🗞️ Boiling hot tips for water use

Oh hi Halifax,

Is everyone having as much fun as I am cosplaying Amish life with this boil water advisory? I mean, except for the electricity and internet and stuff, it’s pretty much like olden times. 

With 20% of the province affected after untreated water seeped into the system, here are some tips so hot they’re boiling (had to do it!) for you as we navigate these trying times.

😾 Pets can get the same diseases as people, so boil their drinking water (but obvs let it cool otherwise ouchy burnt tongues).

🥕 Rinse your fruits and vegetables with boiled water.

🛀 Don’t swallow your bath or shower water (I mean…).

🍽️ For those that have dishwashers, the internal temperature needs to reach at least 160 degrees (or use the sanitizing cycle).  If you’re washing by hand, rinse with hot water and then soak them in bleach for one minute before air drying.

🧺 Laundry is all good, no need to boil your clothes.

Have a great day in and just go ahead and embrace your doomsday prepper era!

– Julie

🌡️ Traffic & Weather

Today: ☀️ 27°

Tomorrow: 🌤️ 27°

Next Day: 🌦️ 26°

7-day forecast

🚗 Driving, biking or busing today? Check out the current traffic conditions and ongoing road closures.

💨 Here is Halifax’s Air Quality Index and the smoke report.

MUSIC

Giving Appalachian old-time music a Nova Scotian spin

When Nova Scotians think of traditional music, some may conjure Celtic tunes that they’ve heard over the years.

For the Halifax-based Old Beef String Band, their minds go to a more southern style.

The band has been fiddling and step-dancing since 2015 when they were just jamming. Now, they’ve released their debut EP Ride Home, full of Appalachian old-time originals with a few covers sprinkled in.

The band features vocalist and guitarist Ellen Kearney, fiddler and vocalist Amy Lounder, and mandolin and banjo player and step dancer Dane George, all of whom have a passion for music from the American South.

While they all enjoyed playing in person for the first few years of their band, COVID put a quick end to that in 2020. The Old Beef String Band would have to pivot if they wanted to keep playing the music they love.

Stuck in their own homes, they decided to send tracks back and forth over email. This eventually became the basis of a new creative project.

“I know I was playing a ton, just like working on fiddle in my room, practising and stuff,” said Lounder in an interview with The Coast. “Ellen and Dan got into some collaborative songwriting. And that's where the two original songs on the album come out of that time.”

The Coast’s Brendyn Creamer speaks with Lounder about the band’s transition from live shows to producing an album, as well as their unique style of Appalachian old-time music.

🤔 Need To Know

🚰 About 201k people connected to the JD Kline (Pockwock Lake) Water Treatment Facility were placed under a boil water advisory Monday evening after an internal power failure at the plant allowed a limited amount of unchlorinated water to enter the system.

🎭 Support4Culture, is dedicated to fostering artistic endeavours, and cultural enrichment within the music industry. See the impact Support4Culture makes here.*

🎷 Countdown starts now! Just one week until the TD Halifax Jazz Fest kicks off. Get ready for awesome music, vibes, and community spirit!*

🥳 You're invited to the North by Night Market this Friday, July 5! This pop-up style party with food, music, and artisanal goods is always a good time!*

🌊 Narwhal: Revealing an Arctic Legend is on display at the Museum of Natural History from July 6 to September 2, 2024.*

*Sponsored Post

SPONSORED BY JOHN HUMPHREY CENTRE FOR PEACE AND HUMAN RIGHTS

Creating a more inclusive Gender-Based Violence sector

Have you accessed or provided services created to support gender-diverse community members in addressing Gender-Based Violence? Please consider answering this survey about your experience. Your voice helps strengthen an important sector and make these services more inclusive for all.

EDUCATION

New teachers contract signed, made public

School is out for the summer but the province has a lot of homework to get done in the next few months. 

The Nova Scotia Teachers Union (NSTU) ratified a new collective agreement back on April 26 with their employer, the minister of education and early childhood development (EECD), Becky Druhan.                 

On Thursday June 27, both parties signed the agreement and released it online. The NSTU represents roughly 10,000 public school teachers across the province.                

Highlights include:                     

• A salary increase of nearly 12% over three years, retroactive to Aug. 1, 2023.

• A salary increase of 12% for substitute teachers as well as a quicker qualification period to becoming full-time teachers, which will now take them eight fewer days to complete.

• An increase of time teachers have for marking and preparation. Starting Aug. 1, teachers will have a minimum of 15% of instructional time dedicated to this per semester/term.

• An increase in school counsellors across the province.

• A guarantee from the province that neither class sizes nor length of instructional day will grow for the next three years, under this contract.

The Coast’s education reporter Lauren Phillips has more on the terms of the agreement.

🗞️ In Other News

💧 The boil water advisory has forced a number of daycares and businesses to close and some grocery store shelves have been cleared of bottled water.

✈️ Travellers of WestJet should expect more cancellations and delays this week, after a deal was reached over the weekend to end a strike by its mechanics. A spokesperson said full resumption of operations will “take time.”

🏥 Nova Scotia Health Minister Michelle Thompson still cannot say when a contract will be signed for the redevelopment of the Halifax Infirmary—the most expensive infrastructure project in the province's history.

🏛️ The province is allocating $1.8M to ENRICH — a community group addressing environmental racism and climate change.

SPONSORED BY NORTH END BUSINESS ASSOCIATION

You're Invited to the 10th Annual Gottingen Street Festival!

The Gottingen Street Festival joins forces with the Halifax Mural Festival and Unity Fest for an exciting event on July 13th! The collaboration showcases new murals by local and international artists, offering a day of art exploration. The festival includes local vendors, live music performances by Unity Fest, and promises a vibrant celebration of creativity and community in North End Halifax.

🗓️ Things To Do

Looking for something to do this week? Check out these Coast picks:

🗓 Peggy's Cove Area Festival of the Arts - Paint Peggy’s Cove: A three-day plein air painting event with over 40 local and international artists participating. Artworks produced will be offered for sale in the Yurt located in the centre of the village. A children’s art tent will offer free creative activities next to the Yurt. | July 5-7 | 9am | Free

🗓 Votive Dance Presents Don't Wake the Lions: A rhythmic, grounded, and physical piece, performed with live music, rooted in contemporary jazz and tap dance. First premiered in Halifax in 2021, Votive Dance is excited to be bringing this incredible show back to the stage at Neptune Theatre. | July 6-7 | $25

🗓Halifax Mural Festival: Get ready for live music, artist talks, a community market and more to explore at the Halifax mural festival. | July 6-14

Have an event to share? Let us know at [email protected].

⚓️ What’s In The Harbour

🛳️The Algoscotia oil tanker arrives in Halifax from Viana del Costelo at 12:15pm.

🛳️➡️ The Bess vehicle carrier arrives in Halifax from Southampton at 5:55am and leaves for New York at 3:30pm.

🛳️➡️ The Atlantic Star container ship arrives in Halifax from Norfolk at 5:20am and leaves for Liverpool at 5pm.

🍴 Where To Eat & Drink

.🍳 Start your day in style with the Sunrise Feast at Dessert Yard: two perfectly cooked eggs, crispy beef bacon, gourmet sausage, chive and parmesan potatoes, artisanal toast and a fresh green salad.

🇮🇳 New restaurant alert! The Can-Indian Kitchen is now open for business on Quinpool Road. The menu is sure to spice up your summer with delectable Indian delights with a fusion of flavours that bridges cultures. Rooted in Canadian soil, infused by Indian soul.

👀 In Case You Missed It

❤️ At Stepping Stone—an organization that supports current and former sex workers—there are certain criteria that a client must meet in order to become a resident. They have to either be homeless or in an abusive situation. Unfortunately, that criteria applies to about 50% of their 300 plus clients, making a huge pool of people that qualify and only four onsite rooms available. The Coast’s Julie Lawrence spoke with Stepping Stone about the challenges facing current and former sex workers as they look for long-term housing.

🚨 Two women who were verbally assaulted by homophobic slurs and physically attacked by a group of men in downtown Halifax last Saturday say that they are terrified to go downtown again. 

🩺 If you’re looking for a family doctor, you may need to ‘stretch’ according to the province’s health minister.

That’s it!

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