🗞️ Toward a net-zero future

Good morning!

This is a big weekend in my house, as the Halifax Wanderers kick off their 2024 Canadian Premier League soccer season this Saturday in Langford, BC. As a Vancouver Islander who moved to Halifax, I wasn’t sure, initially, if I’d be able to shed my loyalty to Pacific FC so easily—especially after I’d watched them for four years. It took all of a single match at the Wanderers Grounds to convert me. And now I’m itching for 2025.

This marks the sixth year of the CPL’s existence, and the Wanderers have yet to win a trophy. (Hamilton’s Forge FC, the perennial league boogeyman, has won four.) But things are looking up in Halifax: The team has a solid core of players and a coach in Patrice Gheisar who seems to know how to win.

Matt and I will be podcasting again this season—keep an eye out for an episode with league commissioner Mark Noonan, coming very soon. In the meantime, hope to see you at the Grounds this summer.

– Martin

🌡️ Traffic & Weather

Today: ⛈️ 10°

Tomorrow: 🌧️ 14°

Next Day: 🌦️ 9°

7-day forecast

SPORTS

“Never been done before”: Meet one of the women bringing pro women’s soccer to Halifax

Courtney Sherlock has an eye for opportunities. A veterinary doctor and self-described entrepreneur from Fall River, she bought her first ownership stake in a vet hospital in 2013. Two years later, she bought it all. Then started the Village Veterinary Group, opening three more hospitals in the HRM—and eventually earning Atlantic Business Magazine’s honours as one of Atlantic Canada’s top 50 CEOs in 2022.

So, when she met her Atlantic Women’s FC co-founder Miriam Zitner in November of last year and heard about Project 8—a newly-forming Canadian professional women’s soccer league—she saw a chance she couldn’t pass up. Never mind if she had no background in soccer of her own.

“I think it’s a great initiative that is so important for our city, and for women, and for our athletes,” Sherlock says, speaking by phone with The Coast. “And it's never been done before. How incredible is it to be involved with something like that?”

Sherlock has a tall order ahead of her: As president and CEO of Atlantic Women’s FC, she’s looking to hire a staff that can build a roster of players, find sponsors and secure a home playing field within 12 months. Project 8 has aspirations to begin competition in 2025.

And while the demands are high—“we’re starting up a business from scratch,” Sherlock says—the appetite is there, too.

SPONSORED BY WHOLESALE CLUB

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ENVIRONMENT

The power of positive feedback: How one Mi’kmaw community is building toward a net-zero future

For years, members of Glooscap First Nation identified clean energy as one of the community’s top priorities. This summer, the community is taking a major step toward renewable, self-sufficient energy, with a solar-powered microgrid project.

Glooscap Ventures—the economic development arm of the roughly 400-person Mi’kmaw community in Kings and Hants counties—built a 25-kilowatt solar project at Glooscap Landing, the second-largest consumer of energy in the community. Dipping their toe into solar allowed them to show community members what was possible.

And as the Climate Story Network’s Moira Donovan reports, it could serve as a net-zero-focused model for other communities to follow suit.

🗞️ In Other News

💸 Pothole problems? Don’t count on provincial compensation. According to records the CBC obtained from a freedom-of-information request, most damage claims from potholes on provincially-owned roads are denied.

🚒 As another wildfire season inches closer in Nova Scotia, fire chiefs say they’re worried about a drop in volunteers.

💰 A Nova Scotia judge has fined furniture store The Brick more than $143K stemming from health and safety violations after a 47-year-old Halifax employee died on the job.

⚖️ Independent MLA Elizabeth Smith-McCrosin says she’s dropping a legal challenge against Tim Houston’s government over a motion that would have seen her ousted from Legislature.

📝 A new report finds nearly half of Atlantic Canadians say they’re $200 or less away from being able to stay on top of their expenses.

🏠 Meanwhile, federal finance minister Chrystia Freeland announced a suite of housing affordability measures on Thursday, intended to help first-time homebuyers get their first homes and other Canadians stay in theirs.

🏒 The owner of the Halifax Mooseheads calls the QMJHL team’s first-round playoff exit “unacceptable” after they were swept by the Acadie-Bathurst Titan.

🎨 Embark on a captivating self-guided public art tour to explore the colourful and locally-made community art banners of North End Halifax!*

💃 Live Art Dance and Kinetic co-present “Coastal Currents”, celebrating the amazing dance talent of our region. 4 choreographers share wonderfully vibrant work with Kjipuktuk/Halifax audiences.*

🛍️ Open City is taking place on Saturday, May 11. If your business is interested in participating, visit opencityhfx.com to learn more and to register.*

*Sponsored Post

SPONSORED BY HALIFAX BURGER BASH

WIN BEER FOR A YEAR

During this year’s Halifax Burger Bash Garrison Brewing is giving away 12 x 24 cans of Tall Ship to one lucky burger eater.

For your chance to win, pick up a printed passport at any one of the participating Halifax Burger Bash restaurants to find all the details, and visit any restaurant offering Garrison Brewing for your BONUS entry ballot! 

SPONSORED BY MAYWORKS KJIPUKTUK/HALIFAX

Calling all rap lovers, old school & new!

Next Gen will renew Hip Hop‘s legacy with stellar up-and-coming local rappers. Featuring Chieffy, J u í c e, BASYL, LXVNDR, Yohvn Blvck and special guest DJ OKAY TK. Find out if you can bop to boom bap and trap back to back on May 4th at the Seahorse.

🗓️ Things To Do

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

🗓 Burger Bash: Halifax’s favourite city-wide burger love affair—hosted by yours truly—is back, with an all-new lineup of tasty burgs in support of Feed Nova Scotia. | Apr. 11-20 | All day | Prices vary

🗓 Living Our Languages Opening Reception: Head to NSCAD’s Treaty Space Gallery and check out a new exhibit featuring Indigenous artists “exploring reclamation and revitalization of Indigenous language.” | Apr. 12 | 4-6pm | Free

🗓 Maximum Overdrive: A collective of “some of Halifax’s best-known musicians” returns to The Carleton for a night of ’80s covers ranging from Duran Duran to Madonna. | Apr. 12 | 8-11pm | $25

🗓 Dwayne Gretzky: Billed as “Canada’s reigning champs of nostalgia,” the 10-piece cover band brings all the ’90s hits back to life in a show at the Marquee Ballroom. | Apr. 12 | 9pm | $21.85

🗓 Grey Dog Book Launch: Halifax author Elliott Gish celebrates the launch of her debut novel at the Halifax Public Library, in conversation with Green Fuse Burning author Tiffany Morris. | Apr. 13 | 2-3:30pm | Free

🗓 Greville Tapes Music Club: What happens when two musical acts get together in a house-turned-studio in Port Greville? That’s what you’ll hear Sunday at The Carleton, as three unlikely—and perfectly-matched—duos make their live show debut. | Apr. 14 | 7-9pm | $23

Find more Halifax events in The Coast listings.

⚓️ What’s In The Harbour

🚢 The 41,801-tonne CMA CGM Paranagua container ship is expected to arrive from Montreal around 5:15am. It departs for Bremerhaven, Germany, at 5pm.

🚢 The 364-metre-long ONE Eagle container ship is due in Halifax from New York City around 5:45am. It departs for Singapore at 11pm.

🚢 The Silver Arctic general cargo ship is expected to arrive in Halifax from Saint Pierre and Miquelon around 8am.

🚢 The 71,406-tonne Rt. Hon. Paul E. Martin self-discharging bulk carrier is slated to arrive in Halifax from Sydney, NS, around 10:20am.

🚢 The 183-metre-long Torm India oil tanker is expected to arrive from Amsterdam, Netherlands, around 2:40pm.

🚢 The Atlantic Sun container ship is due in Halifax from Norfolk, VA, around 3:20pm.

➡️ The Oceanex Sanderling ro-ro/cargo ship leaves Halifax for St. John’s, NL, at 6pm.

👀 In Case You Missed It

🎵 “Temperature” singer Sean Paul announced he’ll be performing in Halifax in September. Catch up on all the latest shows coming to Halifax here.

🌎 A group of senior King’s journalism students took part in a global Climate Disaster Project aimed at telling stories from the frontlines after climate-related crises.

That’s it!

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