“Adam’s fall” Matthieu Aikins’ award-winning feature on suicides from the Macdonald Bridge is a heartbreaking read even now, a decade after its publication. A year after Aikins’ story was printed, the bridge commission finally decided to install safety barriers along the old bridge to prevent future deaths. Seals of approval One of the most-read stories […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Tony Mancini wants stronger sanctions for disrespectful HRM councillors
As Drake would say, Halifax council is coming back on its worst behaviour. Harbourview–Burnside–Dartmouth East representative Tony Mancini is asking for a staff report at Tuesday’s meeting of HRM Regional Council on updates to the municipality’s code of conduct for elected officials. Part of that report will look at creating a new integrity commissioner at […]
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Matt Whitman is sorry if he offended anyone by using the word “negro”
For the third time in his political career, Matt Whitman has issued a public apology. The councillor stood at the start of Tuesday’s committee of the whole meeting to address his Twitter fight last week with fellow elected official Shawn Cleary and his use of the word “negro” on TV. “I apologize to my colleague […]
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Update: Matt Whitman all-lives-matters Cornwallis panel
Update: Mason clarifies his since-deleted tweet was agreeing only that Whitman, Adams and Hendsbee need public shaming, not that they are shitheads. The councillor previously told The Coast he stood by his comment when asked about “shitheads” Tuesday evening, but today says he thought we were referencing a different comment. “Sorry, totally my bad,” Mason tweets. […]
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Don’t @ me: Why Halifax police are turning to social media to improve public relations
The day before Valentine’s Day, during a severe snowfall, the @HfxRegPolice Twitter account sent out a reminder to residents that it’s illegal to walk on the street. “No, that’s not what the law says at all,” responded Ben Wedge, a transportation advocate and former member of Halifax’s Crosswalk Safety Advisory Committee. “If you could leave […]
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The Chronicle Herald is getting snippy on Twitter
[Image-1] The president and CEO of Canada’s largest independently owned newspaper appears to be embracing new media by getting into Twitter fights with readers. Over the last 14 hours, the @CH_MLever account has been on the defensive against critics of the Herald’s managerial decisions in the wake of Saturday’s union strike and layoff notices. The […]
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Let’s all play Halifax Twitter Outrage bingo
[Image-1] Along with cat GIFS and live-tweeting award shows, outrage is the internet’s gasoline. It’s no exception locally, as Haligonians on both sides of the harbour love to hate-type about a flurry of resentments (like how no one remembers Dartmouth). This wrathful whirlpool often consumes everyone’s timelines, leaving no room to avoid intricate discussions on […]
Posted inLifestyle
#HelpLily trends on Twitter after 14-year-old turned away from hospital
[Image-1] Social media saw an uproar over the weekend after a Halifax teenager was seemingly denied admission to the IWK Health Centre. Fourteen-year-old Lily, who is developmentally disabled, was reportedly taken to the IWK Sunday while experiencing a mental health crisis. According to those tweeting at the scene, she was sent home instead of being […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Twitterdee and Twitterdumb
Halifax councillors are mostly failing at their use of social media. Take councillor Matt Whitman. Whitman represents the Tantallon and Hammonds Plains Road areas, and bills himself as the “inventor of reverse networking.” As he explains on his website, “reverse Networking is promoting others rather than myself. If I say I am the best whatever, […]
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Councillor Bill Karsten objects to council live-blogging
Yesterday, mayor Peter Kelly had other commitments, so deputy mayor Bill Karsten took over duties of presiding over the weekly council meeting. As usual, I was there and live-blogged the meeting via Twitter. Today, I received the following email from Karsten: Tim, I saw your crap on twitter last night, and I have had about […]
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Halifax police are coming to Twitter
The cops are coming to Twitter. Last year, the Halifax Regional Police Department hired Lauren Leal, a graduate of Nova Scotia Community College’s PR program, to concentrate on social media, and Leal is now helping police administrators and staff sergeants learn the ropes of Twitter and Facebook. Deputy chief Chris McNeil told me at Monday’s […]
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Parody preserved: Google saves FakeSueUteck
The real Halifax councillor Sue Uteck may have complained to the police about the FakeSueUteck Twitter account, but that complaint fell on deaf ears at Twitter. “Parody impersonation accounts are allowed to exist on Twitter,” says “The Captain,” a spokesperson with “Twitter Trust and Safety,” Twitter’s communications wing, responding a week late to a request […]