Month: May 2015

Charter Communications announced a $55 billion deal for Time Warner Cable Tuesday, giving mogul John Malone the prize he has been chasing for two years. The acquisition by Charter, which is backed by Malone’s Liberty Broadband, would vault the cable operator into the ranks of the biggest U.S. broadband and pay-television companies. The firms have agreed to terms for a cash-and-stock deal that would value Time Warner Cable at $195 a share, according to people familiar with the matter. The stories do not make it clear but for non-insiders, it appears that the Turner Broadcast Division of Time Warner, which owns CNN,  is untouched by this deal.

Loblaws has withdrawn a product called President’s Choice Moroccan-style hummus because it may the toxin produced by staphylococcus bacteria. It should not be eaten. Loblaws says the affected product was sold in 280-gram containers across Canada with UPC 060383133870 and best before date of June 14.There have been no complaints or reports of illness associated with the product to date and it has been removed from store shelves. Loblaws says customers can return the recalled hummus for a refund.

The lockdown of Peel Region schools is over. Authorities say it was caused by a malicious call to police which said the caller was on his or her way to certain school with firearms. Police say they are satisfied that the call was a hoax but there is no one is custody. NewsTalk1010

The Ontario Ombudsman has condemned Hydro One in the most astonishing language ever heard from a civil servant, albeit a high-ranking one. Today Andre Marin used words like deceit and extortion (as reported by the CBC in the video above). The Hydro Board and Minister of Energy were “lied to” by Hydro One management when they tried to inquire about complaints. And, it seems clear the huge government agency was hardly better than a pick-up team of first-year science students when it came to launching a new billing system. It went off the track and according to the Ombudsman there was no Plan B. Ordinary residential users were charged hundreds of thousands of dollars for the power being used by a nearby gold mine. CFB Trenton received a bill for $50 million for one month. Some customers who in good conscience refused to pay, had money removed from their bank accounts. It is such an unbelievable display of incompetence that some are asking again if it is safe to leave Ontario Hydro in the hands of engineers. Twenty years ago Ontario Hydro was carved into pieces when it was decided that the engineering management had gotten lost in the machinery. Carmine Marcello, the president and CEO of Hydro One has admitted to the billing madness and ruthless treatment of some customers.

Education Minister Sandals has announced Monday that the Ontario government is preparing back to work legislation which would force high school teachers to return to the classroom. She also said the Education Relations Commission has concluded that the present OSSTF strikes in three communities, and further strikes, would jeopardize the school year for tens of thousands of students. The NDP has said it will not support the back to work bill but the Conservatives will.