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Heat wave to hit Montreal mid-week
Environment Canada is expecting a heat wave to hit Montreal by mid-week. Temperatures rose to 40 degrees factoring in the humidex on Sunday. High heat and humidity warnings were issued for Montreal and Laval.
Environment Canada suggests children under five, the elderly and people with respiratory problems stay indoors as much as possible. Meteorologist Andre Cantin at Environment Canada says it’s very important for everyone to stay hydrated. He also recommends staying in the shade or in air-conditioned places and cautions against intense physical activity.
Temperatures are set to rise to 31 degrees as of Wednesday, and remain that high throughout the weekend.
Photo by Erica Fisher.
Montreal Impact won’t open MLS season at home
The Montreal Impact won’t be opening their first Major League Soccer season at home. Instead, they will play at the Olympic Stadium.
The team hoped to play the first few games in the expanded Saputo Stadium. The government gave them twenty-three million dollars for the project, but the team wasn’t able to find a builder on time. The Montreal Impact president says this is because the cost was too high. He says they’re still trying to stay within budget.
The project is now set to complete in the summer of 2012.
July 15th 2011
News read by Joshua Nemeroff and produced by Erica Bridgeman.
Stories written by Michael Lemieux, Samah Fadil and Erica Fisher.
Super Hospital construction starts overnight
Residents living near the MUHC Super Hospital construction site are getting ready for more dust and dirt. The next phase will have construction continue overnight.
In order to improve access to the hospital, Decarie Boulevard will be widened to five lanes from three lanes. But that also means rebuilding a railway underpath. In order to not disrupt CP rail's services, the work must be done between seven p.m. and five a.m.
This leaves no relief for nearby residences. The Glen Yards area is already fed up with the disruptions the building has caused. However, this phase is expected to be completed by November.
Bob Rae on Champlain Bridge
Bob Rae and the federal Liberal party harshly criticized the government for what they say is inaction on the Champlain Bridge issue.
Liberal leader Bob Rae said the Harper government has wasted five years dithering instead of working towards a solution.
The criticism comes on the heels of a report that details the costs and feasibility of replacing the Champlain Bridge. The report includes a plan and budget for replacing the existing bridge with a new one, or with a tunnel.
The Champlain Bridge is Canada’s busiest bridge. With 160,000 crossings a day it is an extremely important part of the Montreal economy. Over the past few years’ commuters have been worried by reports warning of the aging structures need for repair or replacement.
Rae was most vocal on how he believed the federal government could waste no more time debating. Quebec MP Denis Coderre agrees noting that even if the government were to decide to replace the span today, numerous environmental studies would delay its construction by years.
Many reports point out the futility of attempting to repair the bridge. Estimates of basic maintenance range from $18 to $25 million a year over the next decade. The cost of a new bridge would be $1.3 billion, a tunnel $1.9 billion.
Ville-Marie lane closure
In local news, getting around by car this summer is about to become an even bigger challenge in Montreal. That's because, starting Wednesday, Transport Quebec is closing lanes along one span of the Ville-Marie expressway.
The lane closures will affect both directions and are due to more roadwork scheduled for the next four months. Transport Quebec announced the lane closures on Tuesday.
One lane heading west will be closed between Panet St. and the University St. exit. One lane, and in some areas two lanes, heading east will be closed between the entrance of the Ville Marie tunnel and Panet St.
Work at Beaver Lake
In local news, the city of Montreal announced on Tuesday that it will start work around Beaver Lake. The work will include rebuilding the stone wall around Beaver Lake, improving the water circulation and cleaning up undesirable plants.
The city has also announced that it will renovate the parking lot and install lighting, as well as new park furnitures. Rowboats will be replacing pedal boats.
The renovations will start in 2012, and most services and activities will still be running while the work is being done.
Cop cars are not for sleeping
The Laval police have launched an inquiry into the behavior of their officers. Photos of two of their officers sleeping in their police cruiser were sent to local media. The patrol car was parked under some trees behind Tourism Laval on Saint Martin Boulevard on Saturday morning.
The department’s spokesperson said sleeping in a patrol car outside work hours does not violate the code of conduct. But it does go against the department’s work ethic.
The inquiry was announced in a news release issued Tuesday evening.
Another similar incident occurred in February on a Highway forty ramp. Motorist Maxime Carpentier pulled over after seeing two Sureté du Québec officers lying down in their cruiser. He recorded video on his cell phone which woke up one officer who then issued a one hundred and fifty-four dollar ticket for parking on the highway. His fine was dismissed after the video went viral on youtube.
Jazz Fest: Francois Bourassa Quartet @ Gesù
Thursday, June 30th at Gesù, lauded Canadian pianist François Bourassa proved that, without a doubt, Quebec is home to some of the finest jazz musicians on the planet.
Fronting an incredibly talented quartet of home-grown musicians in saxophonist Andre Leroux, bassist Guy Boisvert, and drummer Philipe Melanson, Bourassa put on a contemporary jazz clinic. The evening's program consisted almost exclusively of tunes from the quartet's brand new album Idiosyncracie. Not "straight ahead" by any means, Bourassa's compositions aren't catchy. They hover on the fringe of memorability, forcing the listener to press forward into exciting musical territory rather than linger on phrases already played.
Each musician in the ensemble possesses a unique role. Leroux is charged with the bulk of the melodic foundation, weaving intricate lines in and out of the harmonic framework laid down by Bourassa. Melanson's drumming and percussive work is as much textural as it is rhythmic, with the aforementioned manipulating his drum kit in a variety of interesting ways providing a wide range of timbral effects. Boisvert's impeccable timing and rock solid groove serves as an anchor in an otherwise swirling rhythmic soup. The result is a perfect mélange of emotion and intellect fueled by the E.S.P.-like connection shared between the four.
Interesting to note was Bourassa's mention of contemporary classical composers Karlheinz Stockhausen, Gustav Mahler, and Alban Berg in advance of his three-movement "Suite Allemande". These were some of the most forward thinking composers of the twentieth century, and that influence was readily apparent throughout the evening.
While not flashy, Bourassa's quartet displayed exceptional prowess and emotional range, both in improvisation, and group interplay. The evening was capped off by an energetic rendition of Bourassa's "Rasstones", the only tune of the night not found on Idiosyncrasie.
To sum up the evening, it was an immaculate foray into contemporary jazz that kept the audience engaged from the opening note. The François Bourassa Quartet proved that you don't always have to search far and wide for jazz heavyweights; sometimes they're right in your own backyard.
-Gordon M co-hosts The J-Spot every Tuesday from 4-6pm
Jazz Fest: Afrodizz @ Club Soda
Montreal’s own Afrodizz came on Saturday, July 3rd to perform at Club Soda for Montreal’s annual Festival International de Jazz. The group was looking formal, all wearing black pants, white button up shirts, and black ties. Their music is a cross between afrobeat, jazz, and funk. They opened the show with “Yayaya”; it started the show off immediately with an explosive and energetic vibe. On stage stood the main singer Gabriel Aldama and the seven-man band that included instruments such as saxophones, a trumpet, a cowbell, guitar, bass, bongos, drums, and an interesting instrument called a shakira, reminiscent of a maraca but larger and looks like a vase. They performed their new album called “Sounds from Outer Space”. The sound was a bit hectic and the image of the group didn’t exactly match their musical quality. I actually found it more pleasurable to close my eyes.
-DJ MissChief hosts Greedy Graffiti on Thursdays from 1-2pm
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