Superintendent Ron Taverner of TPS joins OPP as Commissioner

OPP officers on parade

Ronald (Ron) Taverner has been appointed commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police, Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services Sylvia Jones announced Thursday. Taverner, who is now a superintendent with the Toronto Police Service, will assume his post on Dec. 17 and will serve for a term of up to three years, Jones said. He will replace Vince Hawkes, who retired this month after serving more than four years. “I’m very pleased to appoint Ron Taverner as OPP Commissioner,” Jones said. “He is a relationship builder, and I’m certain he will have a positive impact on policing across Ontario.” Jones said Taverner, who is currently Unit Commander of 12, 23, and 31 Divisions with the Toronto Police Service, was appointed by Cabinet, based on the unanimous recommendation of a selection committee comprised exclusively of members of the Ontario Public Service and supported by Odgers Berndtson, an executive search firm — CBC

Lights on but nobody’s home

Shona Farrelly as wrecking begins on Millwood Rd.

$6.6 asked for Mr. Pleasant apartment building

Cleft lip kitty

Cut gerbera at Longo’s

Patrick Rocca’s annual tree lighting

The monumental stone house under construction at 240 Rose Park Drive is still not finished even though the lights were burning brightly Thursday. There were two electricians eating in the garage. This may be progress. Top centre, Shona Farrelly, principal of Davisville Public School, was at the levers of this back hoe Wednesday as demolition began at the old school on Millwood Rd. We say a happy farewell even as boutique architects lament the passing of its playful windows. Top right, the 22-unit apartment at 672 Mt. Pleasant Rd. has a new stucco front and, it is said, a new owner. It was listed for $6.6 million. He also bought three of the original semi-detached homes in this undeveloped block between Hillsdale and Soudan Aves.  Lower left, a kitty with a cleft lip is at Davisville Park Animal Hospital at 518 Mt. Pleasant Rd. with an unregistered chip. Please call them if you recognize kitty. Lower centre are most fetching cut gerbera on sale at Longo’s. And at right, Patrick Rocca’s heroic fir tree all decorated and lighted for the season. It is a treat to see on Bessborough Drive.

Niagara Regional Police are calling it a police-involved shooting but any way you say it one police officer is in hospital with a wound after being shot by another. There is no indication why this occurred. The location was at Pelham near Niagara Falls. But the copper, 52, who was hit is critically hurt, sources say. Previously the police officer was said to be 44. The closest the SIU is getting to the plain truth is to call this incident “an altercation” which is defined as a noisy argument or disagreement, especially in public

Good Thursday. Auston is back and so, it seems, are good times for the blue and white. Then, a sod-turning Wednesday for a new residential island (of all things) and flood control plan cooked up by Waterfront Toronto. Below that, the auto industry is falling apart but hey, what makes you think we need to sell oil to sustain the economy. Sigh. Finally, Mark Carney, the Canadian boy from Fort Smith, NWT (pop 2,500) and currently head of the Bank of England, has some sober advice for millions of Britons.

Magnus Carlsen

Mohammad Mansouri

Josep Borrell

The World Chess Championship (2018) in London has proven to be a mind numbing marathon. After 12 games the contest was deadlocked. But reigning world champ Magnus Carlsen (left) of Norway claimed his fourth straight title Wednesday by beating challenger Fabiano Caruana in the first round of tie breakers. At centre is Mohammed Mansouri, one of two Iranian fugitives from US justice. He and others are wanted for perpetrating a multi-million dollar ransomware blackmail fraud on hundreds of institutions around the world, including the University of Calgary. U of C paid $20,000 to get its computers unlocked during one of the attacks launched by Iranian hackers in 2016. On the right, the Spanish foreign minister Josep Borrell likes to keep history simple. He has told students that it was bone-simple to establish the USA. All they had to do was “kill four Indians.” Oh yes, and fight the Civil War, he added as an afterthought. Thank you Professor Borrell for keeping it simple.

Star centre Auston Matthews will return to the Toronto Maple Leafs’ lineup on Wednesday night against the visiting San Jose Sharks. Head coach Mike Babcock confirmed the move following the team’s morning skate. The 21-year-old Matthews hasn’t played since suffering an injured left shoulder on Oct. 27 against the Winnipeg Jets. CBC

Audra Brown, City News

Well no kidding. With texts, the time of day, your shopping list and possibly Aunt Minnie’s onion soup recipe popping up, there could be a problem. But as Audra Brown found out, this first everyday set of smart glasses can be fun. Let’s hope not fatal. Other equally entertaining devices have claimed a few lives.

While many Canadians were being spooked by the surprise screaming from their phones and television sets Wednesday, a man and his girlfriend in the state of Hawaii sued the government there for the false missile alert last January that gave him a heart attack. James Sean Shields and Brenda Reichel filed the suit naming Vern Miyagi, former head of Hawaii Emergency Management Agency. Of course Canada’s Ready Alert Day carried with it an assurance that “there is no danger to your health or safety.” That’s quite an improvement over the Hawaiian model which said the little state was under nuclear attack and there was just a minute or so to take cover (if you wanted to bother). Nonetheless, many Canadians wondered just what form of imminent emergency would warrant such an alert. Outer space, unleashed missiles or post-earthquake tsunami.

Emergency 🚨 Alert Test from 📱 📱📱📱📱 📱📱📱📱📱📱📱📱 pic.twitter.com/BZjqOgUqUF

— Simon Ostler (@SimonOstler) November 28, 2018

This woman has now been identified. Police have released a photo of a deceased woman who was found in the lake early Sunday near the R.C. Harris Water Treatment Plant on Queen East. Attempts to identify her have so far been unsuccessful. A picture, which may be disturbing to some, is on the police release. If you know this woman, please call 41 Division at (416) 808-4100   She was believed to be approximately 30-40 years old, 5’2″, and 145 lbs. At the time, she was wearing a white “Lilysilk” tank top (size L), a white “Denver Hayes” t-shirt (size S), grey “Lululemon” pants (size 6), and grey Saucony running shoes (size 6).

Toronto Police have published a picture of a man who they say has broken into a lingerie store at Dufferin St. and St. Clair Ave. W. three times over slightly more than a month. He seems to have an attraction to the mannequins and their garments. The man is described as 20-30 years old, 5’10, with a slim build. He was wearing a dark coat with a fur hood and eyeglasses.

Security photo of man in shop

Manneqins, lingerie taken

Canada Revenue Agency has agreed that Elizabeth LeMoine, 94, does not owe the government $1,200 related to the sale of her home. The resolution to the insistent demand came after Global News about the demand. That inspired the CRA to contact Ms. LeMoine, and her daughter Christine, of Bradford, and actually talk about the matter.  The family complained that it had been unable to get through to a real person by phone to discuss the claim. “We’re appreciative of all the help and most of all, we appreciate that it has all been resolved,” said Elizabeth, whose daughter Christine emailed Global News when the pair could not get an explanation for the tax bill. Global reported that the CRA believed Elizabeth had moved to live with her daughter in Ontario in 2016. She actually relocated in 2017 when she sold her house in Pasadena, Newfoundland, and moved to Bradford, north of Toronto.

The mystery of a possible child-birth in Maple Sugar Woods Park in Mississauga has been solved with the admission of a local woman that she placed a forceps and umbilical cord there for what she called holistic reasons. The cord and certain other material was frozen by her midwife when the baby was born a year ago, she said. The woman came forward to Peel Police Tuesday when citizens found the items and called police. A search was begun for a new-born child which might be in distress.

• Public must be protected from ‘violent, manipulative’ 14-year-old, judge says