| Gardeners ready to get back outside
But these colorful collages of landscaping, gardening and lawncare don't come without a little hard work and preparation. Kristy Ostrander, owner of Ostrander Flowers and Greenhouses in Eldon, said now is the time of year when people will have to do the "in/out" gardening. She said it is not quite warm enough yet to leave a lot of the plants outside overnight, but it is better for the plants to get some of the natural sun during the day. For the next couple of weeks, Ostrander said local gardenrs could leave some of their plants outside, making sure there is plenty of water and sun, and then bringing the plants back inside so as not to expose the delicate flora to frost. "I think we are past the last frost but it can come all the way up into May," she said.
Quebec City car chase ends with close call on woman's lawn
Quebec City police are investigating a car chase involving one of their own that ended with a truck crashing metres from a woman's front door. The chase unfolded Tuesday after police received a stolen car report. They tailed the pickup truck across town, shooting at it after failing to corner the driver in a shopping mall parking lot. This stolen truck ended up on Claudette Mathieu's property in Quebec City.(Catou MacKinnon/CBC) About 15 minutes later, the truck swerved onto a residential street and lost control, flipped over and crashed into a snowbank on Claudette Mathieu's front stoop, injuring two officers and the driver. Mathieu was at home with her five-year-old granddaughter when they heard a loud bang and saw the truck with its wheels reaching for the sky.
City invests $6.5-million in Pins-Parc landscape
The Montreal city council executive committee voted in favour of a $6.5-million landscaping plan for the intersection of Pins and Parc avenues yesterday, easing community fears that the space would be sold for condo development.
It looks as though for once the city, the downtown, and the boroughs can agree, said Lucia Kowaluk, former coordinator of the Urban Ecology Centre, a community organization and think-tank that promotes participatory democracy and sustainable development.
Originally a roadway overpass, the Pins-Parc interchange was targeted for a large-scale redevelopment project beginning in 2004. The construction, completed last fall, demolished the crumbling overpass and replaced it with a flat intersection.
The project yielded a valuable swath of land adjacent to both Mount Royal and Jeanne Mance parks, which community members feared would be sold to a developer for high-rise condominiums.
Tax worth approving
THE owners of property in Baldwin Park - and that includes about 13,600 homeowners - have an important and unusual election coming up. That's right, unusual election, because beginning this week, each property owner is being mailed a ballot asking him or her to approve a $27.78 annual increase in a citywide Lighting, Landscape Municipal District assessment. This election is for property owners only - that includes 13,634 homeowners and 985 owners of commercial properties. Also, the election is being carried out by mail; a property owner can mail back his completed ballot or hand carry it to City Hall. The deadline is June 6. It's important because, well, all elections are important! Elections form the fulcrum of our country's democracy and are a substantial part, a tangible example, of the concept of freedom.
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