🗞️ Halifax artist makes triumphant return

Good morning!

Last week, we asked you in the newsletter what kind of coverage you wanted to see from us in the Coast Daily. You responded resoundingly: A majority of you—nearly 61%—told us you rely on The Coast for local news, along with a Halifax lens for province-wide issues. We hear you loud and clear.

In this week’s edition, you’ll get exactly that: A glimpse at HRM budget progress, a local musician’s big return to the stage and a survey of what’s happening across the province.

– Martin

🌡️ Traffic & Weather

Today: 🌤️ 7°

Tomorrow: 🌤️ 8°

Next Day: 🌧️ 4°

7-day forecast

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

MUSIC

Alana Yorke’s Destroyer got her through trauma recovery. And then a stroke, too.

When Alana Yorke steps under the spotlight at The Stage at St. Andrew’s this coming Monday, Mar. 18, it will mark a long-awaited moment: Her first solo concert since suffering a stroke two years ago. At the time, the 42-year-old Mount Uniacke musician woke up without control of her left arm. (She once described it as feeling like a “marionette’s arm.”) It put Yorke into the hospital.

Traumatic as the event was, it also fed into the creation of Yorke’s newest album, Destroyer, set for release through Paper Bag Records in May.

Cinematic and haunting, the album is a sonic feat. And as she tells The Coast, that’s only half of the story.

EDUCATION

Emily Wilson wants you to read ancient Greek poetry

Emily Wilson stood facing a crowded lecture hall at the University of King’s College, then bowed her upper body to the sea goddess Thetis. (“Because we all need a goddess mother on our side,” she told the crowd of hundreds on Mar. 6.)

This year’s Alex Fountain Memorial Lecturer, Wilson has become, without hyperbole, the voice of a generation of new classics readers—a Fox Mulder of ancient myths or Queen Bey of Homeric performance. Her translations of Greek classics—including Homer’s Iliad in 2023—are praised for their clarity and use of plain language.

That’s by design, the popular British-born, tattooed translator tells The Coast: She wants her translations to be read by all kinds of people—inside and outside higher education.

“Homeric poetry was well known, familiar and enjoyed by everyone in the Greek-speaking ancient world,” she says, speaking to The Coast before last week’s keynote. “It wasn't an elite-only, fancy pants, people-can’t-understand-this text, so why should it be nowadays?”

🗞️ In Other News

🚨 Halifax police are investigating an alleged home invasion and shootout after responding to reports of gunfire in the city’s west end on Monday night.

🏥 Meanwhile, a 25-year-old was in hospital with non-life threatening injuries after she was hit by a car while crossing a marked crosswalk in Dartmouth earlier this week.

🏡 Halifax’s rental vacancy rate remains exceedingly low—and the market could get even tighter, CTV News reports.

🗞️ One media critic says SaltWire’s money issues can be traced back to 2017; meanwhile, others say the Atlantic publisher’s insolvency is a sign of the times in today’s challenged media landscape.

🧬 The looming end of federally-funded take-home HIV tests has one Nova Scotia sexual health advocate worried for what’s to come.

🤝 Atlantic Lottery has existed for almost 50 years now and 100% of profits have always been returned to the region. "Every penny is reinvested in our communities."*

📚 Halifax-raised author Lisa Alward’s latest novel, Cocktail, is in the running for a major literary award—and a serious cash prize, to boot.

🏒 While minor hockey registration is on the rise across Nova Scotia, leagues in Halifax and Dartmouth are seeing a drop in numbers. Organizers have one theory.

⚽ Pro women’s soccer appears to be coming soon to Halifax. Job postings for a team currently named Atlantic Women’s FC recently went live.

*Sponsored Post

SPONSORED BY NEPTUNE THEATRE

Addicted is a mesmerizing piece of theatre

Soulful, unique and surprisingly heartwarming, this monodrama follows Penelope Day and the residents of Saving Grace Rehab Centre as they navigate the ups and downs of recovery. Written and performed by award-winning actor Raven Dauda, through 10 distinct characters, all masterfully portrayed by Raven, Addicted sheds light on a taboo subject with joy and kindness.

Addicted is a rare opportunity to see a performer at the top of their game, drawing you into a beautifully uplifting story.

On stage at Neptune Theatre until March 24. Tickets start at $25. Book Today.

CITY HALL

Dispatch from HRM budget debates: Why can’t Halifax seem to do what it sets out to?

The Coast’s budget recap is slowly, but surely, coming together. During the final few debates of the HRM’s budget season, municipal staff highlighted the city’s bureaucratic and political failures at implementing Halifax’s strategic plans. Coast city hall reporter Matt Stickland has been paying close attention.

Forever a submariner, Matt has been wading deep—deep!—into municipal processes to figure out why it is that Halifax can’t seem to achieve its stated goals. And he’s almost ready to come up for air.

One day soon in the Coast Daily newsletter, you’ll hear from a German urbanist who has read every single procurement document in Canada, the US and the UK. You’ll find out why Halifax is falling behind, and how it could still learn lessons from its municipal peers.

⚓️ What’s In The Harbour

🚢 The Atlantic Star container ship is expected to reach Halifax around 1:20am. It arrives from Liverpool, UK, and leaves for New York City by 5pm.

🚢 The 12,640-tonne Vivienne Sheri D container ship is due at the South End Container Terminal around 7:15am from Portland, Maine. It leaves Halifax for Argentia, NL, around 11pm.

🚢 The 229-metre-long Asian Captain vehicle carrier is slated to reach Halifax’s Richmond Terminals around 10am. It arrives from Southampton, UK.

👀 In Case You Missed It

🎓 School is back in session at MSVU, but a rift remains between faculty and administration—and the recent strike could be a harbinger for other NS universities, The Coast reports.

🌙 One Mi’kmaq artist’s work is now permanently archived on the moon. He spoke about the quirky honour on CBC’s Mainstreet.

🎸 Halifax punk band Customer Service just cracked Exclaim!’s list of “8 emerging Canadian artists you need to hear.”

🍸 A Halifax bartender is the lone Maritime entrant in an upcoming competition of Canada’s best mixologists happening in the city.

🚢 Further proof that billionaires have too much: One Australian mining executive wants to build a replica of the Titanic because “it’s a lot more fun … than it is to sit at home and count my money.”

That’s it!

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