News Plague #1: gastrointestinal illness At least 50 people who stayed at the Delta Halifax have contracted a gastrointestinal illness, although CTV says the number could be as high as 200. It’s a nasty piece of business—“People who are affected are seeing a quick onset of diarrhea, vomiting, but it usually settles down in about 12 hours, so people […]
Posted inLocal History
BREAKING NEWS: Saint Mary’s University demolishes Infants Home
Saint Mary’s University is today demolishing the historic Infants Home at the corner of Inglis Street and Tower Road. Heritage Trust has this to say about the building: This building is a remarkable testament to the emerging role of women in late nineteenth-century Halifax. The Halifax Infants’ Home was built by a women’s society, founded […]
Posted inMorning File
Morning File: Friday, June 27, 2014
News 1. Muskrat Falls price increases CBC reports that costs of constructing the Muskrat Falls hydro project have increased 40 percent, from $5 billion to $7 billion. These costs will all be borne by the provincial government of Newfoundland and Labrador. There’s no immediate indication that there’s similar inflation in the $1.5 billion Maritime Link portion […]
Posted inMorning File
Morning File: Thursday, June 26, 2014
News 1. Metro Centre to be named after a bank Banks have the money, after all, right? In this case, Scotiabank is paying $6.3 million over 10 years for naming rights to the arena. (The Halifax Examiner gave details of the deal yesterday.) Which is a much better deal than the city had landed for previous […]
Posted inCity Hall, Commentary, Province House
Nova Centre developer sues Heritage Trust, asks for “tens of millions of dollars” in damages; read the suit
Through his development company, Argyle Developments, Nova Centre developer Joe Ramia is suing Heritage Trust and each of its 27 directors, and seeks “tens of millions of dollars” in damages, claiming that: Heritage Trust has consistently acted contrary to its mandate and opposed various development projects within HRM not in line with their objectives. The […]
Posted inCity Hall
City council recap, June 24 & 25, 2014
Regional Plan Review After three years of public input, delays, debate, more delays, subcommittee meetings and more delays, Halifax council has finally completed the “five year” review of the regional plan developed eight years ago, and has approved all the recommendations of the review. The revisions are not radical, but they tighten up planning policies […]
Posted inMorning File
Morning File: Wednesday, June 25, 2014
News 1. Joe Ramia sues Heritage Trust In what looks an awful lot like an American-style SLAPP suit (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation), Nova Centre developer Joe Ramia’s company, Argyle Developments, has filed suit against both the Heritage Trust and each of its 27 directors individually. Heritage Trust’s alleged wrongdoing? “Argyle Developments says that since […]
Posted inMorning File
Morning File: Tuesday, June 24, 2014
News 1. Linda Mosher’s court case delayed, again. Police say that while driving her SUV on May 7, 2013, Halifax councillor Linda Mosher hit a bicyclist at the corner of North and Robie Streets, and drove off without stopping. A witness followed Mosher to a nearby garage, and told her of the incident; she then drove […]
Posted inCity Hall
Linda Mosher’s court date postponed, again
Last December, there was a horrible accident at the corner of North and Agricola Streets, and two pedestrians on the sidewalk were hit by one of the cars involved. Both pedestrians were injured, one quite badly. The afternoon of the accident, police announced that a white SUV was involved, but had driven away; they asked the […]
Posted inCommentary
Misinformation and bad arguments over the Africville dog park
Tomorrow, Halifax council will consider a staff proposal to decommission the Africville dog park. Since I commented on the issue Saturday—it’s behind the paywall, but basically I said the dog park should be moved across the highway to Seaview Overlook Park—I’ve received a barrage of comments from supporters of the dog park. They have three main arguments. […]