Toronto Police say several “vault lids” have been stolen from the City’s roadways in an apparent attempt to sell them for scrap. Police say the value of such lids is “minimal.” This item used to be known as a manhole cover. Below are the locations of the thefts. Police are concerned that such mischief is going to cause an accident involving a vehicle or a pedestrian.  They thefts occurred between Saturday, September 13, 2014, and Tuesday, October 28, 2014. Midland Avenue and McNicoll Avenue,  Finch Avenue East and Bayview Avenue,  McNicoll Avenue and Morningside Avenue,  Fisherville Road and Carpenter Road.  Bishop Avenue and Willowdale Avenue, McLevin Avenue and Markham Road

The astonishing story of an 18-year-old girl who ran an underage sex ring has unfolded in an Ottawa court. The teen, who was 15 when she committed these crimes, was sentenced to 6 and a half years. The girl sold three others for sex in the spring of 2012, the youngest of whom was 13. Court heard she thought she was going to a sleepover. Instead she was brought to five johns. Another girl was raped. “Her crimes were heinous, premeditated and well-organized,” Judge Diane Lahaie said. “Money over everything. That was the ultimate driver. She let nothing stand in her way. “She answered to no one.” The judge said that calculated exploitation and a “bleak” prospect for rehabilitation justified an adult sentence. “The conduct is despicable,” Lahaie said. With credit for time served in pre-sentence custody, the girl has a little less than three years to serve.

Denise Flys, owner of  Kids Costumes at 539 Mt Pleasant near Belsize has announced the shop will be closing at the end of November. It has come as a sad surprise to many local shoppers. There is a sale underway this morning (Tuesday, November 4, 2014) and a discount of 50 percent on most everything. (416) 484-1940

Visa and MasterCard have agreed to cut the fees they charge to Canadian retailers for credit transactions by about ten percent.  The government had been pressing for this type of concession and said on Tuesday it now sees no need to regulate fees set by credit card networks. Bloomberg

Reuters is reporting Tuesday morning that the Bank of Nova Scotia will eliminate as many as 1,500 jobs and book a pre-tax charge of $451 million  mainly because its business plans in Caribbean and South America have not quite worked out. BNS says about 1,000 jobs will be lost in Canada, The bank will also close or slim down as many as 120 branches primarily in Mexico and the Caribbean. The moves are set to hurt the bank’s earnings by some 28 Canadian cents a share in the fourth-quarter ended October 31, 2014. Reuters 

The media is largely on a romp, frankly, in dealing with the Jian Ghomeshi story. There is an awareness that the story has gripped the imagination of much of the public. New leads flourish every day. Tonight the CBC is said to be seeking “better clarity” on the Ghomeshi story. It will be doing that without the help of the producer of the program. He is on a bit of a vacation it seems. The intense focus on “young interns” has caused 24-hour news to repeat loop-like that Carleton University, for example, has examined all it records and sent mail to anyone who might know and has found no one who was exploited. Also tonight, the  Globe and Mail’s public editor writes about an insensitive and misleading headline on a story which dealt with the CBCs challenge in somehow recovering from its long association with a man about whom there was such a lot of unsavory talk. People want to know why no one there did anything. And there’s the Premier. She pronounced that just because it’s 2014 we should not think this type of thing has gone away. (No doubt. As well as many other things we wish would go away). We require constant vigilance, Ms. Wynne said. Eyes in the back of the head would help too.