This is a letter written by the management of Casa del Popolo to the public of Montreal. I've inserted links to give you the reader ability to read more info into the subjects discussed. The letter continues after the jump, please feel free to share your thoughts on this subject.

Dear Montreal community...This is Kiva and Mauro from Casa del Popolo, we just wanted to officially tell you all what�??s going on. We have suspended all shows pending a court case with the Régie des Alcools Des Courses et des Jeux. So here�??s the story: we currently have a restaurant liquor license which allows us to sell alcohol only when someone is eating (the quantity of food is determined arbitrarily by the inspector�??s judgment, which varies with each inspector). We also currently have a bar certificat d�??occupation from the Ville de Montreal, this allows us to operate a bar but still does not allow us to sell alcohol without someone eating. In order to sell alcohol we need to obtain a bar liquor permit from the RACJ. This is one of the things we are waiting to be determined at our court case.

Most importantly for us though is the issue regarding Spectacles. In order to have live music performances with a cover charge in a venue which sells alcohol you must obtain a Spectacle liquor license from the RACJ. We do not currently have this and up until recently there was no way for us to get one. In order to obtain this the Casa cannot touch any residential property, which the Casa still legally does. In the next few months we will be making the necessary renovations to transform our new offices to commercially zoned property as well as a few other minor changes.

Photo: "2008 St-Patricks Day Parade Montreal", by flickr pooler jpmpinflux

Fresh brewed news for Tuesday, March 17 2009:

Happy St Patrick's day! - While deciding how to cover new's today I was scanning the net for fact and fiction on this national holiday of Ireland. In Canada and many other places it is widely celebrated but is not an official holiday. I say it should be a holiday at least on the Island of Montreal. We boast the longest continually running Saint Patrick's day parade in North America, since 1824. Which is going to take place this coming Sunday March 22nd. Our city's flag even has the Irish emblem, the shamrock, in one of its corners. What do you think?

New Jersey Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur will go into today's St. Patrick's Day home game against the Chicago Blackhawks needing one win to set an NHL goaltender win record with 552. Passing the saintly Patrick Roy, Brodeur tied Patrick Roy's record of 551 victories last Saturday in Montreal.

We Love Books! is an exhibition bringing together books from the four corners of the earth. Foreign designers, whether graphic artists or typographers, are throwing a new and fascinating light upon generally accessible publications.This festival took place last November in �?chirolles (France). Mars et Avril is a modern photo-novel hybrid with a unbridled cohesion between text and images.Two books from Mars et Avril published by local ad agency Sid Lee and La Pastèque were selected among the best. See some pages of the book after the jump.

Sportswear doesn�??t usually get much attention during the Paris fashion week which just wrapped up yesterday. adidas is changing that with its �??Originals by Originals�?� series, created with partners like the Japanese street-wear icon Kazuki and the soccer star David Beckham, who is collaborating with James Bond(not the spy) from the label Undefeated. My fashion favorites, however, are Jeremy Scott�??s wild jackets, dresses and sneakers, inspired by Africa.

In deciding how to get the message of suicide prevention out to a sometimes jaded public the challenge is up to Suicide Action Montreal to reach out to everyone to raise awareness. Faced with the challenge, the clever cats at Touche! phd, Sid Lee and Astral Media concluded there's no better way to illustrate suicide than to bring an abrupt end to things people like. The campaign rolled out in two ways. To start, popular programs randomly went black to make way for the following (roughly translated) message: "Does this premature ending surprise you? Imagine if it happened to the life of someone close." After a few seconds of darkness, the episodes started rolling again. Same thing happened with popular songs on the radio.Check out examples of both the TV and radio executions after the jump.

Captain of the Montreal Canadiens Saku Koivu gave Bob Gainey a night to remember last night. The captain scored on the power play 1:40 into overtime, elevating the Habs to a 4-3 win against the Edmonton Oilers at the Bell Centre. General Manager Bob Gainey was behind Montreal's bench for the first time since firing Guy Carbonneau 24 hours earlier.