In March 2019, Vanessa moved into a one-bedroom apartment at 1566 Robie Street, a classic wood house near Bliss Street in Halifax’s south end. The home was old, but its good bones showed through a lack of upkeep. “The interior is what attracted me to that place,” says Vanessa, who only wanted to use her […]
Victoria Walton
Victoria was a full-time reporter with The Coast from April 2020 until mid-2022, when the CBC lured her away. During her Coast tenure, she covering everything from COVID-19 to small business to politics and social justice. Originally from the Annapolis Valley, she graduated from the University of King’s College School of Journalism in 2017.
Posted inNews + Opinion
Jane’s Walk returns to Halifax with 17 events to learn about the city
Jane Jacobs’ fight to save Greenwich Village in the ‘50s and ‘60s, and her later fight to stop Toronto’s proposed Spadina Expressway, inspired a generation of urbanists. A woman who made waves in the male-dominated field of urban planning, Jacobs sought to protect city blocks from being turned into high-rises, to keep mom ‘n’ pop […]
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HRM has a new approach to homelessness (again)
At Halifax Regional Council’s regular meeting on Tuesday, May 3, city representatives will discuss a staff report on housing and homelessness. The report recommends creating designated “overnight sheltering sites” in parks within the municipality and is reportedly part of the city’s changing approach to encampments “based on a reassessment over the last 6 weeks.” The […]
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Nova Scotia reports deadliest COVID-19 week of its entire pandemic
This week in Nova Scotia, the number of reported COVID cases is still on a downtrend. A total of 5,436 new cases were diagnosed by PCR testing between April 19 and 25, for an average of 777 per day. Compared to last week’s 1,072 cases per day, that’s a big drop, and a continuation of […]
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Nova Scotia “may have hit the peak” of current COVID wave
Nova Scotia’s latest COVID report came out on Thursday as usual. It covers a full seven days of disease activity in the province, unlike last week’s report that was only for six days. The change last week was needed to get the province on a better reporting cycle (the seven days from Tuesday to Monday, […]
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Two degrees of Mattea Roach
Canadians are a proud bunch. We love to boast about homegrown celebs whenever they’re in the news, whether it’s Ryan Reynolds, Drake or Celine Dion. In the Maritimes, that’s only amplified further. Our undying love of Elliot Page, Sarah McLachlan and Sidney Crosby runs as deep in our veins as our need to say “it’s […]
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Halifax is getting a retro roller rink
Dig out the neon spandex, find your flared pants and prepare for big hair. When Upshaw’s Roller Dome opens at 16 Dentith Road in Spryfield this summer, Halifax will be whisked back to ’70s and ’80s roller rink nostalgia. “I’m putting a lot of thought into the atmosphere, the lighting and the sound,” says owner […]
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With COVID infections at a new high in NS, Strang stresses personal responsibility
Nova Scotia’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. Robert Strang, held a Zoom briefing Thursday afternoon, April 7. It was originally supposed to be for media only, as a note from the province yesterday morning at 8:40 reiterated. But within three hours another email came from the province to say now the session would be […]
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BC politician visits Halifax with pitch to decriminalize some street drugs
Over the last six years, more than 250 Nova Scotians have died of drug overdoses. Across the entire country in that time, more than 25,000 people have died of overdoses, largely due to a drug supply tainted by substances like fentanyl. “In Canada we have two public health emergencies: the COVID-19 pandemic and the poisoned […]
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NS government announces 22,600 new homes, and 373 of them will be affordable
On Friday, March 25, the Nova Scotia government designated nine new “special planning areas” in HRM. Appearing alongside HRM mayor Mike Savage, provincial housing minister John Lohr said this means development proposals will be fast-tracked and up to 22,600 units of new housing will be built. “As we all know, the housing issue has reached […]
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HRM wants to “peacefully close” People’s Park
HRM mayor Mike Savage hasn’t been to Meagher Park since it transformed into People’s Park last August. “I don’t want a confrontation,” he says. “I don’t want to make things worse, I want to make things better.” Instead, Savage says he’s spoken with people who have lived there, community-based service providers and, of course, the […]
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North end Halifax thrift shop bought by anti-abortion group
The Facebook page for BayB Boutique says it’s a high-end upscale thrift shop, a social enterprise where 100 percent of profits go to charity. But for the children’s used clothing store, nestled into a strip mall between a pharmacy and a taxi call centre at 3548 Novalea Drive, this innocent description hides a much different […]