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Juin 22, 2010

What stories need coverage in July?

Halifax News

What stories/events/issues in and around HRM demand coverage in June?  The Halifax Media Co-op wants to know your ideas and will do our best to get important grassroots stories coverage!

Commentaires

NS Power proposed rate hike

NSpower is looking for another rate hike, this one 12-14%. they've been applying for and getting rate hikes on a regular basis, and i'm pretty sure nova scotia now has among the highest rates in the country (something that could be looked into). the usual process is they ask for an astronomical hike like this one, and then the URB grants them about half, which looks like a compromise, but is probably the maximum nsp knew it could hope for. this little dance between the corporation and the regulator - so much less offensive than NSPower asking for and the URB rubber stamping a 7% increase which is what is really happening - is the standard method of raising rates and will probably be repeated. as usual it will be the poor and small businesses that are hit especially hard.

a couple of issues/themes someone writing about this might want to look at:

the privatization of NS power: looking at how this deal was implemented and by whom and who benefitted and who lost from it, and how the now-chair of the URB was involved.

the subversion of democracy often involved in the privatization of public utilities: the general push by corporate elites and neoliberal governments to sell-off of public utilities all over the world but especially in the third world where it is forced on countries through IMF coercion. the public is usually opposed for the obvious reason that they lose control of what is a necessary service, and because the expected and usual consequences of privatizations are increased rates, decreased service. hence the extortion in the third world or the use of naomi klein's "shock doctrine" and the attempt to leave the public out of the process in the first world, as happened in NS. though not in NB where a public mobilization recently blocked the sell-off of NB power.

anyway, just a few suggestions. there are many ways someone could come at this, and many parallel examples but generally i think its a story that has received far too little attention, given the great and detrimental impact of the privatization of electricity on nova scotians, the danger of the privatization of water services, and the continued rate hikes which are demanded by a massively profitable corporation from a relatively low-income population that has nowhere else to get their electricity.

Loss of bookstores

I’m hoping that someone will cover the story on the disappearance of bookstores.  So sad that Outside the Lines is closing tomorrow and last year we lost Frog Hollow. I am not the person to write the story but I’d love to read an article on it. Why are we losing these stores? Is it just the switch to electronic books (as Bob Haywood claims)?  Why aren’t students (undergraduates and graduates) buying books?  What are the broader implications of losing these often progressive community spaces?

Bike lanes on Herring Cove Rd.

I got the below e-mail from a friend - could be a good in-depth story leading to a wider discussion on sustainable transportation.

***************

Hi all,

I don't normally do this - but the herring cove bike lane deliberations seem so ridiculous to me and it looks like the vote might go the wrong way. Im pretty sure the vote is this evening! Councillors really need to hear from residents that they support the bike lanes and we might be able to sway them to make the right decision. Do this city a favour and help this city stick to something of a vision for a livable community!!! Take a minute to write an email to your councillor to let them know you support it and why (traffic calming = safe motorists, cyclists and pedestrians, better for local business when people are moving slower more likely to stop and buy stuff, this connection key to this city building a vibrant community where young and older people want to work, play and live - AND it is important for our health to get daily exercise to prevents obesity and rising health care costs due to inactivity, AND helps people who can't afford cars have access to SAFE transportation options)

Seriously folks, your letter could sway the balance. Im sick of people with a seriously old school mentality saying NO to everything that could be good for this city.

In particular you should contact Councillors Adams and Linda Mosher - who have stated that they will vote against the plan.

Just write a short email telling them you hope they vote FOR the bike lanes and why.

If you are in my hood your councillr is probably Dawne Sloane - sloaned@halifax.ca

If you are in Purcells Cove and Armdale area:
linda.mosher@halifax.ca

Spryfield - herring cove:
adamss@halifax.ca

Hell - send an email to them all!:
streats@halifax.ca (Steve Streatch -Guysborough)
barry.dalrymple@halifax.ca fall river
david.hendsbee@halifax.ca Lawrencetown/ Chezzetcook/Preston
Lorelei.Nicoll@halifax.ca cole harbour/westphal
mcclusg@halifax.ca gloria mccluskey- downtonw dartmouth
darren.fisher@halifax.ca forrest hills/portland st
karsteb@halifax.ca portland area
barkhoj@halifax.ca Jackie Barkhouse -est passage / cow bay
smithj@halifax.ca - albro lake area

wilema@halifax.ca -mary wile - clayton park
blumenj@halifax.ca jerry blumenthal - north end north of north street
utecks@halifax.ca south end
jennifer.watts@halifax.ca - connaught, quinpool

walkerr@halifax.ca - fairview/clayton park

humd@halifax.ca Debbie Humm - Rockingham
brad.johns@halifax.ca sackville
harveyb@halifax.ca - lower sackville
outhitt@halifax.ca bedford
rankinr@halifax.ca timberlea - prospect

peter.lund@halifax.ca hammonds plains/st marg

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