Donald J.M. HUGHES

Photo: Louisie Leblanc

The Opéra de Québec presented an online performance of The Barber of Seville in concert format on May 29 via their website and YouTube. The beauty of this comic opera can be seen again and again, free of charge, at operadequebec.com.

In the slick video illustrating and dramatizing the Legault government’s Quebec City-Lévis tunnel project, the caption off the top declares “Le temps est venu d’aller en avant, de réparer une erreur historique.”

What exactly is this historic error a $10-billion (at least) tunnel will fix?

Photo: Wikimedia Commons - Public Domain

This street is named in honour of one of the most eminent scientists of the 19th century. Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) was a French chemist and microbiologist renowned for his discoveries of the principles behind vaccination, microbial fermentation and pasteurization.

Photo: Fondation Maurice-Pollack

La Maison Pollack, once home to Maurice Pollack, a Jewish immigrant from what is now Ukraine who later became a successful merchant and renowned philanthropist, will be restored and become the Maison de la Diversité, under a plan announced recently by Mayor Régis Labeaume.

Photo: Cassandra Kerwin

Spring is here, trees and flowers are in bloom; even the temperature and humidity are typical of more southern climes. To enjoy the full tropical experience, visitors can now purchase tickets for the latest exhibit at the Musée de la Civilisation (MCQ), MAYA, which tells the story of the fascinating Central American civilization of the same name.

Photo: QMJHL

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) announced May 18 that number 4, worn by Guy Lafleur during his junior career with the Quebec Remparts, will be retired by all teams in the league.

The announcement was made during a video-conference with league commissioner Gilles Courteau and Lafleur.

Photo: Emmanuel Vermette via Facebook

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) Central Scouting Bureau has released its final prospect rankings for the league’s upcoming entry draft, to be held on June 25 and 26.

David Ralph BIRCHER

It is with profound sadness that the family of David Ralph Bircher announces his passing at Hôpital Saint-François d’Assise in Quebec City on March 16, 2021.
David was the beloved husband of Carol Nickel Bircher for 60 years. Born in Wisconsin and raised in Iowa, he was the son of Dr. Ralph Bircher and Mrs. Eleanor Culver Bircher.

Eric MILLER
1944-2021

It is with great sorrow that we announce the passing of our father Eric Miller on May 16 at the age of 76 after a long illness.

Photo: Dean Jobb

It’s not very often one is asked to write a review of a book of narrative nonfiction about an international serial killer who used to teach Sunday school and sing in the choir at a church in Quebec City!

Photo: Shirley Nadeau

Teachers at 45 CEGEPs across the province began a 48-hour strike on May 11, and were joined by colleagues at CEGEPs in Quebec City two days later.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons - Public Domain

This street is named in honour of Louis de La Porte de Louvigny (1662-1725).
Louvigny was a French military officer who arrived in New France in 1683 as the French and Indian War (Seven Years’ War) was breaking out. He married Marie Nolan in Quebec City in 1684, and the couple had four surviving children – three daughters and one son. Six other children died in infancy.

Photo: Cassandra Kerwin

On May 10, the Ville de Québec unveiled a commemorative plaque in honour of Olivier Le Jeune, the first African resident of what is now Quebec City. The plaque is situated in the interior courtyard of the Séminaire de Québec, where Le Jeune, a slave, lived with one of the first French colonists in the region, Guillaume Couillard.

Photo: National Assembly website

Mixed reaction greeted the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government’s long-awaited and much-speculated-upon reforms to Quebec’s language laws.