Local News
Two Montrealers killed
Two Montrealers were killed in the Mumbai attacks last week. Dr. Michael Moss and his partner Elizabeth Russell were allegedly killed when gunmen entered their hotel room and shot them, according to the department of foreign affairs in Ottawa. The terrorist attack, carried out by 10 heavily armed men, lasted three days. At least 195 people have been reported dead. Nine of the men were killed and one was arrested.
Crossing guard killed
A Verdun crossing guard was killed after two cars collided at the Bannantyne and de L’Eglise intersection. After one of the cars ran a red light, another crashed into it. The second car hit the guard and she went flying into the window of a nearby dépanneur, according to witnesses. She was pronounced dead at the hospital. One of the drivers was taken to hospital for minor injuries according to reports. The accident is being investigated.
Montreal balances the books
The city of Montreal announced its 2009 budget on Wednesday. Included in the balanced $4 billion budget are modest spending increases of 2.6 per cent and $600 million to repair aging roads and sewers. The city is also increasing funding for public transit by 7.1 per cent, bringing Montreal’s funding of the STM to $332 million. The plan did not involve tax increases.
STM shuts out the competition
A free shuttle bus service, operated by the city of Montreal-East, has been shut down after the STM’s union threatened legal action. The shuttle bus, which began Nov. 17, ran twice on weekday mornings, picking up passengers at nine stops and taking them to Honoré-Beaugrand metro station. But an STM employee noticed the new bus and reported it to the union. Under Quebec law the STM has exclusive rights to public transit on the Island of Montreal.
Bridge safe, despite hole: Transport Quebec
The Mercier Bridge is safe according to Transport Quebec, despite a chunk of the bridge breaking off and falling in to the St. Laurence River last Thursday, leaving a metre-wide hole in a southbound lane. While officials said they don’t know what caused the piece to fall off the bridge, they said it was not a structural problem. The hole is currently covered with a metal sheet, and repairs will begin this week.
National News
Two killed at birthday party
A man with a knife entered a child’s birthday party in Oshawa, Ont. killing one woman and injuring her partner and two young boys. Following an altercation with the police, the assailant, identified as Gino Petralia, was shot dead.
B.C. crash proves fatal
Two of the three children who were critically injured in a three-car crash on the Trans-Canada in B.C. Saturday morning have died. The crash happened when a minivan stopped in the carpool lane of the highway after breaking down. The minivan, which was carrying the two boys, aged six and nine, their eight and one-year old brothers, two women in their 40s and two others in their 70s, was hit by a SUV and spun into another vehicle. Police are investigating why the minivan stopped in the middle of the lane rather than pulling over to the shoulder. They are also working to find out whether or not the van’s hazards were on. The eight-year-old boy remains in critical condition. The one-year-old boy and the younger women sustained minor injuries and were released from hospital Saturday.
Albertans partying like its 1983
Health officials are warning that some of the cocaine being distributed in Alberta is laced with an immune system inhibiting chemical. So far, seven Albertans have developed a condition called agranulocytosis. The condition renders the immune system incapable of fighting off infections, making otherwise common infections potentially fatal. Alberta’s chief medical officer of health issued a statement urging anyone who has used cocaine and develops skin abscesses or lung infection to seek medical treatment immediately. Reports said the chemical in the bad cocaine is levamisole, which is typically used to treat worms in humans and animals.
Nice try
An Abbotsford, B.C. man pled guilty to mischief after he apparently had second thoughts about confessing to insurance fraud. After admitting to an Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, Ravinder Sran grabbed the investigator’s recording device and ran out of the room. The investigator caught up with him a few blocks away, where Sran was attempting to smash the machine into the pavement. While he managed to break the device, the recording itself was intact. Sran had origionally loaned his motorcycle to a friend, who crashed it, and reported the bike stolen to police.
International News
A classic Darwin
A man from Chicago Heights, Il shot and killed himself in front of family and friends at a Thanksgiving Day party. A Chicago Heights police Lt. told a local news station, “He thought the safety was on, put the gun to his head, squeezed the trigger and that was that.” Is “thought” really the appropriate word in this situation?
Dear Toy Makers,
Parents are writing letters to toy makers, too this Christmas. But they’re asking toy company bigwigs to reduce marketing targeted at children this holiday season, according to an Associated Press story. The argument these parents made was that, given these tough economic times, they will not be able to buy everything their children want. The toy companies, on the other hand, said that marketing and advertising to children is necessary. How will children know what to ask for if they don’t know what’s out there? Other questions to consider: How come parents can’t turn off the television and say “no” to their child?
Sex-ed at home
A woman in her 40s in Florida was arrested after she gave her 15-year-old daughter, a 14-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy alcohol, then had sex with the boy while the two girls watched. She was reportedly charged with lewd and lascivious battery, two counts of lewd and lascivious exhibition and seven counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Police arrived on the scene after her estranged husband found her and the boy in bed, naked. Although she admitted she was aware the girls were watching her have sex, she said she thought the boy was 19-years-old.
Birds, bees and polar bears
A Japanese zoo has discovered that two female polar bears cannot make babies, no matter how hard they try. The zoo swapped an orangutan for a polar bear cub, named Tsuyoshi, in January 2005. When Tsuyoshi became old enough to procreate the zoo set him up with a lady polar bear. But Tsuyoshi never exhibited normal mating behaviour. Workers at the zoo became suspicious when they saw Tsuyoshi peeing like a girl. Only after sending the bear’s DNA to a lab for analysis did the zoo find out Tsuyoshi was a girl. Now the zoo wants to trade her for a male.
