Author: Robin Della Corte

City in Brief
by Matthew Guité

→ Some friendly competition
Montreal will soon have a second English-language AM talk radio station once again, as the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission approved an application on Friday for such a station at 600 AM. The application, filed by a trio of local businessmen who had a French-language AM station approved last year, will have a commitment to fill its programming with 100 per cent local content. The businessmen, Nicolas Tétrault, Rajiv Pancholy and Paul Tietolman, said that both stations are expected to open next spring and will create roughly 150 jobs. According to Tietolman, the English station will be run by Steve Kowch, a former program director at CJAD.

→ A Sherbrooke explosion
An enormous explosion at an industrial plant in Sherbrooke that killed three workers and injured 18 others is still being investigated as its cause remains unknown. The explosion was big enough to be heard for kilometres, and left a large black cloud of smoke hanging over the processing plant for hours. Mayor Bernard Sévigny of Sherbrooke told CBC that it was a tragedy, and that their flag was being flown at half-mast in memory of those injured and killed by the explosion. The hospital director of Sherbrooke University Hospital Centre, where most of those injured were treated, has said that almost all the workers who were brought in have now been released.

→ A new way to remember
A collection of notes, letters and photographs documenting the movements and activities of McGill University staff and graduates involved in World War II was unveiled Sunday for Remembrance Day. The collection was originally compiled by R. C. Fetherstonhaugh, who took on the job for the McGill War Records Office, and was packed away after his death in 1946. Over the past several years, volunteers scanned and uploaded all the information to a digital archive to preserve it. The collection includes article clippings, photographs, and letters and is available online as part of the ‘McGill Remembers’ project.

→ Fire in the Old Port
A massive fire in Old Montreal destroyed the upper levels of a St-Jacques St. building on Thursday, and forced the offices of La Presse across the street to evacuate. The building, located at 31 St. Jacques St. W., was undergoing renovations when the fire started just after 6 p.m., and was therefore vacant. Approximately 70 firefighters dealt with the blaze which started on the sixth floor for unknown reasons. Although asked to investigate, the Montreal Police stressed that this does not necessarily mean the fire is criminal in nature.

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Nation in Brief
by Matthew Guité

→ A phishy nation
The Public Safety Department is worried that Canada is becoming a launching pad for malicious cyber attacks according documents obtained by The Canadian Press. The notes say that the origin place for cyber attacks is shifting to more developed countries “with good reputations.” The notes, which were written by Brett Kubicek, manager of research and academic relations of the department, stress that Canada may be moving from being a target to becoming a host. Last spring, Websense ranked Canada as the number two place in the world for hosting phishing sites, with the United States as number one.

→ That’s not what it’s for
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is investigating an incident at a New Brunswick high school after a teacher allegedly used hockey tape to tape together the arms of two girls who were not getting along. The incident, which left both girls bruised, sparked outrage from their parents. The father of one girl has filed a complaint with the police. The teacher in question declined to comment but Heather Smith, president of the New Brunswick Teachers’ Association, told CBC that she was disturbed by the fact that people were considering the teacher guilty before an investigation.

→ A more thoughtful Canada
More Canadians planned to observe Remembrance Day this year, including attending ceremonies and holding two minutes of silence, according to an Ipsos Reid poll. Apparently 30 per cent of respondents made formal plans to attend a Remembrance Day event, compared to 22 per cent in 2010, and 80 per cent planned to observe two minutes of silence compared to 75 per cent in 2010. Anthony Wilson-Smith, president of the Historica-Dominion Institute, told The Canadian Press that the poll reflected the fact that Canadians were paying more attention than before and that a new generation of veterans from Afghanistan also influenced the increase.

→ A breach of trust
A former psychiatrist has had his license revoked by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia due to allegations of sexual misconduct. Dr. Bolarinwa Olutosin Oluwole was a staff psychiatrist for two years at the Yarmouth Regional Hospital until he was fired in 2010 after three of his patients alleged that he had engaged in acts of sexual misconduct with them, two citing sexual intercourse. Oluwole was accused of keeping inappropriate sexual items in his office, such as condoms and sexually explicit photographs. The college has removed his name from their register.

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World in Brief
by Robin Della Corte

→ The end of the banana war
A twenty-year long trade dispute over the international trade of bananas has finally been resolved. The agreement was reached after the European Union agreed to slowly reduce the tariffs on Latin American bananas. Pascal Lamy, the director-general of the World Trade Organization, claims it was a “truly historic moment” in the battle. The EU and 10 Latin American countries signed the agreement to end eight separate WTO cases. “After so many twists and turns, these complicated and politically contentious disputes can finally be put to bed,” Lamy told BBC.

→ Above and beyond
China plans to launch a manned space mission with a crew consisting of a woman and two men, according to state media. The announcement comes a few months after a Chinese space shuttle took part in the country’s first space docking mission. The shuttle also carried China’s first female astronaut, Liu Yang. The launch could take place as early as next June according the deputy commander-in-chief of the manned space program. China became the third country to send a person into space in 2003.

→ What about BlackBerry?
The Samsung Galaxy S3 outsold Apple’s iPhone 4S for the first time ever in South Korea becoming the world’s best-selling smartphone according to research firm Strategy Analytics. Samsung sold 18 million models in comparison with Apple’s 16.2 million in the third quarter of 2012. While the S3 is popular for now, the iPhone 5 will likely reclaim the throne of the worlds most sought-after phone. Meanwhile, the two companies are locked in contentious legal battles over software and infringement claims.

→ No more Tobacco
It has been confirmed by Sainsbury’s that tobacco will be removed from sales at another six of its supermarkets in Scotland following the government implementing a supplementary tax on stores selling cigarettes and alcohol. The company already had four stores that do not sell these products before the policy came into force on Monday, Nov. 12. Approximately 240 stores in Scotland are going to be affected by the government’s aim to reduce alcohol and tobacco related harm. The charge only applies to stores that are valued at over $475,000.

City in Brief
by Kalina Laframboise

→ Zero tolerance for corruption, collusion and construct
In her inaugural speech on Oct. 31, Premier Pauline Marois emphasized the need to end the misconduct plaguing the provincial government with an anti-corruption bill. The following day, the Parti Quebecois tabled a bill that will impose a rigorous screening process for companies vying for contracts. The bill aims to ensure the integrity of potential contractors and keep tabs on them throughout the construction process. Marois emphasized that the first few weeks of her time as Quebec’s premier would be devoted to ending corruption and condemning dishone

→ I’m never eating there again
Last week, the neurology clinic at the Jewish General Hospital closed due to an outbreak of the norovirus. The infection sprouted from the coffee shop, where hundreds of staff members, patients and visitors eat on a daily basis. Approximately 45 people from the hospital fell ill with flu-like symptoms such as diarrhea, cramps, and fever. After several staff members from the neurology clinic became sick, the clinic was closed for half of Thursday and all of Friday. The coffee shop will remain closed until the specific reason for the outbreak can be determined.

→ Let there be light
Most people working in the theatre don’t choose that path to strike it rich. Usually, it’s the exact opposite. Not for Robert Thomson though. According to CBC, Thomson has been named the recipient of the 2012 Elinore & Lou Siminovitch Prize in Theatre, which is reportedly the largest theatre award of its kind in Canada. In its 12th year, the prize awarded the lucky lighting designer $75,000 and an additional $25,000 for two young designers he works with. Thomson is working on a production of Red at Montreal’s Segal Centre right now, which premieres Nov. 2

→ But Quebec is where the party’s at
New Democratic Party members were split on forming a provincial party for Quebec in a meeting in Montreal this Saturday. Those in favour of the formation argued that it would provide left leaning voters with an alternative to the sovereign parties while other members emphasized the need to focus on dominating the federal election in 2015. The priority for the federal party members is to oust the Conservative Party from power. Party Leader Thomas Mulcair announced the possible creation of a provincial wing but backtracked when the Parti Quebecois won a minority provincial government on Sept. 4 opting for resources to be spent on the federal initiatives instead.

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Nation in Brief
by Robin Della Corte

→ 18 and legal
The Saskatchewan Party is considering changing the province’s liquor laws by lowering the legal drinking age from 19 to 18. Members of the party voted in favour of the new drinking age at the party’s annual convention in Saskatoon last weekend. The main arguments rose from issues of fairness where provinces like Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec have a legal drinking age of 18. Saskatchewan Party MLA Donna Harpauer is not a fan of the idea because she believes teen drinking is a problem and because the majority of 18-year-olds are still in high school. This issue still needs to be voted on in the legislature to become law, CBC News reported

→ Cat city
Toronto’s animal shelters are overcrowded and more cats than ever are roaming the streets of the city due to a warm spring. An estimated 300,000 cats are on Toronto’s streets, Barbara Steinhoff of the Toronto Humane Society told CBC. In a year, there are between 100,00 and 300,000 cats without homes. This year it’s at its extreme high and although shelters are full, dozens of cats arrive each day. Two Toronto shelters are lowering adoption fees to help encourage giving cats a home.

→ Girl look at this body
Sam, a six-year-old lab in Windsor, Ont. shed half of his weight from sticking to a workout regime. Arriving at the Humane Society in January, Sam was overweight at a whopping 174 pounds. A lack of exercise and excessive eating led to Sam’s appearance. Following a vet’s conclusion that there was no medical reason behind his excessive weight gain, Sam was then sent to a foster home where he started an exercise program and ate special food. Sam is now 96 pounds and is active and is able to run and play with other dogs.

→ Halloween horror
She made a vow when she put them on and now, she’s made a vow to never take them off. A woman in Nova Scotia said she will never take off her wedding ring again. While Bonnie Pick-Melanson carved pumpkins with her son, she took off her rings so they wouldn’t get sticky. When they were done, she wrapped up all the newspapers and put them into the garbage, not realizing she was throwing out her rings as well. When she noticed her jewelry was missing, she called Valley Waste Resource Management Hotline and Dale Roberts, the curbside inspector, was able to contact the driver and stop him in the middle of his route. After many staff members were searching frantically for the rings valued at $15,000, they found it with the description Pick-Melanson gave.

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World in Brief
by Matthew Guité

→ Worst building ever
North Korea’s ‘Hotel of Doom’, the multi-storey hotel that dominates Pyonyang’s skyline, may finally open its doors next year after 25 years of construction. The hotel, which began construction in 1987 and slated for completion in 1989, has been a source of embarrassment for the regime following numerous problems with the building. In 2008 Esquire dubbed it “hideously ugly, even by communist standards.” Despite original plans for more than 3,000 hotel rooms and three revolving restaurants, the hotel is now expected to open for about 150 rooms, all of them on the top floor of the building. The group which will be managing the hotel has also stated it expects to house shops and restaurants on the lower levels.

→ Pin-up coffins
A Polish coffin maker has stirred up controversy by putting together a pin-up calendar to help sell more coffins. The calendar features topless models in and around coffins, with one shot featuring a model lounging in a coffin and another with a model pulling out a dead man’s heart. The calendar is intended to highlight “the beauty of Polish girls and the beauty of our coffins” according to Zbigniew Lindner, the owner of the business, who also said that the calendar was his son’s idea. “We wanted to show that a coffin isn’t a religious symbol. Its a product,” he told Reuters. “Why are people afraid of coffins and not of business suits, cosmetics or jewelry?”

→ Where’s the humour in that?
A pair of newspaper reporters are facing criminal charges in Kyrgyzstan after they kidnapped and threatened to kill a popular television presenter as part of a practical joke. They kidnapped Nazira Aytbekova at gunpoint and drove her out to a wasteland where they forced her to strip to her underwear. According to BBC, Aytbekova was ordered to sing and refused. The men then told her they were going to kill her, and told her to say her last words. They used a mobile phone to record the ordeal before finally revealing themselves as journalists. Aytbekova has described herself as being “shaken and humiliated” by the incident. Both journalists have apologized for their actions and have been fired.

→ The price to pay for not paying
A court in Illinois sentenced a man to pay a $1.5-million fine for pirating and torrenting 10 gay porn films, the largest ever fine for such a crime. Kywan Fisher, the man accused of sharing the films, did not defend himself in court, which is believed to be the reason for the steep fine. The studio Flava Works also pursued 14 others for file sharing but the charges were dropped due to lack of evidence. During the trial the lawyer for Flava Works explained that each copy of their movies that is purchased has a secret digital code embedded in it, and that the code in the torrented films all match the codes of the copies that Fisher purchased on their website. The films were downloaded from torrent sites 3,449 times and the damages awarded to Flava Works are for $150,000 for each film that Fisher shared.

City in Brief
by Kalina Laframboise

→ Watch out, white collar criminals
Premier Pauline Marois will address corruption when the Quebec National Assembly opens a new session this Wednesday. As one of its top priorities, the provincial government plans to close loopholes in Bill 35 following the revelations of corruption and collusion with the construction industry during the ongoing Charbonneau Commission. A new bill could be presented as early as this week, in order to fight corruption and force contractors to be more honest by implementing stricter rules and mechanisms in order to win a contract from municipal authorities.

→ Time to invest in a train pass
Commuters, prepare for more traffic headaches. The Honoré-Mercier bridge, which connects Châteauguay and the Island of Montreal, will undergo more construction for an undetermined amount of time. The Gazette reported that while work continues on the federally owned side of the bridge and is slated for completion in 2014, the provincial side expects an additional five years of work and has no target date for completion. Construction started in 2008 to fix the decrepit bridge that is used by 80,000 commuters daily. Repeated lane closures often snarl traffic on the bridge, extending to the west and downtown.

→ …Or not
Public transit users will see their monthly passes rise from $75.50 to $77.75 in January 2012. The Societé de Transport de Montréal will increase the costs of a three-day pass to $18 from $16, and offer a new option for a weekend unlimited pass for $12 that will cover commuters from Friday evening until Monday morning. The express bus to Montreal’s Pierre-Elliot Trudeau airport will cost nine dollars as will the unlimited day pass. The STM has steadily increased monthly rates since 2002, when a pass was $50.

→ Say goodbye to your employee discount
Pharmaceutical company Pfizer announced it will cut 300 jobs nationwide, but mostly in Montreal. The company’s headquarters, located west of Montreal in Kirkland, will see a large number of employees dismissed due to restructuring process. The layoffs account for nearly 11 per cent of the company’s total number of employees. Pfizer has 2,700 employees in Canada and approximately 1,800 in Quebec. The company recently underwent a multimillion dollar renovation, with a $2.7-million contribution from the provincial government.

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Nation in Brief
by Robin Della Corte

→ Losers in Canada
After its fourth draw, no one has claimed the winning ticket for the $50-million Lotto Max jackpot in Canada. “Fifty MaxMillions prizes of $1-million each were up for grabs in Friday night’s draw, and there are winning tickets for 24 of them,” the Canadian Press reported. There were nine winning tickets sold in western Canada, six in Ontario, four in Quebec, and one in Atlantic Canada. The next jackpot for Lotto Max on Nov. 2 will remain at $50 million and, again, there will be 50 MaxMillions prizes for the taking.

→ Bar refuses to serve black customers
A group of individuals claim they were refused entrance at a bar in Gatineau, QC because they were black. According to a video posted online, the bouncer at Le Fou du Roi can be heard telling the group that black people who were not regulars could not be admitted inside. Brigit Vanhoutte, co-owner of the bar, apologized for the incident and told CBC that the bouncer has been suspended due to the situation that occurred and that the bar does not ban black customers from the premises.

→ I’m stealin’ it
Investigators in Moncton, N.B. said a man walked into a McDonald’s at around 3 a.m. last Saturday morning claiming he had a weapon and demanded money. Eyewitnesses claim no weapon was seen, but saw the accused leaving with food and an unknown amount of money. Police reported that the description of the suspect was vague and confirmed no one was hurt at the scene of the robbery.

→ Punch drunk love
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police were called to the Halifax Stanfield International Airport last Friday night after a passenger punched a flight attendant. Police reported that a 24-year-old male passenger became aggressive during the plane’s descent. According to Sgt. Mike Lidstone, several passengers stepped in and subdued the individual until police were able to detain him allowing the plane to land without further incident. The accused will undergo a psychiatric assessment.

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World in Brief
by Matthew Guité

→ A different kind of Woodstock
A New Zealand woman has admitted to feeding her three-month-old baby cannabis through her breast milk. The mother, 29, plead guilty to giving a controlled substance to an individual under the age of 18. She was sentenced to six months supervision, and her partner was also sentenced for crimes related to the same police raid. The Whanganui District Court said her actions amounted to child abuse. “People often believe drug-related activities are victimless,” Acting Senior Sergeant Andrew McDonald said, “But it affects the people around them.”

→ Can I have some more, sir?
Undergraduate students of Magdalen College, a member of the Oxford University group, are boycotting their dining hall’s services over new plans that would see students paying more than £150, or $241, annually to eat there. Students would pay the fee to use the canteen and would be required to buy a food card for another £150 which, if not spent by the end of the year, would not be refunded. Students have set up food kitchens and organized home cooking sessions to help feed other students.

→ To serve and protect?
A New York city police officer has been charged with conspiring to kidnap, cook and eat women. Gilberto Valle III kept the names, locations and personal information of women he had been surveilling on his computer including pictures as well as the locations and personal details of some of them. The accused officer had begun surveillance of the homes and places of employment of some of the women, and compiled a document titled “Abduction and Cooking: A Blueprint”. In an online conversation, reported by Reuters, with an unknown conspirator, Valle described how he was “thinking of tying [his victim’s] body onto some kind of apparatus … cook her over a low heat, keep her alive as long as possible.” The maximum sentence could be life in prison.

→ Killer lit
An employee at the Porter County Public Library in Valparaiso, IL, opened a book to find an interesting story inside. The book, Outbridge Reach by Robert Stone, was hollowed out and a handgun was tucked neatly away inside. Valparaiso police said the old weapon was a gold, A.S.M. brand black powder gun with a wooden handle . As the the library receives several donations, employees were unable to identify who gave the handgun and book. However, police said the gun wasn’t reported as stolen.