Denis Richard (son of Henri Richard), Lise Richard (wife of Henri Richard), Marc Demers (mayor of Laval), Louise Lemieux Bérubé (the artist) and Guy Lafleur (retired hockey star).
TLN
Elected officials as well as many other dignitaries from the sporting world were on hand at Place Bell in downtown Laval last week for the unveiling of a sculpture depicting one of the all-time greats of professional hockey – the Pocket Rocket, Henri Richard.
“Henri Richard is without the least doubt a legend of hockey and a great Laval resident,” said Mayor Marc Demers. “This work pays homage at the same time to his exceptional career. It will also serve to inspire future generations of hockey players, including many from the Laval Rocket who train at Place Bell.
Richard family helped
“We would like to thank the Richard family which placed their trust in us and who played a role in the creation of this work by, among other things, taking part on a jury. It should also be remembered that the Cité de la culture also accepted with great enthusiasm to accept this work in its building.”
In November 2017, the City of Laval issued a call for bids for the sculpture. Out of 17 candidacies, the jury retained three who were invited to propose projects. The jury finally chose the proposal made by Louise Lemieux Bérubé. An amount of $75,000 was set aside by the city for it. The work in question can be admired at Place Bell during hours when it is open.
Here are some of the Giant Steps School’s board members: From the left, Jean de Mailly Nesle (vice-president), Tracy Pennimpede (foundation director), Nick Katalifos (administrator), Andrée Dallaire (administrator), André Pagé (Treasurer), and Thomas Henderson (school director). Missing from the photo: Tony Loffreda (administrator), Richard Dufresne (administrator), Pierre Simard (President), Henriette Angers (administrator) and Johanna Choremis (administrator).
TLN
The Giant Steps Foundation hosted its annual general assembly on Oct. 17. The audited financial statements were presented and another terrific year was reported by the foundation. The board members were elected and a review of the events of the year was confirmed. Giant Steps’ annual auction, the school’s largest event for the 2018-2019 year, will be held on May 8 at Le Windsor in downtown Montreal. For more information on this event, please write to foundation@giantstepsmontreal.com.
Seen here with volunteers and residents on Halloween Night, Laval city councillor for Saint-Bruno David De Cotis and Vimont Liberal MNA Jean Rousselle helped welcome thousands of people to the district’s annual Halloween bash at Lausanne Park.
Martin C. Barry
Zombies, vampires and ghosts invaded Lausanne Park in Laval’s Saint-Bruno district on Halloween night last Oct. 31. Possibly the biggest celebration of Halloween in Laval, it was organized by a local committee including among its members Saint-Bruno city councillor David De Cotis and Vimont Liberal MNA Jean Rousselle.
You had to be careful on Oct. 31 or the Grim Reaper might get you during the Halloween festivities at Lausanne Park.
A very spooky event
De Cotis, Rousselle and Action Laval leader Archie Cifelli were on hand to help out while partaking in the merriment. “We’re keeping this tradition going,” said De Cotis, who was assisting at the entrance to a “haunted house” that was set up in the park for children, adults or anyone else who dared enter. More than 50 volunteers also took part.
“This is a night for families and a lot of people are coming out,” said Rousselle, who’s been helping out at the Saint-Bruno Halloween since first being elected in 2012. “It’s a big job getting this all together. We started at 11 o’clock this morning, and we won’t be finished until late tonight when we take everything down. But it’s all worth it for the kids and the families who get to have fun.”
This unsettling lady was among the many horrors that awaited all those who dared enter the Haunted House set up for Halloween in Laval’s Lausanne Park.
Biggest Halloween event
Despite the rainy weather on Halloween night, thousands of people still managed to make it out for an event that has grown in popularity since it started more than a decade ago. “Considering the weather, we’re very happy about the size of the crowd,” added De Cotis. He expected several thousand people to pass through the site by evening’s end.
“It’s the biggest Halloween event in Laval,” he continued, noting that several nearby streets were closed off to improve security and that police cadets were providing additional help. “As always, this is another way we are giving back to the community, to the kids, while giving them a sense of belonging to their area.”
The current issue of the Laval News volume 26-21 published November 7, 2018, (Laval’s English Newspaper), covers local events such as politics, sports and human-interest stories. It features editorials and other columns. Click on the image to read the paper.
Front page of Laval News, Vol.26-21 November 7, 2018.
Shooting Suspect, Levon Mirzoian, Turns Himself In
Oct 19 – Laval police issued a statement confirming that a suspect wanted for attempted murder is now in custody.
Levon Mirzoian, 28, wanted in connection with the shooting of a Laval resident last August, turned himself in.
Mirzoain, who possesses both Canadian and American citizenships, had fled to the United States shortly after the shooting. He turned himself in to Canadian border officials last Thursday, following the media coverage of his international arrest warrant.
Laval police were collaborating with the FBI and RCMP to locate the suspect.
Police allege Mirzoian was involved in a non-fatal shooting last August 31, at a residence under renovation on Bruno St. in Chomedey.
The 32-year-old victim was shot multiple times, but the wounds were not lethal and he survived.
Police say the victim’s children were also the target of death threats made by the suspect during the incident.
Levon Mirzoian was arraigned at the Laval courthouse on charges of attempted murder and uttering death threats.
Oct 19 – Laval police arrested two suspects in connection with a wave of catalytic converter thefts that occurred in Laval in April 2018. A similar wave of thefts had also occurred in Montreal and Longueuil.
The thieves were caught red-handed, captured by video surveillance, as they stole a catalytic converter from a truck in Laval. Police arrested 38-year-old Carl Savoie and 25-year-old Miguel Gagnon near the scene of the crime.
Both suspects were arraigned at the Laval courthouse on multiple charges.
Gagnon was released with conditions and is scheduled to appear in court again on December 4. Savoie was detained overnight for a bail hearing.
Oct 20 – A man in his forties died after his SUV collided head-first with a minivan on Boul. Lévesque early Saturday morning.
Laval police are trying to determine the events that led up to the crash.
A young girl aboard the minivan was not injured by the collision but was taken to hospital as a precaution.
The driver of the minivan suffered serious injuries to his lower body, but his injuries were not life-threatening.
Police do not believe alcohol was a factor.
Early-Morning Drug Raid Nets a Dozen Arrests
Oct 17 –Police raided eight residences and a business in Laval and the North Shore early Wednesday morning as part of an anti-drug operation.
The searches took place in Laval, Rosemere, Mirabel and Ste-Sophie.
Around 150 police officers took part in the operation, which targeted cocaine and methamphetamine traffickers.
Police arrested 12 people between the ages of 25 and 40, two of whom were previously known to police. They are scheduled to appear in the Laval courthouse on Thursday.
The raids were the culmination of a year-long investigation that started in October 2017.
Illegal Pot Shop Shut Down
Oct 11 – Police shut down an illegal cannabis dispensary in Chomedey and arrested the 2 men who were running it. The illicit pot vendors were operating out of the Vapexperts store located at 1228 Boul. Curé-Labelle.
Laval police officers from the Drug and Morality squad collaborated with SQ officers on the investigation, along with officers from St-Jérôme and Trois-Rivières.
The raid yielded a modest seizure: more than 400g of cannabis, over $12,000 in cash as well as cannabis-derived products.
The suspects were arraigned at the Laval courthouse and released. They are scheduled to appear again in court on December 14.
Ten minutes of horror await all those who will dare enter the Schwartz family’s ‘haunted house’
Martin C. Barry
With Halloween less than a week away, this year’s celebration of all things spooky and fit for trick or treating promises to be an especially horrifying one along Jean-Paul-Sartre St. in Laval’s Fabreville district.
A spooky tradition
At 3410 Jean-Paul-Sartre to be precise, members of the Schwartz family will be carrying on a longstanding Halloween tradition on Oct. 31 when their garage and driveway storm shelter are transformed into one of the most elaborate and labyrinthine haunted houses in the Montreal region.
For Jonathan Schwartz, the father of the clan, creating the haunted house each year at Halloween is a labour of love and creativity that dates back decades.
Ten minutes of horror await all those who will dare enter the Schwartz family’s ‘haunted house’
Building a haunted house
Schwartz is a lifelong Laval resident who has lived in several areas of the city, including Chomedey. Neither he nor anyone else in his family would never want to live anywhere else so great is their attachment to Laval.
“I’ve done this roughly since I’m 13,” he said in an interview with the Laval News. “I’ve done this at Centre de Sablon, I’ve done this at Jules Verne Elementary School and at my parents’ house, then at my house in Sainte-Rose and now here.”
A haunting they will go
Over the coming days leading up to Halloween night, the four members of the Schwartz family, as well as grandparents, in-laws and volunteers from the surrounding community, will be working to build and assemble the haunted house structure.
A large wooden framework will be covered with sackcloth and blankets to create walls and corridors. Anyone with enough nerve will be invited in to take a walk along the passageways where they’ll encounter sights scary enough that they’ve been known on past Halloweens to frighten even adults.
Ten minutes of horror await all those who will dare enter the Schwartz family’s ‘haunted house’
Not for the faint-hearted
“It’s a guided maze,” Jonathan pointed out. “There’ll be myself, Nancy my wife and a few other people who bring in groups of five or six people at most through.” If anyone doesn’t want the full treatment, that’s available, too.
Visitors are first asked if they want to be scared. If not, the hosts then instruct the spooks and goblins hiding behind the scenes to take it easy until another group arrives who have asked for and get the works.
Each Halloween, the family and volunteers develop a special theme. Last year’s was pirates. The year before it was witches. This year it will revolve circus imagery.
Circus theme this year
“There’s going to be animal skeletons, a wolf that howls and a ringmaster,” said Nancy. The Schwartz’s love Halloween so much they think twelve months ahead and shop for Halloween decorations the day after when everything is on sale.
People come from far and wide to partake of experience. According to Jonathan, attendance last year was 1,426, based on a count he did with a handheld clicker. All told, a trip through the Schwartz’s haunted house should take visitors an estimated 10 to 12 minutes to complete.
Laval earns five stars for water quality. City scores high in rating at water quality symposium.
(TLN)
Laval residents can now boast that they drink tap water of the highest quality. During a recent symposium on water management held in Sainte-Hyacinthe, the City of Laval’s three drinking water treatment stations received a five-star rating.
“Since the beginning of this rating system, the Sainte Rose station has always obtained the highest distinction,” said Pierre Cullen, director of Laval’s water services, noting that the city’s Chomedey water station also was cited for water quality following renovations in recent years.
A firefighter’s gear lies ready for action on the floor of No. 2 firehall in Chomedey during the City of Laval’s annual open house at the firehalls.
Martin C. Barry
According to conventional wisdom, most kids aspire – at least for a while – to be firefighters one day. For most young children, whether they’re girls or boys, there are few things more exciting than fire engines and firehalls.
Fireman for a day
Once a year when the Laval Fire Department holds its ‘open house,’ the nine firehalls in Laval’s districts are open to the public for a day. That’s when every kid living in Laval gets a chance to make believe they’re a fireman or firewoman.
During this year’s event held on on Saturday Oct. 13 in conjunction with fire prevention week, kids of all ages had the opportunity to get up close to the shiny, bright red ladder and pump trucks parked in firehall garages all over the island.
Seen here with two members of the Laval Fire Department, the Ghantous family had a great time at the Chomedey No. 2 firehall on Sunday Oct. 13.
The real thing
For kids probably more used to playing with scale-models, actually being able to climb behind the wheel of a huge shiny red rig and being able to touch the intricate controls was something they will probably remember for a long time.
From morning to late afternoon, the kids got a chance to learn all about the work of firefighters, to watch and take part in equipment demonstrations, to receive fire prevention advice, and even to climb into a truck and feel what it’s like to do the work of a fireman.
For young and old alike, Laval’s annual open house at the firehalls was an opportunity to learn all about fire safety.
Fun for families
Among the many people who dropped by the Chomedey No. 2 firehall on Souvenir Blvd. were Ziaav Ghantous and his two children: Peter and Alexandra.
“We’re here to support our fire department knowing that they’re always here to serve us,” said Ghantous. “It’s also important to show our kids the importance of the firefighters being there.”
As those attending the open house learned, water rescue is also part of the Laval Fire Department’s responsibilities.
