Amazing

Many people are commenting on this spectacular sunset taken by Diane Walton on the Leslie Spit Sunday night. One person called it a Strawberry Moon Sky. FB

Chain link fences close Carstowe Rd/Bulldog

Carstowe Road, the convenient “back door” to Moore Park is under Toronto Water contract 20-313Y2 for what is called emergency sewer repair. The City’s road closure map shows the road open. A sign at the east end of the closure says the road will be shut for eight weeks but there’s no start or end date shown.

After taking out heavy barrier/OPP

OPP Highway Safety have posted photos of a single-car accident Sunday that reminds us again not to drift off while driving. A car took out a large chunk of sturdy roadside fence at Highway 401 and Morningside Ave. Two people are in hospital.

Something had to give

Loretta Rogers, the matriarch of the Rogers family and long-time director at Rogers Communications Inc., has died at the age of 83. Daughter Martha Rogers called her mother a “beautiful soul” who “possessed an incredible strength of character.”

Fired Etalk host calls Bell Media “old boys club”

Danielle Graham

The case of Danielle vs the sensitive bosses of Let’s Talk has hit the pages of the Sunday papers. You can get a sense of how divided the world is on such complaints by reading the comments — mostly men vs women. Ouch.

Canadians warned off on ground beef. Um, we got a beef

Health Canada says nutrition symbols will now be required on those packages for foods high in sodium, sugars, or saturated fats. Many products will be exempt, but ground meat won’t be one of them. But then, of course, there’s nothing really safe to eat. Just kidding.

What on earth has infected Justin Bieber? Half his face is paralyzed and experts are weighing in on what might be causing that. Then, crazy Pearson airport. No staff, bankrupt airlines and millions of people longing to travel. Ugh. Below that, nine members of NATO who used to be Soviet satellites say they aren’t going back there come hell or outright war. Who can blame Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia? Lastly, there was a March for Our Lives across the Brooklyn Bridge Saturday as normal people demand and an end to the US gun insanity. What a strange place it is, in that respect.

You’re to blame

The rule of thumb in lawsuits for negligence is never apologize and never explain. The TTC is going further by saying that a woman who got pushed in front of a train by another woman back in April is responsible for her own peril. The woman survived by rolling out of the way of an oncoming train. But now she’s suing the TTC for negligence. Maybe the antiquated subway lines in Toronto (with absolutely no protection against falls) are municipal negligence. Or not. But the transit lawyers are saying the victim “chose to stand close to the edge of the platform,” and “failed to pay due care and attention to her surroundings”. CBC

People in Leaside are jumping up to offer help in response to a post by Rachel Shantz on her family’s welcome of a family from Ukraine. The mom and two children arrived in recent hours and like all good refugees, they want to fit in. Rachel says the mom has asked if there is anyone who might be willing to tutor her 13-year-old daughter in English even before she starts at Bessborough E and M. The teen is starting from scratch. And the boy, Sam, 6, wants to learn to ride a bike. FB

Distarlimab is sold under the trade name Jemperli

The world continues to sense extraordinary excitement at the prospect for fighting cancer after a recent trial at Sloan Kettering Hospital in Manhattan where the immunotherapy drug dostarlimab has essentially cured 14 patients of the disease. Dostarlimab is sold under the brand name Jemperli, and it is expensive. It was approved in Canada in December. As defined, it is a product of the field of cancer immunotherapy — the harnessing of the body’s own immune system to kill cancer. Here is the key to how dostarlimab works as published by Understanding Cancer Immunotherapy Research

Jemperli is an antibody that attaches to a molecule called PD-1, which is present on the surface of T cells. In healthy T cells, PD-1 acts as a brake that prevents the cells from creating an out-of-control immune response. However, in tumors, PD-1 can make T cells inactive and can prevent them from doing their job of killing the cancer cells. This happens because cancer cells or other cells within the tumor have an increased concentration of PD-L1 and PD-L2 molecules on their cell surface, which attach to PD-1. When PD-L1 and PD-L2 interact with the PD-1 receptor on the T cell, the T cell is inactivated and cannot do its job of killing the cancer cells. Jemperli binds to the PD-1 on the T cells in a way that blocks PD-L1 and PD-L2 from interacting with the PD-1 receptor. This blockade on PD-1 allows the T cells to activate and to attack and kill cancer cells.

Police from 53 Division have taken photos and fingerprints at the scene of a garage theft on Randolph Road Tuesday. It is gratifying to see the level of care taken by cops as south Leaside seems to be undergoing a rash of such thefts. There’s no substitute for keeping a garage locked even if it’s empty. Facebook

Treatment at a Manhattan hospital with the immunotherapy dostarlimab has shown results that have stunned doctors with its apparent efficacy. It appears to have made tumours vanish in a trial of 14 patients. We can only hope.

Truck loaded with Avocados at Highway 401 and Winston Churchill/OPP Highway Safety

A truck fire put an end to the appeal of several thousand lovely Avocados. It happened late yesterday on the eastbound 401 at Winston Churchill.