousie Killam Library 6225 University Avenue, $25-$30 stages.tickethalifax.com Dalhousie’s Killam Library is the setting for Zuppa Theatre’s latest creation, The Archive of Missing Things, the company’s first new show in two years. Described as an “ambient drama,” it’s part-game and part-live performance, where audience members are given tablets and…
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Taurus (Apr 20-May 20) “Kiss the flame and it is yours,” teased the poet Thomas Lux. What do you think he was hinting at? It’s a metaphorical statement, of course. You wouldn’t want to literally thrust your lips and tongue into a fire. But according to my reading of the astrological omens, you…
Who feels like a winner in their favourite clothing? Damien Rodriquez and Nathan Simon, founders of Winner’s Circle Clothing Co., want to make sure you do. So much so that if you see them strolling down the street, chances are they’ve got some of their hip-hop-inspired duds on hand, and will sell it to you…
Q My husband is nearly 20 years older than me, which was never an issue early in our relationship. However, for approximately the last eight years, we have not been able to have fulfilling sex because my husband can’t keep an erection for more than a few thrusts. I love my husband and I am…
Nestled between two restaurants, shoebox-sized Quinpool Shoe Repair looks today as it has for 59 years. Two windows take up the entire storefront, but you can’t get a clear view of the inside. The glass is crowded with stickers: A black jaguar with red eyes and thick yellow letters spelling out the shop’s name and…
For a “long time now,” housing options for people on income assistance have either been too expensive, too far away or in too poor a condition for people to live in, says Eric Jonsson of Halifax Housing Help. Since 2008 the Metro Non-Profit Housing Association program has tried to find homes for at-risk individuals and…
East Coast Bakery 6257 Quinpool Road Bagels—the browned, buttered bread rings round out any brunch spread. But for Gerry Lonergan, they’re much more than a delicious way to carb-load in the morning. The humble toaster fodder has been a central player in his world since day one, ultimately changing his life faster than you can…
