🗞️ The second coming

Guys,

This has gone on long enough and we simply must talk about it: What is going on in the truly cursed aviation space? Is there always this much airplane chaos or is the news algorithm just serving more of it up because it knows we’re obsessed with it? Either way, it needs to stop.

Between the tragic collision in D.C., the upside-down landing in Toronto and—most recently—a near miss on the runway in Chicago, it feels like there is something seriously amiss.

And while being crammed into a tin can with a bunch of strangers hurtling through space is never a trip to the Nordic spa, nothing I can imagine could be worse than the plight of this Australian couple who had to sit next to a dead person for the duration of their flight. 

The couple say they are “traumatized” after being forced to sit next to the body of a passenger who died midway through their Qatar Airways flight. Ummm, yeah. I would imagine they are!  Flight staff told them they must remain in their seats next to the body for the remaining four hours of the flight. They added that the crew took the blankets off the body to inspect it while the couple sat nearby.

Things are fully crazy in the air right now and so, I will be staying grounded for the remainder of Q1 and re-evaluate in the spring when dream-ruling Neptune enters energetic Aries. Until then, it’s just not worth the risk.

– Julie

📷 @editorjulesl

🌡️ Traffic & Weather

Today: 🌨️ 4°

Tomorrow: 🌧️ 7°

Next Day: 🌨️ 1°

7-day forecast

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

CITY HALL

Windsor Street redesign raised from the dead

The council meeting on Feb. 25 had a bit of a miracle; city staff finally followed council’s instructions in the newly revived Windsor Street Exchange redesign. The path to good governance was hard and perilous, but (some) credit where it is due: the new plan for the Windsor Street redesign is solid. And (some) criticism where it is due: it shouldn’t have taken such drastic action to get staff to follow council’s instructions. 

Also at this meeting, a staff report on Bloomfield, an apology for August 18, 2021, and the city’s desire to waste money on parking lots instead of expecting municipal employees to take a municipal service to work to improve the city and save taxpayers money. All of that can be found in Matt Stickland’s report from Tuesday, Feb. 25’s council meeting.

🤔 Need To Know

🏥 The health of the six-year-old boy who was stabbed multiple times on Sunday in Halifax has improved and he is now in stable condition—the child was rushed with life-threatening injuries, and a 19-year-old woman has been charged with attempted murder.

🇺🇸 U.S. President Donald Trump has pushed back tariffs on Canada and Mexico for another month—saying they will now be implemented on April 2.

🍴 The Brooklyn Warehouse is shutting down after 17 years, citing economic challenges and the inability to secure a long-term lease—the restaurant will have its final service on March 29.

SPONSORED BY AFTERWORDS LITERARY FESTIVAL

The Winter Writing Weekend begins

The Winter Writing Weekend starts tonight, presented by AfterWords Literary Festival. This cozy, affordable, virtual writing retreat features sessions with Zoe Whittall and Joshua Whitehead, with opportunities to meet your peers and write together. And to kick it all off, a conversation about creativity in a productivity-obsessed world with the editors of Bad Artist.

ARTS + CULTURE

How Halifax’s underground dance scene has played a role in queer resilience

Taylor Mooney remembers the first underground dance party she attended. The Prince Edward Island-born electronic/house DJ had recently moved to Halifax from Ottawa when she got an invite to a secret gig that a friend was hosting in the city. the music was hard to beat. And the community, too: a group of “sound nerds” and queer folk who would organize house-music parties and gather in a closely guarded number of shops, warehouses and bars around Halifax.

To Mooney, it felt like a scene begging for its story to be told. 

So began the premise for PLATTER, a 10-part podcast series about Halifax’s underground dance scene, past and present, as told by the DJs within it and the historians who have catalogued it. 

As The Coast’s Martin Bauman reports, it’s a show that manages not only to peel back the layers of a subgenre and its devotees, but also shed light on the underground scene’s place within Halifax’s queer history.

🗞️ In Other News

🩺 The province opened a new centre aimed to train international doctors so they can get licenses in Canada and practice in Nova Scotia communities—the Physician Assessment Centre of Excellence will provide primary care to 2,600 patients.

☑️ Two Atlantic provinces are looking for new premiers after the resignations of Dennis King last week in P.E.I. and Andrew Furey Tuesday in Newfoundland and Labrador.

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Halifax has led the country in downtown recovery out of the pandemic years, with experts saying the secret to success has been the area's diverse economy—numbers from the Downtown Halifax Business Commission show about 10.22M unique visitors in the area from June to December last year.

💡 A growing number of Nova Scotians are experiencing power bills that they say have suddenly doubled or tripled—raising calls for Nova Scotia Power to be investigated.

SPONSORED BY NEPTUNE THEATRE

Opens this week

Inspired by the local refugee resettlement program, a small town organizes a Learn-to-Curl class to welcome newcomers. When its organizer slips on the ice and breaks her hip, the town's former champion curler, Stuart MacPhail, is forced to step in as head coach. The trouble is, Stuart has some strong opinions about immigrants...

An inspiring and hilarious story of a group of unlikely athletes who face off against local prejudice and claim their identity as “new Canadians”.  

Don’t miss this hit comedy about burning rocks, bonspiel beers, and becoming a team.

February 25 - March 23. Tickets start at $33. Book online.

SPONSORED BY DOWNTOWN DARTMOUTH BUSINESS COMMISSION

WE LOVE DOWNTOWN DARTMOUTH DAY

March 8 is We Love Downtown Dartmouth Day - an opportunity to get out and support local businesses through winter, when many businesses see a dip in sales.

Participating businesses offer a small discount or premium for shopping at another participating business that day only - just show your virtual/physical receipt as proof.

🗓️ Things To Do

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

🗓 Public talk: Black Women and Cultural Production - The Case of Concert Singer Portia White: Mount Saint Vincent University is celebrating African Heritage Month with a talk from scholar, author and artist, Dr. Afua Cooper. A reception will follow. | Feb. 27 | 5pm | Free

🗓 Artists’ talk: Voices from Down Home: Dialogues on Community Connections in Black Canadian Art: The Halifax Central Library is hosting a thought-provoking panel discussion featuring artists from Dalhousie Art Gallery’s current exhibition, Down Home: Portraits of Resilience, which celebrates the strength and vibrancy of African Nova Scotian and Black Canadian life and identity. Five Down Home artists will discuss their artistic practices, themes of diverse representation and cultural resiliency through art and creativity. | Feb. 27 | 6pm | Free

🗓 LGBT+ TTRPG Night at the Board Room Game Cafe: The Board Room Cafe has recruited some amazing volunteer game masters to run some queer role-playing game one-shots! And no prior experience is required to play at their tables! | Feb. 27 |  6pm

🗓 2025 AUS Basketball Championships: The best teams in the Atlantic University Sport conference battle it out at Scotiabank Centre for a trip to the Canadian championships. | Feb. 28 - March 2 | $40.75

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

⚓️ What’s In The Harbour

➡️ The One Hawk container ship leaves Halifax for New York at 1am.

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

🚢 The CSL Tarantau bulk carrier arrives in Halifax from Belledune at 12:21pm.

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

➡️ The CSL Metis bulk carrier leaves Halifax for Boston at 4pm.

🚢 The Atlantic Sun container ship arrives in Halifax from Liverpool at 4:20pm.

🍴 Where To Eat & Drink

🫖 Head’s up Earl Grey lovers! The feature donut this week at Total Donut Solutions is Earl Grey Lemon.

🌶️ Rise from the ashes (of winter) with The Phoenix at CHKN Chop: fried chicken, bacon, cheese, lettuce, onions, banana peppers, five alarm mayo.

👀 In Case You Missed It

👀 Nova Scotians can once again look forward to reports on how the government spends public money. On Monday, premier Tim Houston caved to criticism and reversed course on a bill threatening the independence of the province’s top watchdog. Next up from the auditor general’s office is a performance review of the Department of Advanced Education. While details of audits-in-progress are kept under wraps until they’re released, The Coast’s Lauren Phillips has thoughts on what might be included. 

🛣️ Halifax is making changes in the world of transportation planning. Instead of one department—the Department of Public Works—handling all transportation infrastructure, we now have three. DPW is still going to take care of the annual infrastructure stuff, but the city’s two new departments, the Major Projects Office and the Strategic Infrastructure & Transportation Planning department, will be responsible for building and planning the future of Halifax’s transportation. The Coast’s Matt Stickland has more from the city’s transportation budget debates.

That’s it!

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