Closure of context-free languages under left-half
Let $L = \{a^nb^na^mbba^{3m} : n,m \geq 1 \}$, which is clearly context-free. Then
$$
\operatorname{half}(L) \cap a^+b^+a^+b = \{ a^nb^na^nb : n \geq 1\},
$$
which is not context-free. Hence $\operatorname{half}(L)$ is not context-free.
(If $L$ is a unary context-free language then $L$ is regular, and so $\operatorname{half}(L)$ is regular.)