“Enjoying the Next Gen Game with my next generation”/Andrea Peterson @AndieDP

Kids on ice in more ways than one/Blessed Sacrament @BSCSchool

Blessed Sacrament @BSCSchool

The Leafs met the Minnesota Wild at an unusually early 2 p.m. Thursday as part of the team’s Next Generation Game. It was billed as a celebration for Leafs fans of all ages with a strong focus on youth and the future of hockey, both on and off the ice. Many parents, schools and amateur organizations tweeted pictures of the day. Leafs lost 4-3

Ontario Superior Court Justice Timothy Minnema has found many of the enforcement powers held by the OSPCA are unconstitutional. He has given the government a year to rewrite laws to remedy the situation. Jeffrey Bogaerts, a paralegal from Perth launched the constitutional challenge five years ago after helping several animal owners who were being investigated by the society including a woman whose pet dog was seized. Justice Minnema found that Ontario was wrong to grant police powers to the OSPCA without also imposing reasonable standards of transparency and accountability. OSPCA  is a private charity that receives millions of taxpayer dollars as well as private donations. In recent years its purposes have been questioned. Marineland sued the OSPAC in 2017 claiming it was trying to put the zoo and aquarium out of business to please animal rights groups and raise money. OSPAC has had police powers since it was created in 1919. Marineland says malicious OSPCA was out to destroy it

Neil McMahon

Leaside outlet is hiring

Leaside resident and entrepreneur Neil McMahon is working hard these days to have his new Freshii outlet ready for a soft opening on Monday, January 21. It is located in the SmartCentre on the Wicksteed Ave side next door to Meridian Credit Union. Mr. McMahon has another Freshii franchise on the Danforth near Logan Ave. He and his wife were intrigued with the Freshii concept when they learned of it from a friend who had already joined the firm. The McMahons live in north Leaside with their two young daughters.

Periodic table of Freshii ingredients

The first meeting of 2019 for the South Leaside Monday Group is January 7 from 9.30 to 11 a.m. in the Trace Manes Field House. Moms, check it out. The Leaside United Church Youth Pizza Party is this Sunday. And Vanessa Rose, along with many friends, is inviting your presence at the Leaside Ladies Night Out for a great charitable cause. Ticket information here.

Rick Prete watches pump counting as he holds nozzle in the air

26, 27, 28, 29…

Ten cents worth of air

A City News report shows Mississauga resident Rick Prete at a Husky station where the pump counts his cost without delivering gasoline. Adrian Ghobrial says it is quite common.

Every freedom-loving person in the world must surely admire Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen Wednesday as she stands up to China’s unelected president-for-life Xi Jingping. Xi has been trying to bully the little democracy into submission  He told a typically docile crowd of party members this week that he reserves the right to use force to bring Taiwan under its control. But he will strive to achieve peaceful “reunification” with the self-ruled island that has a bright future under any future Chinese rule. Tsai shot back that it is China which should embrace democracy. It was the Taiwanese who more than 30 years ago set the example of free enterprise prosperity on Beijing’s doorstep. China was finally shamed into adopting the same economics in about 1980. But bitter Communist oligarchs like Xi have no gratitude

Carl Hantske of 680 News summarizes a sad episode of apparent youthful folly overnight in Vaughan. Below is the York Region Police report.

On Monday, January 1, 2019, just before midnight, police responded to a single vehicle collision in the area of King Vaughan Road and Kipling Avenue. Upon arrival officers located a blue Kia Sportage that had left the roadway and collided with a tree, with a driver and four passengers all suffering from injuries. The driver of the vehicle, a 17-year-old female from the City of Vaughan was taken to hospital suffering from minor injuries. One of the passengers, a 16-year-old male was also taken to hospital with minor injuries and a second passenger, a 16-year-old female from the City of Vaughan, was taken to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. Two additional passengers, a 16-year-old male from the City of Vaughan, a 15-year-old male from the City of Vaughan were taken to hospital suffering from life-threatening injuries where they remain.

See later post

New Year’s seahorses/Ripley’s Aquarium

Ripley’s Aquarium Canada has announced the birth of a herd of lined seahorses Tuesday. The news is in a release which recalls that seahorses are curiously hatched by the male of the species after the female deposits her eggs in his pouch. The aquarium’s husbandry team reports the jelly bean sized babies were born at the aquarium early New Year’s Day as part of an ongoing conservation and education program. Seahorses are small marine fishes in the genus Hippocampus. They have a head and neck suggestive of a horse. They have an upright posture and a curled prehensile tail. The new baby seahorses will be on public display later this month.

Dipping in hard hat style on the Lakeshore

The Toronto Polar Bear Dip has a style all its own. Gotta love these guys in hard hats. In Brooklyn there is also style but they don’t seem quite so macho keen. Then, the New York City ban of styrofoam went into effect Tuesday. They say 60 million tons of the stuff gets dumped there each year. And finally, don’t miss seeing the HoneyBeez Dance Squad from Alabama State University. They are making it big in more ways than one. You go Beez.

All styles permitted

Waiting for the sweeper

Families eat, socialize

One of a number of food trucks

Dover Boys Lake Erie perch stand

Odd Zamboni

Old brickworks are curious

She takes moody picture of friend

Mixing of genders in common area may make some uncomfortable

Time to skate

New Year’s Day saw a good number of families and couples at Evergreen Winter Village at the old brick works, 550 Bayview Ave.