THE SOAPBOX CARMEN MARIE FABIO
STORIES OF THE YEAR
Love and Rockets
St. Lazare town councillors receive 76 per cent salary increase
Did you know you can take the letters in the words 'New Year's resolutions' and rearrange them to spell 'only we aren't serious'? I take that as permission not to make any resolutions and would much rather look back on the previous year and figure out what, if anything, I've learned over the last 12 months as opposed to vowing to make some sort of major lifestyle change that I'm highly unlikely to keep. I'm not fond of getting older but I can handle getting wiser. I've learned that sometimes I can successfully talk my way out of a traffic infraction ticket and other times, it's in my own best interests to just keep my mouth shut. I've discovered that about seven newspaper staffers can easily eat a four-pound bag of Rockets Halloween candy in a little over a week. I know exactly how long it takes to get to the Valleyfield courthouse, but even if I'm running late, the security guards usually know what story I'm there for and are kind enough to direct me to the right courtroom. Thanks to statistical feedback of Facebook and website hits, we're able to see exactly what readers like, what gets viewed the most, and what goes absolutely viral. The truck that took a little trip over the side of the Île aux Tourtes Bridge in June had tens of thousands of shares, eliciting comments from throughout North America. A September story we ran about a group of motorcyclists called Bikers Against Child Abuse (BACA) who volunteer to stay at a kid's side as he or she is shuttled through the court system not only went viral, but after getting hundreds of thousands of hits, is still getting Likes and comments from as far away as England and New Zealand. After being without a dog for almost a decade, I'm rediscovering the joys of dog ownership and I'm sometimes stymied trying to grasp exactly what he's telling me with his whines, barks, and varied canine vocalizations. All I know, and all I really need to know, is that he's awesome. I've learned, without looking, to differentiate between a police, fire truck, or ambulance siren, a talent of which I'm immensely proud but, quite honestly, impresses no one. I've learned that I can try reasoning with people but facts and logic, in some minds, are simply barriers to their own agenda. Who am I to convince anyone that Barack Obama does not have a personal vendetta against them and is not out to kill them? I've learned that, despite the amounts of Likes and Shares offered by the connected collective when someone goes missing, some stories don't have happy endings. That's never an easy lesson. I refuse to learn how to mature as I think it's entirely overrated. I plan to always get excited over the first snowfall, Christmas morning, and seeing my family at the end of the day, and I wish the same for you. Peace, love, and happy holidays.
MARCH
John Jantak The Town of St. Lazare passed a resolution that saw the remuneration for its councillors increase by 76 per cent. Former councillor Michel Lambert brought the town to task saying the current administration should try to keep taxes for its residents as low as possible instead of giving council a substantial salary increase. Property taxes have risen an average of 4.5 per cent in the past seven years and prop-
erty values increased an average of six per cent in 2015. Mayor Robert Grimaudo defended the increase saying while councillors’ salaries were being increased from $11,000 to just over $19,000, they will no longer receive a $100 stipend for each municipal committee meeting or function they attend. “What we did tonight is not really a salary increase,” said Grimaudo. “In reality, they all earned an average of $19,000 last year. It’s just that the money came from two different pots.”
Dognapping Carmen Marie Fabio A Chihuahua stolen from Animalerie Toutou on Harwood Boulevard in Vaudreuil-Dorion March 7 was located and returned and police arrested a 34-year-old man and a 33-year-old woman in connection with the theft. Sûreté du Québec spokesperson Sgt. Ingrid Asselin said six people, three men and three women, entered the store and four of them created a diversion to distract the employees. In the process, two males, one under the age of 18, opened the cage containing two pure bred Blue Chihuahuas, taking
PHOTO COURTESY ÉLYSE CORRIVEAU
one and hiding it under his jacket. The group then left in a van. Working with information obtained from the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) police arrested the pair March 10 after a search of a home on Stanislas Street in Montreal.
Community rallies to help Île Perrot man Carmen Marie Fabio Following a proverbial comedy of bureaucratic and legal errors that left a handicapped Île Perrot resident without adapted transport to his thrice-weekly Lakeshore General Hospital dialysis treatments, the community stepped up to help make Richard Lemieux’s life a little easier by offering
AUCTION Sunday, Dec. 27TH 1:00 P.M.
At Promenade Hudson
transport, meals, and housecleaning services. A team of six volunteers was assembled to chauffeur Lemieux to and from his treatments. Lemieux, who was born with physical disabilities and is confined to a wheelchair, said his ordeal began when he received a notice from the Quebec Government recommending he seek child support from his ex-wife to help offset the costs of raising his 16-year-old daughter who’s been in his custody since age threeand-a-half. Lemieux followed the advice and said he was then told his income had exceeded the maximum allowable for which subsidized transportation services are provided. While he struggled to work out the bureaucratic details, volunteers picked up the transportation slack. At last report, the Lakeshore General Hospital provided six weeks' worth of taxi vouchers but Lemieux is reportedly still struggling to make it to his treatments. Stories of the year continued on page 9
3187 Harwood Blvd., Vaudreuil-Dorion
(Exit 28 off Autoroute 40)
450-458-5766 PHOTO BY CARMEN MARIE FABIO
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YOUR LOCAL JOURNAL
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
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PHOTO BY CARMEN MARIE FABIO