Month: March 2018

Superintendent Shaun Narine, Inspector Sonia Thomas and Chief Mark Saunders celebrate Thomas’ recognition/TPS

Image by © Lynda Richardson/CORBIS

Tricky Tungsten Ticklers/Ticklers Photo

Today’s Menu announces same-day delivery /Today’s Menu

Mabel’s Fables at 662 Mt. Pleasant

Drop in

Oompah Outbreak

53 Division second-in-command Inspector Sonia Thomas has been honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the International Women Achievers Awards Dinner. Thomas is a 32-year-old veteran of the TPS. The Toronto-born officer was one of just two black policewomen when she joined in 1986. Hear Insp. Thomas in her own words. Upper right, these sunny mid-March mornings are all the more joyous if there’s a Cardinal belting out a song. This is heard almost daily in Moore Park for one spot. Centre left, say hello to the Tungsten Ticklers. They are a gang of dart throwers (or dartists if you will) who meet at the Leaside Pub on Laird Drive every Tuesday. You may wish to check Susan Scandiffio’s account in Leaside Life. Centre right are the folks at Today’s menu on Millwood Rd. They’re announcing same-day service of their delicious prepared meals. L to r Lachlan Devir, Quinlan Hickey, Paul Hickey and Lisa Barton. Below, just two sleeps to the Mabel’s Fables event on Thursday morning from 10.30 to 11.30. Check it out. At bottom, don’t forget the Leaside Presbyterian Church Book Sale or that intriguing Oompah Outbreak coming to Lawrence Park Community Church March 17. Can’t wait.

Clinton St. as BMW removed from home/Tony Smyth@LateNightCam video capture

City News

Police are hunting the driver of a what is believed to be an Audi SUV who smashed the expensive car into a modest home on Mansfield Ave. and then ran off. It happened early Tuesday near College and Bathurst.

A tow truck removes an SUV from a house on Mansfield Ave in Toronto as firefighters look on. Police report two people fled the scene on foot. pic.twitter.com/KSGG0MCwvi

— Tony Smyth (@LateNightCam) March 13, 2018

US President Trump has tweeted that he has replaced Secretary of State Rex Tillerson with CIA head Mike Pompeo. Gina Haspel will lead the CIA. Trump thanked Tillerson and said he has nominated Haspel to replace Pompeo, but stopped short of saying what was behind the change. If confirmed, Haspel, currently deputy director of the intelligence agency, would become its first woman director. Then the creepy details of the Russian poison used to kill Sergai Skripal and his daughter and the revealing non-denial by Putin when questioned by the BBC. Leave me alone. Finally, chilling video from aboard the doomed helicpter that crashed into the East River killing five.

City News recounts the agony of Monday’s “outage” at PIA Terminal One, a phenomenon which in recent years has become common at Toronto airport. It occurs at all terminals and is frequently, although not always, attributed to slowness of the Internet (which means volume of demand)

Durham Regional and Toronto Police have two men in custody and are searching for a third after a bank robbery in Ajax Monday. Earlier reports that a bandit fired at police have now been corrected. Durham.com says that police fired one shot at a bandit. The robbers apparently abandoned their vehicle, seen in video embedded here. It was shot by Peterborough Scanner Feed at the side of Highway 401 near Salem Road as the perpetrators fled into the fields.

Toronto Public Health says it is investigating a confirmed case of measles on Air Canada flight AC 0879, a direct flight that departed from Zürich Airport in Zurich, Switzerland at 9:25 a.m. and arrived at Toronto Pearson International Airport at 12:07 p.m. on March 6, 2018. Those on board may have been exposed to the virus. Measles is a highly contagious disease that spreads easily to those who are susceptible. Anyone who has not had two doses of a measles vaccine (MMR or MMRV) or who has not had measles in the past is at risk of infection. Infants under one year of age, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems can get very ill with measles.

Smiling at Cynthia Mulligan and softly moving on

Doug Ford did the round of Toronto television news shows Monday, smiling his way through suggestions that the PC party is fractured and insisting it will sweep the province in the June general election. “I’m predicting right now this is gong to be the biggest majority this province has ever seen. We are going to win more seats than anyone ever has,” he told Cynthia Mulligan on City. Ford demonstrated a style known to journalists and others which runs beneath his loud image. He softly pressed on past Mulligan’s contention that the “knives are out” and agreed engagingly that a cartoon making fun of him was indeed funny. “Everyone in the province is frustrated,” he stressed. “They do not want Kathleen Wynne back … They want a change. We are going to bring a change and make this province the most prosperous province in the entire country.” On CP24, he talked of a “big tent” Progressive Conservative Party. The big tent is a tenet of getting-elected-101.  “I’m going to bring a whole new dimension to this party,” Ford said. “We have a big tent. I want the NDP voters, I want the Liberal voters, I want the Green voters to come on board and join the PC Party because we have a big social heart, but we’re staunch fiscal conservatives. The only way we take care of people is by taking care of our finances.”

10-storey Alaska proposal

Traditional 9-story residence

The development at 2779 Yonge St south of Strathgowan Ave. has recently been presented for application by Devron Developments. It is a far cry from the “avant garde” proposal for the land first advanced by developer Bianca Pollak and architects Will Alsop associates back in 2013. It may have been avant garde to some but to members of the Uptown Yonge Neighbourhood Alliance (UYNA) it was a scary “Flying Table Top” The 10-storey residential development known as Alaska was proposed with cantilevered upper levels before evolving to remove the cantilever and add shots of colour to the mix. It was appealed to the OMB and a settlement reached in 2016 to permit a 9-storey building on the site. The proposal now is traditional in style and while it may not appeal to architectural dreamers it suits the UYNA just fine. Urban Toronto

• Residents fight “Flying Table Top” at Yonge/Strathgowan
• Former City planner, developer team up on proposal to build affordable housing in Toronto, Vancouver

Helicopter hits water and sinks immediately.

Five people have died in the crash of a sightseeing helicopter into the East River in New York. Only the pilot survived Sunday evening’s crash. To the right, remarkable video of a 2015 attack by workers on two Air France employees who had their shirts ripped off and had to flee for their lives. The case is now in court. Below that, PETA zanies run rampant at a dog show to save the animals. And finally, Beijing bosses really did it. China’s 21st Century march back to one-man government was given formal approval by its unelected parliament Sunday. What in the world are they thinking?  Save Me, Save Me’: Scores Dead in Plane Crash in Kathmandu

It’s beyond the understanding of most adults why anyone would wish to steal a gumball machine but this man in Sacramento is more determined than most. He enters a dog shelter through the one-way dog door and then tries to ram the machine out through the same door. His exploits, if that’s the word, are recorded here.

Team Ontario led by John Epping of the Leaside Curling Club has been eliminated from Brier play after a 6-4 defeat by Team Alberta Sunday in Regina. Alberta will meet Team Canada and skip Brad Gushue Monday.

Excited to watch Team Epping next year. I’m a westerner, but have a soft spot for this team. You did awesome this week guys!!

— Marlene McC Lafrentz (@LafrentzRm) March 12, 2018