Within the last few years, the plateau block of St. Denis bordered by Duluth to the south, and Rachel to the north has seen it's fair share of fires. Earlier this year, it was Lombardi - a restaurant on Duluth. Preceding that, the immensely popular L'acadamie burned on two different occasions. Last night, the latest 5 alarm fire was closer to Rachel St. and ravaged a few buildings including the ones housing Barouf and Continental.

I happened to be walking by tonight and caught a few photos. The local press has small write ups on the inferno and can be found here, and here, and ici.

If you’ve been worried about your safety while riding the Metro these days, you can now, supposedly, rest easy. Although metro crime stats don’t indicate that riding the underground is particularly dangerous, the public perception over some recent incidents and inaction by metro security guards seems to have forced the city’s hand. As of today, you will see city police officers riding the subway and generally trying to make their presence felt…

Resident Humpday Headliner Cat is on hiatus this week, so I humbly try to fill in.

What can I say, other than it’s a slow news day. The local media must be down to skeleton crews for the summer, because there’s not a lot of reporting going on. It’s either because staff is playing hooky, or vacations have kicked in – but can you blame them? The summer season is in full swing, and there’s not a bad weather report in sight.

There’s no doubt that the F1 is a huge event for the city, but the media coverage is getting silly. If you try googling ‘Montreal’ in their News search function, the first 25 or so stories that appear are all about this past weekend’s race. The award for silliest story goes to ITV (a Brit sports channel) lamenting the race for its lack of celebrity sightings. They go so far as to suggest that Celine Dion might have added some buzz to the festivities.

It’s Tuesday, which means only two days until F1 mayhem officially arrives in town. Scenesters, you will congregate on Crescent and/or St. Laurent (between Ontario and Pins, of course), until Sunday when race fans will flood Ile Ste. Helene. Everyone else, you will leave town or avoid those three locations like the plague.

As for today’s news it’s, well, less than thrilling…

All three levels of government are playing a role in today’s media coverage. While our prime minister, Stevie Wonder, is busy cozying up to Bush at the upcoming G8 conference, his cronies back home are finding resistance to their plan to deport a Montreal woman without her daughter.

Today is National Denim Day and it’s not too late to donate to the cure foundation to fight breast cancer. Actually, it’s never too late, but if you donate before the end of today, you can truthfully explain to your boss why you’re wearing jeans to work (of course, if they’re acid wash you may have a hard time explaining that to anyone).

Generally, it’s a slow news day for the city. With no new hijab controversy, the press is turning its attention to the changing seasons and improving weather, which, according to la presse, is a perfect time for the criminal element to emerge from hibernation…

Can we now officially call it spring? I’m thinking yes. Birds are chirping. Terraces are open. Trees, flowers and romances are all blooming across the city. One romance that seems to have soured however, is that of Alcoa and Alcan.

This review is written by MP contributor Matt.
Before starting this article about the Kaiser Chiefs show at the Spectrum last night, I feel it necessary to make a small confession: Before The Kaiser Chiefs show at the Spectrum last night, I had no idea who The Kaiser Chiefs were.

Nas @ Metropolis, April 16, 2007

Everybody sound the same, commercialize the game
Reminiscin' when it wasn't all business
If it got where it started
So we all gather here for the dearly departed
Went from turntables to mp3s
From "Beat Street" to commercials on Mickey D's
From gold cables to Jacobs
From plain facials to Botox and face lifts
I'm lookin' over my shoulder
It's about eighty niggaz from my hood that showed up
And they came to show love
Sold out concert and the doors are closed shut

Hip Hop just died this morning. Hip Hop just died this morning

It’s all weather, all the time in Montreal media these days. Hey, can you blame them? We’re well into spring and all of the groundhogs have been ushered into the witness protection program – at least until this weekend when the temperature’s expected to rise above 15 degrees. For now, here are your daily media bites to keep you warm.

Many residents are still without power and would be lucky if their houses weren’t also flooded as a result of Sunday’s spring storm…Lucky because of the storm is IKEA as their St. Laurent store was nearly ravaged by fire…Frequent travelers in and out of Trudeau airport can now enroll in a US-Canada program that’s already been implemented in Toronto and Vancouver…and whether you’re flying frequently or not, check out West Jet’s ridiculous $11 fare offers between Montreal & Toronto…

I think the weather has slowed down my computer. Seriously, not only is today possibly the grossest weather day ever, but my computer is achingly slow. Both of those become my collective excuse for the delay in today’s media roundup. This past weekend lured us into the trap of thinking, “finally, the snow is gone for good.” Alas, we were all fooled once again. And today, the slushwads are angry and attacking citizens from the rooftops and the ground alike. If you’re walking anywhere, make sure you wear your rubber boots, and if you’re planning on taking a flight, make sure you call ahead – chances are you’re not going anywhere for a while.

Two weeks ago, Mayor Tremblay showed up on my street to point out litter and graffiti as he announced the city’s new campaign to force residents to clean up. Well, it seems many shop owners aren’t thrilled about the possibility of facing fines and are letting the mayor know about it.

It had been a long time since I’d been to Roy bar, an all out punk-skater-dive bar with a penchant for showing important habs games from time to time. So it shouldn’t have surprised me, when I walked by the other day, to see a new sign overhead, sand blasted walls and a fresh coat of paint on the front door. Only problem: the sign no longer read “Roy Bar”.

Roy Bar was unmistakable as it stood out like a sore thumb in a mostly residential neighbourhood, kiddie corner to an elementary school. The front door was littered with skater & band stickers, graffiti and promotional posters. Inside, chances were that there would be some ski or skateboard video playing on the overhead tv while university aged patrons sipped on Boreale Rousse, or a quart bottle of Blue. The pool table in the back always seemed an afterthought, and only served to block the path to the bathroom. Yet, we loved it. It was the ‘fallback’ option for an evening out. A place where you could usually get a seat, listen to good tunes and not spend a lot for a few drinks.