After a raid on their Fairview clubhouse in 2003 effectively folded the Nova Scotia chapter of the Hells Angels, the organized crime syndicate went dark here for more than a decade. Their return has been heralded by some members of the public on social media as a positive for the community. On every news story […]
Christy Somos
Posted inNews + Opinion
Visiting sailors bring increased risks and extra security to the waterfront
The Italian navy training ship Amerigo Vespucci made an early berth in Halifax Harbour last month. Along with the vessel came its crew—men and women pressed neatly into white uniforms that drew attention from the moment they stepped onshore, not all of it positive. During their time in Halifax, the male sailors actively recruited women […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Trapped inside a murder trial
It is 2017 and my family is once again forced to file into uncomfortable airport-style chairs in a dismal courtroom in Montréal. The interior is a muted, ’70s yellow-grey that’s reminiscent of vomit. It’s fitting, seeing as every time I enter the Palais de Justice it induces that semi-panicked feeling you have right before your […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Where has the Green party been?
With his voice travelling over five thousand kilometres to play on speakerphone, Thomas Trappenberg is not where you would expect the leader of Nova Scotia’s Green Party to be during a provincial election—he’s in Anchorage, Alaska. “I wish we had more time,” Trappenberg says, with a rueful laugh. “I was already up here [in Alaska] […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Death’s companions: Meet Nova Scotia’s forensic pathology team
In a modern glass and steel building, embedded in the Burnside Industrial Park, reside the dead. The Dr. William Finn Centre for Forensic Medicine—named after Nova Scotia’s first medical examiner, appointed in 1895—was designed by Fowler Bauld & Mitchell, the same architect firm that created the sprawling cathedral that is the Halifax Central Library. The […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
How to solve a murder
[Image-1] It begins with a call. “It all starts with patrol,” says Jason Withrow. “They’re the ones who show up [in uniform] when 911 is called. After that, it goes up the chain until we’re alerted.” His partner, detective Derrick Boyd, points to the cell phone holstered to his hip. The two investigators always have […]