Calgary police are cutting some slack — but not much — for the poor middle-aged lady who spent five minutes trying to get her car out of a public lot there. They say they understand but have still handed her a $115 ticket for unsafe backing after she was caught on camera reversing into a vehicle. The story with video is in our previous post. A day ago there were 500,000 clicks for the YouTube video but that has grown as the video goes worldwide. It sits at posting time at 3,108,811. As police say, it’s not that the scenes are horrific. They’re just kind of stupefying. Insp. Ken Thrower, head of the traffic section, says the woman probably got nervous trying to back out of the lot and the more she tried the more frustrated she became.“I would think she probably panicked a little bit, got nervous. It’s in front of windows so there’s probably people looking out at her.
Look out! Here comes “You know you shouldn’t”
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Here it comes. You will be “educated” to drive properly in Toronto and you will enjoy it, as those old satires might have put it. On the instructions of the mayor, City officials and police are warning you that the dreaded zero tolerance is about to be invoked. Step out of line and you will get it. You know you shouldn’t — So don’t will address five driving bete noires. See how many of them you commit. 1. Drivers making prohibited turns at intersections 2. Pedestrians stepping on to roadways in advance of green light or walk signals 3. Blocking of the intersection and failing to clear an intersection in the green light 4. Blocking of lanes by stopped vehicles 5. Failing to clear minor collisions.. Chief Blair says that, in the run-up to elections this year, Torontonians had said a major issue affecting their quality of life was traffic congestion. Let’s see how we like the solution.
School joker JMag morphed into Islamic radical
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Excellent account of what is known about John McGuire, Ottawa man seen delivering Islamist harangue. Calgary Herald
What to do as market tanks? Hang on, hang on!
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There’s too much oil, China is slowing down and the market is sweating it out. Toronto closed down 329 points, up from the worst lows of the day of 455. The Canadian dollar declined 0.14 of a cent to 87.33 cents (U.S).Oil prices retreated in the wake of data showing that China’s exports rose by a weaker-than-expected 4.7 per cent, down from October’s 10.6 per cent. Imports were forecast to post a small increase but instead contracted by 6.7 per cent from a year earlier.
All-door boarding on 88 Leaside? Not so much
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The Globe and Mail writes this morning (Monday, December 8, 2014) that the TTC will soon introduce all-door boarding on the King street car line. See if you can work your way through the logic of how the TTC doesn’t go further into debt. We got a headache trying. Such policy is the city’s choice of course. It is predicted to save six or seven minutes from end to end. They may prove expensive minutes. It might seem to herald an era of free streetcar rides. You may be sure there will be no such largess on the handy little buses that move swiftly through South Bayview. Oliver Moore, Globe and Mail.
Leafs don “hideous holiday fashions” (And how)
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In what appears to be strange new sub-cult, NHL hockey players are dressing up in what they proudly crow is “hideous holiday fashions”. Here are Dion Phaneuf and Phi Kessell (who looks a bit like a silly vampire too). We can’t explain it but there is more
Sutherland-Bayview shelter “useless” says woman
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| Old bus shelter |
South Bayview resident Shirley Bush was critical recently in a letter to the editor of the Toronto Star about the usefulness of the new bus shelters created by Bell Media’s Astral division. She says the new shelter at Sutherland Drive and Bayview Ave. simply leaves people out in the rain and snow. That apparently has to do with sidewalk accessibility for those requiring it. For this reason, it seems, the bus shelter was trimmed back to leave the sidewalk clear, says Ms Bush. She calls for “a little common sense” in the application of accessibility rules. She says the old shelter (inset) was “suddenly gone” and an inadequate shallow replacement in its place. “I asked my councillor and city hall why? The same absurd answer was given. The street is narrow. It would be quite simple to use the sidewalk on the other side and cross the street when past the shelter. As it is now, the darn thing is useless except as a giant advertising vehicle. Rigid observance of the law sometimes defeats the purpose the law was designed for and makes it difficult for everyone,” said Ms. Bush, New shelter at Bayview and Millwood
Duke, Duchess to make Manhattan an Isle of Joy
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It will be no cheapie in-and-out weekend for the The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in Manhattan. No, the famous twosome are catching a bit of jet nappies tonight at the lush Carlyle Hotel. They touched down around noon New York time to much fanfare from the excited crowd of spectators. Prince William and Kate were about an hour late but the crowd never slowed down with signs, balloons, British flags and tons of excitement. It was Rogers and Hart who wrote to music that the the island was an Isle of Joy just made for a Girl and Boy
DiMaggio’s love letter auctioned for $78,125 U.S.
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It was a sad remnant of a marriage made in an uncertain Celebrity Heaven as auctioneers sold Joe DiMaggio’s love letter to Marilyn Monroe for $78,125 U.S. at a Beverly Hills auction Saturday. The letter was a last ditch effort by baseball hero DiMaggio to keep his gorgeous movie-star wife as their volatile marriage came to an end. Munroe had informed diMaggio that she was divorcing him. It was said he had dreamed of a quiet life together while she continued to be a much-sought-after sex symbol. The letter was sold to an undisclosed party. Julien’s Auctions in Beverly Hills also sold 300 items from a stache they called “Marilyn Monroe’s Lost Archives.” A handwritten letter from Monroe to her third and final husband, playwright Arthur Miller, sold for $43,750. Monroe, who died of a drug overdose at age 36 in 1962, willed the collection of letters to her mentor, the legendary acting coach Lee Strasberg. (Posted Sunday, December 7, 2014)
Three hurt in car-truck crash on Eglinton East
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Police are investigating a dramatic crash between a car and a Wonder Bread tractor trailer at Eglinton Ave E. and Pharmacy Ave. Sunday morning (December 7, 2014) Three people were taken to hospital. Their conditions are not known. Two of the three had to be freed from the wreckage of the car but one was thrown out. This may be the most dangerous thing that can happen in an accident. The truck is said by City-tv to have driven off and parked at a nearby No Frills store. Police have now apprehended the driver. The collision happened 2:15 a.m. Conditions were clear at the time of the crash. Police are investigating. Star article on Eglinton Ave. E. and Laird Drive
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The Toronto Star article here by Vicky Sanderson of the Home Section makes a thrust into the neighborhood game and offers a nice profile of Paul Oliver, principal of the Urban Nature chain of stores and long-time advertiser in The South Bayview Bulldog. It also takes note of a favorite Bulldog business, Wisey’s Pies and Bakehouse. The focus on Eglinton Ave. E and Laird Drive portends the growing importance of the corner over the next ten or so years. Toronto Star Urban Nature has new arrivals for the holidays Urban Nature a haven for birders, nature lovers Wisey’s Pies and Bakehouse opens
Scarboro fire a 2-alarm spectacle Saturday night
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Fire has torn through a house under construction and damaged another on Heale Ave. west of Midland Ave and north of Kingston Road in Scarboro tonight. There are apparently no injuries. It was a spectacular fire with 30-foot flames that engulfed two homes. Crews responded sometime after 8 p.m. High flames were reported as the blaze spread to an adjacent house. Police shut down Midland Avenue from Hagley Road to Park Street as firefighters. The TTC tweeted a diversion for the 57 Midland bus. Also on this cold night the Greater Toronto Multiple Alarm Association has responded to the fire 78 Heale. That’s the volunteer canteen service for firefighters. Photos: Twitter