🗞️ Sudden depARTure

Good morning!

When I was in my mid-late teens, my friends and I used to get into The Dome via four different entrances using the exact same physical fake ID. And if you fell down and got kicked out via one entrance, you’d just throw on some fresh lipstick and mosey on over to another one. 

It was the vodka-ist of times, it was the lime-ist of times.

I thought the institution would have stepped up its security game since then, but maybe not because The Dome is in hot water for not noticing some drunk people pulling reverse Houdinis by re-entering the bar after being escorted out.

According to the investigation, security staff removed a patron via the Argyle Street entrance, and 15 minutes later they were found unconscious on a bench back inside the club.

That same night, two patrons got back in via the side door off Argyle Street after they had been removed for intoxication. Before they were escorted off the premises for a second time, a bartender poured each of them a drink. Iconic behaviour.

As a result of this chaos, The Dome will have its liquor licence suspended for four days sometime in the next month. In his testimony, the president of the restaurant group that owns The Dome described the situation where an intoxicated patron is ejected from the premises only to then re-enter the premises by a different entrance as “a new one.”

Au contraire my friend 😜

– Julie

📷 @editorjulesl

🌡️ Traffic & Weather

Today: 🌨️ -9°

Tomorrow: 🌨️ 0°

Next Day: 🌨️ -9°

7-day forecast

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

ARTS + CULTURE

This Nova Scotian’s podcast has become a queer hit—and it’s coming to Halifax for a live show

Long before Truro native Dane Stewart’s Resurrection claimed the top spot on Apple Podcasts’ Arts chart in Canada, he met a man at a gay bar in Montreal. The chance encounter would take over the next six years of Stewart’s life.

The man had a stack of old love letters and unreleased scripts from an ex-boyfriend, a playwright who died of AIDS in the early 1990s. For Stewart—a playwright himself and a self-described “queer oral history enthusiast”—it was like entering a rabbit hole. He became “absolutely obsessed,” he tells The Coast, with giving the late playwright “the artistic legacy and the platform that he never got while he was alive.”

Fast-forward to 2025, and Stewart’s Resurrection—“part investigation, part documentary and part love story”—is entering production of its third season, with a slew of rave reviews from The Guardian to Amazon Music. And now, as The Coast’s Martin Bauman reports, it’s a cabaret show—and it’s coming to Halifax next week.

🤔 Need To Know

🏥 Three employees at the QEII Emergency and Trauma Centre were hurt by a patient Wednesday in what Nova Scotia’s health minister is calling a “serious incident”—police have one person in custody.

🎭 TAG's Murder Tonight: Sisters, sass & secrets. As the truth emerges, a dangerous chain reaction begins. Can it be contained? On now until Feb 8.*

💸 The province is making history with the largest minimum wage increase Nova Scotia has ever seen—the new wage rates will rise on April 1 by $1.30 to $15.70 per hour, followed by a second boost to $16.50 on Oct 1.

🦪 Sip, shuck, and savor the best of Nova Scotia! Experience fresh oysters, local seafood, and craft beverages at Sip n’ Shuck this Friday. Buy tickets now!*

🚨 Police say the driver who hit and killed a 21-year-old woman this week was fleeing the scene of another crash and has been charged with impaired driving.

*Sponsored Post

SPONSORED BY NEPTUNE THEATRE

A Story That Will Sweep its Way Into Your Heart

A small town organizes a Learn-to-Curl class for newcomers inspired by the local refugee program. When the organizer breaks her hip, a former champion curler (with his own opinions about immigrants) steps in as coach. The New Canadian Curling Club is a hilarious and uplifting story about a group of unlikely athletes confronting prejudice and embracing their new identity.

On stage February 25-March 23. Tickets starting at $33. Book Today!

EDUCATION

NSCAD president’s sudden departure

Last November, the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design emailed its students, staff and faculty to share some news about NSCAD’s president. Peggy Shannon, the email said, would be leaving her presidential post “soon” to “round out her career at another art school,” specifically the Kansas City Art Institute, and to reunite with her family in the US.

This week, “soon” became more like in a few days. On Monday, another email to the NSCAD community announced that Jana Macalik, NSCAD’s interim vice-president and provost, would be stepping in to fill the president’s role starting this Saturday, Feb 1.

Shannon’s departure is the second time in recent years that a NSCAD president’s term ended early. Aoife Mac Namara was ousted without explanation by the school’s board of governors in 2020, less than a year into her contract. Interim president Sarah McKinnon took over until the search for a new top executive found Shannon, whose contract was meant to last into 2027.

Now, as The Coast’s Lauren Phillips reports, NSCAD is starting the search for its next top executive with a search for an executive search firm.

🗞️ In Other News

🥀 A man has died after helping pull his partner from a burning home in Dartmouth on Friday—Francis Anopuechi succumbed to his injuries on Monday after suffering serious burns.

🖥️ Data belonging to thousands of Newfoundland and Labrador students was breached in a cyberattack targeting an information system used by schools across the country—the Education Department says personal information from about 271,000 students was accessed in the attack on the PowerSchool platform.

🥪 A Nova Scotia woman who runs After the School Bell in Amherst says she would be willing to help anyone who wanted to start up their own version of the program, which sends bags of food home every Friday with students who might not otherwise have much to eat.

🐋 The group behind a plan to build a coastal refuge in Nova Scotia for captive whales says its bid to provide sanctuary for two orcas from a marine park in France has been rejected by the French government.

🏛️ PC MLAs on the legislature's public accounts committee want to know how their counterparts across Canada operate before setting a schedule for how often the group will meet in Nova Scotia.

🐈‍⬛ And because the world is totally normal right now and not at all a glitchy simulation, of course Timothée Chalamet was spotted in Rome wearing a Maud Lewis painting:

🗓️ Things To Do

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

🗓Controlled Damage Presented by Neptune Theatre : Controlled Damage" explores the life of Canadian civil rights icon Viola Desmond. Her courageous act in a Nova Scotia movie theatre in 1946 sparked a ripple effect that still resonates today. Viola Desmond was an ordinary woman thrust into extraordinary circumstances by an unyielding and racist world. Despite the personal cost to herself and her loved ones, she never gave up. | Jan 14-Feb 12 | From $33 |

🗓 Spontaneity's Improv Cage Match—Finals : ​These improvisers are moving on to the last part of the competition and will be bringing their biggest and best improv to the stage for this FINAL ROUND. Come ready to laugh and cast your vote. An uproarious night out full of drinks, food and an incredible show! | Jan 30 | 7:30pm | $15

🗓 Halifax Thunderbirds Lacrosse: Come cheer on the home team as they take on the Vancouver Warriors at the Scotiabank Centre. | Jan 31 | 7:30pm | From $26.25

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

⚓️ What’s In The Harbour

🚢➡️ The Acadian oil tanker arrives in Halifax from Saint John at 1:40am and leaves for Charlottetown at 5pm.

🚢➡️ The MSC Michaela container ship arrives in Halifax from Colombo at 6:15am and leaves for New York at 10:30pm.

🚢 The Nolhan Ava container ship arrives in Halifax from St. Pierre at 7:15am.

➡️ The Asterix oil tanker leaves Halifax for Norfolk at 8am.

🚢➡️ The EF Ava container ship arrives in Halifax from Portland, Maine at 1:15pm and leaves for Argentia at 4pm.

🚢 The One Aquila container ship arrives in Halifax from Colombo at 1:15pm.

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

🍴 Where To Eat & Drink

🧄 Take pizza night to the next level with The Federico (aka Garlic Gingers Deluxe) at Rinaldo’s: Detroit-style garlic fingers with garlic butter, mozzarella, Italian sausage, bacon jam, grana padano and parsley. 

🧅 Order the Works (burger) from The Pint Public House: caramelized onion, sautéed mushrooms, Guinness tomato jam, horseradish aioli, crispy onion rings.

👀 In Case You Missed It

🛣️ At this week’s meeting of city council, by a close 8 to 6 vote, councillors made a tough decision to do the right thing. The Coast’s Matt Stickland was at the meeting and has the full story on the Windsor Street Exchange’s demise.

🍽️ The best of the best in Nova Scotia’s service industry was honoured Monday, Jan 27 in a gala celebration held at the Westin Nova Scotian hotel. The Coast has more on the event as well as the full list of winners.

That’s it!

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