Christmas gloom hangs over stocks Monday as markets extend the punishing losses of recent sessions to a seventh straight day. At 2.30 p.m. Christmas Eve the TSX was down 155 points and in New York the Dow Jones was down 653. CNBC

Tavares scores to tie game with eight second left in regulation time

Kasperi Kapanen scored 1:53 into overtime after John Tavares tied it with eight seconds left in the third period to complete a thrilling 5-4 win against the Red Wings at Scotiabank Arena Sunday. It was the fourth victory in a row for the Leafs and a bit of revenge for the 5-4 overtime loss to the same Red Wings team on December 6. Sunday’s game summary below at left, December 6 at right.

Suspect in assault with a car

Drove into crowd

Dispute inside bar

Police in Peel Region have released pictures of a man who they say deliberately ran his car into a crowd of bar patrons because of a fight he had with them while at a Mississauga restaurant early Sunday. CP24 quotes PC Sarah Patten as saying the suspect, seen above, was part of a group thrown out of the &Company Resto. He went to his car and in due course drove into those who had apparently offended him as they stood outside the place. Three women and two men believed to be in their 20s were injured, PC Patten said. One of the women, 23, was taken to a Toronto trauma centre with serious injuries but is expected to survive. Two other people were taken to a local hospital and two others were treated at the scene by paramedics. Patten said police are now looking for a suspect described as a black, around 35 to 40 years of age, driving a dark-coloured Acura with no front license plate. He is five-feet-six inches tall with a medium build and hair in braids. He was last seen wearing dark pants and a shirt with a heart symbol and eyes. Five people run down by runaway driver outside Missy bar

It is five years since the catastrophic ice storm of December 2013. Memories (bad ones) are no doubt vivid throughout the City. In a two-part package above City News has a primer in how to prepare for such unforseen weather and then, more interestingly, video recollections of the event. Below is a post published by the South Bayview Bulldog as the lights began to come back on Christmas Eve.

• Twinkling porch lights South Bayview’s best Christmas gift

Dozens of feet in the air after lifting off from sloped guardrail

Slovak police have released spectacular footage of a driver literally taking off as his BMW hits a “turned down” concrete guard rail as he approaches an underpass. The car flies like a jetliner until it hits the tunnel and falls to the road below. Amazingly, the driver survived.

Approximately 5 people run down by a fail-to-remain driver at the front entrance of &Company Restaurant Bar on Enfield Place in #Mississauga. @Peel_Paramedics set up triage and dispatched multiple units, along with @TorontoMedics. Injuries range from serious to minor. pic.twitter.com/5MuO5UeOmI

— Jeremy Cohn (@JeremyCohnTV) December 23, 2018

Five people were run down by a driver who then fled the scene in front of the &Company Resto Bar (sic) on Enfield Place near Burnhamthorpe Road and Hurontario Street. One party is said to have had serious injuries at the time. This occurred about 2.45 Sunday.

There was no winning ticket for the $7 million jackpot in Saturday night’s Lotto 649 draw. There were five guaranteed $1 million prizes that were claimed by ticket holders in the Prairies, Ontario and the Atlantic provinces. The jackpot for the next Lotto 649 draw on December 26 will be approximately $9 million.

April 22, 1956 looking west on Eglinton from east of Brentcliffe

It stands today at Eglinton and Brentcliffe

The wide picture (left) taken by photo-historian James Salmon on April 22, 1956, shows the intersection of Eglinton Ave. E and Brentcliffe Rd. In the distance, on the right side of the photo, is the then new apartment building on the northwest corner. It stands today and is well-occupied. That’s it in a 2018 black and white rendering (right) from Google. The buildings on the south side of Eglinton seem to be industrial, probably WWII, which were demolished to make way for the commercial site known as Dawsco Plaza. It too has now been demolished to permit construction of 939 Eglinton. That huge development is being promoted this Christmas season door-to-door across South Bayview by mail as Upper East Side. It was first envisioned in March of 2018 as Upper East Village.

• Mocking fancified flyers for condos at Eglinton/Brentcliffe
• Lea Room meeting hears about downsized 939 Eglinton E

Friday night’s Lotto Max draw yielded a $60 million winning ticket held somewhere in Ontario. Everyone hopes the winner is now organizing his or her new life and not tragically unaware of this windfall lost under the cushions of the sofa. There were also 48 Maxmillions prizes of $1 million each up for grabs, and 20 of them were claimed by a total of 34 ticket holders, meaning some of those prizes will be shared. The size of the GTA makes the odds about 50/50 that the $60 million ticket is somewhere near, or in, Toronto.

Burglar seen leaving Carbon dress store at 2955 Yonge St. last Thursday

Stories of interest in recent hours include the ordeal of Alex Mazelow, owner of Carbon dress shop at 2955 Yonge St. south of Blythwood Rd. His store has been burglarized three times in less than a month. Then, a dangerous blocking of doors at the Union Station Bay St. teamway. It backed up crowds as they tried to go home from a Mumford and Sons concert at Scotiabank Arena. The doors were shut “for no apparent reason” but of course there is a reason. We just don’t know its name yet. Stupidity, forgetfulness, malice?  Yes, it has a name. Then, an Edmonton judge has denied Omar Khadar a passport so he can go to Saudi Arabia, apparently for religious reasons. He is also forbidden from speaking privately with his sister, who lives abroad, because she has been known to support terrorist groups. Below that, a grumpy GO train rider in the “quiet” car has silenced the carol singing of happy train conductor Gordon Plumridge.

Parade heads north up Bayview from Belsize

Arson the dalmation is ready to go

Pictures outside Pizza Pizza

Who’s in charge?

Strutting their stuff

Say “Christmas”

The Pooch Parade organized by Joanne Lowe of Big Stretch Yoga on Bayview Ave was a barking success Saturday morning. It was held in support of the Toronto Humane Society. Joanne rescued her dog Rufus, adopted from the THS, and he marched in the parade. It’s estimated that $500 was raised. The event was held in conjunction with the last weekend shopping push before Christmas sponsored by the Bayview Leaside BIA. Many fine animals and their friends attended. South Bayview being what it is, there were also lots of other canines out and about just as a matter of course on this chilly December 22nd.

Markets seemed to be in permanent massive decline Friday as Toronto and New York indexes recorded further large losses. Toronto was down 206 points and the Down Jones index down 414. The sustained near-panic selling is occurring in the context of the Canada-US staring match with China over citizens held by Beijing apparently as hostages in response to the extradition proceedings against Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou. In demanding the release of Canadian Michael Kovrig and Michael Savor Friday, the foreign minister, Chrystia Freeland, talked a lot about the rule of  law.  It’s something the Chinese like to say they too follow but in practice Beijing cheats a lot. It is never questioned publicly about such things because no public comment is permitted.

• Freeland demands China release detained Canadians
• Canadian Michael Kovrig held in a Chinese cell with lights on 24 hours a day, source says