The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will no longer use the titles His and Her Royal Highness after announcing they would step back from their roles as senior members of the royal family, Buckingham Palace announced Saturday. Prince Harry and Meghan are no longer working members of the royal family and will repay the Sovereign Grant funds they recently spent to renovate their official residence, Frogmore Cottage — £2.4 million (about $3 million) of British taxpayers’ money — the palace said in a statement — CNN. Also CBC and CBS

Gustav Klimt’s Portrait of a Lady

A much-loved masterpiece of the Austrian artist Gustav Klimt has been found in the exterior wall of the gallery in Northern Italy from which it was stolen nearly 23 years ago. Portrait of a Lady is among Klimt’s many depictions of women. They were his favorite subject. The work was found by gardeners digging near the wall.

Developers of a proposed condominium at 110 Bradway Ave. have put forward a US singer and songwriter Pharrell Williams as the inspiration for the project. Mr. Williams used expressions like “I’m an Aries” and “God is the greatest” in his praise of the plan.

A single winning ticket was sold in Ontario for the $50 million jackpot in Friday night’s Lotto Max draw. The draw also offered two Maxmillion prizes of $1 million each, but neither were won The jackpot for the next Lotto Max draw on January 21 will be approximately $12 million.

Snowplow winter snowstorm

All shovels, snowploughs and salters are at the ready as Toronto awaits a heavy fall of snow Saturday. An estimated 15 cms is forecast. City Hall is calling it “an all hands on deck storm.” According to Environment Canada, a low-pressure system will move through the region beginning early Saturday morning.

On the topic of storm preparedness, a man was caught on video using a FOLDING CHAIR to shovel the snow in Vancouver this week. Don’t be that guy!

He's shoveling snow with a folding chair. If this ain't west coast I don't know what is. #vancouversnowstorm2020 pic.twitter.com/CDs0yxWqda

— Kahlil Ashanti (@kahlilashanti) January 14, 2020

A Leaside woman has gone online to see if anyone wants the old audio cassettes being thrown out by her 90-year-old neighbor.  From the reaction to the Facebook post, there’s a lot of interest. “I told her I would find a place that they could be used and loved,” the poster writes.  Among the names seen in a photo are Glenn Miller, The Beach Boys, Sir Harry Lauder and Willie Nelson.

Premier Ford has insisted that the government will stick to the one percent limit it has set for teachers’ pay raises. And as is usual, the issue breaks down along lines of defending education versus reckless spending.  Such things as class size and the $300 billion provincial debt are talking points.

Food delivery may become a bit slow in the east end of Scarborough as police report that a gang of thieves is ordering stuff and then stealing it from the delivery person. The gang dashes away presumably to a place where they can scarf the stolen edibles. There has been “an ongoing series” of such thefts near Morningside Ave and Sewells Rd. since January 10. Police say some delivery persons have also been threatened.

Rearview mirror damaged in collision with pedestrians

A victim’s laptop

Left behind on the car that hit pedestrians

Police investigate

Woman driver of Toyota stayed as scene

Captures from a City News video show the grim signs of an accident in a North York shopping area parking lot in which a woman pedestrian in her 30s was critically injured Thursday. Two others, another woman in her 30s and a 17-month-old child who was in a stroller at the time of the accident, were assessed by paramedics on scene and were released. It occurred during the noon hour near Lawrence Ave and Keele St. The driver of the vehicle, a woman in her 70s, remained on the scene. City News

Metrolinx has announced that work will go on through January and into February to install new and permanent traffic signal infrastructure at Brentcliffe Rd. and Eglinton Ave.  The work calls for cycling lane closures to facilitate works at the corners and crossing the intersection as seen in diagrams published here. 

Southern Ontario and the GTA will be cold and then buried in snow as the weekend begins. In fact, the coming week is forecast to be fairly cold. A drop of 15 cms is expected Saturday.

The Ontario government will compensate parents of children forced to stay home because of strikes called by the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario.