Month: January 2021

A British judge has found that Julian Assange deserved to be extradited to the US for his Wikileaks crime but that he is so mentally unstable that she dedicated to keep him the UK. In a mixed ruling for Assange and his supporters, District Judge Vanessa Baraitser rejected defence arguments that the 49-year-old Australian faces a politically motivated American prosecution that rides roughshod over free-speech protections. But she said Assange’s precarious mental health would likely deteriorate further under the conditions of “near total isolation” he would face in a U.S. prison. CNA

Nicky Scardino is seen with counsel Monica Rodrigues of Belleville and Peter Zaduk of Toronto

A Trenton area woman, Nicky Scardino, 47,  has been found not guilty of manslaughter by a jury in the death of her long-time boyfriend, Sammy Andrews, 49. The trial heard the two had a long on-and-off relationship which Scardino ended during an incident in March 2018. Her decision infuriated Andrews. He jumped in front of Scardino’s Mazda 3 which was moving at under 10 km/h. Scardino testified she tried to steer around Andrews and then felt a bump. She slammed on the brakes immediately and discovered Andrews dead under her car. Toronto Sun.

Downsview-Roding-CFB

Thorncliffe Park

Leaside-Bennington

The Ministry of Health reported 3,363 new cases of C-19 province-wide on Saturday for the 24-hour period ended at midnight. The surge of cases is everywhere of course but it remains true now, as it did months ago, that the vast number of cases in Toronto are occurring in nine or ten neighbourhoods in the northeast and northwest. The Toronto Interactive Map counts recorded cases by address within the last three weeks. On this day, Downsview-Roding-CFB tops the list with 284. Another high-rise area among places showing the highest number of recent cases is Woburn, with 259. On Saturday, the City’s dozens of neighbourhoods collectively counted 700 new cases. It’s a different number from the three-week figure but it reveals the growth of the same sickness across the community.

Police are seeking the good person or persons who ran to the aid of the driver of an overturned Mercedes at Keele St. and Sheppard Ave. Friday. It seems the Merc was northbound when it struck another vehicle heading west at the corner. It spun around and hit a stopped vehicle before rolling over. That’s when the person(s) unknown pulled the driver out. A nasty New Year’s morning tangle at Keele and Sheppard

Prominent location carries sign about a new store

A sign on the boarded-up former home of Four Seasons Auto Repair will surely need some follow-up. It suggests that a moving supplies store operated by Access Storage will open on this site. The collection of old brick and tin buildings dates from well back in the history of Leaside. The rusting Quonset huts are 1940s-era wartime structures. Records indicate there is no building permit yet issued. Or, has Access Storage posted a sign that doesn’t tell us the location of a new store?

• Old Four Seasons property boarded up for the duration
• Four Seasons Auto at 199 Laird sold for $10.5 million

Windows and doors boarded over

Four teens drove into rock cut common in Eastern Ontario/CTV

The unusual charge of criminal negligence laid against an Ottawa area bartender will be heard this Spring some three-and-a-half years after two underage drinkers, 18, died in a highway accident. The bar lady, Anne Senack, 63, of Calabogie, is accused of serving four underage Renfrew Timberwolves players before their car rammed a rock cut on a county road killing two of them in October of 2017. The legal drinking age in Ontario is 19. Trial dates have been set aside in April (2021) and May. It’s not clear if the charge of criminal negligence in similar cases has ever been laid, but it is highly unusual. Ms. Senack has considerable support in her community and a Gofundme effort has raised nearly $81,000. Supporters say her defense will probably cost $150,000 in total, all of it out of pocket. They raise $53,000 to defend server in death of drunk teens