Tag: news briefs

City in Brief
by Kalina Laframboise

→ Rizzuto comes home
Notorious criminal and reputed Montreal Mafia head Vito Rizzuto was released from Florence Federal Correctional Complex in Florence, Colo. this Friday. Rizzuto was escorted back to Toronto and is believed to be residing in Montreal, where he has lived most of his life. In 2003, the alleged mobster was indicted by a Brooklyn federal grand jury due to racketeering conspiracy charges, including loansharking and murder. After his arrest in Montreal, Rizzuto was extradited to the United States. His father and son were both assassinated in Montreal in what is believed to be an attempt to bring down the crime family.

→ Laval mayor in trouble
Laval Mayor Gilles Vaillancourt was the target of a series of raids earlier this week by the Sûréte du Québec’s anti-corruption squad. Following the raid on Vaillancourt’s Laval office and home Thursday, officers investigated Vaillancourt’s luxury high-rise apartment in Chomedey Friday evening. In a press conference Friday, Vaillancourt said he would not step down from his position as mayor. Authorities also searched Laval City Hall and buildings where human resources and engineering departments are located. The raids are related to the awarding of municipal contracts and the provincial government’s crackdown on corruption and collusion in the construction industry. Vaillancourt has held his position since 1989.

→ Quebec murder suspect found
A man allegedly behind three deaths in Amos, Que. was arrested in Florida following a police chase Sunday morning. Justin Bresaw, 35, was sought in connection with a fire in Amos last month with Interpol issuing an alert and Canada announcing a nationwide arrest warrant for Bresaw. He was seen in Tallahassee charging a laptop behind a church at 1:30 a.m. by a police officer who asked why Bresaw was out so late. A fight ensued, leaving the police officer with a broken nose before Bresaw was found hiding underneath a house later that morning. Bresaw is now facing charges of resisting an officer with violence and battery on an officer in Florida. The triple murder suspect will be extradited to Canada but due to the fresh charges, it remains unknown as to when he will be returning to Quebec.

→ Trudeau in the house
Justin Trudeau officially announced his candidacy for leader of the Liberal Party of Canada in Montreal, Tuesday. In front of a crowd of approximately 450 Liberal supporters in his riding of Papineau, the eldest son of former Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau said he wanted to spend his life serving the nation he loves. In his speech, Trudeau emphasized his desire to reach out to youth and help revamp Canada’s economy. The leadership election set for April 2013 to replace interim-leader Bob Rae who took Michael Ignatieff’s place following the disastrous results for the Liberals in the 2011 federal election.

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Nation in Brief
by Cynthia Dupuis

→ Not everyone loves Marineland
A group of about 125 people rushed through the main entrance of Marineland this Sunday to protest the treatment of animals residing at the theme park. The protesters say they managed to interrupt a dolphin show taking place. Niagara Region Police were forced to bring in extra officers when about 800 people in total convened on the property. Constable Derek Watson said police were able to quickly regain control of the situation and that no arrests were made. The Marineland Animal Defence, the group which organized this weekend’s protest, is dedicated to ending animal captivity and ultimately closing down the famous park.

→ You’ve got mail, again
Canada Post and its largest group of unionized workers have reached a tentative agreement in a dispute that has lasted for more than a year. During the past year, the Harper government intervened in the dispute after Canada Post locked out its employees as a response to their rotating strikes. The federal government also imposed a back-to-work legislation that forced the workers to accept lower wages than Canada Post’s last offer leading to the union rejecting the arbitration imposed by the government. A spokesperson for Canada Post explained that both sides came to an agreement without the help of an arbitrator and it was not an imposed agreement.

→ Easy access
The Harper government is launching a pilot project in early 2013 allowing Canadian citizens to submit access-to-information requests via the Internet. The project will begin with three departments, but is scheduled to include most federal agencies and institutions during the next three to four years. The Access-to-Information act in Canada was established in 1983 and has since then required paper cheques and forms, envelopes and postage stamps. The new portal will include an online payment service.

→ Now’s a good time to eat salad
The number of E. coli illnesses linked to the beef products from the XL Foods Inc. plant in Brooks, Alta., has increased by three cases this week bringing the total to 10 people from three provinces. The Public Health Agency of Canada says seven of the 10 cases are from Alberta, two from Quebec and one from Newfoundland. The recall was expanded again this Saturday and includes hundreds of XL Foods beef products from across Canada and the United States.

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World in Brief
by Kalina Laframboise

→ Maybe she’s a witch
In a letter this week, the Maine Republican Party criticized Democrat Colleen Lachowicz for her comments posted in online forums for World of Warcraft, a popular online game. The Republicans slammed Lachowicz for making “crude, vicious and violent comments” and accused her of living in a fantasy world. Lachowicz, who is running against incumbent Tom Martin, responded to the letter by saying that the Republicans should focus on her policies and not her hobbies. “I think it’s weird that I’m being targeted for playing online games,” she said in a statement. “What’s next? Will I be ostracized for playing Angry Birds or Words With Friends?”

→ A little bit of Kremlin love
The 60th birthday of Russian President Vladimir Putin Sunday sparked nationwide celebrations in honour of the leader. A youth movement held a sports contest called “Do Your Best for Putin” in central Moscow square to show their gratitude for Putin’s love of sports. An art exhibition called “Putin: The Most Kind-Hearted Man in The World” debuted in Moscow featuring a dozen paintings by artist Alexis Sergiyenko depicting some of Putin’s most memorable moments. NTV showcased a documentary based on Putin’s career and his daily routine. In contrast, several protesters mocked the celebrations by presenting fake gifts outside the presidential administration.

→ Strip tease or strip scare?
Patrick Gallagher, a resident of Lansdale, PA. is suing a strip club after a pole dance ruptured his bladder. In November 2010, the bachelor was invited to lie on the stage of the Penthouse Club where a dancer launched herself from a pole with such force onto Gallagher’s abdomen that his bladder burst. The following morning, Gallagher was admitted to hospital with severe pain and had to undergo surgery. Gallagher is suing the strip club for $50,000 in medical costs, pain, humiliation and mental anguish.

→ Aren’t we supposed to praise good hygiene?
Four students from Pekin High School in Illinois were suspended for bringing caffeinated mints to lunch. The teenagers were suspended Thursday and Friday, and prohibited from attending the weekend’s homecoming activities. The school thought the mints were drugs and immediately took action. Once the school realized the drugs were in fact mints, they upheld the punishment for gross misconduct for taking an unknown product. In an interview, suspended student Eric McMichael said he felt the suspension was unjustified.

City in Brief
by Cynthia Dupuis

→ What the fukyu doing?
A Montreal sushi restaurant has been getting a lot of attention this past week after business owners of the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood filed complaints. The Superior Court of Quebec ruled that the sushi bar named Fukyu had to change its name because it was considered “inappropriate” in the “Montreal context.” The restaurant’s name stands for a kata, a choreographed patterns of movements in Japanese martial arts. Before the opening next week, the owners changed the name to Kabuki, a form of Japanese theatre.

→ Laurence goes Hollywood
Quebec filmmaker Xavier Dolan’s latest film Laurence Anyways won the award for best Canadian film at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday. The award also comes with a $30,000 cash prize. The last two Quebec films to win this award at TIFF – Philippe Falardeau’s Monsieur Lazhar in 2010 and Denis Villeneuve’s Incendies in 2011 – went on to be nominated at the Oscars in the best foreign language film category. Dolan’s film tells the story of a transgendered male who has a relationship after getting a sex change.

→ Luka’s return don’t come cheap
The return of Luka Rocco Magnotta to Canada from Germany cost the Canadian taxpayers $375,000. The Canadian Press obtained federal documents that detail the cost of Magnotta’s return to the country includes the flight aboard a government plane, catering services and hotel stay for the authorities that accompanied him. The flight from an Albert military base was by far the largest expense, taking 23.9 hours and costing an estimated $15,505 per hour. The hotel stay for one night for the eight crewmembers in Berlin cost $1,300.

→ Maybe a black eye will help that poker face
Later this week, poker champion Jonathan Duhamel’s ex-girlfriend Bianca Rojas-Latraverse is expected to plead guilty at the Longueuil courthouse to charges of armed robbery, breaking and entering, forced confinement, assault and conspiracy in connection with the home invasion. Duhamel was beaten and robbed at his Boucherville condo on Dec. 21, 2011. Two men posing as delivery men made off with $40,000 Canadian, $74, 000 in euros, a Rolex watch and an expensive bracelet.

Nation in Brief
by Cynthia Dupuis

→ Different parties, different watering holes
The Parliament reopened yesterday in Ottawa, reviving the Capital’s bar scene with the return of its most reliable customers: the parliamentarians. Gary Thompson, co-owner of the Métropolitain Brasserie – the hotspot for Conservative MPs – explains, “The federal government’s the biggest employer in the city.” While the Conservative MPs drink on Sussex Dr., the Liberal MPs can be found at D’Arcy McGee’s on Sparks St. There are conveniently at least 40 bars, pubs, taverns and clubs within walking distance of Parliament Hill. For their owners, this is the kind of crowds they want.

→ Pricey prisoners
Postmedia News obtained more than 1,000 pages of documents detailing the personal items purchased by Canadian inmates residing in maximum-security institutions across the country. Ranging from Twilight books to Jennifer Love Hewitt’s self-help book The Day I Shot Cupid or even Dove for Men and Axe brand body wash, the purchases are paid by the inmates’ money in their personal accounts. It is however corrections workers that make many shopping trips on behalf of the inmates, something that Public Safety Minister Vic Toews is trying to streamline and standardize in order to save taxpayers $1.048-million a year.

→One is not the loneliest number
Statistics Canada is expected to release its 2011 census results Wednesday. Demographers across the country will watch with interest if a worldwide phenomenon has continued to spread in Canada: the one-person household. Never at any point in history have more people lived alone than they are today. In its 2006 census, Statistics Canada one-person households accounted for 27 per cent of the surveyed households, the fastest growing type of household since 2001. Experts point to the aging population, the delaying of marriage, divorce or simply the desire to live alone as the driving forces behind this constant increase.

→ A penny for your albums?
Dave Gunning, a musician from Nova Scotia, was told two weeks ago that he would have to pay a fee for copyright infringement to the Royal Canadian Mint. The artist’s new album No More Pennies is a tribute to the penny and it namely depicts the penny as a sun fading on the horizon on its cover. At first, the mint decided to cancel the fees on the first 2,000 records sold, but insisted for a charge of 60 cents for the last 2,000 records produced, which will amount to a total of $1,200. On Thursday, the mint has finally agreed to allow the artist to use the image of the penny on subsequent reprints at no cost.

World in Brief
by A.J. Cordeiro

→ We’re in the money
Ben Bernanke, head of the U.S. Federal Reserve, announced new, strong measures to help bolster the U.S. economy. Known as Quantitative Easing 3 in financial circles, the measures will include buying mortgage-backed securities and a bond-buying program. The announcement led to widespread rising of stocks, currencies and commodities, across numerous sectors and markets. However, Bernanke faced heavy criticism for it’s timing with the U.S. elections, and for the failure of previous economic assistance efforts.

→ No school blues
More than 25,000 teachers have gone on strike in the Windy City. Contract negotiations with the city’s mayor Rahm Emanuel broke off, resulting in more than 300,000 students having no school. One of the key demands in contention has been the city’s demand to judge training performance by teachers by student achievement, as opposed to tenure. A tentative agreement was reached, but fell through, leading the city’s mayor to seek legal action to force teacher’s back to work.

→Happy birthday Occupy
A little more than a year ago, the 99% movement, also known as Occupy Wall Street, began their protest of financial and social inequality. Beginning in Zuccotti Park in New York City, the movement spread around the world, including Montreal’s own iteration in Victoria Square, where at its peak had more than 168 tents. On the one-year anniversary, more than 100 protesters were arrested by NYPD, following a protest in Manhattan’s Wall Street borough. However, the numbers were significantly lower than the previous year’s event.

→Cinema Ninjas
Fed up of that person that keeps checking their phone or talking through a movie? Well at Prince Charles Cinema in London, England, they have the solution. Volunteers wear, dark black clothing, and wait in the far corners of the theatre. When a disturbance occurs, they jump and warn the offender. The ninjas are awarded with free tickets to the cinema. While extremely effective in their duties, the ninjas can be easily defeated by turning off your phone.