Aylmer, Quebec news

• Guy Turcotte loses appeal bid to shorten parole eligibility

  28-06-2018 22:14 via montrealgazette.com
  Guy Turcotte, the former cardiologist who killed his two young children by brutally stabbing them to death, has lost his bid for an appeal of his sentence in an effort to shorten his parole eligibility.
  The former cardiologist received a life sentence after he was convicted on Dec. 6, 2015 by a jury of the second-degree murders of his son Olivier, 5, and Anne Sophie, 3. He killed his children on Feb. 20, 2009, at his home in Piedmont, in the Laurentians.
  At the time, Superior Court Justice Andr&
  
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• Restaurant review: Wine bar Alma boasts its share of discovery

  28-06-2018 22:00 via montrealgazette.com
  Alma
  ★★ 1/2 out of ★★★★
  $$$
  Address: 1231 Lajoie Ave. (Near Bloomfield Ave.)
  Phone: 514-543-1363
  Website: almamontreal.com
  Open: Wed.-Sat. 5 to 11 p.m.; Sun. 3 to 11 p.m.
  Wheelchair access: No
  Licensed: Yes
  Reservations: Essential
  Cards: All major
  Vegetarian-friendly: Yes
  Parking: On surrounding streets
  Price range: Small bites $5-$12; small plates $8-$25; desserts $8-$9.
  When travelling, food lovers have a tendency to gravitate to Michelin-starred restaurants
  
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• Man charged with second degree murder in Laval woman's death

  28-06-2018 21:58 via montrealgazette.com
  The man who had been sought for days as a suspect in the death of a woman in Laval made his first court appearance on a murder charge Thursday afternoon.
  Christopher Oliviera, 31, made a brief appearance before Quebec Court Judge Maria Albanese at the Laval courthouse where he was charged with the second-degree murder of Nicole Chouinard, a 71-year-old woman who was stabbed to death inside her home on rue du Pacifique. According to the charge, the Laval police believe the victim was killed somet
  
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• Pros and cons of Moving Day — whether you're a tenant or mover

  28-06-2018 21:57 via montrealgazette.com
  It’s the busy season for Paul Filgiano.
  “A lot of businesses have extreme seasons, but we have an extreme season to our high season and that’s right now,” said the co-owner of NDG-based Meldrum the Mover.
  About 80 per cent of residential leases in Quebec end on June 30, according to the landlord group Corporation des Propriétaires Immobiliers du Québec, and almost 200,000 households across Quebec — and more than 100,000 people in Mo
  
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• Montreal Cancer Consortium created to develop new strategies

  28-06-2018 21:46 via montrealgazette.com
  Stan Czebruk was 51 and hiking the Highlands of Scotland in 2009 when his wife called. That cyst on his left ear the doctors had examined a few months earlier was a melanoma. He had his earlobe removed at the McGill University Health Centre, but because the melanoma was near his neck and several large veins, doctors kept a close eye on him.
  Two years later, they found the cancer had spread to his lungs. Then it moved to his head. He tried chemotherapy, with limited success, and then the doctors
  
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• NBA returns to Montreal as Raptors face Nets on Oct. 10 at Bell Centre

  28-06-2018 21:29 via montrealgazette.com
  The NBA Canada series will return to the Bell Centre on Wednesday, Oct. 10, when the Toronto Raptors face the Brooklyn Nets in a preseason game.
  The Raptors, who are coming off the most successful regular season (59-23) in franchise history will be led by all-star guards Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan.
  “We’re excited for our preseason game in Montreal as part of the NBA Canada Series,” said Nets general manager and former Raptor Sean Marks. “This will be a good opportunity
  
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• Montreal police seek public's help finding 17-year-old girl missing since May 3

  28-06-2018 20:54 via montrealgazette.com
  Montreal police are asking for the public’s help in finding 17-year-old Selma Hatem.
  She left home on May 3 and her parents fear for her safety. She is five feet, 10 inches tall and weighs 117 pounds.
  Police believe she may be as far away as Vancouver.
  Anyone with information about this case is asked to call 911, their local police station or anonymously at 514-393-1133.
  
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• Former Liberal minister Rita de Santis retiring from politics

  28-06-2018 20:16 via montrealgazette.com
  Rita de Santis, former cabinet minister and member of the national assembly for the Bourassa-Sauvé riding since 2012, is retiring from politics and will not run in the coming provincial election.
  She was the minister responsible for access to information and reform of democratic institutions from 2016 to 2017 under Premier Philippe Couillard.
  De Santis becomes the latest Liberal MNA in the caucus to announce their departure from politics, joining the ranks of departing politicians Ma
  
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• LaSalle gun manufacturer sentenced to seven years in prison

  28-06-2018 20:15 via montrealgazette.com
  A Montreal man who manufactured and trafficked semi-automatic weapons that police believe were used in a slew of robberies and assassination attempts in the city was sentenced to seven years in prison on Thursday.
  Jean-Pierre Huot, 62, was convicted by a jury last month on six charges that his LaSalle factory, Perfection Métal, sold Tec-9-type semi-automatic pistols. Though Huot claimed he was only making paintball guns, the weapons were equipped with silencers, and ballistic reports for
  
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• Update: Free public transit, truck ban to ease Mercier Bridge bottleneck? Minister, mayors in talks

  28-06-2018 19:37 via montrealgazette.com
  Free public transit and the prohibition of freight trucks during peak hours are among the options being weighed by Quebec Transport Minister André Fortin to alleviate traffic pressure caused by repair work to the Mercier Bridge.
  Fortin met with South Shore borough mayors Thursday morning to discuss solutions to the traffic backup.
  Frustrated commuters are facing long delays because the span has been reduced to one lane in each direction until Aug. 20 to accommodate repair work.
  The hellis
  
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• Fariha Naqvi-Mohamed: No more trips to Plattsburgh for me

  28-06-2018 19:17 via montrealgazette.com
  Trips across the border used to mean shopping at K-Mart, loading up on Combos and filling our cooler with plastic jugs of milk. Those were only some of the things we’d buy when day tripping into the United States. Good weather typically meant packing a picnic basket, sun umbrella and beach toys to take down with us to the beaches of Plattsburgh, N.Y.
  But that was then, and this is now. While Montreal may only be an hour drive away from the U.S. border, I have no intention of going there to
  
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• Opinion: From the Roncarelli case to Trinity Western

  28-06-2018 18:58 via montrealgazette.com
  The Supreme Court majority decision against Trinity Western University is being hailed as a great legal leap forward to a bright future of progressive diversity.
  But the dissenting opinion from Justices Suzanne Côté and Russell Brown bears a darker message about a return to the political habits of Quebec’s reactionary Duplessis era.
  The 7-2 ruling handed down June 15 has been accurately, if superficially, reported as pitting a private evangelical Christian university in B.C.&r
  
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• Montreal North park to honour Fredy Villanueva won’t carry his name, image

  28-06-2018 18:25 via montrealgazette.com
  The mayor of Montreal North says she’s been walking a tightrope in an effort to commemorate the death of Fredy Villanueva.
  In August, it will have been 10 years since Villanueva was shot to death by a Montreal police officer outside Henri Bourassa Park.
  The shooting of an unarmed teenager in one of one of the city’s poorest boroughs sparked rioting and a debate about racial profiling in the neighbourhood.
  With the Aug. 9, 2008, anniversary of the shooting around the corner, Mayor Chr
  
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• Quebec restaurant wins prestigious international award from Wine Spectator

  28-06-2018 18:00 via montrealgazette.com
  A Quebec restaurant has been awarded the highest honour from a major international magazine.
  The Wine Spectator has given its Grand Award to the Le Coureur des Bois Bistro Culinaire, the first Quebec restaurant — and only the fourth in Canada — to receive the prize.
  The Beloeil restaurant, on Montreal’s South Shore, is one of 91 restaurants on the exclusive global list.
  The award, which started in 1981, is handed out in recognition of restaurants that have extensive wine collec
  
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• Fined dog owners can trade their ticket for an information session

  28-06-2018 17:53 via montrealgazette.com
  As of this week, dog owners given tickets by Montreal’s canine squad can opt out of the fine if they agree to attend an information session about pet safety.
  Craig Sauvé, counsellor for the city’s Sud-ouest borough, said the “trade your ticket” program, which already exists for cyclists and pedestrians, is being offered to people who violate Montreal’s animal control bylaw in an attempt to educate dog owners rather than fine them.
  The program is optional, but
  
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• Denys Arcand's new film was inspired by infamous Old Montreal shooting

  28-06-2018 17:51 via montrealgazette.com
  Denys Arcand’s new film, his best since the Oscar winner Les invasions barbares 15 years ago, was inspired by a reckless shooting in 2010 in an Old Montreal boutique that left two men dead. But La chute de l’empire américain (The Fall of the American Empire) is about much more than a double murder.
  Like the best Arcand films — including Le Déclin de l’empire américain, Jésus de Montréal and Les invasions barbares — this is a though
  
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• Antonio Accurso should be imprisoned, crown argues at sentencing hearing

  28-06-2018 16:02 via montrealgazette.com
  The Crown is asking that Antonio Accurso serve a prison term following the construction magnate’s conviction this week on corruption-related charges.
  Prosecutor Richard Rougeau told a judge Thursday morning that the Crown is asking that Accurso, 66, serve five-year prison terms for two of the charges he was convicted of and three-year prison terms for the three others.
  Two of Antonio Accurso’s companies were awarded more than $95 million worth of construction contracts from the city
  
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• Update: Mayors, Transport Quebec meet to discuss Mercier Bridge bottleneck

  28-06-2018 15:54 via montrealgazette.com
  South Shore mayors met with Transport Quebec this morning to discuss solutions to the traffic nightmare caused by repair work on the Mercier Bridge.
  The hellish traffic situation was aggravated this morning when a motorcycle accident closed the bridge at peak rush hour.
  According to Transport Quebec, one person was injured when they lost control of their bike on the span. Both lanes were closed just after 6 a.m. so that emergency vehicles could attend to the scene. The lanes were reopened b
  
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• Man killed in Laval had ties to highest levels of Montreal Mafia

  28-06-2018 14:18 via montrealgazette.com
  The 45-year-old man who was fatally shot in Laval Wednesday night had ties to leaders in the Montreal Mafia.
  The victim of the shooting is Laval resident Steve Ovadia, according to the Sûreté du Québec. He was shot in the head in the parking lot of a strip mall on Samson Blvd. shortly after 8 p.m. Two men were seen fleeing the scene of the shooting but no arrests have been made. The investigation has been turned over to the SQ because of Ovadia’s ties to organized crime
  
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• William H. Macy, Jeff Dunham to host Just for Laughs galas

  28-06-2018 14:16 via montrealgazette.com
  One of the most unforgettable comic actors with one of the most unforgettable sadsack mugs, William H. Macy, is heading to the Just for Laughs festival to host a gala July 29 at 7 p.m. at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier in Place des Arts.
  Macy, a two-time Emmy Award winner and four-time Screen Actors Guild Award winner, is best known for his work on the big screen as the desperately hilarious car salesman in Fargo and on the small screen as the ne’er-do-well slacker patriarch in Shameless.
  Coming
  
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• Pier 1 Imports closing all 6 of its Quebec stores

  28-06-2018 14:03 via montrealgazette.com
  American retailer Pier 1 imports is shutting down its six Quebec locations following disappointing sales.
  Pier 1 imports said in a statement it is closing 25 stores across North America during the 2019 fiscal year.
  Its Quebec locations will be the first to go, with closures scheduled for Aug. 4.
  The retailer sells home accessories and furniture.
  Pier 1 imports said in a statement that it will continue to serve customers in “more than 65 locations across the country.”
  
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• Motorcycle accident contributes to Day 2 of Mercier Bridge traffic nightmare

  28-06-2018 13:25 via montrealgazette.com
  One person was injured in a motorcycle accident on the Mercier Bridge Thursday morning.
  According to Transport Quebec, the motorcyclist lost control of their bike on the span.
  The accident caused traffic on the bridge to be completely stopped on in either direction just after 6 a.m. for emergency vehicles to access the scene.
  As of 7 a.m. the lanes had been reopened but there were long lines of cars heading toward the bridge on both the southbound and northbound sides.
  
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• Montreal police locate missing man with Alzheimer's

  28-06-2018 12:56 via montrealgazette.com
  Montreal police have located a 67-year-old man with Alzheimer’s disease who had gone missing on Wednesday.
   
  
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• Kotkaniemi is Canadiens’ new centre of attention | HI/O Show

  28-06-2018 12:47 via montrealgazette.com
  On this week’s show, our panelists — Gazette sports columnist Stu Cowan, CBC Daybreak’s Jessica Rusnak, Julian McKenzie of CTV Montreal and Habs Eyes on the Prize and host Adam Susser — look at how the Canadiens did at the NHL Draft and these topics:
  Bergevin goes all-in up the middleHabs bet on long-shot RomanovCanadiens drove down Chucky’s valuePacioretty looking for lucrative paydayCap space is Habs’ only selling point
  
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• Man shot to death in Laval strip mall

  28-06-2018 12:42 via montrealgazette.com
  A man was shot and killed in the parking lot of a strip mall in the Chomedey district in Laval Wednesday evening.
  Police say two male suspects were seen driving away from the shooting. “The 911 call came in at 8:17 p.m. stating that there had been a man who was shot,” said Laval police spokesperson Evelyne Boudreau.
  At 11:30 p.m. Boudreau would not confirm if the victim had died. Boudreau added that the investigation has been transferred to the Sûreté du Québ
  
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• Suspect in Laval homicide arrested in Lanaudière region

  28-06-2018 12:40 via montrealgazette.com
  Christophe Oliviera, the suspect in the slaying of a 71-year-old woman Monday, was arrested just after midnight Thursday.
  Police tracked him down in Ste-Marcelline-de-Kildare, in the Lanaudière region.
  He did not resist arrest and has been brought back to Laval for police questioning.
  Related
  Man seen with homicide suspect wasn't involved, Laval police sayUpdate: Police search for suspect in slaying of 71-year-old woman in Laval
  
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• Jazz fest review: SLĀV misses the mark, and precious opportunity

  28-06-2018 12:21 via montrealgazette.com
  For a the first 10 minutes, at the SLĀV media premiere on Wednesday evening, it seemed like maybe all the fuss had been for naught.
  Perhaps the questions about cultural appropriation had been premature — asked without first seeing the “theatrical odyssey based on slave songs,” conceived and directed by Quebec theatre icon Robert Lepage, starring singer Betty Bonifassi (also credited with the arrangements and musical direction) and hosted by the Montreal International Jazz
  
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• The future apocalypse is bright for Compulsion Games

  28-06-2018 12:00 via montrealgazette.com
  England, 1964: the island city of Wellington Wells has warded off the occupying German forces, but at great cost.
  Now, in an effort to forget the horrors of war, the local government doses its citizens with a hallucinogenic drug called Joy — a drug that suppresses unhappy thoughts. Those who resist are ratted out by their neighbours, hunted by police and detained.
  But a handful of men and women defy the rules of their world as they uncover the secret beneath their city’s happy v
  
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• T'Cha Dunlevy: What's your jazz fest strategy this year?

  28-06-2018 12:00 via montrealgazette.com
  The 39th Montreal International Jazz Festival opens Thursday, bringing with it a question: What’s your jazz fest strategy this year? Are you a diehard fest-goer, down at the site every day? Or do you have the best intentions but somehow never make it to the festival?
  With more than 350 free and 150 ticketed shows to choose from, do you have a plan, or do you prefer to fly by the seat of your pants?
  Will you hand-pick the free shows you want to catch and map out your excursions accordi
  
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• 'Socially isolated' Montreal senior found two months after his death

  28-06-2018 12:00 via montrealgazette.com
  A neighbour complained about it to the building attendant — a putrid odour was coming from apartment #418, the last unit at the end of a long hallway in a 20-storey building.
  The attendant and building manager made their way over and knocked on the door. When no one answered, they opened it.
  The lights were off in the small studio apartment, but they could see the bathroom door in the back corner was closed. The smell was overwhelming. They immediately called the police.
  They found him cru
  
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• Jazz fest picks for June 28, 2018: Seal sets the standard

  28-06-2018 12:00 via montrealgazette.com
  Indoors
  Seal (7:30 p.m., Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, Place des Arts, $88.35 to $118.35). The British music icon has always existed on multiple planes, floating between rock, soul and pop. On last year’s Standards album, he turned his attention to the American songbook, taking on classics such as Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’s I Put a Spell on You, Cole Porter’s Love for Sale and the jazz gem My Funny Valentine. Rennie Adams opens.Outdoors
  The Heavyweights Brass Band (7 and 9 p.m.,
  
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• Allison Hanes: Rules of the road change, but rudeness stays the same

  28-06-2018 12:00 via montrealgazette.com
  New rules aimed at improving safety on the roads come into effect across Quebec on Saturday.
  Changes include stiffer penalties for distracted driving, curfews for beginners, higher fines for cyclists and new responsibilities toward pedestrians. All are timely and much needed updates to the Quebec Highway Safety Code, which must evolve with the times to ensure a more equitable sharing of our busy roads among cars, trucks, public transit vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians.
  There’s only one p
  
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• Man shot to death in Laval strip mall: reports

  28-06-2018 05:42 via montrealgazette.com
  A man was shot in the parking lot of a strip mall in the Chomedey district in Laval Wednesday evening. The man died at the scene according to media reports.
  Police say two male suspects were seen driving away from the shooting. “The 911 call came in at 8:17 p.m. stating that there had been a man who was shot,” said Laval police spokesperson Evelyne Boudreau.
  At 11:30 p.m. Boudreau would not confirm if the victim had died. Boudreau added that the investigation has been trans
  
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• In case you missed it, here's what happened in Montreal on June 27

  28-06-2018 04:30 via montrealgazette.com
  A look at the day’s events in and around Montreal:
  Montreal targets ‘key areas’ to develop economic hubs, improve mobility
  The city of Montreal said it wants to improve the mobility of workers and goods around the city’s “economic hubs,” and it has made that one of the key elements of an economic development plan announced on Wednesday.
  The plan, which will receive $106.4 million in funding over four years, is intended to encourage economic developme
  
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• Quebec couple must pay almost $140,000 after exploiting aunt

  28-06-2018 04:05 via montrealgazette.com
  Lise Massicotte cashed a dozen cheques from her partner’s elderly aunt, Denise Hamelin-Piccinin, between 2008 and 2011.
  The amounts kept climbing. The first withdrawal was for $3,000 — the 10th, for $22,000. They added up to $120,000.
  The month Massicotte cashed the 12th cheque, tellers at the bank told their director of operations, Hélène Lajoie, about the withdrawals’ quick succession and significant amounts. Lajoie decided they’d require a second sig
  
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• Part of McGill University residence building crumbles to sidewalk

  28-06-2018 02:28 via montrealgazette.com
  Parts of the outside of McGill’s New Residence Hall fell to the sidewalk on Wednesday afternoon.
  No one was injured, but a car was taken away on a flatbed truck.
  The Montreal fire department received a call around 3 p.m. to go to the residence hall, which is on the corner of Parc Ave. and Prince Arthur St. in the Milton Park neighbourhood. The firefighters did not need to evacuate the building, but only created a perimeter around a corner of the building.
  The bricks fell from a space betwe
  
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• Environment minister unveils water strategy; rules out water exports

  28-06-2018 01:48 via montrealgazette.com
  LAVAL — The Couillard government unveiled its water strategy on Wednesday, a vast program involving $550 million in investments over five years.
  The strategy aims to improve and ensure the quality of water as well as its accessibility, targeting underground water sources, drinking water, and waste water treatment facilities of municipalities, as well as agricultural practices.
  Efforts will also be made to protect and restore wetlands, and to control invasive species and plants.
  Among other
  
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• Watch: Protestors denounce SLĀV show for appropriating black culture

  28-06-2018 00:56 via montrealgazette.com
  Protesters shout “shut it down” as they take part in a protest outside of the SLĀV show, “a theatrical odyssey based on slave songs,” directed by Quebec theatre icon Robert Lepage.
  People were upset about the use of white singer Betty Bonifassi to sing slave songs from the South.
  They were demonstrating outside the Théâtre du nouveau monde in Montreal on Tuesday June 26, 2018.
  Related
  Protesters denounce predominantly white performance at Montreal jazz f
  
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• Health-care providers across Canada call for end to family detention

  28-06-2018 00:51 via montrealgazette.com
  More than 2,000 health-care providers are calling on the Canadian government to end family detention in this country and condemn the practices south of the border that have seen thousands of children and their parents separated, while whole families of asylum seekers are held in prison-like facilities simply for crossing the border.
  In an open letter addressed to Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale and Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen, the doctors, nurses, psychologists, social workers and mid
  
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• Start of Céline Dion's Asian tour eclipsed by talk about her new look

  28-06-2018 00:23 via montrealgazette.com
  Céline Dion kicked-off her Asian tour Tuesday night playing in front of 55,000 fans at the Tokyo Dome. But the start of the much-anticipated major road trip was overshadowed by controversy over her new look. The tour includes shows in Macau, Singapore, Jakarta, Taipei, Manila and Bangkok, and later in the summer, Australia and New Zealand.
  The 50-year-old singer from Charlemagne posted a photo on her Instagram account this week. It shows the diva sporting a new blond hairdo with a fringe
  
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• 'A celebration of sobriety': Cocaine Anonymous convention in Montreal

  28-06-2018 00:01 via montrealgazette.com
  Growing up, Jason S. always felt slightly different from everybody else, felt he was lacking in some way. He was often anxious. He was 16 when he started experimenting with alcohol and cannabis.
  “It calmed me down,” he said. “I could finally breathe properly. Once I took my first drink or smoked my first joint, my anxiety went away.”
  The solution to one problem became another, however. Before long, just one drink or joint wasn’t doing it. He graduated to harder drug
  
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