The Bulldog

Shocking events on Airbus as one pilot locked out of cockpit

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In a shocking revelation, recorder evidence shows that one of the pilots on the German Airbus A320 plane left the cockpit and was unable to return before the plane went down, killing everyone on board. The evidence was recovered from a cockpit voice recorder, as reported by the New York Times. “The guy outside is knocking lightly on the door and there is no answer,” an unnamed investigator told the Times.“And then he hits the door stronger and no answer. There is never an answer.”“You can hear he is trying to smash the door down,” the investigator added. The reason for the pilot leaving the cockpit is not yet known.

Ontario to subsidize hydro for some, charge others more

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power lines
Ontario will effectively establish two hydro rates at the beginning of next year — one for households earning $28,000 or less a year and one for everyone else. The cost of lowering the effective rate for those specified will be paid by the users in the upper tier at an average surcharge of 70 cents a month. This revelation was made Wednesday evening by CTV News which did not offer a source for the information. But the report was quite detailed. The plan will come into effect on January 1, 2016 CTV said. The number of households designated for the lower tier will receive a monthly decrease in their bill of $30 a month. According to CTV, the number of such families is judged by the government to be about 500,000. Monthly hydro charges vary throughout the South Bayview area but it is not uncommon for households to see bills of $450 to $500 a month. It’s estimated there may be as many as 5,000,000 households among the province’s 13,000,000 people.

Mayor Tory plans “ranked ballot” reform for 2018 election

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Mayor Tory has said that he will work to implement so-called ranked ballots for the 2018 municipal election. Premier Wynne has announced the government will introduce legislation that permits municipalities to use this form of voting before then. Ranked ballots permit second third and subsequent ranked choices for a candidate which then permit an “instant runoff” vote. If the candidate with the most votes does not have a majority, the runoff (or runoffs) establishes a majority winner. Toronto’s diverse population sometimes creates election slates with 15 or 20 candidates. The result is frequently a winner who has a small percentage of the popular vote. Some proponents of ranked ballots believe the system will create a more racially diverse City Council. The suggestion is that there are too many white men. This is a question for the voters but it seems apparent that ranked ballots will not necessarily achieve that goal. It’s interesting to speculate how John Tory might have fared under ranked ballots. He won with slightly more than 40 percent of the vote. The dynamics of the campaign suggest to many that Tory would have been a huge winner since he was probably second choice of many who voted either for Olivia Chow or Doug Ford.

H.J. Heinz and Kraft will merge to form food behemoth

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Kraft Foods Group and H.J. Heinz Co. with help from its owner 3G Capital Partners L.P. and Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway have agreed to merge in a deal that would create the world’s fifth largest food and beverage company. The combined company, which will be called the Kraft Heinz Co., will have revenue of about $28 billion and include well-known brands like Jell-O, Maxwell House coffee and Planters nuts. The deal comes as Kraft and other major U.S. food makers struggle with changes in consumer tastes that have hampered their ability to sell packaged, processed food. Wall Street Journal  (There’s still Neal Bros and Manning Canning of Leaside)

Mohammed Masood Alam receives Macphail Award

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winner-3There was a full house at the presentation of the Agnes Macphail Award to Muhammed Masood Alam last night (Tuesday, March 24, 2015). The ceremony took place in the True Davidson Chamber of the East York Council Building at 850 Coxwell Ave. Many notable residents were present including former mayor Michael Prue who gave the keynote address (Agnes Closer to Home) as well as councilors Jon Burnside., Mary Fragedakis and Janet Davis. Mr. Alam was praised by a number of speakers for his selfless and diligent work on behalf of the whole community and especially Thorncliffe Park. The award was presented by Sheila Lacroix, the 2014 winner of the Agnes Macphail award. Agnes Macphail followed a sometimes difficult political path from her beginnings as a rural school teacher in Grey County to become the first woman elected to Parliament. She represented Canada at the  League of Nations and  later was the MPP for York East. She lived in the duplex at the corner of Donegal Rd and Millwood Rd. later in her life. Photo: Muhammed Masood Alam with last year’s winner Sheila Lacroix and his son

Meraki Synchronized Skating tryouts at Leaside arena

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skate-crowd

Candidates for the Meraki Synchronized Skating Team strut their stuff Tuesday

Candidates for the senior team of the Meraki Synchronized Skating team give it their best shot under the eyes of the coaches Tuesday night (March 24, 2015) The Leaside Skating club’s synchronized skating divison is hoping to field five teams this year from among junior, intermediate the senior skaters. This is at the Leaside arena.