Witticisms and A to Z about the year leaving us; a look back at notable trials and crime highlights; one writer's culinary highlights of 2006.

And a happy new year to all my readers.
posted at 13:56

 
What has become of the singers of the Choeur Bonneau since the choir folded in 2002? Not much detail except for a sense that success may not have helped in some cases.
posted at 13:02

 
Another piece on the impending closure of kilt-maker Chas. Johnson & Son.
posted at 12:58

 
Montreal Iraqis express mixed feelings about the execution of Saddam Hussein.
posted at 12:57

 
Dramatic story of an ice rescue on the Lachine Canal.
posted at 18:41

 
The Ulysse travel publishers are making their Montreal guidebook content free online at least for awhile. It's accessed via a form here, although you will find you have to register to get more than one or two bits of data at a time.
posted at 18:37

 
Watching families flee to the suburbs, Montreal wants to work on making the city more attractive by brushing up basics like public transit and habitation, and emphasizing that, as cities go, it's a safe place to live.
posted at 18:18

 
Almost all city functions close down over the holidays with a very generous interpretation of "holidays".
posted at 18:01

 
In the same mould as Overheard in New York, there's Overheard At McGill.
posted at 17:59

 
A peek inside Electronic Arts Montreal.
posted at 17:38

 
The Sources Road overpass on the 20 was closed yesterday after reports of falling concrete and a detached cable, but has been reopened (although I'm not sure what they mean by "dimanche soir" here) after inspection. Transport Québec is clearly nervous about overpasses of a certain era just now.
posted at 16:45

 
montrealphabet
posted at 15:44

 
2006 really was a warm, wet year in Quebec, with lots of rain but less snow than usual. Montreal broke its annual rainfall record.
posted at 15:24

 
Myriam Bédard is being persecuted by Canada says her lawyer, but on the other hand the U.S. is not in a hurry to send her back either. Maybe we'll find out what's going on here eventually, but in the meantime it just seems like a media focus for an otherwise slow time, at least locally.
posted at 15:19

 
Mayors of city and south shore suburbs are demanding changes in how city agglomeration power is distributed. In Montreal these suburbs only represent 13% of the island's population.
posted at 15:15

 
Most city boroughs didn't bother to clear the 10 cm of snow that fell on Boxing Day except from major thoroughfares.
posted at 15:12

 
I haven't been noting the bizarre saga of Myriam Bédard, but the media aren't letting the story drop. She's still in the U.S. to be charged with abducting her own daughter. Bédard's second husband Nima Mazhari is given some rope by La Presse. Talk of plots and bureaucratic terrorism cloud the story, which isn't likely to come to any resolution soon.
posted at 09:41

 
One mildly amusing evolution I'm noticing is that French media are now taking an interest in the Canadiens because of Cristobal Huet.
posted at 09:02

 
Thoughts on the expense of installing new tram lines versus the less glamorous option of trolley buses.
posted at 08:57

 
Some of the suspects rounded up during Opération Colisée last month, a major swipe at Mafia drug running in town, were given bail yesterday, although you'll notice these two articles mention different numbers.
posted at 08:55

 
Choreographer Fernand Nault dies during the annual run of The Nutcracker, which he choreographed for the Grands Ballets.
posted at 08:51

 
The Sauvons l'avenue du Parc (youtube link) coalition has engaged Julius Grey to defend Park Avenue at the Commission de toponymie hearings.
posted at 15:58

 
Local legend Ryan Larkin is working again.

See his older works here: Syrinx, Walking and Street Musique.
posted at 15:44

 
If they keep things up, the Canadiens may make a 100-point season for the first time in awhile.
posted at 13:23

 
Story of the fall and rise of a city fashion design house.
posted at 13:21

 
A light but clingy snow has finally graced the holiday season.
posted at 13:20

 
Pieces on how gay bath houses offer shelter to homeless men – and how the homeless men sometimes raise money to pay their way in.
posted at 13:14

 
Good summary piece on the situation with the Fraser-Hickson Library brings out the point that if this library closes, the city will need to do something to replace library services for NDG anyway. (If I were feeling persnickety I'd suspect that the names Fraser and Hickson and the anglo history of the library are sticking in the craw of a fonctionnaire somewhere.)
posted at 13:00

 
New York-based notes on Mile End as a shopping mecca.
posted at 12:39

 
Christmas Eve. Some visit the City Hall open house, some attend other events around town and some gamble at the Casino.
posted at 11:57

 
A major fire destroyed a Rosemont high school on Thursday night. 1450 students will have to move to new schools in the new year. Series of striking shots by hasemeister on flickr.
posted at 22:17

 
Various events to consider for New Year's Eve.
posted at 20:18

 
There's little hope of a white Christmas this year. Good photo to the story, though.
posted at 08:47

 
Comparisons of public and private numbers are encumbered with political ideas in a report described here, so it's very difficult to discern what the real price tag would be for the CHUM superhospital. A pricetag of $100 million in rent per year is floated as likely if the buildings are constructed according to the Charest government's beloved partenariat public-privé system.

One benefit of the construction of the CHUM would be the disappearance of thousands of parking spaces, a change which could persuade many commuters to leave their cars at home.
posted at 08:19

 
A study says Montreal is hanging behind in a general Canadian increase in public transit use, but this is challenged by the STM.
posted at 07:57

 
The posh expenditures of the mayoralty of Ville-Marie are raising eyebrows amid an atmosphere of austerity.
posted at 12:04

 
Yesterday's dusting of snow barely added up to a centimetre, and no more is predicted in the weather forecast.
posted at 11:57

 
A dodgy telemarketing ring was busted yesterday by RCMP and local cops. They preyed on older folks in the U.S. with a version of the tried-and-true you've won a prize but have to pay a fee first scam.
posted at 11:48

 
Now that the Olympic Stadium debt is finally paid up, the question remains which level of government will take over the hefty cost of ongoing upkeep and the chronic issue of putting a roof on the thing.
posted at 11:33

 
A Mohawk woman opens a downtown boutique to sell beauty products. News angle seems to be that it's the only fully native-operated business in the city. Website here.
posted at 11:16

 
Last year they swiped the Baby Jesus from the Place Jacques-Cartier creche, but this year it's St. Joseph and one of the Magi that have taken the hits. The Baby Jesus is now too solidly chained in place.
posted at 11:09

 
A wave of gastrointestinal infections is hitting patients in hospitals and old folks' homes around town, and it doesn't help that two dfferent pathogens are in circulation. But the main troublemaker is the less serious but easily transmitted Norwalk virus, and – as with flu and colds – the best way to avoid getting sick is to keep washing your hands.
posted at 11:01

 
The shootings at Dawson College were the biggest news story of the year in Quebec, although the Mont Orford issue and the collapse of the Laval overpass were also big stories here.

Dawson is still in the news, with the parents of one victim denouncing the Charest government for not providing the family the financial aid promised in the time of immediate shock after the incident.
posted at 10:55

 
The debt from the Olympic installations was finally paid off last month.
posted at 10:51

 
City opposition chief Noushig Eloyan says the mayor is simply stealing Pierre Bourque's tram idea but it seems clear the notion is in the air with cities like Paris and Dublin putting trams back on their streets.
posted at 10:47

 
The man who scared the city into closing most of its outdoor pools for being unsanitary is being sued by the Order of Chemists for misrepresenting his qualifications.
posted at 10:44

 
More details on the mayor's dream of a tramway – not only the originally conceived line up Park Avenue (or, rather, in Tremblay's conception, Avenue Robert-Bourassa), but along other major streets as well. Interesting factoid: before 1959, Montreal had 378 km of tramway lines before it followed another fashion and abolished them.
posted at 12:04

 
Potholes are already appearing on some city streets, caused by the spring-like cycle of freeze and thaw.

People are finding the ongoing mild snowless days unsettling, and the ski industry is suffering despite their snow machines.
posted at 11:42

 
A sad elegy for Ben's Delicatessen, "dead for a long time" and more thoughts on the extinct institution from blork blog.
posted at 11:40

 
Some are asking whether two simultaneous superhospital projects is one project too many.
posted at 11:37

 
Councillors adopted the city budget at 6 a.m. this morning, some in pyjamas and robes to protest the early hour: session had been adjourned early Friday to allow for the Jewish sabbath.
posted at 11:31

 
Travis Geko's venerable Anti-Christmas in Montreal site is gingerly profiled by the Gazette.
posted at 13:41

 
The STM plans to launch a fare zone system in 2008, although the details are still being worked out.

A new commuter train has been inaugurated from St-Jérôme, and the mayor is still making vague promises about tramways for Montreal. Sounds like the tram may be Gérald Tremblay's Olympic tower.
posted at 12:33

 
Interesting bit on Montreal's small Japanese community making traditional rice cakes for the new year.
posted at 12:24

 
A church on the Plateau is evicting residential tenants from a parish building with a couple of weeks' notice, breaking Régie rules.
posted at 13:14

 
Elegies for Ben's Delicatessen today mostly hark back to its long-ago heyday, and La Presse forgets it was originally located on the Main, not on de Maisonneuve.
posted at 13:11

 
Going to the new Laval metro stations will cost extra fare, apparently, like taking a commuter train to a more distant zone.
posted at 12:23

 
This balmy December weather is a help to the city finances with no snow needing to be cleared – but it's not a bargain we can expect to last.
posted at 11:13

 
The oldest attested woman in the world is Julie Winnefred Bertrand of Montreal. She's 115 years old. The only person in the world older than her is, unusually, a man.
posted at 11:07

 
The new symphony hall is given very precise specifications for the first cultural partenariat public-privé project in Quebec. We should see it materialize by 2011.
posted at 14:58

 
An interesting profile of Ubisoft, whose local HQ is on Saint-Laurent at Saint-Viateur.
posted at 14:37

 
A green Christmas is predicted as records are broken for high temperatures in December.
posted at 13:20

 
Ben's deli is closing for good after 98 years of business and a long strike. We'll have another huge building on that block soon, but I don't think anyone will miss Ben's latter day cuisine.
posted at 12:20

 
Having gotten into something a little too expensive, the Université de Montréal wants to resell a convent building it bought in 2003. Not the same kind of financial hot water UQÀM's been experiencing, but maybe another sign that the city's universities are reaching the limit of their expansion for the moment.
posted at 11:56

 
Spooked by rising vacancy rates, landlords want the government to put a moratorium on social housing – but nothing's said about them lowering rents to meet the market.
posted at 11:42

 
With Jean Lapierre leaving politics, talk of Paul Martin surrendering his longtime bailiwick in the southwest and hints that Justin Trudeau may step up to the plate, the federal landscape in Montreal may change a lot next election.
posted at 14:25

 
The rare Velvet Underground recording found by a Montreal dealer goes to auction again after the first attempt fell to a prank.
posted at 14:18

 
A new book celebrates the skateboarding pipe out at the Big O; the article mentions in passing that it may not be demolished after all.
posted at 14:15

 
Unable to accept that they're the tail, not the dog, suburban mayors snub the agglomeration council meeting because the distribution of powers is not to their liking.
posted at 10:23

 
During the ice storm at the beginning of December, people calling 911 got busy signals as the system was swamped by twice the usual number of calls.
posted at 10:20

 
Quebec has quietly changed the laws protecting wetlands, allowing far more development on these fragile areas, chipping away faster at what remains of the natural environment.
posted at 09:59

 
Three Quebec bloggers get book contracts from Septentrion: the writers of Un taxi la nuit, Lucie le chien and Chroniques d'une mère indigne. Bravo!
posted at 09:51

 
It must be very odd to be alive with no pulse, as a Montreal man is discovering after receiving a new mechanical heart that circulates blood without beating.
posted at 09:47

 
Commuter train fares are going up in the new year; more worrying is that the new line towards Mascouche passes close by a bomb factory in Repentigny.
posted at 09:33

 
NY Times does a sparkling review of the new cookbook from Au Pied de Cochon.
posted at 12:38

 
Construction on the Saputo soccer stadium has been delayed because of lengthy discussions with the Olympic installations board. At this point it won't be ready till 2008.
posted at 11:25

 
The Fondation du Grand Montréal releases a report on the state of Montreal that comments unfavourably on poverty and the rate of kids abandoning high school.
posted at 11:22

 
The seven towers of the proposed CHUM project are criticized for replacing the ditch of the Ville-Marie with a huge wall of masonry. And event planners Spectra are worried about a proposed new project around Place-des-Arts metro, because they don't want new residents complaining about noise from their various festivals in the area.
posted at 11:15

 
The Saidye Bronfman Centre is going out of the art business, closing a well-known art school and gallery.

Also, the Montreal Biennale is under attack from Toronto, which would like to get the event for itself, and may be able to do so after 2009.
posted at 11:13

 
Midnight Poutine is tracking hideous Christmas decorations seen here and there around town. But the weather's so gray and dreary it's giving me more appreciation for anything twinkly.
posted at 11:05

 
The city is offering a pay freeze to its unions next year as its first offer in new contract negotiations. Something tells me this may not end well.
posted at 10:54

 
A new report means UQÀM's Îlot Voyageur project may be scaled down because of budget restraints. But it won't be so bad for the city if that block becomes the site of a more modest development rather than the huge project originally envisioned.
posted at 10:46

 
A report with pictures on Montreal's strangest thing.
posted at 10:26

 
Members of the Canadiens have pledged their support to general manager Bob Gainey as the search is called off for his daughter lost at sea.
posted at 11:12

 
Reports that a Montreal record dealer was selling a rare recording for big bucks have come to nothing today with the news that the big bidder was bogus.
posted at 11:09

 
Quebec is to help settle the squabble between Montreal and Laval over the new metro stations by ponying up half the funds.
posted at 11:00

 
The city is to continue grants to private libraries – for now; schools are still being closed nominally to save money. Our economy is not in such bad shape, so priorities are clearly a problem: Quebec would've spent millions to put a casino in Point St. Charles, but to maintain a school is not so important.
posted at 10:54

 
A gray but mostly snowless December is blamed for seasonal depression.
posted at 10:46

 
The city developments begun in the name of the CHUM superhospital have already reached a point of no return, says one of the interested parties.
posted at 11:24

 
Penny Lang, a Montreal institution, won two folk music awards this weekend.
posted at 11:23

 
Record dealer Warren Hill sold for $178,726 the Velvet Underground recording he bought for 75 cents at a flea market.
posted at 12:01

 
Part of downtown Montreal will take on a new look as the Ville-Marie expressway gets covered and new buildings, part of the CHUM superhospital plan, are constructed on top. I wonder if they'll bring back the name Vitre, the street that the expressway erased from the city map.

At the same time, the Palais des Congrès plans to expand, which seems odd after reports that it's underused even now.
posted at 11:51

 
The daughter of Habs' GM Bob Gainey is swept away into the sea from the deck of a tall ship.
posted at 11:02

 
A new group aims to make French the major, if not the only, common language of Montreal.
posted at 10:57

 
An unusual condo plan is suggested as a means of keeping the Fraser-Hickson library open in NDG.
posted at 15:04

 
A modest Montreal record dealer has cashed in with an unusual flea market find: a unique pressing of a Velvet Underground session.
posted at 14:26

 
Some new statistics on our cultural mosaic: as an example, half the women who had babies in Montreal in 2005 were born in other countries themselves.
posted at 13:52

 
Montreal has decided that the opening of the Laval metro stations next summer will depend on Laval and other suburbs' coming to an agreement about cost-sharing for the whole system.
posted at 13:40

 
Detailed review of new Mordecai Richler anthology places him squarely on St-Urbain Street.
posted at 13:29

 
Election-style placards on poles around town are actually a statement by the father of Alexandre Livernoche, murdered at age 13 by a known sexual predator free due to an administrative error. It's not quite clear what the man hopes to achieve with his campaign.
posted at 10:51

 
Yesterday's Grande Guignolée netted $240,000 and 1405 bags of groceries in Montreal and similar results, proportionally, in other Quebec towns.
posted at 10:45

 
The worst wounded survivor of the Dawson shooting incident tells reporters he's recovering and feels great.
posted at 10:42

 
The closing of Henri-Bourassa and Sauvé metro stations for two weekends before Christmas is an inconvenience and a burden to shoppers and to people who commute to work on weekends.
posted at 10:09

 
The Bagg Street Shul – to this day the only synagogue I've visited – needs to raise money to supplement a government grant to restore its aging interior.
posted at 01:19

 
The city isn't ruling out naming a street after Maurice Richard, although renaming a segment of La Gauchetière seems like a stupid idea, not only because it's a very old street name here, but because Richard never played at the Bell Centre, something people seem to be forgetting.
posted at 11:23

 
A gang of crack sellers was busted in the north end yesterday.
posted at 11:19

 
The organizers of last summer's Outgames is asking for protection from its creditors for debts around $2 million.
posted at 10:59

 
The kilt shop and haberdashery that's been off Phillips Square for decades is closing up and going away.
posted at 10:49

 
Henri-Bourassa and Sauvé metro stations will be closed for two weekends to run tests. The new Laval stations are still expected to open in July.
posted at 10:42

 
Yesterday's Polytechnique memorials included a gesture for the woman killed at this year's rampage at Dawson.
posted at 10:37

 
List of microbreweries in and around Montreal; more are added in the reader comments below.
posted at 11:06

 
The Museum of Fine Arts is opening a show of all of Alfred Pellan's prints; a dancer is going to dance about Betty Goodwin's art – isn't dancing about art supposed to be like talking about music?
posted at 10:39

 
A Park Avenue fruit store has been attacked five times in the last year by an unknown hand trying to burn it down for unknown reasons. Now they at least have an image of the attacker on videotape.
posted at 10:27

 
Criticized for its law banning the homeless from its parks at night, Ville-Marie makes a grant of $115,000 to groups that try to help people get off the street. Whether this is actually possible in many cases remains doubtful.
posted at 10:22

 
It's that sad day again when the killing of seventeen women at the Polytechnique is remembered.
posted at 10:17

 
The Ligue des Noirs has lodged a complaint against the Montreal police and demanded the resignation of the police chief after an apparently overzealous arrest of 13 black youths in a gang rape charge.
posted at 22:51

 
Workers at Ben's Deli, on strike since July, handed out free sandwiches today to publicize the shabby state of the restaurant and poor treatment of employees. But it seems likely the building will be sold off and the land folded into the giant office tower project planned for the block.
posted at 22:33

 
A mildly boggled American view of how Quebecers swear. Via the Livejournal Montreal community.
posted at 18:19

 
Parking meters will soon be open for business even on Sundays, and parking will be more expensive and meters more common.
posted at 11:20

 
Anonymous donor ponies up $24 million to the Foundation of Greater Montreal, which distributes funds to many charitable and cultural organizations.
posted at 11:18

 
A nicely laid out selection of Expo 67 photos for a chilly Tuesday. Via metafilter.
posted at 11:10

 
MSNBC has a Day in Montreal piece today that witters on about the "Basilique du Notre Dames" and "Place Jacques Carteir" and says city hall dates back to the 18th century. I suppose anyone who can lunch at Boris Bistro then dine at Toqué has better things to think about than textual and factual accuracy.
posted at 11:04

 
The Théâtre de Quat'Sous on Pine Avenue is to demolish and rebuild its longtime home to the tune of $4 million.

Not far away, the Dominicans are to close down the sanctuaire Saint-Jude on Saint-Denis near Duluth. This has been mentioned before and it's not clear whether the church (no great architectural gem) will be preserved in some form, or demolished to make way for more condos.
posted at 10:59

 
A young playwright at McGill has written and will perform in a play called The Anorak, about Marc Lepine and the Polytechnique killings on the 17th anniversary of the massacre.
posted at 10:57

 
With the cold weather and the snow comes the busy season for homeless shelters but also for the Christmas tree sellers.
posted at 10:41

 
Waves of grumbling and protest are greeting the new city budget.
posted at 10:57

 
The city has achieved its target this year in the ongoing renovation of its water system, but there's still a lot to be done.
posted at 10:36

 
The first snow of the season gets people out buying Christmas trees and shopping, but some people spent the weekend waiting for their electricity to come back on.
posted at 10:28

 
We had some bad smog days in November and it's being blamed on the growing popularity of wood stoves as a heating method.

I wonder why November's air is only being reported generally now. I also notice that the air quality page is a bit of a mess but still delivers information.
posted at 12:05

 
As everyone knows by now, Stéphane Dion unexpectedly grabbed the brass ring this weekend in Montreal and became leader of the federal Liberals, an eventuality unexpected and unwanted in some quarters.
posted at 02:50

 
The city has decreed