Month: March 2018

End of Toys “R” Us in US, UK with bid to sell Canadian firm

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Toys “R” Us is headed toward shuttering its US and UK operations, jeopardizing the jobs of some 30,000 employees. It spells the end for a chain known to generations of children and parents for its sprawling stores and Geoffrey the giraffe mascot. CBC says the closing of the company’s 740 US stores over the coming months will finalize the downfall of the chain that succumbed to relentless trends that undercut its business, from online shopping to mobile games. In Canada, Toys ‘R’ Us Canada will try to carry on with CEO David Brandon telling employees Wednesday the Canadian firm will try to bundle its 200 store Canadian business and find a buyer. The company’s US online store would still be running for the next couple of weeks in case there’s a buyer for it.




Four break-ins in 13 and 53 Divisions in a week, police warn

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Toronto Police are warning of a series of break-and-enters within the area of Avenue Road, Bathurst Street, Lawrence Avenue West and Eglinton Avenue West. They started March 7, 2018 and since March 12 have totalled four. They are overnight residential burglaries, one in 13 Division and three in 53 Division. All four entries are in close proximity to each other, and appear similar in nature. With all four incidents, it appears the suspects staked out the addresses prior to attempting to break in, say police. Further, in all four entries the suspects attempted to gain or subsequently gained entry via the rear backyard door, or front door, to the residence. The time of the entries has ranged from late evening to as early as 5 a.m. Residents are requested to be vigilant. The Toronto Police Service is asking residents to immediately report to police any activity they deem suspicious. Residents are encouraged to contact the 53 Division Crime Prevention Office at 416-808-5319 for crime-prevention strategies.

Notorious fraud on TTC, taxpayer, sees at least 223 fired

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Some 223 employees of the TTC have been fired or left the agency because of an involvement of some type in the notorious scam to defraud the public with phony claims for orthotics. Two years ago TTC spokesman Brad Ross guessed that there might be as many 600 employees involved in some fashion. The racket was discovered in 2014 after a tip from an unknown source. It consisted of an offer from the owner of Healthy Fit, an orthotics business with locations in Toronto and Mississauga, to split insurance fees for nonexistent service with employees making a claim. Claims were submitted for items including compression stockings, sleeves, and orthotics, in addition to therapy services. Ten current and former TTC employees, along with the owner of Healthy Fit, Adam Smith, have been criminally charged in connection with the scam. Smith was previously found guilty of two counts of fraud over $5,000 and was sentenced to two years in prison. Of the 10 TTC employees who were charged, four have pleaded guilty and received a conditional discharge, probation, and community service. More than $82,000 in restitution has been collected from the employees, the TTC said. The charges against the remaining six employees are currently before the courts. The case stands as an example of the widespread capacity of public employees, and no doubt others, to commit fraud and in effect steal from the City.

Tuba ensemble, Storage Wars and 3rd Easter in the Village

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Euba to perform at TOTES
Storage Wars?
Meeting March 20
March 31
Must close
Family Skating March 15

Upper left, say hello to Michela Comparey and her friends in the Euba Ensemble set to rock Lawrence Park Community Church Saturday. It’s the first Toronto Tuba Euphonium Symposium (TOTES) ever. Upper right, Leaside may just be ready for an episode of Storage Wars as the complement of storage locker companies seems set to expand forever. This is the enormous facility going up on Esandar Drive opposite Leaside Village shopping centre. It’s called Bluebird Storage. Below that, a meeting is set for Tuesday, March 20, at 7 p.m. at the Isabel Bader Theatre, 93 Charles St, W. to discuss the towering project just down the street from Scrivener Square and the old train station. There’s more here. Centre left, the third annual Easter in the Village on Mt. Pleasant Rd. is set for Saturday, March 31. This is the event co-sponsored by Meridian Credit Union that runs a family movie at the Regent Theatre followed by an Easter Egg hunt at June Rowlands Park. Nice. And hey, there’s family skating tomorrow (Thursday March 15) at East York Arena, 888 Cosburn Ave. Finally, lower left, the Handy Book Exchange will close as renovations are imminent at the Avenue Road storefront. The rent will rocket up after that. Owner Carole Nelles says it will be impossible to carry on at rent of $6,000 a month.

Cops struggle with ambush of man arriving home from work

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Suspected shooter
Walked around before victim arrived
Dwayne Anthony Vidal, 31,
Detective Mike Carbone

Police are struggling with the shooting death of Dwayne Anthony Vidal, 31, outside his home in a townhouse complex on Mt. Olive Drive in Toronto’s 23 Division. It emerges that the cold-blooded shooting took place last Saturday afternoon without warning as Mr. Vidal came home from work. A man walking along the street produced a gun and shot him without interaction between the two. Police have released images of the apparent perpetrator and a vehicle in which it is believed he was a passenger. Detective Carbone said the suspect had walked around the complex for a period of time before Mr.Vidal arrived. Vidal had no criminal record and was not known to police.

Young driver escapes death when his car hits tree and burns

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A young driver has escaped a fiery crash of his car into a tree in Mississauga early Wednesday. The collision occurred in the area of Fairwind Drive and Bristol Road shortly before 1:30 a.m.

Fire at Canadian Tire in Ajax extinguished, no injuries

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A fire at the Canadian Tire in Ajax is being called suspicious. Emergency crews were called to the store on Kingston Road aroud 8 a.m. on Wednesday. Officials said the fire broke in a fenced storage area next to the garage. Flashback to Leaside CTC fire of September 2012.

Dog dies in overhead bin on Houston to New York flight

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A dog has died in its carrier on a United Airlines jet apparently because a flight attendant ordered the owner to place the carrier in the plane’s overhead bin. United said Tuesday that it took full responsibility for the incident on the Monday night flight from Houston to New York. It said this death  was “a tragic accident that should never have occurred, as pets should never be placed in the overhead bin.” The dog was in a small pet carrier designed to fit under an airline seat but for reasons unknown was not put there.

FED $102 BILLION RAINY DAY ACCOUNT

The federal government has an instant-access fund of $102-billion in emergency cash, the first such known rainy day stash. The highly liquid assets are available to keep the government running for at least a month should the country ever find itself confronted by a severe crisis, such as a cyberattack that impairs access to financial markets, according to Canadian Press. A recently released briefing note for Finance Minister Bill Morneau explained details about the unheralded plan. “Canada holds liquidity reserves as a hedge against highly unlikely but potentially disruptive stress events,” said the August 2017 memo, obtained by CP via the Access to Information Act.

BED BUGS AT RYE SAYS EYEOPENER

The student newspaper Eyeopener says there are bed bugs creeping around in classroom desks at the university. Ryerson says it is looking into the story. Stephanie Phillips, who works for the Eyeopener, told CBC that she encountered several bed bugs in a lecture last month.  “I felt an itch on my hand. When I looked down, I saw this small reddish-brown beetle-looking bug. I immediately flicked it off my hand,” she said. “I didn’t think at the time that it was a bed bug because I had seen bed bugs before but they weren’t that big.”

 

Ottawa pledges support to World Cup bid by Canadian cities

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Minister of science and minister of sport and persons with disabilities, Kirsty Duncan, with kids at BMO Field/City News

The federal government officially threw its support behind the North American bid for the 2026 World Cup on Tuesday, with the promise of up to $5 million in immediate help should the unified bid win. Canada, Mexico and the U.S. are up against Morocco to host the men’s soccer showcase. Their bid books go to FIFA at the end of the week with a decision to be made June 13 at the FIFA congress. Tuesday’s announcement at BMO Field was the latest in a string of news events designed to show the bid is on track. Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal and Edmonton, identified as potential Canadian candidate cities, have already endorsed the bid.

OTHER NEWS