Toronto Police Service — A 14 year old male reports that on March 24, 2012 at approximately 0130 hours, he was in the area of Mount Pleasant Road and Carstowe Road when he was approached by four male suspects. The suspects pointed a broken beer bottle at the victim and removed an iPod and an iPhone from the victim’s pockets. The suspects then fled the scene in an unknown direction. No injuries were sustained by the victim. Police are requesting the assistance of the public in identifying the following described persons in connection with this offence. Description of Suspect #1: Male, black, 14 to 15 years, 5’8″ to 5’10”, 150 pounds, thin build. Suspect #2: Male, white, 17 to 19 years, 5’11”. Suspect #3: Male, 17 to 19 years. Suspect #4: Male, white, 17 to 19 years.

Toronto Police Service — A 16 year old male reports that on March 25, 2012 at approximately 1515 hours, he was in the area of Rumsey Road and Millwood Drive, when he was approached from behind by two male suspects. The suspects made a demand for the victim’s cellular phone. The victim complied and the suspects fled the scene northbound on Rumsey Road. No injuries were sustained by the victim. Police are requesting the assistance of the public in identifying the following described persons in connection with this offence.  Description of Suspect #1: Male, white, 6’-6’1”, 161-169 pounds, medium build, short straight brown hair. Suspect #2: Male, black, 5’9”-5’10”, 119-130 pounds, thin build, short black hair in an Afro.  

Sometimes customers try to cheat a retailer by denying a credit card charge.  Typically, such people are amateurs at the game and well over their heads. But when a long distance phone customer denies the charge, many retailers are left looking for a friend. The acquirer, whether ir be Paymentech or Monex, is neutral in the matter. They just do what the credit card company tells them to do.  Both Visa and MasterCard are indifferent to the retailer. They will debit your account for sure if you can’t prove unequivocally that the charge is genuine. In addition, the card companies, Ameerican Express in particular, have a reputation for favouring the cardholder. In this bleak situation, retailers can rely on the Post Office to be a good and practical friend. If you mailed the parcel and asked for a signature on receipt, your case is a good as won. If your customer continues to deny he/she got the parcel, the Post Office will launch a lost parcel investigation. The stinger here is that the recipient is required to confirm to postal authorities that the parcel was received. If he lies, it’s called Mail Fraud. This spectre is usually enough to make the most determined cheater back down. At the bottom of this diligence by the Post Office is the concern for its reputation as a reliable shipper. So the Post Office is your friend.  

Mayor Rob Ford will find out early next month when he’ll go to court to battle for his mayoralty. Lawyers for the mayor and Toronto resident Paul Magder — who is seeking to punt Ford from office and ban him from running for council for seven years — were in court Friday to set a trial date. Justice Wailan Low told Ford’s lawyer, Andrew Parley, and Magder’s lawyer, Gerald Chan, that an out-of-jurisdiction judge would be called in to hear the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act matter. She postponed setting a hearing date until April 11 to secure a judge for two or possibly three hearing days as soon as possible, perhaps in September or October. Yonge and Roxborough News

The Supreme Court of Canada will decide whether it is legal for companies to conduct random alcohol testing of employees in factory conditions which may be dangerous.  The case arises out of a decision by the Irving Pulp and Paper Company is New Brunswick to introduce such tests in its mill there.  As is usually the case, the road to the Supreme Court has been a long one, beginning in 2006 in this case. Positions hardened after a local arbitration panel said Irving had not proven that the admittedly dangerous mill conditions were suitably “ultra dangerous.” This eyebrow raiser has been dismissed by various courts, which found the testing reasonable in the circumstances. But now the Communications Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP) will take their concern for privacy to the highest court in the land..

A’nice review of  L’Ávenue, the new bistro style restaurant at 1568  Bayview  has appeared in  PostCity.com  Previous story in the South Bayview Bulldog

A private funeral will be held for Mariam Makhniashvili tomorrow at the Murray Newbigging Funeral Home on Mount Pleasant Road.. A visitation was held today. Mariam’s family has released a statement which reads: “Now that we have our daughter come home we found some peace. And again we have your full support and sympathy to go through such a devastating pain. Thank you all for caring for our Marika.” Citytv

It’s said that Air Canada baggage handlers are back at work after being ordered to do so by an arbitrator. The massively inconvenient wildcat strike was caused by the suspension of three workers for “slow clapping” the Labour Minister as she walked through an airport. As Air Canada saw it, that was an expression of political opinion. As any labour lawyer will tell you it’s your right to have a political opinion, but you can’t self-indulgently express it to your employer’s customers while your on his dime. It’s not unknown for unionized employees to do this. More than one garbage can has been thrown down the driveway because the sanitation worker didn’t like the election sign on the homeowners lawn. And that’s about it. Except — oh yes — how much do we get paid an hour?