Honouring our heritage can be educational, sobering and life-affirming. And expensive. Much of the cost of last year’s centennial commemoration of the Halifax Explosion covered the makeover of Fort Needham Memorial Park in the north end. That job came in at slightly more than $3.5 million, according to figures provided by city hall. The refurbishment […]
HRM
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Spectacle Island speculation
The picnicker’s paradise known as Spectacle Island is currently for sale, and the site’s private owners wouldn’t mind seeing it transferred into public hands. The small island in Purcells Cove, within eyeshot from Point Pleasant Park, has been owned by Barry Mosher and his family for the last decade. But the investment advisor is looking […]
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The worst bus in Halifax
Halifax Transit’s buses continue to arrive on-schedule far below industry standards, with the flagship Route 1 being late over half the time during rush hour. A performance report headed to HRM council next week says the overall percentage of Halifax Transit’s fleet that arrived on time in the second quarter of 2017/18 was a humbling […]
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Regional Main Streets plan pitched for HRM’s suburban and rural growth
Several citizen and economic advocacy groups joined together Tuesday morning in asking for a new strategy when it comes to guiding development in HRM: the Regional Main Streets Plan. The proposal would group together several separate planning documents—many of which haven’t been updated in decades—into a single strategy for HRM’s growth throughout both the suburban […]
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Province says HRM can dump plastics in Nova Scotian landfill
The province is letting Halifax ship its garbage mountain of trash bags to another Nova Scotia dump. The department of environment announced the temporary exemption in provincial recycling law on Friday. The change lasts for six months and only applies to the Halifax Regional Municipality’s dumping of plastic shopping bags and the plastic wrap around […]
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Province wants extra $300,000 from HRM for new Convention Centre
The province wants HRM to reimburse it for $301,500 in transition costs for the new Halifax Convention Centre that it says was the municipality’s responsibility to pay. City staff, however, aren’t so sure about that. In a somewhat tautological statement to The Coast, finance manager Bruce Fisher says city hall is reviewing the bill’s validity. […]
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Halifax’s Indigenous advisor talks Cornwallis, council and reconciliation
The wave of reconciliation is shallow, but it’s spreading. So says Wyatt White, the Halifax Regional Municipality’s first-ever Indigenous advisor. White, who hails from the Listuguj Mi’kmaq First Nation on the New Brunswick/Quebec border, is a former aboriginal affairs advisor to Environment Canada and to the provincial department of Education. He recently sat down with […]
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New home for Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre moving forward
Regional council approved an agreement Tuesday to sell the former Red Cross property on Gottingen Street to the Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Society. Terms and conditions of the deal are contained in a confidential report that wasn’t released to the public, but what is known is that the sale will be at market value and is […]
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Halifax to wait-and-see on this whole basic income thing
A staff report on poverty reduction recommends Halifax hold off on endorsing a basic income pilot project from the province. The municipality’s Community Planning and Economic Standing Committee asked for the report back in July after a presentation from Basic Income Nova Scotia. At the time, the group had suggested some minor steps HRM could take […]
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Halifax man fined for driving fake taxi
An unlicensed driver in Halifax has been posing as a legitimate taxi cab and picking up unsuspecting fares. On Monday, a social media account posted a warning about a driver using a fake roof light after hearing complaints from two Casino Taxi drivers. Brian Herman, president and operations manager for Casino, says he’s aware of […]
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LED streetlight project delayed, millions of dollars over budget
The light at the end of the tunnel is costing Halifax an extra $8 million. The municipality’s budget for installing energy-efficient LED streetlights has increased from $47 million to $55 million—a result of several operational delays in the massive public works project. Council approved the increase as part of a yet-to-be-declassified staff report back in […]
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Halifax councillors keep fighting about racism on Twitter
A city councillor’s use of the word “negroes” while stating that it’s impossible to be racist against Mexicans has prompted the latest public tweet storm between Halifax’s elected leaders. The back-and-forth between city councillors devolved out of Halifax West Armdale representative Shawn Cleary’s statement Tuesday that he would personally no longer use the term “marijuana” […]