Rank of “mittens” on Google’s list of the most popular searches done from Halifax: 1
Number of adoptable kittens’ photos posted online by the NS SPCA Metro Shelter in Dartmouth: 36
Number of raised bathtubs at Metro Dog Wash on Cunard: 5
Approximate number of catalogued entries in the Natural History Museum’s zoology collection: 300,000
Average monthly cost of pet insurance to cover $1,000 worth of medical attention due to “foreign body ingestion”: $16
Number of hurricane information bulletins issued in 2005: 87
Number of storms represented by the bulletins: 7
Percentage of those storms with macho names like Harvey: 25
Estimated number of Point Pleasant Park trees destroyed by Hurricane Juan: 75,000
Average price for a cord of firewood: $175
Average price for pack of cigarettes: $10.50
Average price for a movie ticket: $10.50
Number of feature films shot in Halifax: 64
Number starring Tom Selleck as Chief Jesse Stone: 3
Number of Alicia Silverstone sightings reported to The Coast in August 2006: 9
Approximate number of slot machines at Casino Nova Scotia: 700
Charge for first offense noise by-law violation, as listed in Dalhousie’s student guide: $300-$10,000
Charge for allowing a pet snake or reptile to roam at large around Halifax: $500
Tolerance for non-poisonous snakes over two feet long, boa constrictors, poisonous snakes, scorpions, tarantulas or black widow spiders in Dartmouth: 0
Times Alice Cooper will visit Halifax this year: 2
Top price for The Rolling Stones “On Stage Experience” tickets: $517.25
Top eBay asking price for four tickets in the “Gold Circle,” plus one hotel room (as of August 15): $2,500
Cost to send mayor Peter Kelly to Melbourne, Australia, from March 8 to 18, 2006, for the Commonwealth Games bid: $2,796.16
Cost of White Casablanca Lily and Weeping Eucalyptus floral arrangement requested for The Rolling Stones’ lounge (as per thesmokinggun.com): $45
Number of Metro Tim Hortons locations: 72
Number of old-fashioned plain Timbits, stacked up, that it would take to make up the approximate height of Citadel Hill above sea level: 2,362
Daily number of litres of raw wastewater sewage dumped into the Halifax Harbour: 100,000,000
Number of days it would take to fill a 20-storey office building with the daily wastewater dump: 1
Percentage of suspended waste solids that will be removed once the three Harbour Solutions water treatment plants are up and running: 70
Tolerance for graffiti, as decreed by Halifax city council: 0
According to their website, number of students enrolled at NSCAD University: 951
Number of NSCAD students’ bicycles mistaken as abandoned and taken by municipal workers last March: 16
Approximate grams of fat in a donair: 15
This article appears in Aug 31 – Sep 6, 2006.