Matsa Beliashvili

Luca Choe

Christine Welch

For months Matsa Beliashvili (left) has been sipping bottled water at her workplace downtown and wondering why it tasted odd. The answer is that a colleague was slipping Lysol into the bottle. Sort of defines twisted. At centre, Luca Choe, 20 months, is free again after the fire department broke the toy box in which he had become totally stuck. And at right is Christine Welch, an all-American girl who decided to study Mandarin at Northwestern University. She was so good at the language that (wait for it) she is now a popular music star in Beijing. Remarkable.

Members of Leaside Chit Chat are writing Saturday about the death of Ana Divic. She was for many years a much-loved art teacher at Leaside High School. Among the numerous posts is one from a woman who recalls that her was Ana’s student in Grade 13 and was inspired to succeed in a career as a medical illustrator. Yet another posted the 1978 photo below of Ana Divic and Jennine Dubois in Ana’s backyard in Moore Park at a year-end art party.

Ana Divic and Jennine Dubois at year end art party in 1978/Facebook

Police were advising motorists to avoid the intersection of Mt. Pleasant Rd. and Merton St. late Saturday morning because of a two-car accident. Minor injuries were reported but congestion was expected. This is the corner where the large Esso station is located.

The Toronto Police Service are searching for Alice Wolski, 59, was last seen on Friday at approximately 8 a.m. in the Martin Grove Road and Cowley Avenue area. She is described as 5’7″, with a slim build, long dark brown hair past her shoulders, and green eyes. She was wearing black leather boots. No other clothing description is available at this time. Police are concerned for her safety.

Dream Palace Banquet Hall and Restaurant/City News Twitter

Two men in their 20s were shot dead in a so-far unexplained incident at the Dream Palace Banquet Hall and Restaurant near Keele Street and Rivermede Road in Vaughan. The gunfire occurred around 4:15 a.m. Saturday. Among many questions, police are unsure if the two victims were known to each other or if this was a targeted shooting. Police say there are a number of surveillance cameras in the area.

No winning ticket was sold for the $17.4 million jackpot in Friday night’s Lotto Max draw. The jackpot for the next Lotto Max draw on Feb. 1 will be approximately $26 million.

The heating system is again working at 260 Wellesely St. where 1,000 people have been without heat and power for four days. Power is being slowly restored to common areas and dwelling units under the guidance of the Electrical Safety Authority. Care must be taken to make sure that applciances that were left on when power died don’t start a fire. Utilities were turned off in the wake of a burst water pipe Tuesday.

Atom BB Wildcats win Gold at Girls Gateway Cup in St. Louis, Missouri/Wildcats photo

One for the album. Ryan O’Reilly with friend/Wildcats photo

Exhibition game during intermission in Blues/Sens game

Wildcats and Ryan O’Reilly/Wildcats photo

Wildcats and McKendree D1 Womens Team/Wildcats photo

The photo story is now available on the thrilling weekend enjoyed by members of the Atom BB Leaside Wildcats in St Louis. Oh yeah, the 10U Wildcats won the gold medal for their class at the Girls Gateway Cup Tournament too. Their romp included a three-game sweep of their division, a St. Louis Blues vs Ottawa Sens game, an exhibition match during the first intermission of that NHL game and a feature on Hockey Night in Canada. Then they met Blues centre Ryan O’Reilly. The Clinton, Ontario native donned a Wildcats jersey for pictures. The girls also met and spent time with the McKendree University Women’s D1 hockey team. What an exciting experience. Thanks to Joe Mazzocco for story, pictures and video. He is co-head coach with Garrett Gilroy.

It’s hard to keep your feet on the ground when it comes to laying blame for unemployed autoworkers. Unifor is out with a commercial asking Canadians to boycott GM cars built in Mexico. Fine, but do they ever recall that there have never been any Unifor grunts employed by VW, Audi, Mercedes or BMW?  That’s because none of these firms has ever built so much as a bumper in Canada. Ford has. So has Chrylser. The big Japanese car makers are all here. Even GM continues to make cars here. You choose who’s to blame because Canada doesn’t have enough auto jobs.

You can take these prices as moveable but Friday morning they were what was being paid at stations in Midtown and nearby. The gasoline oversupply has brought the average price of a litre of regular under a dollar for the first time in a while. Keeping it mind that it costs money to drive to a distant station, we note that the Shell station at O’Connor Dr. and Coxwell Ave. was quite competitive this morning and not too far away. Once there were at least seven gas stations on Bayview Ave. between Eglinton and Moore.

Ladies Night Out at Leaside Pub Thursday

Women from Leaside and elsewhere filled the Leaside Pub on Laird Drive Thursday night to celebrate the first annual Leaside Ladies Night Out. Silent and live auctions, music, food and world-class socializing rocked the old tavern. The evening was sold out. It will raise funds for the initiative, Sew for Success. This endeavor will support women in the Thorncliffe neighbourhood to set up their own home-based sewing/tailoring businesses. It will be a three-pronged approach to provide education on how to run a business, sponsor women to develop better sewing skills and provide supplies needed to run their businesses independently. The organizers also hope to encourage a liaison between Leaside and Thorncliffe women in order to ensure their success. It will be a few days before proceeds from the auctions are known, but Andy Elder’s dinner for eight had a winning bid of $1200.

Chris Antaras at Detroit Eatery/supplied

Boarded up Thursday/Bulldog

Chris and Dad Alex/supplied

Friends want to donate/Toronto Star Twitter

Fan tweeted photo of he and girl there/Tiny Record Shop@tinyrecordshop

Tuesday

Friends of the Detroit Eatery burger and all-day breakfast spot on the Danforth have raised $17,750 of a $30,000 target Go Fund Me campaign to assist in getting the popular restaurant open after Tuesday’s fire. Detroit Eatery is owned by Chris Antaras. He and his dad Alex have created a loyal clientele for the little restaurant on the south side of Danforth opposite Chester Ave. A profile of Detroit Eatery asked if the name was a tongue-in-cheek wink at Toronto’s Leaf Nation. But no. “The name has been around for some 80 years now,” Chris revealed. “It’s named that way, in fact, because the people who opened it were from Detroit. Everyone thinks we named it that, but the fact is, it’s been this way all along, and I think it’s perfect; I love the name. It’s packed with history ― it’s one of the oldest diners on the strip.” May it live again.