Tomorrow’s council meeting will be dominated by a discussion “fiscal direction.” This is a complicated collection of different policies and political priorities, and I can’t do it justice without hearing the discussion first. So I’ll report back on that Wednesday. Other items of interest: Free wifi downtown Ten years too late, the city is looking […]
Posted inMorning File
The Maritimes origin of bad science: Morning File, Monday, October 20, 2014
News 1. Nova Star, pt. 1 This weekend the Yarmouth Vanguard published a very good piece by reporter Carla Allen. Allen interviewed Jeanna Kernazitskas, a lab tech from North Carolina travelling as a passenger on the Nova Star, who was one of the first people on the scene when a crewmember collapsed with a medical emergency. The crewmember subsequently […]
Posted inMorning File
Sorry about that, Chief: Morning File, Saturday, October 18, 2014
News 1. Stephen Harper is looking in your underwear drawer The Chronicle Herald’s Paul McLeod and Toronto Star’s Alex Boutilier have followed up on their explosive April report which revealed that the federal government had asked “telecoms and social media companies to turn over Canadians’ user data at ‘jaw-dropping’ rates, with nearly 1.2 million requests in […]
Posted inCity Hall
Community groups mull appealing St. Patrick’s–Alexandra ruling to Supreme Court of Canada
by Hilary Beaumont In the end, it will likely be a court and not the city that decides the fate of the St. Patrick’s–Alexandra property. Last week, the province’s highest court, the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal, sided with JONO Developments in the company’s bid for the school property. Long battle for the school site The […]
Posted inMorning File
Painting the town: Morning File, Friday, October 17, 2014
News 1. Needles As early as October 2, the RCMP knew about needles being found in french fries at the Cavendish Farms plant, but the police didn’t notify the public about the incident until last week, after a needle was found in a potato in Labrador City. The police agency’s knee-jerk protection of corporate reputation over notifying […]
Posted inMorning File
He who smelt it: Morning File, Thursday, October 16, 2014
News 1. Gas leak A Dexter Construction crew building a sidewalk along Joseph Zatzman Drive in Burnside hit a four-inch natural gas line yesterday morning, leading to the evacuation of over 40 businesses. There have been 21 such leaks since 2009. 2. Publication ban Is a botched Halifax police investigation being hidden behind a proposed publication […]
Posted inInvestigation
Is a botched Halifax police investigation being hidden behind a proposed publication ban?
Note: This article contains descriptions of violence that may upset some readers. There was an all-day hearing at the Law Courts building in Halifax yesterday, as Justice James Chipman heard an application for a publication ban on a report written by a lawyer at the Criminal Convictions Review Board. That CCRB report found that “there may be […]
Posted inMorning File
More reliable than Reddit: Morning File, Wednesday, October 15, 2014
News 1. $5 million more for Yarmouth Ferry Economic and Rural Development Minister Michel Samson announced yesterday that this past season’s sailing of the Nova Star will be subsidized at an additional $5 million, over and beyond the $21 million already spent to initiate the service, and that the ferry service will require further ongoing […]
Posted inMorning File
Prancing Queen: Morning File, Saturday, October 11, 2014
News 1. Equity stakes Chronicle Herald reporter Patricia Brooks Arenburg takes a much-needed look at the provincial purchase of equity stakes in corporations as an “economic development” strategy. I’ll forgive her this one time for the throw-away quote from Kevin Lacey, the most over-quoted and irrelevant quote-maker in Canada. Just glaze over that paragraph and […]
Posted inMorning File
Red moon waning: Morning File, Friday, October 10, 2014
News 1. St. Patrick’s Alexandra decision reversed The Court of Appeals has reversed a 2012 decision by Justice David MacAdam quashing the sale of the north end school site to Jono Developments. What this means is that the three community groups aiming to use the site have lost the opportunity, and the $3 million sale to Jono […]