Local News
New Year’s resolutions
Le Journal de Montréal gave Montreal mayor Gerald Tremblay a list of seven resolutions for 2009: manage taxpayers’ money well; invest more in infrastructure; increase the number of affordable housing units; improve the quality of public transportation; open the Quartier des Spectacles downtown; use the $24 million granted by the Quebec government, to be issued over three-years, to fight homelessness and poverty; and debate key topics and present ideas for the city’s future to Montrealers.
Four dead and one injured in Saguenay
A mother has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder and one count of assisted suicide. Police arrived at the woman’s home in the Chicoutimi region of Saguenay to find her three children and husband dead. Police arrived after responding to a call the woman, who was in serious condition, made to 911.
Police say the mother and father had a murder-suicide pact. Reports said the parents had both lost their jobs recently, soon after purchasing their home in Saguenay.
Study puts a price tag on insomnia
A new study, aimed at assessing insomnia’s effect on the economy, found that sleepless nights and weeks cost Quebecers roughly $6.5 billion per year. The majority of these costs are indirect; employees missing work or performing poorly results in a loss of over $5 billion. The direct costs of insomnia include consultations, transportation to doctors’ offices and medication. According to the study, the biggest direct cost of insomnia is the almost $340 million people spend on alcohol as a sleep-aid – almost twice the amount spent on insomnia-motivated health consultations.
Taxi drivers rejoice
Management and the union at Le Journal de Montréal have agreed to put a hold on negotiations until Jan. 6. Negotiations will take place until Jan. 23. The agreement, signed last Tuesday, will prohibit either side from using any pressure tactics, effectively warding off a potential strike before then. Both parties also agreed to place an embargo on any discussions.
Dead baby
An 18-month-old baby died Saturday after falling down the stairs of a Montreal restaurant on Saint-Denis near Cherrier. According to reports, the girl’s guardians lost sight of her for several minutes. The baby died of cranial trauma and her parents were treated for chock.
National News
Two Canadians injured in Mexican strip club
Two tourists from B.C. were shot while visiting a strip club in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico on the night of Dec. 30. The Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed the shooting and released the names of the victims. A Mexican newspaper reported one was shot in the neck and the other in the chest and the leg. Both men were hospitalized in Mexico. The man who was shot in the leg has been discharged from the hospital, but has been urged to seek treatment back home in Vancouver. The other victim remains in hospital, in stable condition. There have been no arrests in connection to the shooting.
Four homicides on first day of ’09
Only a few hours into the new year, the city of Calgary already had four homicides in the book. Police responding to reports of a fight at a strip mall found three injured men. One of the men, who was in his 20s, was rushed to the hospital where he later died. A few hours later, responding to a shooting at a different strip mall, police found three dead men. One was outside, in the mall’s parking lot. The other two were inside a nearby restaurant, where the call to police was made. Police said the man who was found outside, a few feet from the door to the restaurant, was an innocent bystander who tried to flee when the shooting began.
More drunk drivers driving more drunk
The Manitoba RCMP reported a higher incident of drunk driving during a holiday checkstop campaign this year. They also found the drivers who were drinking registered twice the legal amount of alcohol on the Breathalyzer. Officers stopped almost twice as many vehicles this year than last year. This year, officers charged 168 people with drunk driving offences. Last year 92 people were charged. Throughout the campaign the average blood-alcohol level jumped from .165 to an average of .178.
Bundle up
The mother of a nine-month-old baby has been charged with criminal negligence causing bodily harm. Police charged her after she and her baby girl, who wasn’t dressed appropriately for the weather, were seen outside when it was -9 degrees Celsius. Police said the baby was unresponsive when they arrived on the scene. The baby was treated in hospital, and has since been released to her father.
International News
Listeriosis craze hits US
A Denver, Colorado food distribution firm recalled over 170 pounds of burritos from 7-Eleven stores, fearing the meat may have been contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The United States Department of Agriculture’s Food Service and Inspection Service found traces of the bacteria during a routine test. There have not yet been any reports of illness due to consumption of the 7-Eleven Fresh to Go Burrito with Potatoes, Bacon, Eggs, & Monterey Jack Cheese burritos.
Woman arrested for hitting self with frying pan
A Florida woman was arrested after calling police to her estranged husband’s residence twice. When officers responded to the first call the woman said her estranged husband punched her in the face. Police didn’t see any indications of violence though. So the woman hit herself in the face with a frying pan before calling police a second time. It was reported that when the man was handcuffed she came clean and told police her swollen eye was self-inflicted. She was arrested for filing a false police report.
That’ll teach him
The crime: writing abusive comments about random women in public washrooms and scrawling rude comments and drawings on his newspaper while riding public transportation.
The punishment: the 49-year-old man from England has been prohibited from having pens and spray paint when in public. He has also been banned from displaying rude comments about anybody in a public area for three years.
Chief inspector Russell Nyman told British media the punishment “should ensure we do not see a repeat of this type of behaviour. We do take reports of this nature very seriously.”
Lovebirds stopped on their way to elope
A German couple decided to elope to Africa because of the continent’s warm climate. Of course a couple needs at least one witness in order for a marriage to be considered legal, so they convinced the bride’s younger sister to come along for the trip. Together, at dawn on New Year’s Day, they walked one kilometre to the train station to wait for a ride to the airport. Only then did a rail guard notice the bride, the groom and the witness, aged five, six and seven, did not have an adult with them. The guard called police, who convinced the children they would have a hard time arranging a marriage and a life in Africa without any money or even a plane ticket. The children’s parents picked them up at the police station later that day.
