Local News
New public swimming pool downtown
Yet another water main in Montreal has burst. This one, which is from 1891, flooded roughly a block worth of streets around Peel and St. Jacques streets. The city’s leisurely attitude towards clearing snow has paid off in this instance: they used the snow from the most recent storm to build a dam. The area was closed all weekend for repairs.
AMT ordered to investigate complaints
Quebec Transport Minister Julie Boulet has ordered Agence métropolitaine de transport (AMT) to investigate delays on train routes. The call for action came after thousands of commuters complained about new schedules and delays. The AMT recently added 76 new departures, but it hasn’t helped; some passengers even feel the problems have worsened, possibly because the extra trains are not running during peak hours. The AMT has since apologized and said it will at 14 train cars to the busiest routes.
$5M fund for sex-abuse victims
Selwyn House, a private all-boys school in Westmount, has agreed to pay $5 million in damages to former students who say they were sexually abused by teachers between 1961 and 1991. A compensation fund for the same amount was rejected by a judge last year. Judge Pierre Gagnon said it was because it didn’t contain an opt-out clause. Lawyers representing the school and the victims rewrote the terms to include the clause. Three teachers are implicated in the accusations. So far 34 students have confessed they were victims of abuse.
You can run, but you can’t hide
Montreal’s executive committee has approved a rule that would make it illegal for protesters to wear masks, scarves, hoods, or anything else that would hide their identity. The rule would have to be accepted by the municipal council before it can be applied. The city said protesters were able to get away with crimes during the Montreal North and Habs riots last year because they couldn’t be identified. The city also said there would be exceptions to the rule.
Stillborn baby found in laundry
An internal investigation and a police inquiry were launched after employees at an industrial laundromat found a baby cadaver in sheets that had been delivered from Lakeshore General Hospital. A hospital spokeperson told media the hospital is not sure what happened, but that it’s likely a result of “human error.” The family of the baby has been notified.
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National News
Khadr IDs Arar
Omar Khadr recognized a photo of Maher Arar as someone he saw at an al-Qaeda safe house in Afghanistan, an FBI interrogator told a court in Guantanamo Bay Monday. Arar, who endured torture after being deported to Syria in 2002, has always maintained he has never been to Afghanistan. The FBI interrogator testified Khadr identified Arar by name during an interrogation in Oct. 2002. Arar was detained at JFK airport in New York City when he was flying from Switzerland to Montreal in late September 2002.
B.C. will allow Vancouver to borrow money
British Columbia introduced legislation last week that will allow the city of Vancouver to borrow money in order to finish construction on the Olympic Village. The development has run into financial difficulties because of problems with American creditors. The bill will allow Vancouver to borrow any amount it deems necessary to complete the project. The bill does specify that any money borrowed will have to be used on the Olympic Village.
Torontonians are cold and dark
A busted water main left 100,000 residents near downtown Toronto without power late Thursday night. The outage was caused when water from the broken main flooded a power station. Some subways were closed and many traffic lights weren’t functioning, making commuting to work and school difficult Friday morning. It took until Friday afternoon to restore power to about half the homes. The city set up warm shelters in schools that had not been affected by the power loss.
Nova Scotian gets life
A Nova Scotia man has received a life sentence Thursday for a murder he committed in New York State in 2007. Glen Race was up for 25 years to life. He was alleged to have shot his 35-year-old victim in the back. Race maintained his innocence throughout the trial according to CBC. It has been reported the Canadian lawyer for the accused plans to appeal the sentence. The American lawyer said they should have used an insanity defence because Race is schizophrenic.
Jailbreak foiled
A 41-year-old man escaped from prison in Bowden, Alberta. He was free for about an hour before the RCMP found the man by following footprints he left in the snow. The prisoner’s attempted escape came shortly after he had been transferred from medium to minimum-security section, according to the Edmonton Journal. The man is serving 11 years for breaking and entering, theft and extortion.
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International News
Checklist saves lives
A team of doctors announced last Wednesday that a 19-point checklist has helped cut the rate of surgery-related deaths in half. The list, developed by a group of experts from the World Health Organization, included innovative items such as “making sure the correct patient is on the operating table, and the correct surgical site is identified.” Researchers reported the checklist was very successful on patients in eight hospitals around the world.
155 survive plane crash
A flight bound for Charlotte, N.C. from New York City crash-landed in the Hudson River last Thursday. Everybody on board survived. Shortly after taking off, the plane flew into a flock of birds. The collision apparently cut off the engines. The pilot managed to glide the plane into river. Passenger ferries and the Coast Guard arrived on the scene to help passengers off the plane and out of the water. In all, the flight lasted about five minutes.
British debt guru goes bankrupt
Lorne Spicer, a woman who hosts a money management program on British television filed for bankruptcy last month. Ironically, in her most recent series, called Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is, she gives people advice to help them out of debt.
Supreme Court to rule on strip search
The Supreme Court announced last week that it will decide whether a 13-year-old girl’s constitutional rights were violated when she was strip-searched at school. The girl, an eighth-grade student in Arizona, was sent to the nurse’s office and searched when another student said she was in possession of prescription strength pills. No pills were found. The court will consider whether the school’s principal is financially liable for damages.
Grocer stops selling cigarettes
A Detroit-based grocery store is pulling all cigarettes from shelves at all seven stores. The change will cost the business a quarter of a million dollars per year in income, the chief executive wrote in a statement online. He cited the threat of secondhand smoke as the main reason to pull the item. The stores will continue to stock alcohol, foods with trans-fats, cookies, ice-cream, red meat and chips.
Dubai feels the pinch
Construction has stopped on the Dubai building that was set to become the world’s tallest skyscraper. The developer made the decision shortly after a credit rating firm announced falling real estate prices will start to hurt banks. When (and if) completed, the skyscraper will be as tall as three Chrysler buildings piled one on top of another – or more than 10 football fields.
