News 1. Biofuel Last year, in her article “Life After Pulp,” Linda Pannozzo showed how as the old pulp industry is collapsing, the government is chasing two other forest dreams — biomass and biofuel. On the latter, she wrote: In 2012, when the Dexter government announced the defunct paper mill would become a business hub […]
Paradise is lost, but no one much cares
Morning File, Tuesday, November 13, 2018
Subscription drive If you haven’t yet, please consider subscribing. 1. Press-conference journalism “I’ve never been a fan of press-conference journalism,” writes Stephen Kimber: It may be a marginal improvement on canned-quotes press-release journalism when it comes to public accountability, but most press conferences I’ve attended are little more than carefully staged theatre pieces designed to […]
The convention centre is running a $4 million operating deficit this year… and that’s just the beginning of the costs
Morning File, Monday, September 10, 2018
News 1. Mehta Stephen Kimber writes: Last winter, Acadia University said it was investigating [Rick] Mehta “for the manner in which you are expressing views that you are alleged to be advancing or supporting and, in some instances, time that you are spending on these issues in the classroom.” We need to parse that sentence. […]
Ships, Conservatives, turbines, gold, and forests
Morning File, Thursday, August 23, 2018
Hello, I’m Joan Baxter, Nova Scotian journalist and author, wondering how on earth Tim does this every morning. News 1. Ships start here, but when? Jennifer Henderson investigates the six-month (and counting) delay in the completion of the first ship in the multi-billion dollar Halifax Shipyard contract in a new article for the Examiner: The […]
The fuel leak at Tufts Cove is reminiscent of Halifax Transit’s fuel leak
Morning File, Thursday, August 16, 2018
News 1. Fuel leaks at Tufts Cove and Halifax Transit “Pressed about the fact it took [Nova Scotia Power (NSP)] 12 days to talk about the almost 20,000 litres spilled on its property, [Environment Minister Margaret] Miller said she wasn’t overly concerned,” reports Jean Laroche for the CBC: “It would have been better if they […]
Like a turtle crawling out of a mulch pile
Morning File, Tuesday, July 17, 2018
Hi folks. Erica Butler here, filling in for Tim today. News 1. Al-Rawi asks for second assault charge to be quashed Reporting for the CBC, Blair Rhodes recaps the history of sexual assault investigations and charges against former Halifax cab driver Bassam Al-Rawi. While his first charge from a 2015 incident will be re-examined in […]
Researchers who help the oil industry are funded, while researchers trying to better regulate the oil industry are frustrated
Morning File, Monday, June 18, 2018
News 1. Cannabis “Talk about buzz kill,” writes Stephen Kimber: At its meeting Tuesday, Halifax city councilors will consider a staff report recommending ever more stringent controls around the cultivation and consumption of cannabis to make sure no one gets the notion there is anything remotely recreational or fun — certainly, definitively not fun — in […]
Vexatious litigant Roger Callow storms Nova Scotia courts: Morning File, Friday, November 3, 2017
Annual subscription Drive I’ve always been a soft sell on the subscription front. Shilling for subscriptions annoys me more than it annoys you, probably. But this is how we pay for the Examiner. I’m committed to paying contributors and employees decently, and that requires a steady income from subscribers. My hope is that this year’s drive […]
Lying children and the moral panic of Halloween: Morning File, Monday, October 30, 2017
News 1. Parking enforcement “Halifax’s contractor for parking enforcement will not have its contract renewed when it expires on Nov. 14.,” reports Emma Davie for the CBC: Nick Ritcey, spokesperson with the city, said G4S Secure Solutions will not be contracted again for parking enforcement and instead the services will be done in-house. “Municipal staff has determined that […]
The Shipping News: Morning File, Wednesday, June 28, 2017
News 1. Torture ship The Chilean sailing ship La Esmeralda arrived in Halifax yesterday. It is currently at anchor and will move to Pier 20 behind the Seaport Market tomorrow afternoon. During the Pinochet years, La Esmeralda was a torture prison, reported the Guardian when the ship pulled into London in 2015: A series of […]