WHAT: Parchetypes, Public Performance - HRM Open Project WHEN: Starting today, August 15th, 11am-1pm - September 11, 2011 WHERE: Point Pleasant Park HOW MUCH: Free HALIFAX, NS - Parchetypes is a site-specific performance created by artist, William Robinson for Point Pleasant Park and supported through the Halifax Regional Municipalities Open Projects program. In concert with this project, Robinson explains, Parchetypes is based on two real-life personalities who define the experience of attending Point Pleasant Park through their musical performances. These two parchetypes or fathers of the park use this extraordinary urban forest in order to nurture the park’s natural elements and entertain park-goers with their musical expressions. The first I have encountered as an anonymous bag piper. His disembodied sounds are a common auditory occurrence and are part of the Point Pleasant Park experience on any given summer day. Like a living ghost nestled in the park’s forest this musical patriarch offers up his kinship with the park by leaving only trace chanters and drones from his pipes into the wind. The second is an elder who provides an embodied auditory experience. Like a guardian to the park he plays fiddle music on his small portable cassette tape stereo at the Tower Road entrance. As the park’s proverbial gatekeeper he provides a transitional point by projecting a unique tone onto the park experience.

POLITICS CHARLOTTETOWN - Pesticide spraying prompts review [CBC] ST. JOHN'S - St. John’s city council live blog for July 12, 2011 [The Scope] SAINT JOHN - Low survey ranking should concern city, consultant says [Telegraph Journal] DEVELOPMENT SAINT JOHN - Saint John air quality report released [CBC] HALIFAX - Bayers Road expansion plans target apartment buildings [The Coast] FREDERICTON - Fredericton pays $500K for city's only strip club [CBC] SAINT JOHN - City scrambles to save jobs [Telegraph Journal] DARTMOUTH - Wrecking ball will aim at Shannon Park buildings [CBC] MONCTON - New Artisan Village livens downtown [Times&Transcript] HALIFAX - QEH demolition work gets new contractor [CBC] SAINT JOHN - Commitment to infill development must be significant [Telegraph Journal] HALIFAX - Bayers Road and bust [The Coast] CHARLOTTETOWN - City to retool shed [The Guardian] TRANSIT HALIFAX - Halifax looks for faster ferry [CBC] ST. JOHN'S - St. John's begins bike path construction [CBC] FREDERICTON - City fed up with noisy vehicles, red-light runners [Daily Gleaner] HALIFAX - Halifax to buy buses for airport run [CBC]

Still from Leonardo Dalessandri film Under the Lucan Sun WHAT: Design the Network - Session #2, It's More Than Just Buses WHERE: World Trade and Convention Centre, Argyle Street WHEN: Tuesday, July 19, 6pm-8pm HOW MUCH: Free! HALIFAX REGIONAL MUNICIPALITY - A bus stop could be an amazing thing (gardens, playgrounds, outdoor gym) is one point which came up in the first public session - "Exploring the Options" - at It's More Than Just Buses on Tuesday, June 28th, 2011. It's More Than Just Buses is a public discussion initiative that explores the options of public transit, designs a better network and mobilizes for support, organized by the Planning and Design Centre and Fusion Halifax. Guest speaker Steven Dale, also raised another smart key point with regards to transit administration, which is the development of a staff policy for all Metro Transit employees, particularly the network planners, whereby they must take the bus at least once a week, if not more. Why I found this to be such a brilliant idea, is because you can only understand how something works in practice and how it could work better, by using it and taking part. This fact was evident at the public session, where all those that attended and rode the bus frequently, had lots to offer the discussion. Of course, there was frustration concerning the current infrastructure and digression from discussion questions, but only because people wanted their experiences and ideas to be heard and they were! Find more of the group discussion points here.

POLITICS HALIFAX - 20 years after race riot, faces of power still white [The Chronicle Herald] HALIFAX - Dawn Sloane calls Bill Karsten out for repeated interruptions [The Coast] SAINT JOHN - Saint John may cut 4 councillors [CBC] HALIFAX - Media mis-report "showdown" between Richard Butts and Harold MacKay over Metallica show [The Coast] DEVELOPMENT SAINT JOHN - Saint John developer slams city's red tape [CBC] FREDERICTON _ Fredericton restoring city hall [CBC] SAINT JOHN - Queen Court housing complex recieves enthusiastic welcome [Telegraph Journal] CHARLOTTETOWN - Dominion Building to house high-end apartments [CBC] ST. JOHN'S - No use setting out without a good road map [The Scope] FREDERICTON - A bridge not too far from ready [The Daily Gleaner] SAINT JOHN - Saint John politicians list safe water as top priority [CBC] MONCTON - Metro real estate giant forms new partnership [Times & Trancript] SAINT JOHN - Developer joins opposition to overhead power line [Telegraph Journal]

POLITICS HALIFAX - Concert promoter agrees to pay HRM thousands [CBC] ST. JOHN'S - St. John’s city council live blog for June 28, 2011 [The Scope] NEW BRUNSWICK- Municipalities pitch fiscal overhaul [CBC] HALIFAX - Protesters demand resignation of Halifax mayor [CBC] FREDERICTON -City promotes Macpherson [The Daily Gleaner] HALIFAX - City embarrasses itself with Metallica fiasco [The Coast] ST. JOHN'S - Council votes against heritage recommendations [The Telegram] HALIFAX - Epstein not ruling out run for mayor’s seat [Metro] DEVELOPMENT HALIFAX - HRM seeks buyers for 2 schools [CBC] SAINT JOHN - Saint John Convention Centre to get facelift [CBC] HALIFAX - QEH demolition contract cancelled [CBC] FREDERICTON - Fredericton community college campus opens [The Daily Gleaner] MONCTON - Moncton cathedral hits 'roadblock,' faces closure [CBC]

WHAT: It's More Than Buses - Public Forum on Public Transit WHEN: Tuesday, June 28th (July 19 & Sept. 7), 6pm-8pm WHERE: World Trade and Convention Centre HOW MUCH: Free HALIFAX - Waiting for the bus each morning to start my short daily morning commute to work in Downtown Halifax, I observe the regular bottle-necking on Robie Street, whereby cars are narrowly packed together carrying generally one driver each. In much larger cities, transit is used more often by commuters and helps to create a more active, efficient and accessible transit system and urban culture. If you have ever used Metro Transit in the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM), then you have likely thought of ways that the infrastructure could be improved. As a daily bus commuter, I really enjoy the transit system - but it has only come with time of understanding the way it works in Halifax, particularly, by having a cell phone to check the exact time in which I can expect the bus to arrive. I have also been privy to peoples opinions about the HRM transit system - referencing specifically (in)frequency of buses and (in)consistent schedules.

DEVELOPMENT SAINT JOHN - Urban renewal may require some urban demolition first [Telegraph Journal] DARTMOUTH - Buyer sought for Dartmouth furniture plant [CBC] SAINT JOHN - Saint John to double derelict building demolition [CBC] CHARLOTTETOWN - Council meets developer over derelict building [CBC] ST. JOHN'S - 'The Overpass' coming down in St. John's [CBC] SAINT JOHN - Glen Falls relocation plan nixed by council [CBC] HALIFAX - Halifax Harbour Solutions project declared complete [CBC] SAINT JOHN - Councillor worried about costs [Telegraph Journal] CHARLOTTETOWN - No way to start Homburg hotel again: councillor [CBC] SAINT JOHN - Visionary eyes future on city's upper floors [Telegraph Journal] HALIFAX - Against all evidence, Harbour Solutions is declared a success [The Coast] POLITICS HALIFAX - Meeting for heritage property stirs up emotion [CBC] HALIFAX - Halifax isn’t Orlando [The Coast] HALIFAX - Council rejects attempt to suspend mayor [CBC] HALIFAX - Halifax mayor endorses smaller council [CBC] ST. JOHN'S - Search and Rescue centre rally draws thousands [CBC] HALIFAX - Want a small council? Let's just let Peter Kelly run things. [The Coast] HALIFAX - Concert concerns not new: ex-HRM manager [CBC] HALIFAX - Council won't hold Peter Kelly accountable [The Coast] HALIFAX - Peter's pants on fire [The Coast] BUILT ENVIRONMENT HALIFAX - Bayers Road may add up to six lanes [CBC] SAINT JOHN - Marsh Creek project may end foul smell [CBC] HALIFAX - Hammonds Plains residents to rally for road paving [CBC] ST. JOHN'S - Overpass comes tumbling down [The Telegram] HALIFAX - Halifax founder's name to disappear from school [CBC] SAINT JOHN - Construction blast sends rock hurtling into cars [CBC] HALIFAX - Debate on widening roads gets deferred [Metro]

DEVELOPMENT CHARLOTTETOWN - 'I think it looks ugly' [The Guardian] SAINT JOHN - Grants given to neighbourhood organizations [Telegraph Journal] HALIFAX - Waterfront group seeks your feedback on designs [Metro] MONCTON - Moncton explores options for $100M centre [CBC] SAINT JOHN - City's future outlined in municipal plan [Telegraph Journal] CHARLOTTETOWN - Council overrules heritage bylaw [CBC] SAINT JOHN - Three development projects seek approval [Telegraph Journal] POLITICS HALIFAX - Kelly must quit, says province’s former AG [Chronicle Herald] HALIFAX - City officials contemplate suing Trade Centre Limited [The Coast] SAINT JOHN - Enterprise Saint John keeps city support [CBC] HALIFAX - Both Peter Kelly and Scott Ferguson should resign [The Coast] HALIFAX - MacKay says he owes nothing [Chronicle Herald] ST. JOHN'S - St. John’s city council live blog for June 13, 2011 [The Scope] HALIFAX - Council votes against concert scandal inquiry [CBC] HALIFAX - More of Peter Kelly's verbal diarrhea [The Coast] BUILT ENVIRONMENT CHARLOTTETOWN - Sewage closes shellfishery again [CBC] SAINT JOHN - Unsung Heroes of the Old North End [Telegraph Journal] CHARLOTTETOWN - Parking to improve at Holland College [CBC] HALIFAX - Halifax Walking Tour: A peninsula of parks and trees [The Coast] CHARLOTTETOWN - $17.4M announced for schools' mould repairs [CBC]