Last week, dirt-pushing machines appeared on the Halifax Common to break ground on the new $500,000 skatepark backed by the Halifax Skatepark Coalition. According to Coalition director/chairperson Jacquie Thillaye, the hope is that the new park will be fully skateable by mid-summer. “We’re looking at a two-to-three-month build schedule,” she says. The existing skatepark will remain open while the new construction is taking place. Rather than be destroyed, the old site will ultimately be incorporated into the new design. Before the new park is fully completed, eager skaters may be able to take an advance spin in their new playground. “It’s being built in phases and hopefully parts will open and be able to be ridden as we go,” says Thillaye. “People should check the website . Someone has been posting pictures almost everyday showing the progress and what’s been going on… There’s also an updated draft of the final park design.”
Split class
@body alt no indent:St. Patrick’s High School vice principal Wade Smith raised a stir this week by suggesting that an all-black school might better serve the needs of black students in Nova Scotia. Smith, a black educator, says he was not suggesting blanket segregation, but rather an institution that would celebrate black culture and therefore be a more encouraging environment for black students. The suggestion came after the Halifax Regional School Board’s African-Nova Scotian advisory committee reported that black students often feel isolated and unwelcome in many Metro schools, and that there is a lack of diversity among teachers and administrators. School Board chairman Gary O’Hara has said that Smith’s suggestion is not currently under serious consideration, mainly because the advisory committee has never formally proposed such a solution.
Round and round we go
@body alt no indent:In case you missed it, the Armdale Rotary is no longer a rotary; since last October, it’s been a roundabout. More than just a change in title, the new roundabout designation was supposed to change the way cars moved through the circular roadway. The problem is, nobody noticed—or nobody cared. On Tuesday’s council meeting, councillor Linda Mosher called on the province to launch an education campaign so that drivers can learn the new rules of the road. For the record, here are your updated Armdale Rotary crib notes: cars on the inside lane have the right of way. Cars entering the Rotary must yield to cars that are exiting. Closing your eyes, hitting the gas and praying for survival—although popular—is still technically incorrect.
Fuelish games
@body alt no indent:More news for motorists: The province will begin regulating gas prices as of July 1. All other Atlantic provinces already regulate their pumps—the province says that Nova Scotia’s system will be roughly based on the model currently used in PEI. The new system will lock prices in place for two weeks at a time, and the province’s Utility and Review Board will eventually be responsible for making any price adjustments. So what does it all mean? More stability in a world of increasingly volatile gas prices. What doesn’t it mean? Cheaper gas. Sorry.
