🗞️ QEII loses running water after main break

Good morning!

It’s been a busy week in arts coverage here at The Coast: Cape Breton-born filmmaker Sandi Somers’ dramedy Hailey Rose arrives on the silver screen this Friday, and Halifax author Elliott Gish’s debut novel, the psychological horror Grey Dog, comes out through ECW Press on Apr. 9.

I had the chance to speak with both Somers and Gish about their latest works—which, while occupying vastly different worlds, do share some common ground: Both follow queer protagonists who, for varying reasons, find their past keeps following them. Stay tuned for more in the days to come.

– Martin

🌡️ Traffic & Weather

Today: 🌨️ 3°

Tomorrow: 🌧️ 4°

Next Day: 🌨️ 2°

7-day forecast

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

CITY HALL

Groundhog Day: The good and bad from Halifax’s Budget Adjustment List debates

Halifax council’s Budget Adjustment List debate wrapped up Tuesday in what was a fairly disappointing performance from councillors. We learned (again) that councillors are often blind to the hypocrisy of their transportation beliefs. We also learned (again) that Halifax’s transportation planning process is one of automotive extremism, which is sabotaging the success of Transit boss Dave Reage.

In spite of an overall poor debate performance, councillors managed to pull off a bit of substantial, tangible good on Tuesday: The first real step of police reform survived the BAL debate—only suffering a $250K JustFOOD casualty.

In other news, a service agreement with the province is coming—and until then, the city doesn’t have to send $213.6M in property taxes to the province for schools and jails. That dropped this year’s tax increase from 9.7% to 6.3%. Since the suburbs have been shown to hemorrhage public money, the plan to start fixing them three years early also survived this year’s BAL debate.

But in order to understand how good this good news is, we need to contextualize the bad that is our car-centric planning. And that context will be much deeper after an interview I have scheduled next week with the city’s CAO, Cathie O’Toole, and car czar Brad Anguish. I promise it’ll be worth the wait.

—Matt

🤔 Need To Know

🏥 A water main break at the Halifax Infirmary prompted Nova Scotia Health to cancel and reschedule non-urgent surgeries and close outpatient blood collection after the Infirmary, the Abbie J. Lane building and the Veterans Memorial Building all lost power.

🎣 Prime minister Justin Trudeau’s visit to Halifax was met with protests after two Mi’kmaq elver fishers said DFO officials left them to walk for hours after confiscating their boots and phones last week.

🤝 More than a month after their strike began, workers at the CN Autoport have reached a tentative agreement with their employer.

🎭 Neptune Theatre's The Full Monty has audiences laughing out loud. "Excellent show!!" "Lots of belly laughs!!" "A masterpiece in humour." Tickets start at $40, book today.*

♻️ Tim Houston’s government has released its proposed alternative to federal carbon pricing—and while Trudeau says he hasn’t read it yet, he told reporters that Nova Scotia’s earlier climate efforts weren’t enough to skirt a carbon tax.

*Sponsored Post

SPONSORED BY HALIFAX BURGER BASH

🍔 Halifax Burger Bash April 11 - 20, 2024 🍔

The Coast’s 12th annual Halifax Burger Bash, presented with Garrison Brewing, is when doing good tastes great, with restaurants serving special burgers supporting Feed Nova Scotia. Head over to burgerbash.ca and check out the drool-worthy burger listings!

🗞️ In Other News

🚨 Halifax police arrested a 33-year-old man in Dartmouth after he allegedly tried to attack officers with a knife.

⚖️ The NS Liberals say they acted “above board” in their handling of a former employee who misused thousands of dollars in public funds—but the province’s auditor general stands by calls for the RCMP to investigate.

🏕️ Halifax has opened summer registration for its Parks and Recreation programs. Meanwhile, Nova Scotia has opened provincial campsite bookings for the 2024 season.

👚 A new campaign at NSCC’s Lunenburg campus shines a spotlight on what survivors of sexual violence were wearing when they were assaulted—a commentary on one of the first questions survivors are often asked after their assaults.

🗓️ Things To Do

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

🗓 Mandy Patinkin: Being Alive: The Tony and Golden Globe-winning actor and singer comes to Dalhousie’s Rebecca Cohn Auditorium for a one-night-only show tonight. | Apr. 4 | 7:30pm | From $89

🗓 Helen Creighton Folk Club: Local folk duo The McMillan Camp Boys headline an open mic night at the Evergreen House in Dartmouth. | Apr. 4 | 7pm | Free

🗓 MouseTrap Comedy w/ Better Times Comedy: Head to Good Robot’s Robie Street taproom for an evening of stand-up comedy, from seasoned comics to up-and-comers. | Apr. 4 | 7-10pm | No cover

🗓 Kyle Lucey: The “perfect mix of fun and danger,” the Durham Comedy Festival-winner performs back-to-back nights at Yuk Yuk’s in Halifax. | Apr. 5-6 | 8pm | $22.50

🗓 Hawksley Workman: A quarter century after Workman’s For Him and the Girls debut, the former JUNO Award-winning “Best New Artist of the Year” brings his eclectic act to Halifax’s Light House Arts Centre. | Apr. 6 | 8pm | $49.57

Find more Halifax events in The Coast listings.

⚓️ What’s In The Harbour

➡️ The 139,335-tonne ONE Blue Jay container ship leaves Halifax for New York City around 5am.

🚢 The 200-metre-long Morning Peace vehicle carrier is expected to arrive in Halifax from Southampton, UK, around 5:55am.

🚢 The MSC Shristi container ship is due in Halifax—a day behind schedule—around 6:15am. It arrives from Montreal and departs for Sines, Portugal, at 5pm.

➡️ The Atlantic Sun container ship departs Halifax for New York City around 7am.

🚢 The 211-metre-long Grande Marocco ro-ro/container ship is expected to arrive in Halifax from Gioia Tauro, Italy, around 8am.

🚢 The Vivienne Sheri D container ship is slated to reach Halifax around 8:15am. It arrives from Portland, ME, and leaves for Argentia, NL, at 3pm.

🚢 The 65,935-tonne NYK Meteor container ship is expected to arrive in Halifax from Antwerp, Belgium, around 10:20am.

🚢 The MSC Cornelia container ship is due in Halifax—a day behind schedule—around 4:15pm. It arrives from Montreal.

👀 In Case You Missed It

🥌 Nova Scotia’s U-21 curling teams took home gold and silver at the national championships this past weekend.

😬 Coast readers offered a litany of responses to the question “What’s the most awkward encounter you’ve had with an ex?”

🌡️ Halifax saw nearly double the rain and snow in March compared to 30-year averages, meteorologists say.

🔎 Internal investigators say they found “no reasonable grounds” to believe a Halifax police officer broke the law during an Oct. 2023 arrest that left a woman with a broken rib.

🏒 The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed Dartmouth’s Jacob Quillan after a breakout NCAA season at Connecticut’s Quinnipiac University.

🔭 A former SMU astronomer who created the world’s first social media-controlled space telescope has passed away after a battle with brain cancer.

That’s it!

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