[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 […]
City News
Posted inNews + Opinion
Prescriptions not required at Barrington Street dispensary
[Image-1] “I’m gonna heal people, man, whether they like it or not,” says Shirley Martineau. The owner of Auntie’s Health and Wellness Centre on Barrington Street is candid about selling cannabis oil to her customers without a prescription—proudly flaunting federal drug laws that seem increasingly archaic as Canada inches itself towards legalizing marijuana. Currently, only […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
HRM in 2016
[Image-1] JANUARY King Street station’s closure stayed. Chronicle Herald strikes. 130-year-old Keith’s bottle found, sampled. Ralph’s Place launches courtesy shuttle. Squirrel knocks out electricity to 5,400 homes. Dark Side Café contests $47,000 in fines. Data security breaches at CFB Halifax. FEBRUARY Cindy Day vs. Frankie MacDonald. Matt Whitman apologizes for tweets. Viola Desmond wins ferry […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Halifax living beyond its means, probably needs to increase taxes
[Image-1] Regional Council has a sobering decision in front of it: find a way to cut services or live with raising taxes. The warning was part of broad fiscal discussions held during Wednesday’s committee of the whole meeting, where manager of financial policy and planning Bruce Fisher told councillors that HRM’s expenses (and inflation costs) […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Educational support workers standing with teachers
[Image-1] Educational support workers in HRM are standing in solidarity with the Nova Scotia Teachers Union (NSTU), while at the same time bargaining with the Halifax Regional School Board (HRSB) for a new collective agreement of their own. Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) local 5047 president Chris Melanson says school board employees in his […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Richard Zurawski boycotts News 95.7 after contract termination
[Image-1] It’s not his duties at City Hall that have been keeping Richard Zurawski off the airwaves as of late. The city councillor is refusing to appear on News 95.7 and is apparently filing for damages against parent company Rogers Media over the termination of his contract. Zurawski was a longtime meteorologist for News 95.7 […]
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Police overtime spikes in wake of homicides
[Image-1] The police department has blown through nearly its entire overtime budget in the first two quarters of the fiscal year. Halifax Regional Police (HRP) confirm $2.25 million has been spent on overtime between April and October of this year. That leaves less than half a million in the department’s $2.7 million budget for the […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
All-you-can-build buffet in the urban core
[Image-1] Think of it as a really, really, really expensive Christmas craft fair. On Wednesday proposals for 18 developments in the urban centre will be presented en masse to the public at two planning information meetings (held from 12-2pm and 6-8pm) in the Atlantica hotel. It’s a way for HRM’s planning department to tie off loose […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Children locked out of school by province
[Image-1] Instead of locking out unionized teachers, the Liberal government has decided to lock out Nova Scotia’s students. All public schools in the province will be closed starting Monday, December 5. Education minister Karen Casey made the unprecedented announcement at a press conference held Saturday morning. The province says the planned work-to-rule action by the […]
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Halifax argues against proposed Africville class action
[Image-1] A Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice has reserved his decision on whether a lawsuit against the Halifax Regional Municipality by the former residents of Africville will go ahead as a class action. Robert Pineo, the legal representative of Nelson Carvery and other members of the historic black community, argued in front of a packed courtroom […]
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Who got served? Council sets HRM’s priority outcomes for 2017 and beyond
[Image-1] Halifax’s government is on its knees looking for an answer: are we human, or are we customer? Councillors new and old came together Thursday afternoon to set HRM’s priority outcomes for the next four years. It was a high-altitude planning session that came down to some precise word choices. Nowhere was that more evident […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Halifexit? Survey says nearly half of HRM residents want to split city from county
[Image-1] Twenty years after amalgamation, some residents of the Halifax Regional Municipality are still in favour of bringing back the county. That’s according to a new survey from Corporate Research Associates, which found nearly half of the 401 HRM residents surveyed supported splitting the municipality into an urban city and rural county. Overall results of […]
