News Views Noticed Government On campus In the harbour Footnotes News 1. Matthew Hines “Correctional Service Canada has fired one staff member and disciplined three others after an inmate was beaten and repeatedly pepper-sprayed at a New Brunswick prison before his death,” report Karissa Donkin and Joan Weeks for the CBC: The top correctional official in […]
Posted inMorning File
SWATting on steroids: Morning File, Thursday, September 22, 2016
News Views Noticed Government On campus In the harbour Footnotes News 1. SWATting Yesterday at about 8am, police responded to a bomb threat made via a fax to Nova Scotia Community College’s north end Halifax campus, and the school was soon evacuated. At roughly the same time, fax-sent threats were made to NSCC’s Sydney and Annapolis Valley campuses, […]
Posted inEnvironment, Investigation, Province House
Biomass, Freedom of Information and the Silence of the DNR Company Men
I’ll admit I was pretty intrigued this July when I was invited to a meeting at the Department of Natural Resources office in the heart of downtown Halifax. “I recognize that there have been challenges in providing you with the information you have requested, and that you have a number of questions for us that […]
Posted inMorning File
The Last Good Day Of The Year: Morning File, Wednesday, September 21, 2016
News Views Noticed Government On campus In the harbour Footnotes News 1. The Shaw Group Wilderness™ Yesterday, Halifax council voted to direct staff to continue negotiating a purchase of a part of the Purcells Cove Backlands from The Shaw Group. Gloria McCluskey was the only dissenting vote. Shaw made an offer to the city, and […]
Posted inProvince House
Crystal Serenity
Photos: Crystal Serenity Yesterday, the cruise ship Crystal Serenity was in town. In 2014 I wrote: It has been awarded an “F” grade by Friends of the Earth, which comments: Crystal Cruises is a subsidiary of a Japanese shipping company founded in 1998 with its headquarters in California. Crystal operates two cruise ships worldwide—the Crystal Serenity and the Crystal Symphony—which are designed to carry between […]
Posted inCity Hall
It’s not too late for Halifax to hit mobility targets
The first of three rounds of public consultation start this week for city’s new Integrated Mobility Plan. I spoke with IMP project manager Rod McPhail about what the consultations will be like, and why we should bother showing up. First, a quick refresher on the IMP: Staff started working on this plan back in February […]
Posted inMorning File
If you drink on the public dime, you should drink local: Morning File, Tuesday, September 20, 2016
News Views Noticed Government On campus In the harbour Footnotes News 1. Purcells Cove Backlands Yesterday, I took a look at city staff’s recommendation that city council approve the purchase of a parcel in the Purcells Cove Backlands from the Shaw Group. The proposed sale price is secret because we wouldn’t want the public to know […]
Posted inCity Hall
Council preview: It looks like the Shaw Group is over-charging for the Purcells Cove Backlands
At tomorrow’s meeting, Halifax council will take up a staff recommendation to purchase the Purcells Cove Backlands: On April 26 2016, The Shaw Group and Nature Conservancy of Canada (Shaw/NCC) presented a proposal to Regional Council for HRM to acquire lands (subject lands) located in Purcell’s Cove for an Urban Wilderness Park. Staff has been completing the […]
Posted inGovernment
Corrected: Morning File, Monday, September 19, 2016
News Views Noticed Government On campus In the harbour Footnotes News 1. Mayor Mike Savage plays the media CORRECTION: The city’s communication person, Tiffany Chase, tells me that the city actually did receive the $20 million in the form of a wire transfer Thursday. I own the mistake. What follows is simply incorrect. My apologies to […]
Posted inUncategorized
Dry Spells: Morning File, Saturday, September 17, 2016
“Never mind the dry spell in the weather,” I message Tim. “What’s up with how dry the news is lately?” Except I have a degree in English and stuff, so my message looked more like “WTFffffffff Tim. Wtf is wrong w the news.” Which I message Tim at some point basically every Friday. Forecast for news: […]