City

For the first time ever, people in Saint-Lazare are getting on board a city bus.

The town has not had any public transit, until now.

There's one route.

Buses run weekdays in the morning, and the afternoon.

There's a movement afoot to get access to commuter rail service.

Tenants of a now vacant apartment block on Vezina street in Cote-des-Neiges won't be allowed to move back into their homes until next March.

The CBC has reported on this building before -- residents were living in substandard conditions with mice, cockroaches and mold.

A non-profit housing group bought the building and is transforming it into social housing.

The tenants have been relocated.

Monique Lacombe is hosting Radio Noon this week.

But she did make time to answer a question from one listener.

Brian McMillan sent an email asking about the de Maisonneuve bike path that runs through the Quartier des Spectacles.

The new bike path is level with the sidewalk.

The only way to tell the difference between the path and the sidewalk is by the colour of the bricks.

Last time we checked out this path, there were no signs to indicate which was which - sidewalk or bike lane. We decided to go back and see if anything's changed.

It's day two of the lock-out at the Port of Montreal.

Business owners are worried about shipments stuck at the port.

Guiseppe Ruffolo is the owner of Polti-Canada.

He has a container full of chemical-free dry-vapour cleaning machines stuck at the port.

Glen Gilbert is the President of Alpha Logistiques, a freight forwarding and customs brokerage company which manages shipments for 200 clients in Montreal including Polti-Canada. (Canadian Press)

People in Cote-St-Luc are hearing the sound of train horns a lot right now -- way more often than they are used to.

Canadian Pacific Railway is testing whistles on its trains in the Cote St. Luc railyard.

It is part of a national program of whistle security testing.

We spoke to Bernard Tonchin. He is resident of Cote-St-Luc.

We also spoke to CPR spokesperson, Breanne Feigel.

Start over

Thats what the STM is saying

They're taking new offers to replace our Metro cars

We spoke to Glen Fisher. He's the montreal representative of Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive

(Paul Chiasson/Canadian Press)

There is still no concensus in park Extension/Villeray/St Michel over whether to convert the former Chinese Hospital - now an empty building - into a residence for Inuit from Nunavik who need medical care in Montreal.

We've heard in the past about opposition to the project.

But now a new group of residents has formed a welcoming committee - and they took their ideas and petition to a borough council meeting.

But borough mayor, Anie Samson allowed only three questions on the issue, saying the decision is on hold until she receives an impact report from the Montreal Health Agency.

Genevieve Beaudet is the organizer of the citizens committee in favor of the Inuit residence.

Patricia Kearns is a new member of the group. 

Quebec College football teams are keeping a close watch on their players after the University of Waterloo suspended its football program.

The University of Waterloo benched its football team for a year following teamwide urine tests that revealed nine players had committed doping violations.

We spoke to Manon Simard, the Athletics Director at the Université de Montreal.

And to Gilles Lépine, the director of the Rouge et Or Excellence in Sports program.

It's hard to keep your focus at work - when you are watching soccer.

The FIFA World Cup could put a serious dent in productivity in the workplace.

Raymond Salloum is the vice-president of sales at Fontaine Santé Foods in Ville St-Laurent.

It was supposed to clear up some questions that have been getting in the way at Montreal City Hall lately.

The city's auditor-general was called to answer councillors' questions Wednesday to shed light on who went to police first over the contract with Telus for telecommunications equipment.

And who's been telling the truth in the matter - the auditor general or the mayor.

Shawn Apel was at City Hall for the special session.

A 38-year-old woman from Dorval is waiting for a psychiatric examination.

Her 19-year-old daughter is recovering from knife wounds in a Montreal hospital.

The mother is accused of attacking the daughter - in what police are calling an honour crime.

Our Shawn Apel was at the courthouse Monday as the accused - Johra Kaleki appeared.  (CBC) 

We're well into spring....a time to enjoy the nice weather, and get in a bit of gardening.

If you're not sure what to do with your little piece of land...or balcony....or roof-top.

Ian Christopher Goodman and his brigade can help.

But he runs his gardening service with a little twist. He uses his bicycle.

(photo: cbc/Elias Abboud)

Police in Laval are cracking down on shisha cafes that are allowing customers to smoke indoors

But the owners of the cafes are not going down without a fight.

Shisha is the middle-eastern tradition of smoking flavored tobacco from a water pipe,

called a hookah.

Right now, shisha cafes are subject to the same anti-tobacco laws that apply to cigar rooms.

Rami Alromhein owns a shisha cafe on Cure-Labelle bloulevard in Laval.

We told you about some pretty big pot holes in NDG more than two weeks ago on Daybreak.

They're much deeper and wider than your average pot hole.

We wanted to update the story.

Montrealers sure love their Bixis.

Love of the Bixi inspired Montreal music group Da Gryptions to write that tune, "The Bixi Song."

But people in NDG are feeling left out.

Mike Casali lives in NDG.

Tonight - for the third night in a row - tenants in a big downtown appartment building will be called to the lobby - to have their fingerprints taken.

The landlord of the building has told them to do it.

The building is changing its front lock... to a new bio-metric system.

(Photo: CBC/Shawn Apel)

Big changes afoot at the Cavendish Mall in Cote-St-Luc.

the city of Cote-St-Luc plans to allow for a portion of the mall to be demolished.

There are already no stores in that part of the mall.

That section would be replaced by new homes.

It's part of a plan to attract new families to Cote-St-Luc - the municipality with the higheest median age in Quebec.

Our Shawn Apel went to talk to people at the mall - in the heart of Cote-St-Luc - about the mall - and the new plans.

The first person he talked to is Bena Singer.

Many marijuana users in the Montreal-area are facing uncertainty today.

Thursday, police in Montreal and in Quebec City raided five compassion clubs and shut them down.

The clubs say they were supplying marijuana to people who take it for medical reasons.

Our Shawn Apel got a chance to meet someone who grows marijuana for one of those clubs - and for some other users with medical needs...

Montreal's medical marijuana clubs are closed today.

Police raided all four facilities on Thursday.

Marc-Boris St-Maurice is the founder of the Montreal Compassion Club. We also spoke to

Doctor Mark Ware is a physician who researches the use of cannabis in pain management.

He's is an assistant professor of family medicine and anaesthesia at McGill University.

Quebec Inuit are looking for a new home in Montreal.

Inuit from northern Quebec often come to Montreal to receive health services not available in the north of the province.

A transit house for Inuit people was supposed to open in Villeray.

But they are facing some challenges in the community.

We spoke to Jeannie May, She's the Executive Director of the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services.

All this week - thousands of delegates from around the world are gathering at the downtown campus of Concorida University.

They're attending the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences.

It used to be called "the Learneds" - and it's billed as the largest annual academic gathering in Canada.

On all the street corners around the campus, you'll find volunteers in bright blue t-shirts - with the word "questions" on the back.

They are there to answer all the delegates questions.  Shawn Apel asked the volunteers some questions of his own.