Latest news with #Lasalle
CTV News
03-07-2025
- CTV News
5 Quebec residents face 22 charges after northern Ont. gun bust
The back of a police vehicle with officers visible in the background. (File photo/Supplied/Ontario Provincial Police) Five people from Quebec are facing a combined 22 charges after Ontario Provincial Police discovered a loaded firearm during a traffic stop on Highway 101 near Matheson. The incident occurred shortly before midnight on July 1, when officers with OPP's South Porcupine detachment pulled over a vehicle. Authorities said, in a news release Wednesday even, their investigation led to the discovery of a loaded firearm inside the vehicle. Multiple arrests, 22 charges laid As a resulted of the incident, the driver, a 20-year-old man from Laval, Que., was charged with forgery, impersonation with intent to avoid arrest, occupying a motor vehicle knowing there was a firearm, possession of a prohibited or restricted firearm with ammunition, possession of a firearm contrary to a prohibition order, drug possession (cocaine,) obstructing a peace officer, driving with cannabis readily available, and speeding. A 19-year-old man also from Laval, faces charges of possession of a loaded prohibited or restricted firearm, obstructing a peace officer, and three counts of failing to comply with a release order. A 30-year-old woman from Lasalle, Que., was charged with occupying a motor vehicle knowing there was a prohibited weapon, unauthorized possession of a weapon, and possession of a loaded prohibited or restricted firearm. A 22-year-old from Beaconsfield, Que., faces charges of possession of a loaded prohibited or restricted firearm and occupying a motor vehicle knowing there was a prohibited weapon. A 17-year-old from Ste-Julienne, Que., whose identity is protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, was charged with possession of a loaded prohibited or restricted firearm, occupying a motor vehicle knowing there was a prohibited weapon, and unauthorized possession of a weapon. No further details about the circumstances of the traffic stop or the type of firearm have been released. Held pending bail hearing All five individuals were held in police custody pending bail hearings. In a related social media post, acting OPP Sgt. Michelle Simard highlighted the arrests as a victories for 'public safety' and 'crime prevention.'
Korea Herald
17-06-2025
- Health
- Korea Herald
When melody meets medicine: A look at Singapore's growing music therapy scene
SINGAPORE (Straits Times/ANN) — It is not uncommon for musicians to have a dream stage. Perhaps a sold-out arena or a dim jazz bar steeped in soul. Bakti Khair's is a hospital ward. Becoming a music therapist was a hope he held onto for more than seven years. Through being a primary school music teacher, getting married and becoming a father, the dream never wavered. As he put it, "Music therapy connects music, psychology and health care." A burgeoning scene here, the clinical and evidence-based profession uses music to improve physical, emotional, cognitive and social well-being. Its use ranges from palliative and dementia care to pain management and early childhood intervention. Bakti encountered music therapy while doing research for an undergraduate assignment at Lasalle College of the Arts. He completed his degree in music composition in 2017. But at the time, there was no music therapy program in Singapore for him to pursue his interest further. "It's all based on my desire to help," said the 33-year-old. "I wanted to use whatever knowledge or background of music I have to create some change." First postgrad course in Singapore Bakti considered training in New Zealand. Then in 2024, Lasalle launched the country's first postgraduate program in music therapy, opening the door for aspiring practitioners to be trained locally. "Its amazing, something that I've always wanted to do," he told The Straits Times in March while on an eight-week clinical placement with St Luke's Hospital, where he worked closely with dementia patients. Dr. Indra Selvarajah, leader of Lasalle's music therapy program, said the two-year course arose in response to growing interest in the profession and was oversubscribed. Of late, Singapore has seen a surge of curiosity surrounding music's role in community and wellness — seen, for example, in the growing popularity of sound baths. But music therapy, Selvarajah stressed, is a clinical profession which requires specialized training at a tertiary level. The program took three years of planning, research and consulting with international music therapy experts to design. It was done in close collaboration with the Association for Music Therapy in Singapore. "We have 19 students, a good mix of local and international students from countries such as Malaysia, Japan and the Philippines," she said, noting that regional interest in the field is growing. Program lecturer Eta Lauw said the course marks a crucial step towards making music therapy more accessible in Singapore. It allows locals keen on studying music therapy to do so at home, without the burden of hefty overseas tuition fees. Key to this, she added, is that while music may be universal, its emotional and cultural resonance varies widely. "There are a lot of very specific cultural elements to it," said the Australia-trained therapist, adding that many who studied abroad have to make significant adaptations to reshape their training to fit Singapore's context. Now, students are able to learn within a local context, complete clinical placements and observe how music therapy is practised here. Selvarajah said she is excited for the course to expand the presence and impact of music therapy in Singapore. "Any kind of recognition that is forthcoming will rely on the growth and actual increase in music therapists. This is where our program plays a vital role." An existing ecosystem Music therapy has had a presence here long before Lasalle offered its course. AMTS has been around since 2007. Even then, its president Tan Xueli noted, some of its members had been practicing in Singapore for more than two decades. The association has grown steadily, from just 11 professional members at its founding to 44 today. Counting associate and student members, the total number stands at 74. Most of its members work in acute and community hospitals, hospices as well as nursing homes, with a handful in private practice. The field has a prominent presence in palliative care, as the broader health care community increasingly recognizes the importance of quality of life for terminal patients. "When that shift happens, the creative arts often play a very big part. You bring in creative art therapies at that point, because you are looking at quality of life, comfort care, pain management and more of the psychosocial aspects," said Tan. She is the principal music therapist and music therapy lead at St Luke's Hospital's Rehabilitation Department. At St Luke's Hospital, senior music therapist Camellia Soon, 37, specializes in palliative and dementia care. With patients who are nearing the end of their lives, she said, much of the work involves helping them navigate grief — not just over death, but also over the inevitable loss of identity and ability. It could be grief from no longer being able to do the things they used to do, such as going to work or cooking for their families, Soon said. "If they have awareness of their illness, they also know that this might be their last New Year, last birthday," she added. Physical, emotional and cognitive benefits One of Soon's patients was a terminally ill elderly man with a neurological disorder. A stand-offish character, he was estranged from his family and was often caught in states of delusion. Over the course of three months, he would sometimes weep when Soon played spiritual music, such as hymns — though he could never quite name which songs touched him most. Eventually, he began to recognize Soon by name and told her he felt "lighter." "My aim was not to make him happy, but to use music to allow him to open up, enable the grief to be expressed and find closure," she said. Then, one day, seemingly out of nowhere, he shared two songs with her: "Fated" by Hong Kong singer Andy Lau and "First Of May" by English pop group the Bee Gees, both reflections on time and loss. With what Soon described as "intense clarity," he walked her through specific, vivid memories from his life. He died the following week. "Music can unlock something I cannot do through just talking," said Soon, adding that some patients may never have ventured into those memories without the emotional nudge of a particular song. Music therapy also helps dementia patients in physical, emotional and cognitive ways, said Dr. Chan Kin Ming of Chan KM Geriatric and Medical Clinic. Learning to play instruments can boost short-term memory and attention span, while using music to soothe agitation and aggression can be an effective alternative to medication, he said. Music therapists do not just work with elderly patients. At Thye Hua Kwan Moral Charities, music therapist Farhana Rizaini, 34, works with children with developmental needs. Using a mix of musical activities — from playing instruments to learning prepositions through song cues to reading stories set to music — Farhana tailors each session to meet their needs. She remembers working with a child who would cry from fear of the guitar and a sensitivity to fast-paced music. With consistent encouragement from both the teacher and a psychologist, the child was gradually able to tolerate louder and faster-paced music, and actively participate in most activities. "The child can now sing along to familiar tunes, functionally play on a variety of instruments, from shakers to drums to even the guitar," Farhana said, adding that the child is also able to play games such as "peek-a-boo" to accompanying music. Push for safe practice and recognition Tan pointed out, "Music is powerful. We can use music for all these benefits, but flip the coin — because music is powerful, you can also do harm." She spent many years working in pain management at a burns and trauma hospital department in the US. Certain songs tied to painful experiences can trigger distressing emotions or traumatic memories. That is why music therapists require specialized training to assess each individual's emotional and psychological landscape, she said. Where music may be triggering, therapists either avoid those cues or use them constructively to help patients process and work through deep-seated emotions. Singapore's music therapy community has been steadily stepping up efforts to advocate for the profession's formal recognition as part of the allied health sector. This recognition carries important implications, from enabling patient subsidies and student funding to broadening access to music therapy across the health care system. Alongside the launch of Lasalle's program, AMTS has published several public resources in recent years. They include a Code of Ethics and Professional Standards, to guide local therapists and prepare the profession for integration into the allied health care framework. In Singapore, said Tan, music therapy can be an entryway for emotional expression in a society that often shies away from confronting difficult feelings. How Singapore's rich multiculturalism can be more deeply woven into music therapy is something Bakti hopes to explore in his practice. "Perhaps the collaborative, community-building aspects of Malay music could be used in group music therapy sessions, or the five-tone Chinese scales could be used to induce certain moods for patients," he said. When song lyrics speak about loss or longing, people are able to externalize their emotions and project themselves onto the music, Tan said. "It makes it, in a way, more acceptable to talk about negative emotions." Soon added, "We are all musical beings. We have musical memories and there's resonance. You don't have to be able to play an instrument or sing to feel connected to music."
CBC
16-06-2025
- CBC
Quebec police looking for missing 3-year-old last seen in Montreal, reported missing in Côteau-du-Lac
Quebec provincial police are searching for a missing 3 year-old girl who was last seen near Newman Avenue in Montreal's Lasalle borough on Sunday around 11:00 a.m. The Sûreté du Québec (SQ) say Claire Belle was reported missing around 3:30 p.m. in Côteau-du-Lac, just under an hour's drive west from the borough. In a post to X, the SQ says a person who claimed to be responsible for Belle went into a business on Chemin St-Emmanuel saying she "had lost the child and does not know where she is." Officers have set up command posts in both Lasalle and Côteau-du-Lac. They're also searching for Belle in Ontario. SQ spokesperson Jean-Raphaël Drolet says her disappearance does not meet the requirement for an Amber Alert to be issued, but that they are treating the case seriously. Belle is three feet tall, weighs 35 pounds and has brown eyes and brown hair.
CTV News
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- CTV News
TikTok turns the tables at a Montreal restaurant
When Tularosa opened in late March, business wasn't exactly booming. 'It was a little bit slow at the beginning,' said Jov Ruiz, co-owner and chef. But these days all it takes is one viral video to turn a local restaurant into a hotspot. Lawrence Binding started posting reviews during the pandemic to support small businesses. When his daughter craved Mexican food, they walked into Tularosa and were both blown away. His TikTok review racked up 35,000 views in 24 hours. 'It went kaboom,' Binding laughs. Trouble is, the Lasalle eatery wasn't quite ready. Quickly, the number of customers was overwhelming. 'One of my friends called me up and said, 'It took me two hours to get served.' Come on. That's ridiculous,' said Binding. 'Clean this, clean that, prep this, cut that ... we run, we run. Didn't stop running the whole night,' Ruiz said. Ruiz adds the restaurant was short-staffed and stretched thin. But when the complaints came in, his team didn't waste time. He's no stranger to pressure, especially from his toughest critic: his mom. 'Even though we graduated from cooking school, she still goes like, 'No, no, no. Don't do that. That's wrong. Throw it. Do it again.' She gives her personal home touch,' Ruiz said. They've since hired more staff, streamlined the kitchen and jumped back on TikTok. 'I would like to apologize, we are organizing ourselves to serve you better,' Ruiz said in a follow-up video, sitting next to Binding. Ruiz' authenticity resonated. His apology? Accepted. And for customers, the food did the rest. 'The food, the freshness, the quality, the guacamole alone. The shrimp? Oh my God. And I'm not even a seafood guy,' said Binding. The video may have gone viral, but what keeps people coming back is what's on the plate. And for restaurants like this, the local love goes a long way.
CTV News
30-05-2025
- General
- CTV News
Relay for Life event at Lasalle High School raises money for cancer patients
Students at St. Thomas of Villanova Catholic High School in Lasalle participate in Relay for Life fundraiser to support local cancer patients. (Gary Archibald/CTV News Windsor) Students at a Lasalle Ontario high school kicked off their 5th annual 'Relay for Life' event this Friday afternoon. The aim - to raise $60,000 to help those battling cancer. The fundraiser is held by schools nation-wide – with a record number of students participating this year. The event features numerous activities but most important of all are the 'survivor lap' and the 'luminary ceremony.' 053025 - Relay for Life Students at St. Thomas of Villanova Catholic High School in Lasalle participate in Relay for Life fundraiser to support local cancer patients. (Gary Archibald/CTV News Windsor) Most of the funds stay local - helping people who are battling cancer with transportation costs, hospital and hotel stays, a help hotline and other patient care resources. Allie Raper is manager for the Canadian Cancer Society. Raper is impressed and grateful to the students, teachers, staff and school for their efforts to support the cause. 'The dollars they are raising is supporting world class research, advocacy efforts, support services and so much more,' said Raper. 053025 - Relay for Life Students at St. Thomas of Villanova Catholic High School in Lasalle participate in Relay for Life fundraiser to support local cancer patients. (Gary Archibald/CTV News Windsor) 'Whether you're creating a world where Canadians don't have to live in fear of cancer, but rather how can we create a world together, living with and beyond cancer. And we're so thankful to be here with this incredible group today.' Last year the event's target of $50,000 was exceeded - with $72,000 raised in total.
