RSS

Reporter: Shanellie Marie

Stories by: Luca Caruso Moro

Guns, Drugs, and cash found by police 

Montreal police recovered several guns, drugs and stolen goods in Montreal and Laval on Thursday. 

Officers carried out searches and fives arrests in the morning, finding the illegal materials and nearly $13,000 in cash. 

In an unrelated routine traffic stop on Monday, Montreal police recovered drugs and a sawed-off shotgun in a vehicle in Rosemont. 

Officers pulled the vehicle over after curfew that night. 

Police say the driver was moving along Papineau with their headlights off, according to CTV news.

The driver and passenger pulled into a gas station, where police made the stop..

Only to find cocaine, pot, and another unidentified substance.

The shotgun was discovered in a clothing bag. 

Hadassah Alencar

________________________________________________________________

JSMB Student petition

Feeling disheartened after recent deaths in Montreal’s homeless population, a JMSB student decided to take action.

Last Thursday, David Desjardins started a petition calling on Concordia to convert the Grey Nuns Residence into a temporary homeless shelter.

Since then, the petition has grown, collecting thousands of signatures in just a few days.

But, on Tuesday the university responded, saying it won’t convert the residence. 

Desjardins says he won’t give up just yet. 

Now, he’s calling on students to pressure the university to change its mind.

Recent cases of crime in Montreal

In other news, two violent crime incidents took place in Montreal in recent days.

A 38-year-old man has died after being stabbed in Verdun at 3 a.m. Monday morning in the fourth alleged homicide since the new year, according to Global News. 

Meanwhile, in Riviere-des-Prairies, there were three separate shootings, leaving one person dead. 

Police are investigating if those shootings are related. 

In all cases, there are no known suspects.
Canada will adopt quarantining in hotel after travel, COVID-19 cases under 1K

Finally, Ottawa is adopting stricter travel guidelines.

A new regulation says those flying into Canada need to quarantine in a hotel up to three days, or until their COVID-19 test results are ready. 

Those hotel stays could cost travellers as much as two thousand dollars.

But, tomorrow’s new arrivals won’t have to worry, Ottawa has not yet announced when the new measures will come into force. 

The restrictions come as an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19 in Canada. 

In Quebec, however, cases are already starting to come down. 

On Monday, the province saw just 890 new cases, marking the first time since early November that the daily count was under a thousand.

Hadassah Alencar

________________________________________________________________

The push to decriminalize simple drug possession

Montreal has joined other Canadian cities in calling on Ottawa to decriminalize simple drug possession.

Drug overdose deaths have increased since the pandemic began. 

Politicians in support of this growing legislative push say decriminalizing small drug possession could help decrease overdose deaths.

COVID-19 vaccines delayed

In other news,

Private seniors residences will have to wait longer for the COVID-19 vaccine. 

These private long-term care homes were next on the list to receive immunization. 

But reduced shipments from Pzifer has caused delays and changes in the vaccine rollout.

Just what that rollout will look like is still unclear. 

Indigenous groups and Premium brands buy Clearwater

A $1 billion dollar deal hands Clearwater, a seafood company, to various Indigenous groups and other companies.

This marks the biggest investment Indigneous groups have made in Canada's commercial seafood industry.

As a part of the deal, Mi'kmaq First Nations partnership will hold Clearwater's Canadian fishing licences.

2020 may be in our rear-view mirror, who says we can't look back and reminisce on the dumpster fire that was 2020. A year filled with natural disasters, a global pandemic, and political mobilization.

Despite all the odds, CJLO has been able to thrive in 2020 by maintaining and introducing new programming. Music is at the heart of CJLO as we explore and highlight artists of all styles. This year will be a little different, as we provide a few comments on the top 10 albums of 2020!

Thanks again to Andrew, our Metal Music Director and an extremely patient human being for compiling this list for us!

1. Nap Eyes - Snapshot of a Beginner

These Halifax indie-rockers offered a beacon of light for a tumultuous year. The band’s fourth offering showcased a more assured sense of songwriting and composition, proving that within the deepest corners of existential dread and anxiety lies a shining light at the end of the tunnel.

2. Les Deuxluxes - Lighter Fluid

With deft musicianship and a solid scene of musical lineage, Montreal’s Les Deuxluxes. The duo, Anna Frances Meyer and Étienne Barry, combined their dual talents to bring a rapturous blending of diverse influences, ranging from jazz, psychedelic rock and good old fashion 60s’ inflected rock.

3. Elephant Stone - Hollow

Taking a departure from the deep-fried psychedelic sounds of their early work, Elephant Stone rung in the new year with an album chock-full of densely composed soundscapes that bridged a gap between the worlds of pop and experimental rock.

4. TOPS - I Feel Alive 

The now legendary Montreal band culminated a ten-year long career with an album that sounds eons beyond their early work. I Feel Alive feels, for a lack of better words, alive, thanks due in part to the shimmery production flourishes and intricate guitar licks that compose it.

5. Waahli - Soap Opera

The flows on Soap Opera alone make it a worthwhile listen. If that weren’t enough, Waahli’s professionalism and brainy combination of influences, including Afro-Caribbean and Haitian music, breathes life into these tracks. The album dropped just two years after his first solo album, and despite that, Soap Opera sounds infinitely more assured and dynamic.  

6. Lido Pimienta - Miss Colombia

Much like the album’s namesake, Lido Pimienta’s Miss Colombia acts as a proclamation and repossession of her heritage, all the while recollecting the experiences that fortified her musical ability and proficiency. The end result is a melting pot of regional genres that delineate the contours of tradition, while keeping a watchful eye on the future.

7. Pantayo – Pantayo

The self-titled album from Toronto-Filipina exports Pantayo, expertly melds the familiar songcraft of their homeland with the sounds of Western pop. Incorporating a wide range of instruments, including a traditional Filipino instrument called the kulintang, Pantayo re-contextualizes old-school tradition through a modern lens, all the while never losing sight of the music that made them.

8. KAYTRANADA - BUBBA

After years of masterfully redefining the lineage of black musical subgenres by way of house and soul, KAYTRANADA kept his hot streak rolling with an album packed to the brim with infectious grooves, invigorating beats and mind-bending samples. BUBBA is an album of unequivocal confidence that begs to be listened to long after the party’s ended.

9. BACKXWASH - GOD HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS LEAVE HIM OUT OF IT

No artist this year delivered an that’s equally hopeful and tortured as BACKXWASH. With forward-thinking production at the forefront and an edifying expressionism of queer and black identity, GOD HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS brings BACKXWASH’s politized take on industrial-rap to HD clarity.

10. Thanya Iyer - Kind

Montreal-based singer-songwriter and violin extraordinaire, Thnya Iyer believes in the healing powers of compassion. Much like the album’s title, Kind finds Iyer using the nurturing powers of unity as a driving force for emotional fluidity. The instrumentation on Kind feels crowded with feeling; the compositions are stacked with harmony and the backing instrumentation feels just as complete. It’s truly a testament to the potential of collaboration. 

*Our charts are compiled from actual airplay, broadcast live on 1690 AM in the Montreal region, as well as via our website at www.cjlo.com,  denotes Canadian Content