Provincial forestry technician David Steeves was asked a question about resources during his Thursday morning update from the Tantallon fire response control centre: How confident is Nova Scotia in the tools it has at hand to battle an out-of-control wildfire burning across Upper Tantallon for the fifth straight day? The answer “balances on a razor’s […]
Martin Bauman
Martin Bauman is an award-winning journalist and interviewer, whose work has appeared in the Globe and Mail, Calgary Herald, Capital Daily, and Waterloo Region Record, among other places. In 2020, he was named one of five “emergent” nonfiction writers by the RBC Taylor Prize. As host of the Story Untold Podcast, he has interviewed some of Canada's most notable figures, including Paralympian Rick Hansen, cave diver Jill Heinerth, and Juno Award-winner Shad. A passionate speaker and mental health advocate, Martin has been a youth panellist for the Canada-wide Spotlight on Invisible Disabilities Partnership and bicycled solo across Canada to raise funds for services in his hometown of Waterloo, Ont.
Posted inNews + Opinion
Province bans all travel and activity within forests while wildfires continue
Nova Scotia premier Tim Houston did not mince words in his Tuesday afternoon update on the province’s efforts to quell a pair of wildfires in Upper Tantallon and Shelburne County. “Travel and activity in our woods is banned,” Houston said, speaking from Shelburne, where an out-of-control 11,510-hectare blaze has prompted the evacuation of more than […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
DEVELOPING: A timeline of the Upper Tantallon wildfire
It was early Sunday evening in Hammonds Plains, and Karrie-Ann Buchanan and her partner were beginning to worry about wildfire smoke. Plumes of it had been drifting northeast from Upper Tantallon since late that afternoon. It hung over the Woodhaven RV Park they co-own and operate—64 acres of forest and campsites down the road from […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Tuesday winds in Tantallon bring “dangerous” fire risk, officials warn
Brad George was in the midst of his weekly Sunday clean-up when his Highland Park home began to fill with smoke. He could see it, smell it in the air. He looked out the front window. Ash fell on his lawn. Flames licked above the trees across the street. “I could just see this big […]
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Police, protestors clash at trial over events of August 2021 shelter evictions
In the days, weeks and months to come, Nova Scotia’s provincial courts have a weighty decision to make. At issue: What to make of Halifax’s peninsula-wide encampment evictions on Aug. 18, 2021 that sparked violent police clashes with protestors, ended in mass arrests and brought tempers in a city facing a severe housing crisis to […]
Posted inFood + Drink
The original Ray’s Lebanese restaurant is closing after 42 years
Beyond the glass door that leads into Ray’s Lebanese in Dartmouth’s Burnside neighbourhood, restaurant owner Raymond Khattar is bent into a plastic-backed chair and thinking about all the years that came before, along with what still lies ahead. After 42 years of serving Haligonians his signature falafel wraps—a run that cemented the 64-year-old Khattar as […]
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The Wanderer Grounds podcast: Trouble for HFX Wanderers FC as winless streak extends to six games
In this episode of The Wanderer Grounds, Coast reporter Matt Stickland is joined by Josh Healey of Halifax soccer blog Wanderers Notebook to diagnose HFX Wanderers FC’s struggles after the club’s 0-3 home defeat to York United FC. (Coast reporter Martin was listed as DNP: Nephews for Saturday’s match.) The two discuss what’s working—and not […]
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Halifax Harbour’s giant crane ship bids farewell to Nova Scotia this week
A familiar sight will soon disappear from Dartmouth’s skyline: On Friday, the 178-metre-tall Orion crane ship is set to depart from the IEL dock at the Woodside Terminal, where it has towered over Halifax Harbour since the beginning of May. Both the Orion and the GPO Grace heavy load carrier have been in port assembling wind […]
Posted inFood + Drink
These Halifax restaurants were voted among Canada’s best
Call your “from away” friends and relatives and tell them there’s proof of what you’ve been saying for years: Halifax’s bar and restaurant scene is pretty damn good—and it’s not just oysters and lobster. Halifax’s food scene is earning rave reviews in this year’s Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants list, an annual ranking of the top […]
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Province issues Liquor Control Act charges against Halifax Alehouse after December homicide outside pub
The Halifax Alehouse is facing two Liquor Control Act charges amid ongoing allegations of bouncer violence. The charges stem from an investigation launched in the days after 31-year-old Ryan Michael Sawyer was found “unresponsive” on the sidewalk outside the pub early on Dec. 24, 2022. Sawyer’s death was later ruled a homicide. Related A source […]
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Halifax’s biggest cruise ship of the year (so far) arrives this week
If you’ve been anywhere near Halifax Harbour in the last two weeks, you’ve seen the Orion crane ship looming over Dartmouth’s skyline. One of the world’s largest offshore construction vessels, it can lift 5,000-tonne loads up to a height of 178 metres—more than twice the height of the Purdy’s Wharf towers. Since Saturday, it’s been […]
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The Grand Parade podcast: Trish Purdy’s Keyser Söze turn, and why Halifax’s car noise bylaw plans are ineffective
In this episode of The Grand Parade podcast, Coast reporters Matt Stickland and Martin Bauman wade into the debate about Halifax’s heel-dragging efforts to curb motor vehicle noise—and why, six years after council sought permission from the province to amend the Motor Vehicle Act, nothing is likely to change anytime soon. Even if, by and […]