The Bulldog

Man runs into frame and kisses CBC reporter on cheek

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A CBC reporter in B.C. has been quickly kissed on the cheek by a young man while she was delivering a live news insert. Reporter Megan Batchelor says she was rattled by the brief incident and has made a complaint to the RCMP about it. The kiss — a phenomenon once known as a stolen kiss — occurred during the Squamish Music Festival north of Vancouver. Reports called it a “jarring distraction” Batchelor was doing a live hit for the network’s 6 p.m newscast when a man ran up from behind, kissed her on the cheek and took a selfie. The CBC quotes Batchelor as saying she was “rattled” by the encounter and felt like the unidentified man was trying to interfere with her ability to do her job. The CBC said in an emailed statement on Sunday that Friday’s incident is another example of a disturbing trend and the network will do everything it can to ensure its journalists are safe when reporting from the field. In May, City News reporter Shauna Hunt slapped down a much more vulgar form of interference from male bystanders and ultimately one man, an employee with the Ontario electrical utility Hydro One, was fired.

Olympics always result in a cost overrun: Oxford study

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A compelling column appears in the Globe and Mail by Eric Reguly which features a study that claims the Olympic Games always result in a huge cost overrun. It is apparently never possible to keep the games within budget. Why? You can guess at things like the pressure from the organizers, political ego (no really) or maybe the devious plans of would-pro sports owners. An excerpt: “Here is what Brent Flyvbjerg and Allison Stewart of Oxford University said in a landmark study on the cost of the Games between 1960 and 2012: ‘The Games overrun with 100 per cent consistency… Other project types are typically on budget from time to time, but not the Olympics. With an average cost overrun in real terms of 179 per cent – and 324 per cent in nominal terms – overruns in the Games have historically been larger than for other types of megaprojects, including infrastructure, construction and dams. . . “The Pan Am Games infrastructure (already built) is too small for the Olympics and would have to be replaced. A monster Olympic stadium would have to be built and the price tag for that alone could be $1 billion (Canadian). Dubious dealings are virtually guaranteed. Watch the nice men who cherish an NFL franchise in Toronto, but can’t get one without a dazzling new stadium, hijack Toronto’s Olympic stadium plans. What better than to get three levels of government to subsidize the stadium’s construction, then take it over for football?” No guarantees of a franchise of course.

Applause as woman safely down from St. Michael’s roof

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woman

A woman was rescued from the roof of St. Michael’s Cathedral Friday evening. She had apparently climbed up scaffolding and was in a distressed state. Police located her on the roof and got her onto a stretcher. Then several firefighters climbed a ladder to the roof and slowly brought the woman down. Her safe arrival on the street prompted applause from a large crowd which had gathered on Shuter Street. The street was closed for nearly 90 minutes. A happy ending. CP24 screen 

York cops seek Jason Hay, 27, for Moka Cafe killings

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Jason Hay, 27

York Regional Police have named an accused in the Moka Cafe shootings on the morning of June 24, 2015. The hunt is on for Jason Hay, 27, of Mississauga as the killer of morning coffee patron Christopher de Simone, 24, and employee Maria Voci, 47. Two others were wounded and have recovered. There is growing suspicion among reporters that this is some type of settling of scores resulting from a gambling enterprise which operated in the rear of the cafe. Police say it appears to have been a targeted shooting but they say they don’t know who. The Moka Cafe is on Islington Ave south of  Highway 7 in Vaughan.

Tick-tock comrade clock please don’t let anyone in here

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When people scratch their heads and worry that the newly-announced time zone for North Korea just isolates the country, they don’t get it. Of course a weird what-the-heck-time-is-it-anyway clock isolates North Korea. That has been the purpose of the ruling family there since the place was tortured into existence by the Russians in 1945. (Another thing to thank the Russians for). North Korea cannot exist without being isolated. The idea of “normal relations” with anybody makes the little dictator want to strap people to the barrel of a cannon. Outside thoughts, money, business and capitalist aspirations would sweep him and his family away in a wink. Of course the tick-tock comrade clock will isolate them. You bet.

Danforth Dash Bed Race runs held in perfect weather

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Here we have one of many heats run Friday afternoon in the 9th annual Toronto East General Hospital Danforth Dash Bed Race. This one features the Argo cheerleader defeating the Argo Mascots.  There were at least 15 teams maybe more (see below) and it looked like the perennial champions Transit Workers team would take it again.  But the winning was in the running, so to speak and all participants seemed fully pumped. After the event, they could grab a nibble or  two at the Taste of the Danforth. Video: The South Bayview Bulldog