🗞️ HFX Votes 2024: You asked, we answered

Oh hi Halifax,

Like any stereotypical millennial woman, I love nothing more than cats (eff you JD Vance) and true crime. Roll your eyes all you want, but these two things form the cornerstone of my personality, and they’re classics for a REASON. 

One of the foundational events that I now believe piqued my interest in true crime was the case of Kimberly McAndrew—a 19 year-old woman who, in August of 1989, left the Canadian Tire store on Quinpool Road where she worked as a cashier. She was later seen at a flower shop in Penhorn Mall in Dartmouth and then—never seen again.

Yesterday marked the 35th anniversary of her disappearance and police say that they believe that there are people who have information about what happened to Kimberly, adding that they hope “the passage of time will encourage them to do the right thing and share what they know with police.”

Kimberly was last seen wearing pleated navy slacks, a white short-sleeved Esprit t-shirt with red and green squares, a navy oversized cardigan and jade green flat-heeled loafers. Which—let’s be real—sounds like a fit that would slay today.

The story has haunted Halifax for decades and I think about Kimberly often when I’m driving by that Canadian Tire store. Hopefully her family gets some sort of resolution after all these years.

Love and light! ☀️

– Julie

🌡️ Traffic & Weather

Today: 🌦️ 23°

Tomorrow: ☀️ 23°

Next Day: 🌤️ 27°

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.

🤔 Need To Know

😼 Bide Awhile animal shelter is asking the public for donations to help care for 24 cats and kittens that were taken from a single home. The shelter says there are another 60 cats in and around the same home that are in less urgent need of intervention.

🐟 Support4Culture is a proud supporter of the Northumberland Fisheries Museum and other NS cultural sites. See the impact Support4Culture makes here.*

🏅 Nominations are now open for the 2024 Best of Halifax Readers’ Choice Awards.

☀️ It may be half-way through August, but there’s still plenty of time to enjoy some summer adventures in Downtown Halifax. Start planning today!*

🚨 Halifax police charged 29 drivers with impaired driving in July. Of the charges, 18 were for alcohol impairment, two were for drug impairment, and nine drivers were issued suspensions for driving while having consumed alcohol.

🎭 Rave reviews for Dear Rita. "A wonderful way to share the story of Rita. You could feel her sense of strength in the storytelling." - C. Purnell. Tickets start at $33.*

💸 The federal government is providing $6.7M to two programs that assist homeless veterans in Nova Scotia.

🐄 At Purple Cow Internet we think you'll love our No Bull $60 internet. Join the herd to take advantage of our 30-day money-back guarantee!*

*Sponsored Post

SPONSORED BY CANADIAN MUSUEM OF IMMIGRATION AT PIER 21

Was slavery common across Canada?

DYK: Yes. All the colonies that joined together to form Canada in 1867 had a history of slavery: Upper Canada (Ontario), Lower Canada (Quebec), New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, as well as Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland, who joined Canada later. Explore A History Exposed: The Enslavement of Black People in Canada, a new myth-busting exhibition that reveals a history many Canadians don’t know about, at the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21. Created with guest curator Dr. Afua Cooper, in partnership with the Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia. Discover the experiences of enslaved Black people in Canada through biographies, documents and artifacts.

CITY

HFX Votes 2024: Listener Questions

In what was supposed to be the last episode of the HFX Votes 2024 election podcast series, City Hall reporter Matt Stickland sat down with The Coast’s newsletter editor Julie Lawrence to answer some listener questions. 

The conversation bounces around as the two try to answer as many questions as possible. There are a bunch of simple questions like “Does Halifax have enough parking?” that have relatively simple answers like “Yes.”  

But some questions sparked more interesting and nuanced conversations, like “Should Halifax reduce the size of its bureaucracy?” and “What makes a suburb?” There is also a definitely real award given out to the listener who asked the best question. 

But this will not be the last episode in the series: Matt heard back from the infrastructure expert he was trying to interview, and they’re in the process of setting up the interview. So stay tuned for that in your podcast feeds. 

🎧 Listen now.

🗞️ In Other News

📺 The CBC paid $18.4M in bonuses this year after hundreds of jobs at the public broadcaster were eliminated—more than $3.3M of that was paid to 45 executives.

⚖️ A 31-year-old man convicted in the gang-related shooting death of Brandon Hatcher in Spryfield in 2010 has been denied both day parole and full parole.

🚑 A Nova Scotia fund is giving nearly $1.2M to 64 first responder organizations—including search and rescue teams, fire departments and hazardous materials units.

🏛️ Nova Scotia is teaming up with the province of Manitoba to help preserve the French language—the agreement will support the development of a bilateral action plan to identify initiatives in both provinces.

⛈️ Some members of Nova Scotia’s first youth climate council felt “tokenized” by the provincial government—and hope in the future, officials will take young people more seriously.

☎️ Bell Aliant's move to replace outdated copper wiring with fibre optic cable has some customers in the province concerned they may be left without telephone service during a power outage.

SPONSORED BY HALIFAX TRANSIT

Service Changes

Starting August 26, 2024, changes are coming to Halifax Transit bus routes and schedules.

🗓️ Things To Do

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

🗓 Tuesday Night Tunes—Heather Kelday: Considered a blend of folk-roots, blues and bluegrass, Heather Kelday writes in the creative spirit of indie-pop music, while rooting her songs in folk melodies. Audiences can expect unique compositions and collaborations with talented back-up musicians of varied genres in folk, blues, Celtic, world music, bluegrass and more. | Aug 13 | 6:30pm | Free

🗓 Rock the Harbour—Nova Scotia's Classic Rock Festival : Experience classic Canadian rock icons performing the hits you've loved for decades on the Alderney Landing Events Plaza stage. | Aug 16-18 | Day pass $70

🗓 It Don't Mean a Thing—A Roaring ‘20s Musical Dinner Theatre: Calling all dames, dolls and gangsters! It’s the Roaring ‘20s and everyone is on edge. Lucky Knuckles, the greatest crime boss Halifax has never seen, is going to make an appearance at The Kit Kat Club and word is he’s none too happy. Come hear some of your favourite modern hits performed in the swinging style of Gatsby’s Golden Era and Charleston your way through Prohibition! | Aug 9-Oct 19 | $65.55

🗓World's Largest Ice Bucket Challenge Presented by ALS Society: Ten years ago, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge made waves across Canada, significantly boosting recognition and vital funds for ALS Societies. Now join in at the Tall Ships Quay on the Halifax Waterfront to recreate that impact at the World's Largest Ice Bucket Challenge. This family-friendly experience invites participants of all ages to join in the fun and community spirit. Stay tuned, stay engaged and be part of this historic moment. | Aug 17 | 11am

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

⚓️ What’s In The Harbour

🛳️ The Maersk Tokyo oil tanker arrives in Halifax from Antwerp at 2am.

🛳️ The WM Crystal general cargo ship arrives in Halifax from unknown seas at 7am.

🛳️➡️ The Viking Polaris cruise ship arrives in Halifax at 8am and leaves for Canadian seas at 4pm.

🛳️➡️ The MSC Tamara container ship arrives in Halifax from Sines at 11:15am and leaves for Montreal at 11pm.

🛳️ The Amber Bay asphalt tanker arrives in Halifax from Gloucester City at 1:18pm.

🛳️ The East Coast oil tanker arrives in Halifax from Saint John at 6:40pm.

🍴 Where To Eat & Drink

🍸 And just like that…an old classic is back in style. The Just Like That puts a new twist on the cosmo at The Bicycle Thief: Mastika vodka, housemade cranberry cordial, orange blossom water, lemon.

🌵 Can’t decide? No problem! Try the Cheeseburger Loaded Nachos at Antojo Tacos: seasoned ground beef, jack cheese, pico de gallo, dill pickles, Valentina Mac sauce, green onion, corn tortilla chips.

👀 In Case You Missed It

🌳 You know the old adage, “When I was your age, I had to walk to school uphill both ways, barefoot in the snow?” Well, maybe there’s more to it than reminding kids how easy they have it. Parents and co-founders of the Tideview Nature School in Halifax, Jessie Zhao and Mikel L’Italien, have found a way to incorporate walking in snow—not barefoot—into their weekly learning sessions for students. The Coast’s education reporter Lauren Phillips has more with Zhao and L’Italien about the benefits they see in outside learning.

🛒 Farmers’ Markets of Nova Scotia director Justin Cantafio is excited by the recently introduced Nova Scotia Loyal, but that excitement is limited by the current scope of the buy local program. Announced last month by the province, the Nova Scotia Loyal program will see Sobeys customers receive extra Scene points for one week a month when they buy local products. Grocers of all kinds can also obtain the Nova Scotia Loyal branding for their storefronts. The Coast’s Brendyn Creamer speaks with Cantafio about what he hopes to see from the program as it moves forward and how it impacts local producers.

🏚️ A Halifax developer is moving a historic building into the empty lot where a heritage home was destroyed last year—but one advocate says the incident shows stronger protections are needed for the province's oldest and most storied properties.

🏢 The announcement that 3,500 Nova Scotia government employees—some who have been allowed to work from home for a decade—must return to the office full-time in October has sent shockwaves through the bureaucracy.

That’s it!

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