Yonge-Eglinton under pressure for mega-towers

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Post City Toronto has a story by Bree Rody-Mantha on the over-sized expectations of a developer for Yonge St. and Eglinton Ave. Josh Matlow, the tireless City Hall warrior of Ward 22 promises a fight against a proposed 68 storey tower to replace the well known building on the southeast corner, familiar to all as One Eglinton. And we may wish him well but it is Yonge Street after all. No one can be surprised that developers will wish to build a “downtown” in midtown, as one might say, just as they built a downtown in North York. Post City Toronto 

Anger, grief as Everest trade school shut down

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There is shock, anger and considerable grief among poorer students trying to better themselves at the abrupt closure of  Everest College. The college, operated on 14 campuses in Ontario,  was told today it is no longer authorized to operate in Ontario. It appears Everest has been on a slippery slope since the U.S. Department of Education began withholding monies. This occurred because Everest  in the U.S. had allegedly offered irregular information about career opportunities with certain diplomas. In this CBC report students at an Ottawa campus express heart-rending sorrow at the outcome.  On Thursday, the superintendent of private career colleges, the independent regulator that governs schools like Everest and others in the province, said it has suspended the chain’s licence to operate in Ontario as a private college, effective immediately. The office “can propose to revoke a private career college’s registration if [the superintendent] no longer satisfied that it can be expected to be financially responsible in its operation as a private career college, considering its current financial position,” the regulator said in a statement.  Toronto Star 

Queen’s grants leave to professor in vaccine stink

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Professor Melody Torcolacci won’t be teaching Health 102 at Queen’s University any more according to the university’s provost, Alan Harrison. Ms. Torcolacci has sought and been granted leave from the university. Provost Harrison issued a report in which he said he could not state unequivocally that Torcolacci’s sole intention was to present the case against vaccination but he nonetheless had to say that such a conclusion was reasonable based on the material presented in her slides. It seems like a considerable embarrassment for Queen’s. The Kingston medical officer of health Ian Gemmill had complained about the thrust of Torcolacci’s work in 2011. Nothing came of it. Toronto Star 

Aurora Borealis dazzles in skies of England

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The Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights  have been dazzling stargazers in the skies of Northern England and parts of Scotland. The spectacular sight is caused by the interaction of charged particles and the Earth’s magnetic field and atmosphere. Photographer Ian Glendinning captured these remarkable pictures in north-east England. The narration here is not as clear as it might be. Northumberland nameplaces are elusive although the show has been good at Holy Stone and well recorded at the Kielder Observatory. 

Bayview Ave is under repair at Millwood, Moore

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Our beloved South Bayview is singing the winter blues. At the “downtown” intersection of Millwood and Bayview (above) Hydro is up to its old tricks. Nothing to do with the weather, they say. But it’s cold all the same. There’s enough cable on that reel to stretch to Muskoka. It is even slower down at Bayview and Moore  Ave as once again Father Frigid Finger has broken the traffic lights. With no lights and parked trucks it is very tricky getting in and out of any of the businesses there. Police are on duty. 

HEARTBREAK: Boy 3 dies in bitter Toronto cold

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Elijah Marsh, 3, has died in the most tragic way, lost on the street of a bitterly cold City and unable to help himself.  The lad was seen on security video around 4 a.m. leaving his grandmother’s apartment on Neptune Drive. He was clad in very light clothes and was not found until after 9 a.m., despite the furious efforts of police. He was finally discovered in the snow about two blocks from his home. The address is in the Bathurst and Highway 401 area. The temperature overnight was about -19C, but strong winds made it feel closer to -30. The police search was desperate as cops scrambled over garbage bins and through garages in an attempt to locate the boy. 

Niagara MOH says expect more cases of mealses

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Valerie Jaeger MOH 
The Niagara medical officer of health Dr. Valerie Jaeger says she fully expects there will more cases of measles before the current outbreak runs its course. There are 17 known cases in Ontario, six in Niagara and 11 in the GTA.  People are being urged to have children vaccinated as soon as possible, especially if they may have been exposed to others with the disease. Four schools are targeted for such work in Niagara:  Saint Michael Catholic High School, and Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Elementary School, the Boys and Girls Club, and Lighthouse Church of God. Four of the confirmed cases in Niagara are said to be in one family but Dr. Jaeger said her duty as a doctor permitted her to say only that the patients are closely linked.  She revealed that one of the Niagara patients had traveled to Toronto when the first cases surfaced there, and that testing reveals the strain of measles in Niagara and Toronto are in the same family.