Archive
Autres Nouvelles - Other News
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16 janvier / January 16
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La Fête des rois
Vive le roi ! Vive la reine !
Cette année, près de trois cents courtisans de tous les coins du royaume avaient rendez-vous à la cour royale au Centre Aydelu le 12 janvier 2008 pour participer au grand Bal de la fête des Rois, au cours duquel ont été couronnés le Roi et la Reine qui régneront sur le royaume pendant toute l’année 2008. Quelque trente princesses et princes, tous d’ascendance royale, aspiraient à la couronne royale.
Le mouvement Impératif français, organisateur, annonce que la Reine et le Roi sont, pour l’an 2008 : Sa Majesté Marie 1re, Marie Desmarais, et Sa Majesté Claude 1er, Claude Dagenais.
Photo: Impératif français
Stalking the Screech-Owl
A shy Eastern Screech-Owl hiding deep in a spruce near Breckenridge. These birds are notoriously difficult to sight.
Photo: Biran & Lise Young
My birding year for 2007 finished with two very good and unexpected species. The first surprise was an Eastern Screech-Owl which I found during the Dunrobin-Breckenridge Christmas Bird Count on December 22. Eight birders, Frédéric Bedard, John and Aaron Brisebois, Larry and Kate Newman, Brian and Lise Young and I, managed to locate thirty species on the Quebec side of the count circle under much better weather conditions than the big snow storm of the preceding weekend.
I found the owl in a spruce tree on Chemin Kawartha which is west of Aylmer near the old Francis Fuel garage on highway 148. I was counting the different birds going to yard feeders when I noticed that the chickadees were very agitated as they flew in and out of a spruce tree. Even with the help of the chickadees it took me almost twenty minutes to finally locate this tiny owl which was well hidden in the boughs of the spruce. Brian and Lise managed to photograph the bird later in the day but as you can see in the accompanying photo it is still hard to see due to all tree branches.
On December 31 I finally managed to see my first Gray Partridges of the year on Chemin Papineau in Breckenridge. The seven partridge had been spotted earlier by local resident Pierre Sauvageau who was kind enough to inform other birders. These small game birds which are native to Europe were introduced to our region by hunters but they have never reached large numbers and are subject to die-offs during harsh winters. They spend most of the year in flocks or coveys and they prefer farmland and pastures as long as there are hedgerows and small groves of trees close by where they can take cover. This was my first sighting of these birds close to Aylmer.
Recent reports come from Tim Benedict and Madeleine Mosian who each had juvenile hawks in their backyards. Tim had a Sharp-shinned while Madeleine had a Cooper’s. These two bird-eating hawks are part of the accipiter group of hawks that also includes the larger Northern Goshawk. Both of these smaller accipiters are common visitors to backyard feeders during the winter as there are fewer birds around and the hawks are simply following their available prey.
Good birding!
Garry McNulty
How to drive in a traffic circle
Julie Murray
With the opening of Boulevard des Allumettières, Gatineau drivers must now navigate three new roundabouts, or two-lane traffic circles, a new challenge for many. When approaching a roundabout, slow down near the yield lane. You must yield to any pedestrians in the crosswalk.
It’s important to choose the correct entry lane. If you are turning right, get in the right lane. To turn left, get in the left lane. To go straight, get in either the left or right lane. Drivers of large vehicles should straddle the entry lanes, using both of them. When you see a gap in the traffic, enter the roundabout, proceeding counterclockwise, to the right of the “splitter island,” or the triangular-shaped island that connects the road to the roundabout.
Yield to all traffic coming on your left, including cyclists, regardless of their position. Do not enter beside someone already in the roundabout because they may be exiting—drivers in the roundabout always have the right-of-way. Do not stop in the roundabout and never pass other vehicles within the circle.
As you approach the desired exit, use your right turn signal and take the exit while maintaining a slow speed. Do not change lanes before exiting—that is why it is important not to pass other vehicles in the roundabout or to drive next to them. Although there are two lanes in a roundabout, traffic should move “single file,” one after another, so that drivers can leave the roundabout at their exit even if they are in the left lane, that lane closest to the central island. If you miss your exit, go around the circle again.
On foot, on bikes
Pedestrians should use sidewalks and crosswalks around the outside of the roundabout—do not cut across the middle of the roundabout. Use the splitter island—that will allow you to cross one direction of traffic at a time. Cross at a safe time, when there is a gap in traffic.
Experienced cyclists should ride through a roundabout as if they were driving a car. Vehicles in roundabouts travel slowly, close to the speed of a bicycle. When getting into a roundabout, merge into the travel lane before the bike lane or shoulder ends. Within the roundabout, ride in the middle of the lane; don’t hug the curb. Watch out for drivers’ blind spots. Less confident cyclists should dismount and walk their bicycle. Follow the tips for pedestrians.
If you hear or see an emergency vehicle approaching and if you have not yet entered the roundabout, stop and let the emergency vehicle pass. If you are already in the roundabout, continue on and exit as normal, then pull to the right where there is room for the emergency vehicle to pass. Do not stop inside the roundabout.
Benfits of circles
Roundabouts have many benefits, including keeping traffic moving smoothly and reducing unnecessary stops, and idling and air pollution, as well as noise pollution, as trucks use their motor brakes less frequently. Because of the vegetation planted on the inner circle, roundabouts improve the appearance of intersections. Roundabouts also reduce the number and severity of collisions, lowering the incidence of accidents with injuries, because drivers must slow down.
In terms of safety, roundabouts also have a marked advantage over intersections with lights or stop signs: it is impossible to run through a red light or stop sign, causing a high-speed side collision. While four-way intersections have thirty-two conflict points, or areas where two vehicles, or a vehicle and a cyclist or pedestrian, cross paths or intersect, roundabouts have only eight.
For more information on roundabouts, visit the Transport Ministry at www.mtq.gouv.qc.ca.
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Récupération des équipements électroniques
La Ville informe la po pulation qu’elle récupère, depuis le 3 janvier, les vieux équipements électroniques tels que les téléviseurs de 28 pouces et moins, les lecteurs de DVD, les ma gnétoscopes, les consoles de jeux vidéos, les terminaux mobiles de poche (de type BlackBerry) et les fours à micro-ondes. Ces appareils sont récupérés au même titre que le matériel informatique dans l’un des dépôts suivants, du lundi au vendredi (sauf les jours fériés) :
Centre de services d’Aylmer (Informatique), 115, rue Principale, 2e étage
Centre de récupération et de transbordement, 860, boulevard de la Carrière
CFER de l’Outaouais, 444, boulevard Saint-René Est (porte arrière)
Usine du CFER de l’Outaouais, 418, rue Saint-Louis
Centre de services de Buckingham, 515, rue Charles
Centre de services de Masson-Angers, 57, chemin de Montréal Est
Maison de la culture 855, boulevard de la Gappe
Les équipements récupérés servent à former de jeunes décrocheurs inscrits au Centre de formation en entreprise et récupération (CFER) de l’Outaouais. On peut joindre le CFER de l’Outaouais au 819 770-0103 ou au www.cferoutaouais.ca.
Pour obtenir plus de renseignements sur le recyclage et l’enlèvement des déchets, composer le 3-1-1.
(FR)
Des services aux individus ainsi qu’aux petites entreprises
Notre concepteur de site web Richard Czapelka
Mireille Jacques
Richard est bénévole pour le Bulletin d’Aylmer depuis un an environ. Il est le concepteur de notre site web www.bulletinaylmer.com, il lui aura fallu initialement investir une cinquantaine d’heures de son temps afin d’organiser et de mettre en place toute information pertinente, dans le but de rendre le site intéressant et facile d’accès. Chaque semaine, il offre en moyenne une heure de son temps pour mettre à jour certaines tranches d’informations que proposent notre journal d’actualité communautaire dont la page principale, l’éditorial, les nouvelles diverses et petites annonces. Il est possible également à l’aide d’un mot clé de retrouver des archives de plus d’un an.
Ce qui a amené Richard à donner de son temps pour notre journal est sans contredit l’importance d’une implication communautaire afin de pouvoir rendre service et de partager l’un de ses nombreux talents. Effectivement, puisque tout en parlant avec lui j’ai appris que durant ses temps libres, il aime beaucoup travailler de ses mains le bois ou le métal, il a également écrit une série de quatorze petits livres pour enfants qu’il aimerait bien pouvoir faire illustrer et publier dans un avenir rapproché. Il s’est inspiré de toutes sortes d’histoires aussi cocasses les unes que les autres qu’il a vécu dans son milieu familial avec son chien et ses deux filles maintenant âgées respectivement de douze et quatorze ans. Chez lui, la télévision est quasi inexistante; la vie familiale, les loisirs et la créativité sont très valorisés et il encourage ce style de vie à ses filles dont il est père monoparental. Richard démontre beaucoup de courage et de détermination malgré son handicap à la jambe droite en raison duquel il doit se déplacer à l’aide d’une canne suite à un fâcheux accident alors qu’il travaillait à l’époque comme couvreur de toit. Il est du genre à ne pas trop se laisser affecter par les revers de la vie; il a appris à composer avec les événements du moment tels qu’ils se présentent.
Après avoir fait des études au Collège Algonquin, il est maintenant à son propre compte depuis 1995 comme ingénieur technicien de logiciel et de matériel, il offre ses services aux individus ainsi qu’aux petites entreprises; il est également en mesure d’enseigner le langage informatique et ce peu importe le niveau de connaissance de la personne à cet égard. Son tarif horaire est très abordable, soit de 25$ l’heure et il offre à la nouvelle clientèle la première heure de son temps gratuitement en vue de mieux se faire connaître et d’établir un climat de confiance.
Étant travailleur autonome, son objectif principal en 2008 est de supporter les petites entreprises et d’aider les individus que ce soit pour des réparations d’ordre technique ou d’ensei gner le bon fonctionnement de son ordinateur.
On peut facilement le rejoindre au numéro suivant : (819) 962-2468, par courriel : Rick@PMEOutaouais.com ou même visiter son site internet www.PMEOutaouais.com
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Construction statistics: Aylmer’s rapid growth continues
Julie Murray
According to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation, housing starts statistics for the last quarter of 2007, released January 9, Aylmer’s growth is skyrocketing, particularly in multiple-dwelling buildings. In Aylmer, the number of foundations laid for single-family detached homes grew by 20%, with 340 starts in 2007 as compared to 283 for the same period in 2006. Construction of semi-detached houses, row homes, and apartments, grew by 350%, with 765 homes started in 2007 as compared to 476 in 2006.
Hull up , Gatineau sector down
In Hull, a market with little detached single-family housing activity, 35 such homes were started in 2007, compared to 21 in 2006, an increase of nearly 17%. In 2007, 240 multiple-dwelling homes were started, as compared to 509 in 2006, a drop of approximately 53%. In Gatineau, 254 detached single-family homes were started in 2007, as compared to 457 in 2006, a drop of 44%. In 2007, 675 multiple-dwelling homes were started, compared to 719 in 2006, a drop of just over 9%.
In rural areas, which include Buckingham, Masson-Angers, Val-des-Monts, Cantley, Chelsea, La Pêche, and Pontiac municipality, 408 single-family detached homes were started in 2007 and 410 in 2006. And 71 multiple-dwelling homes were started in 2007, compared to 58. However the figures cannot be compared because since 2007, Denholm and L’Ange-Gardien are included in the “outlying areas.”
Semi-detached, Aylmer leads
Semi-detached housing starts increased by 4% to 721 units in 2007. Again, Aylmer came in first, with 478 new semi-detached houses, for a gain of 30% over 2006. Hull showed renewed activity, with 56 semi-detached home starts in 2007, compared to 6 in 2006, and the outlying area registered 71 starts of this type, versus 54 in 2006. In contrast, Gatineau sector recorded a decrease of 56%, with 116 such starts, compared to 262 in 2006. Condominium starts rose by 12% in 2007. This increase was attributable to an increase of 110% in Aylmer, which offset the decreases in Hull (-9%) and Gatineau (-20%).
Rentals not keeping up
Throughout the city, 1,037 single-detached houses were started in 2007, compared to 1,171 in 2006, a decrease of 11%, while multiple housing starts reached 1,751 units in 2007, compared with 1,762 in 2006, a drop of 1%. This decrease was due to a decline of 11% in rental housing starts overall, with Hull dropping by 81% in rental housing starts.
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