There was a heart-stopping emergency and equally nerve wracking rescue over the streets of Manhattan today (Wednesday, November 12, 2014) as two window washers found themselves in a dangling washer carriage which normally goes up and down the side of buildings flawlessly. It happened at the newly-finished Number One World Trade Centre and rescue crews immediately went to work to bring the men down safely. They train for this all the time apparently and are said to have practiced just such a rescue at the World Trade Centre merely ten days ago. Still and all, it took nearly 90 minutes for rescuers to be lowered  from the roof. Others cut open a large hole in the skyscraper’s glass sheathing. When that was done, workers and rescuers together, everyone wearing a safety harness, made the perilous step from the stranded carriage into the 64th floor of the office tower and safety. There are many more renderings of this event on YouTube

A space adventure intended to expand out understanding of how the solar system was created some 4.6 billion years ago has landed a space robot called Philae on a comet six billion kilometres from Earth. Philae was launched from a mother ship, Rosetta, which carried the robot lander from lift-off ten years ago to its critical descent journey within recent hours. There has been a hitch in the plan however as the status of Philae remains somewhat unknown. Harpoons on the robot failed to anchor it to the surface of the comet. The European Space Agency said the lander launched on schedule today (Wednesday, November 12, 2014)  after a seven-hour descent from its orbiting mother ship. But during the free fall to the comet’s surface, the harpoons were non-starters for some reason. The agency hopes to know more about the state of the probe by Thursday. Scientists hope that samples drilled out from the comet will unlock details about how the planets evolved. Comets date to the formation of the solar system 4.6 billion years ago. Scientists suspect impacting comets delivered water to the young Earth. Rosetta and the Philae craft have cameras and nearly two dozen instruments to probe the comet’s surface — and to analyze the material below it.

Two young men have died after their small plane crashed near Haliburton on Tuesday night (November 11, 2014) The pilot of the Cessna 150, which had taken off from Buttonville Airport, apparently became disoriented in cloud and ran out of fuel. Captain Alexandre Cadieux of the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre at CFB Trenton said the wreckage was found early Wednesday morning in Whitney inside Algonquin Provincial Park area. 

Loblaws has seen a 36% jump in revenue and stronger-than-expected earnings in the third quarter as a result of increased business from its Shoppers Drug Mart acquisition. Loblaws said third-quarter revenue climbed to 13.6 billion from $10 billion a year earlier. Excluding Shoppers, revenue at Loblaws edged up just 2% in an intensely competitive business. Loblaw continues to experimnet with the removal or independent brand names in an attmept to impove its margins. In somes cases, it has removed brands and then returned them  to its shelves after gauging customer reaction. 

Van Nes Flowers on Parkhurst Blvd. near Laird Drive will close after many decades of business in South Bayview. Many remember the Van Nes store at 1622 Bayivew Avenue. Richard Van Ness has sent out word that his business has been purchased by Tidy’s Flowers. That happens on Monday, November 17, 2014.  All Richard’s many friends may find him at a new location under the Van Nes name at 130 Westmore Drive, Unit 16 in Etobicoke. The phone number and website address remain the same. 

Just from a brief survey of news stories, it appears that the alarming reports of yesterday (Monday, November 10, 2014) about rats streaming from Union Station was started by Abell Pest Control. They didn’t mean to upset anyone but you know the way the media works. One can see the Star’s Managing Editor Michael Cooke barking at the city room: “Rats? Throw out that trash about the mayor-elect and get me some rats in here — or out there. I don’t care, as long as they’re scary.” Well in fairness, the Star has written a moderating report on the rat infestation saying no one seems to be able to find any rats. City Hall is saying that it is not unknown for the odd rat to be seen in a metropolis like Toronto, but the two-legged kind far outnumber those with four. (No, sorry, we made up that last part). Metro

The woman killed on Thursday when she was run down by a minivan on Midland Ave was a former Leaside resident sources say. The woman, 42, a mother of three, grew up in Leaside, and attended the local schools. Police say she was walking on Midland with her Labrador dog near Gilder Rd. just north of Eglinton Ave. when the northbound minivan suddenly bounced over the curb and slammed into a light standard and the woman. The dog survived. “The original 911 call we received suggested the van had swerved to avoid a dog,” said Const. Clint Stibbe, of traffic services. But our collision reconstruction officers don’t believe the dog was a factor”

Muscovites are  on Twitter Monday telling of a thick toxic-smelling fog that has enveloped the city. Western journalists are saying also that it is hard to breath. A warning has been issued to stay indoors. It is a mysterious haze with no one offering any explantion as to where it came from.