The judge presiding over Luka Rocco Magnotta’s preliminary hearing has turned down a defense request to have everyone excluded from the courtroom. Judge Lori-Renne Wietzman made the decision apparently without elaborating on why  Magnotta’s lawyer felt the ban was necessary.  A ban on testimony is normal during preliminary hearings but the defense wanted to keep the media out even though it was not permitted to write about the testimony. 

Sarah Thompson has told a Toronto radio station that she thought Mayor Ford was on cocaine the night he allegedly molested her at a large party at the Acadian Court. This follows the mayor’s comment on his radio program on Newstalk 1010 that he feels Ms Thompson is “not playing with a full deck.”  These careless slanders invoke again Christie Blatchford’s observation that Mr. Ford and Ms Thompson are Mr. Train Wreck and Ms Train Wreck. None of it reflects well on either party. Nor does it seem right for the media to let them keeping cranking out insults which shed no light on the truth. It seems certain, given the many informed witnesses who have already come forward that there will never be a factual determination of the key question.  But it is more than clear that Ms Thompson’s agenda is to keep talking about the alleged offense from now until election day 2014. Frankly it seems doubtful that someone with her judgement could ever be elected mayor. Ms. Thompson’s rambling suppositions about the mayor’s condition — cocaine, diabetes, alcohol — are grotesque. It is equally apparent that by raking over the matter each morning in the media  she can  hurt the mayor’s chances at the next vote.  

Modella Ladieswear is planning an in-store fashion show tomorrow (Tuesday, March 12) at 7 pm at its store at 1579 Bayview Ave. Modella is offering a glass of wine, mineral water and snacks as models — who are the customers — show the new spring collection. 

Rain is expected tomorrow afternoon in Toronto. Monday morning  it will be cloudy with a 40 percent chance of showers in the morning and early in the afternoon. Showers will transition to rain in the afternoon. Wind will be south at 20 km/h becoming light in the afternoon. High 10. Monday night there will be rain ending after midnight then partly cloudy. Wind becoming southwest 20 km/h in the evening with a low of plus 1.

Frustrated and in some cases angry residents in Thorncliffe Park were still in the dark at 9 p.m. Saturday some 30 hours after the power outage that disrupted their neighborhood. They were complaining about rotting food, children with medical conditions and the lack of household medical equipment like C-PAP machines. Hydro crews replacing a $65,000 piece of switching equipment say their hearts go out to the residents and that they are working as fast as they can. CP24 said at 9 pm. that Hydro was promising restoration of power at any minute. Those able to access the Internet noted that Hydro’s outage map showed that the blackout in Thorncliffe was over. But it was not. 9.09 pm.