[Image-1] Having solved urban chickens, feral cats and outlaw bees, city council will now turn its animal control expertise to “harbour squirrels.” Halifax South Downtown councillor Waye Mason will be asking for a staff report at Tuesday’s meeting of the Halifax and West Community Council to look at combatting the city’s rat problem. The motion […]
City News
Posted inNews + Opinion
Jennifer Watts takes job with ISANS
[Image-1] Halifax Peninsula North councillor Jennifer Watts already has a gig lined up for after October’s municipal election. Watts will join the Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia (ISANS) as its new director of settlement and integration in November. “I always said I was looking for work,” says the two-term councillor (who is not re-offering). […]
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Blue Mountain-Birch Cove Lakes a “sham of a process”
[Image-1] Hundreds of people crammed into a tiny meeting room at the Lacewood Future Inns on Monday evening to hear a presentation on the proposed plans for the Blue Mountain-Birch Cove Lakes wilderness area. It did not go well. The crowd—which filled the conference room and spilled into the hallway and lobby of the hotel—was […]
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Bruce Holland uses his community newspaper to announce campaign for city council
[Image-1] There are five candidates currently running for a council seat in Timberlea-Beechville-Clayton Park-Wedgewood, but only one is buying ink by the barrel. Parkview News publisher Bruce Holland recently used a front-page editorial in his own community newspaper to announce his candidacy for city council, and if that’s not journalistically unethical, it definitely strikes ones […]
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Green Lantern building gets the green light from council
[Image-1] Bright days are ahead for one of the downtown’s most iconic heritage properties. Halifax approved substantial alterations to 1581-89 Barrington Street—otherwise known as the Green Lantern building—at Tuesday’s meeting of regional council. The motion was moved “with great happiness” by downtown councillor Waye Mason. “This is a huge thing for downtown Halifax and the […]
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Love conquers hate at candlelight vigil in Halifax
[Image-1] Several hundred people gathered on a drizzly Monday evening in Halifax to try and prove that love is stronger than hate. The candlelight vigil on the North Common was held to honour those killed in Orlando this past weekend, in what has become one of the worst mass shootings in American history. At least […]
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Council to look at banning backyard fires in urban areas
Some summertime fun could be extinguished by new bylaw amendments that would ban open air burning in Halifax’s urban core. A staff report headed to Regional Council is recommending HRM prohibit open air burning on any residential properties that are within 50 feet of another structure and without a septic system. The proposed regulations would […]
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HRM accidentally outlawed bees (but is going to fix it)
[Image-1] A staff report going before Regional Council next week recommends amending the municipality’s animal control bylaws so that bees are exempt from the list of prohibited insects and allowed to roam freely as nature intended. Council approved HRM’s bylaw A-700 (“Respecting Animals and Responsible Pet Ownership”) last fall, leading to howls of criticism from […]
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It’s a banner year for Halifax Bike Week
[Image-1] The weather’s been a little damp, but that hasn’t stopped cycling advocates from gaining some political momentum during Halifax Bike Week. On Wednesday the Halifax Cycling Coalition received $4,400 in capital funds from District 8’s participatory budgeting to install an on-street bicycle counter on Agricola Street. The counter will be used for a “public […]
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Low-income bus passes arriving in HRM by September
[Image-1] A new low-income bus pass program could be ready by September, as regional council gives first reading to a new bylaw that also offers free Halifax Transit service to refugees. Council originally asked for a low-income transit pass program in 2014, but it was delayed for over two years due to some bylaw red […]
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Elmwood building on South Street to be torn down
[Image-1] Say goodbye to the Elmwood. The yellow Victorian-era home on the corner of South and Barrington is being torn down and replaced with a six-storey mixed-use development. Principal Developments, owned by Paul, Renée and Peter Metlej, wants to build 42 residential units with 8,000 square feet of commercial space at 5185-5189 South Street. It’s […]
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Province will be responsible for Queen’s Marque doodads
[Image-1] While it will be built and owned by the Armour group, it’s the province (through the Waterfront Development Corporation) that will have to look after all of the wacky playground elements planned for the Queen’s Marque. That’s because the five-acre piece of property which will house the $200-million downtown development is public land. Armour will […]
