🗞️ HRM's risky business

Good morning Halifax,

As usual, this is a trigger warning for those who hate adorable animals and happiness. Just scroll on by and go on with your day. For the rest of you, strap yourself in because I’ve got a doozie for your soul today.

In 2015, a 28-year-old woman was living with her parents (such a troll including this detail in the story) when her dog—a chihuahua named Gizmo— slipped past a faulty gate in the backyard of their home in Las Vegas. For a whole decade, Gizmo’s owner never stopped looking for him and last week, he was brought into an animal hospital where his microchip was scanned and he was REUNITED with his owner. She says she is showering him with ten years worth of pent-up love. 😭

Gizmo was in bad shape from sleeping rough for so long—he now has a limp and he’s scared of shadows, heights and birds (I mean, same). You know this poor guy has seen some shit and I wish he could tell us about it so I could start working on the screenplay for his harrowing biopic. I’m thinking Homeward Bound meets The Basketball Diaries.

Have a wonderful day out there and don’t forget to microchip your animals, kids and elderly parents.

– Julie

🌡️ Traffic & Weather

Today: 🌦️ 25°

Tomorrow: 🌤️ 28°

Next Day: 🌧️ 22°

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

NEW EPISODE - HFX Votes 2024: Risky Business Edition

In this penultimate episode of the HFX Votes 2024 election explainer podcast series, Matt interviews risk management expert Bruce Manion. This episode is a direct result of Halifax’s Auditor General’s recent audits, in which he found the HRM’s risk management framework to be a bit of a hot mess. 

In this episode, Bruce explains to Matt how the city should be thinking about risk management, and the problem with the city moving its risk management team from the accountants to the lawyers back in 2021. This conversation moves around a lot, from crashing ships to various levels of government approving the building of death trap subdivisions.  

This conversation also launched Matt into the rabbit hole of the municipal Enterprise Risk Register, and it looks like how the city identifies risks in the first place is fundamentally flawed. More on this when Matt finishes reporting it out, but Coast Insider subscribers got a little preview of what Matt is investigating in yesterday’s City Hall Insider newsletter. 

You can subscribe here to become an Insider; for subscribers this is where you go to log in and read that preview. 

And you can listen to Risk Management episode of HFX Votes 2024 here. 

🤔 Need To Know

💙 Members of the province’s Black community say they are resilient and will rebound after five people were shot over the weekend at a reunion of former residents of historic Africville and their descendants.

📱 The Nova Scotia government has opened a helpline for anyone seeking counselling after that awful shooting at the Africville reunion.

⛺ HRM is opening two new designated sites to accommodate people experiencing homelessness. The city says the sites at Cogswell Park in central Halifax and the Geary Street green space in Dartmouth will include portable toilets, bottled water distribution and seasonal maintenance.

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

🇨🇦 Coming soon at the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21- A History Exposed: The Enslavement of Black People in Canada opens on Emancipation Day.*

🎆 Join us on Monday, August 5 at 10 a.m. for the 127th Pepsi Natal Day Parade! Check out the full weekend event schedule.*

*Sponsored Post

MUSIC

PUP’s Stefan Babcock ‘riding the wave’ of dread and creativity

Stefan Babcock is no stranger to feeling like his world is falling apart.

The lead singer of award-winning Toronto punk rock band PUP, Babcock pens most of his lyrics from a place of existential angst, from the self-spiraling anthem “DVP” to uncontrollable external conflicts described in “Scorpion Hill.”

But what contrasts ideas about navigating through life’s many crises are fast and fun guitars with anthemic choruses and unforgettable witticisms. While Babcock’s lyrics deliver that sense of angst, his soaring vocals remind you that the worry and stress you feel in everyday life isn’t just you—everybody feels that way at some point.

This unique blend of punk rock raging and lyrics about trying to get it together will be on full display for Haligonians this Friday and Saturday, Aug. 2 and 3, when PUP plays at the Light House Arts Centre. Opening for them will be local alt band June Body. 

“It’s been a while since we’ve been out there,” says Babcock of Halifax. “Things are a bit smaller in the Maritimes, but the crowds are just really rowdy and appreciative, and we just love being up there. It's one we’ve been looking forward to.”

The Coast’s Brendyn Creamer spoke with Babcock about the band’s angst-fueled creative process and the evolution of their sound on their latest record, THE UNRAVELING OF PUPTHEBAND.

🗞️ In Other News

🚨 Halifax police have charged a man with possession with the purpose of trafficking after searching his home on Cunard Street and seizing 3 kilograms of cocaine, oxycodone and MDMA, as well as over $100K in cash.

🪧 Security guards were standing watch at a pro-Palestinian encampment at Dalhousie, three days after the school issued a trespass notice ordering protesters leave the site and take their tents and other possessions with them.

🥇 Christa Deguchi won Canada's first gold medal of the Paris Olympics with a victory in the under-57 kilogram judo event.

⚓ The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic is hoping a new boat school will allow it to dramatically expand the boat-building and watercraft-operation workshops it offers to newcomers to Canada and at-risk youth in Black and indigenous communities.

⚽ Canada Soccer and the Canadian Olympic Committee will appeal FIFA’s sanctions to the Canadian women’s soccer team in the midst of a drone spying scandal.

🛒 The provincial opposition is calling the new program meant to encourage residents to buy local “gimmicky” and “laughably stupid”—and shoppers aren’t impressed either. 

🏫 As the province works to remove systemic barriers in the education system for Black and Indigenous students, one school principal is not waiting for a plan to be in place to take action.

🗓️ Things To Do

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

🗓 Shakespeare By The Sea presents Alice in Wonderland: The Musical: Eat Me! Drink Me! The smash hit original SBTS musical based on Lewis Carroll's classic story is back! Grab your friends and the whole family and fall down the rabbit hole this summer! This 80-minute romp features a wildly inventive script and wonderfully musical score that will have you laughing and singing along with a curious young girl named Alice, and an even curiouser cast of characters of Queens, Cards, White Rabbits, Mad Hatters and Cheshire Cats. | On through Aug 31 | Starting at $10

🗓 A History Exposed—The Enslavement of Black People in Canada: For many, Canada’s connection to slavery is the Underground Railroad. Little is known about what happened before that when—for over two centuries—the majority of Black people in Canada were slaves. Discover the experiences of enslaved Black people in Canada through individual biographies and archival records.The exhibition opens with a special event on Emancipation Day. | Aug 1 | 1:30pm | Free

🗓 Impro Comedy Show @TheBoardRoomCafe: Improvised comedy inspired by board games off of the shelves of The Board Room Game Cafe. Third Bridge improv team consists of the talented improv instructors and professional performers of Spontaneity Improv Company. | Aug 1 | 8:00pm | $17.31

🗓 By The Pound Thrift at IKEA Halifax: Forget about price tags! Find vintage gems, classic staples and more, all priced by weight. Plus, every purchase supports By The Pound’s mission to keep clothing out of landfills and promote a circular economy. | Aug 3-4 | 10:00am

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

⚓️ What’s In The Harbour

🛳️➡️ The CMA CGM Chennai container ship arrives in Halifax from Columbo at 5:15am and leaves for New York at 10:00pm.

🛳️➡️ The Emerald Princess cruise ship arrives in Halifax at 7:00am and  leaves for Canadian seas at 4:00pm.

🛳️➡️ The Atlantic Star container ship arrives in Halifax from Liverpool at 3:20am and 3:20pm and leaves for New York at 11:00pm.

➡️ The Algoscotia oil tanker leaves Halifax for Sydney at 11:00pm.

🍴 Where To Eat & Drink

🍨 Summer dessert alert! Ice Cream Cooking Dough Brownie Tacos are on the menu at The Middle Spoon: get hungry for a housemade waffle cone shell filled with cookie dough, brownie, ice cream and dipped in chocolate.

🍜 Try something truly tasty (and unique) at Truly Tasty with the Crispy Fried Chicken Ramen, featuring fried marinated chicken, cabbage and green onion in a spicy miso broth.

👀 In Case You Missed It

🎤 K. Trevor Wilson, known for playing the lovable observationist Squirrely Dan in Letterkenny, is coming to Halifax. Stopping into the Spatz Theatre on Sep. 20, the show is a part of his K. Trevor Wilson and Friends cross-country tour featuring a whole host of Canadian comics. The Coast’s Brendyn Creamer chats with Wilson about his upcoming Maritime shows, where he derives his comedy and his favourite Letterkenny cold open.

🏳️‍⚧️ Laura Whiteland founded Inclusive Financial Planning, with the mission of making financial advice accessible to everyone. She was one of two panellists at last Thursday’s SURGE Networking: Pride in Entrepreneurship event. The Coast’s Julie Lawrence was at the event for this important conversation around topics like entrepreneurship in the trans community and the problems with corporate Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) initiatives, 

⚠️ Health Canada is advising the public to stop using various multivitamins and supplements from several brands because the products may contain metal fibres that could injure people’s digestive system.

⛺ Residents of a Dartmouth neighbourhood say a homeless encampment is the source of recent acts of violence—including a reported attack on an elderly man with a baseball bat.

That’s it!

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