🗞️ Road safety strategy allows for social murder

Good morning,

These days I feel like I’m in a constant state of confusion, but this story always sends me right over the edge.

In the summer of 2022, for as of yet inexplicable reasons, someone (or someones) scaled the fence of the Public Gardens and hacked away at the bark around the circumference of about 30 trees in an effort to—and I am not making this term up—”girdle” them. Meaning, kill them without cutting them down. The innocent victims were all between 50 and 250 years old and attacked with what appeared to be a hatchet or small axe. It’s just. It’s bad. 

But today is for good news! According to an arborist who has been treating the trees, many of these resilient queens are showing remarkable signs of recovery! There is callusing on their bark and some are even budding out—meaning they made leaves or flowers this spring! 

Drop by and wish them well because these ladies need all the healing energy we can give them.

And to whoever did this, you suck. 

Love, everyone 🌳❤️

🌡️ Traffic & Weather

Today: 🌦️ 27°

Tomorrow: 🌧️ 26°

Next Day: 🌧️ 25°

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.

CITY HALL

HRM passes road safety strategy allowing for social murder

There were a few pretty big debates during Tuesday’s council meeting. The city is designating more parks to become encampments. The idea is that these will be temporary designations and when the provincial government finally brings the pallet shelters online, the 180-ish people living in tents will move into the shelters and then the parks will be parks again. 

There were two debates about transit, and one not quite debate on Halifax’s new road safety strategy. Engineering standards! Information items! Solid waste! Boat races! It was a very dense meeting of Halifax’s city council that ran late into the night. 

The Coast city hall reporter Matt Stickland was there for all of it or at least most of it and breaks it all down in a longer than normal report which has everything you need to know about council’s July 9 meeting.

🤔 Need To Know

🚔 The justice department launched an anonymous survey to seek opinions and perspectives from Nova Scotians on the current state of policing in the province.

⚖️ Matthew Percy—who was convicted of sexually assaulting three women in the Halifax area—has been granted full parole upon completion of day parole.

⚓ Support4Culture is a proud supporter of the African Nova Scotian Seafaring Project and other important cultural initiatives. See the impact Support4Culture makes here.*

🎶 Don’t miss Emmylou Harris at the TD Halifax Jazz Festival tonight with her legendary voice and timeless songs.*

☀️ Downtown Halifax is jam-packed with things to do this summer! Start planning your summer adventures with this list of 110 Things To Do Downtown This Summer!*

🌊 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 FODAR

Riveting dance, vanguard artists, bold ideas

One of  Canada’s top dance festivals celebrates ten years in Annapolis Royal! FODAR runs 5 days inside and out starting with Market Dances July 16 and 17. Then it’s MainStage at King’s Theatre July 18-20 with dazzling performances including tap legend Travis Knights and an award-winning tribute  to Johnny Cash.

CITY

The Regional Watersheds Advisory Board is gone. What’s next?

As of the city council meeting on July 9, Halifax’s Regional Watersheds Advisory Board (RWAB) has been canned.

The volunteer board had been mandated to support the environment subcommittee with advice, though according to some members of the board, communication with this subcommittee didn’t exist.

These members—Céofride Gaudet, Sue Belford, and Martin Willison—announced on Thursday they will be starting an expert group on water advisory titled A Thousand Lakes, named after the thousand or so lakes within HRM. 

In a press release circulated on July 11, the group shared their hopes to work with municipal, provincial, and federal governments and independent experts to “address the gaps in Nova Scotia’s freshwater protection system,” as well as raise awareness in decision-makers about issues facing HRM’s lakes.

“One of the key aspects that A Thousand Lakes will be looking at is how well the current system of watershed protection is being implemented,” said Belford, a scientist and stormwater infrastructure designer, quoted in the press release. “What are the existing policies and rules? Are they being followed? How well are they working? The public and decision-makers deserve to know.”

The Coast’s Brendyn Creamer goes over what happened to the RWAB, and how A Thousand Lakes hopes to help Halifax’s watersheds.

🗞️ In Other News

🏥 ER deaths hit a six-year high, but emergency doctors say “bed-blocking”—patients taking up beds that can’t get into long-term care—and patients presenting with advanced disease that weren’t detected earlier are driving those numbers.

🩺 Nova Scotia plans to follow the lead of other provinces in changing how it screens for cervical cancer by switching from pap smears to testing for HPV, but the change is at least two years away.

🚨 The RCMP is investigating the second incident in a week of broken windows at a school in Fall River. This incident comes only days after a youth was charged with uttering threats and mischief in connection to a  bomb threat at Lockview High School.

🏠 A Halifax woman says the government rejected her rental assistance application despite 64% of her monthly income being spent on housing.

📚 For the first time in its history, the union representing public library workers across Halifax has filed for conciliation in an effort to reach a new collective agreement.

💓 Rafah DiConstanzo—Liberal member for Clayton Park West—says the province isn’t doing enough to offer cancer screening to women who need it.

⚽ Zachary Shaffelburg says watching his younger brother Jacob emerge as a shining star during team Canada’s Copa America bid feels like an “achievement for the whole family.”

🗓️ Things To Do

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

🗓 Unfiltered Hip-Hop - Don’t Sweat The Technique: Featuring the slick legendary rhymes of Ghettosocks, the swishing beats of DJ Uncle Fester, the raw energy of C Stone-Léon and French and a standout set by Bad Friends, this is a show you don't want to miss. Be there at Gus’ Pub for a night of pure, unfiltered hip-hop. | July 11 | 8pm | $10

🗓 Sloan - Live at the Shore Club: The band are credited as being a main instigator for the Canadian East Coast alternative scene of the early ’90s, garnering comparisons to the Seattle Grunge movement on the opposite coast. Over the course of their quarter-century career, Sloan have amassed an outstanding collection of over 250 songs and now they are hitting Hubbards. | July 11 | 9:30pm | $56.78

🗓 Live Music featuring Markus Riekst: Drop by Bulwark Cider House for evening of great food, drinks and live music. The young talented Markus Riekst will be entertaining us with a fun mix of pop, country and contemporary music. | July 12 | 6pm

🗓 Vibrancy Festival 2024: Halifax’s premier electronic festival returns for two days and two nights this July. Brace yourself for over 20 hours of world classic house, techno and beyond squeezed into four unique shows, in four incredible venues, all culminating with the main event Saturday night inside the fort at Halifax Citadel National Historic Site. | July 12-13 | 3pm | From $46.05

🗓 Third Elbow by Mitchell Weibe: Already extended twice, this is the last weekend to see the art show at Saint Mary’s gallery that blends painting, portals and planes of perception. | Closes July 14

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

⚓️ What’s In The Harbour

➡️ The Eagle II container ship leaves Halifax for Villagarcia at 12:01am.

➡️ The Emerald Princess cruise ship leaves Halifax for Canadian seas at 12:01am.

🛳️➡️ The Bakkafoss container ship arrives in Halifax from Portland at 1:15pm and leaves for Reykjavik at 4pm.

🛳️➡️ The Norwegian Star cruise ship arrives in Halifax at 12pm and leaves for Canadian seas at 8pm.

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

🍴 Where To Eat & Drink

🤌🏻 Enjoy some classic Italian fare at Rinaldo’s with the Burrata Pesto Cream: house-made cavatelli, pesto cream sauce, Ciro’s burrata, parmesan and fresh basil.

🍓 Nothing screams summer like fresh strawberries! Indulge in the Strawberry Shortcake croissant this week at Two If By Sea, filled with fresh strawberries and whipped cream.

👀 In Case You Missed It

🇨🇦 Sylvia D. Hamilton, a filmmaker and poet who has spent her career telling the stories of African Nova Scotians, is now a member of the Order of Canada. On June 27, Gov. Gen. Mary Simon listed 83 appointments to the Order of Canada. Amongst the appointments were high-profile names such as pop star Avril Lavigne, Bank of Canada’s former governor Stephen Poloz and journalist Melissa Fung. The Coast’s Brendyn Creamer spoke to Hamilton about her induction into the Order of Canada and her decades-long career telling the stories of African Nova Scotians.

🏨 If you’re travelling to Nova Scotia this summer and need a place to stay, consider making one of the local university residences your home base. Most have opened their doors since May while school is not in full swing and are offering a variety of rooms to book until Aug. 11. Across Halifax, each university sets its own policy on rates, minimum lengths of stay and cancellation fees—but all run you less than an Airbnb or a hotel would. The Coast’s Lauren Phillips weighs the pros and cons for travellers choosing to live like a student in Halifax.

⛵ SailGP has confirmed Halifax will not be used as a venue next year, despite the record-breaking success of the international sailing competition's Canadian debut last month in the city's harbour.

🥛 The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says numerous Silk plant-based refrigerated beverages are being recalled due to Listeria concerns—including almond, cashew, coconut and oat milk.

That’s it!

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