During the summer, 24-year-old David Backman starts each day with a jump in the Northwest Arm, just like the late Jim Gowen, a noteworthy Halifax journalist known for swimming in the Northwest Arm 365 days of the year. And this spring, the ‘Jimmy Gowen’, Backman’s 22-foot pontoon boat will ferry residents and commuters across the […]
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The not-ready Centre Plan strikes back while moving forward
HRM’s Centre Plan is marginally closer to actually existing. The community design advisory committee reviewed all the land use bylaws included in the Centre Plan on Wednesday, and gets two more meetings to pick it apart, a version of progress that’s coming too late for councillor Sam Austin’s constituents, who blame “broken” bylaws for a […]
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Council approves 2019-20 budget
City council approved $163 million in capital spending and $793.7 million municipal expenditures in the budget for 2019-2020 this week. The city’s been shaking up the budget process for over five years, and this year’s parking lot of shopping expenses was the latest attempt to make the process more effective. Tuesday’s meeting was more ceremonial […]
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Police Commission makes recommendation to suspend street check practice
UPDATE: On Wednesday, April 17, justice minister Mark Furey directed police across NS to suspend street checks of both pedestrians and passengers in vehicles until further notice. The Halifax Board of Police Commissioners put its weight behind ending the practice of street checks at this week’s meeting following Scot Wortley and the NS Human Rights […]
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Hurricanes’ Saturday playoff tiebreaker tests traffic woes to come
The Halifax Hurricanes lost a harrowing game 105-94 in overtime Wednesday night after a last-minute scoring push by the Cape Breton Highlanders. The National Basketball League playoff series now stands at two games apiece. The tie will be broken Saturday night, the winner advancing to the Atlantic division finals. Tickets at the Scotiabank Centre went […]
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Welcoming tourists with a snow storm
Cruise ship season in Halifax started a few weeks earlier than usual–hours ahead of a late spring #NSstorm. Over 1,200 passengers, aboard the Oceania Cruises’ vessel Marina, docked Monday morning for a crisp, maritime spring day. The first cruise ship of the season arrives in #Halifax while the municipality is under a snowfall warning #Sprinter […]
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April brings Godzilla, traffic delays
West end Halifax commuters found themselves at the receiving end of what seems like a bad April Fool’s prank: the first day of a four-month-long repair work project on the Quinpool Road CN Rail bridge. With traffic backing up on Herring Cove Road and Chebucto Road, this morning’s rush hour on the Armdale Roundabout was […]
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Mark Butler announces resignation from Ecology Action Centre
After 23 years with the Ecology Action Centre, policy director Mark Butler is resigning. In an email to members Butler says he’ll be finishing up in October 2019. “This is an incredible place to work there’s amazing people here…There’s lots of energy in the organization. This is a good time for me to leave,” says […]
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Council says no to spending surplus money on parking lot expenses
After much debate, Halifax Regional Council voted against using the $20 million surplus reserve to keep residential and commercial tax rates down. The rate will go to a final vote at council at 2.3 percent, meaning a $43.83 increase on the average home tax bill of $1,979. Mayor Mike Savage recommended taking $900,000 from last […]
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The Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board has an extensive public relations department, yet it seemed determined to avoid relating with “How your paycheque supports fracking in Colorado.” The PR team did not respond to multiple phone messages, email requests for an interview or a list of emailed questions sent over the course of more than […]
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How your paycheque supports fracking in Colorado
I t’s a familiar story. A rich country develops oil fields in a heavily indebted nation with lax environmental rules. Local residents object, saying oil and gas extraction degrades their air, water, quality of life. Protests mount as the foreign energy company steamrolls the permitting process. The rich country tries to influence local elections in […]
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NSCAD faculty strike ends, classes resume
N SCAD’s 95 faculty and librarians ended their strike on Tuesday after just over a week on the picket line. This came as a great relief of the university’s MFA students who staged a sit-in demanding the administration agree to negotiating an to end the strike. The strike meant that faculty supervisors of three MFA […]