http://www.themetropolitain.ca/http://www.themetropolitain.ca/news/view/23http://www.themetropolitain.ca/news/view/23Vol. 3 No.6 of the Metropolitain is out.Thu, 03 Sep 2009 03:10:52 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/news/view/21http://www.themetropolitain.ca/news/view/21 By Alan Hustak Few in Montreal could match Len Dobbin's enthusiasm for jazz or his encylopediac knowledge of the musicians who  made the music. It's perhaps ironic and only fitting that the gravel-voiced disc jockey and veteran music critic suffered a fatal stroke during the Montreal International Jazz Festival Wednesday while sitting on a bar stool, sipping Diet Coke, listening to jazz. He was 74.   “He was a great chronicler, a great musical archivist, and an excellent photographer,” said veteran bandleader, Vic Vogel, “He had one of the best record collections around. He was a recovering alcoholic with a bulbous nose bigger than W.C. Fields’. And like Fields, he always had a joke in his belly.” Singer Dorothy Berryman, who hired him as a researcher for her Radio-Canada jazz program Espace Musique six years ago referred to him as “The guardian angel of the music.” Leonard Montgomery Ross Dobbin was born in Montreal Feb. 23, 1935 and grew up listening to be-bop, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. When he was 14 he won a disc jockey contest and began learning about the music first-hand. He joined the New Jazz Society, and began sneaking into bars along Stanley St. where he became something of a teen-aged mascot for the many of the great jazz musicians who came to town. He heard Billie Holiday sing at Newport in 1954, then was hired by the CBC to host the program Jazz at Its Best. Dobbin worked as an accountant to support his jazz habit. He wrote for Coda, did liner notes for record albums, and began broadcasting Jazz on Sunday Nights on CJFM, which became Mix 96. His heavy drinking took its toll and in 1982 Dobbin was felled by a bleeding ulcer and had two thirds of his stomach removed. He joined AA, and worked as a critic at the Gazette for seven years in the 1980s, and in began broadcasting FOR Radio McGill, providing commentary, spiced with personal anecdotes, about the musicians he knew on a first name basis that he featured on the program. His vast record collection, of more than 5,000 albums and CD’S fuelled the program. In 2007 he received the Masterworks Award for his contribution to culture. His marriage ended in divorce in 1992. He leaves three daughters.  Fri, 10 Jul 2009 12:12:53 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/news/view/19http://www.themetropolitain.ca/news/view/19The community coalition that gathered 25,000 signatures in opposition to Montreal’s parking meter hikes, has again called on Mayor Tremblay to review parking meter policies and restrictions.      Community coalition leaders (from left to right) businessman Michael Cianciullo, businessman and community activist Michael Shafter, coalition organizer and spokesperson Giovanna Giancaspro co-owner of Restaurant La Molisana, Métropolitain editor and President of the Institute for Public Affairs Beryl Wajsman, and Alain Creton, owner of downtown’s landmark Alexandre et Fils restaurant. In a press conference held yesterday at the Baton Rouge restaurant on de la Montagne, coalition leaders expressed concern that without a change in these policies many Montreal businesses will have a very hard time making it through this spring and summer in the current economic climate. The coalition spokespersons pointed out that this season is very important financially and they need these changes to overcome not only the results of the financial uncertainty, but also the loss of tourists who would normally have been here for the now-cancelled Grand Prix. Coalition leaders face the media. They were joined by municipal politician Louise O’Sullivan.Some forty prominent business and property owners joined the coalition leaders to voice their disapproval at parking rates and regulations they deem unjust. They stressed that the severe time limits and costs of parking don’t allow people to dine in restaurants, see movies or even do shopping in peace. They demanded a three hour seven dollar first rate for parking. A return  Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday evenings being free of charge. Additionally, they demanded a return to free Sundays and ask that the city recalibrate the meters so there is no double dipping. The current meter configuration don’t allow for adding money to your time, and indeed have been regular vandalized with slots being thown in that eliminate the time actually paid for.  The coalition stated that the parking policies, combined with last year’s record tax increases, may lead to as many business closures as the city saw in the last years of the Dore administration.    Tue, 24 Mar 2009 16:53:21 -0400