Two winning tickets were sold for the $7 million jackpot in Saturday night’s Lotto 649 draw. One ticket was purchased in Ontario and the other in Quebec, with each being worth $3.5 million. The guaranteed $1 million prize went to a ticket holder in Ontario. The jackpot for the next Lotto 649 draw on Oct. 24 will be approximately $5 million

David Cole

Michael Caine

David’s Bridal may close

You may find the pressure that YouTube celebrities complain of similar to that found in high-pressure occupations everywhere. David Cole is one such video maker. Then, Michael Caine grew up wretchedly poor in London and still appreciates the value of money. He used it to help his relatives. Caine was in more than 125 films including Alfie, in which he played a womanizing young man who is rewarded with loneliness. At right, this beautiful bride is a client of David’s Bridal, the firm that supplies a third of all wedding dresses in the US. It is said to be on the verge of closing.

A poll commissioned by the Toronto Sun and National Post from DART Insight finds that less than a month after Premier Doug Ford’s government slashed Toronto electoral wards from 47 to 25, 54 percent of respondents agree with the change. Some 46 percent don’t like it. As well, 58 percent believe that Toronto City Council with 25 Councillors will be more effective in getting things done than was the case with 47 Councillors.  The poll found  61 percent who say that reducing the size of Council to 25 seats will save millions of dollars.

WEED-FREE WARD REFERENDUM?

And lastly, while in the past some 48 percent of Torontonians say they’ve been in touch with their local Councillor on a matter that needs their help, 63 percent agree that if 25 federal and provincial members of Parliament can serve their Toronto constituents, then 25 Toronto City Councillors will be able to do the same.  Six in 10 Torontonians however don’t believe that Premier Doug Ford and his government have done a good job since taking office in June.  With marijuana now legal, 32 percent indicated they will likely use it, but a larger group (49 percent) believe that each ward in the City should be able to hold a referendum to make their community marijuana free.

• Downtown relief line gets green light from province after environmental assessment

Once again this week, no winning ticket was sold for the $60 million jackpot in Friday night’s Lotto Max draw. However, there were also 53 Maxmillions prizes of $1 million each up for grabs, and 23 of them were won, to be shared amongst 39 winning ticket holders across the country. The jackpot for the next Lotto Max draw on Oct. 26 will remain at approximately $60 million, but the number of Maxmillions offered will increase to 55.

Leaside High School Cheer Squad

Randolph and Hanna

C-flats play in tune

Grisly piano window at Paul Hahn

Bayview and Millwood

Ghostly Grocer on Summerhill

Upper left, this was Sports Day at Leaside High School and among the many shots tweeted by the school was this one of the cheer squad. See the rest here. Upper right, No. 1 Randolph Rd. (at Hanna) rises again from the rubble of the tumbledown little bungalow seen in the inset. Below that, pickup hipsters known as the C-flats. They are the Leaside United Church jazz ensemble, meeting Mondays from 7.15 to 8 p.m. in the church music room. The age level of this group is generally grades 7-12. All parts are written for the individual musicians so all levels welcome. Back on the left, a grisly sight for Halloween at Paul Hahn’s piano store on Yonge St. and below that construction in downtown South Bayview. That would be the corner of Bayview and Millwood. Finally at bottom left, the ghostly grocer depicted here is really friendly Summerhill Market. Nothing to fear. Really, it’s okay.

Elina Child’s sells out 30 boxes

Mint cookies in demand

Brownie Elina Childs and her dad Seann took her Girl Guide cookie business down to where the customers were Wednesday. That would be a nearby marijuana store in Edmonton where Elina sold the entire 30 boxes she had been allotted to waiting pot buyers. She tells the CBC that it was her dad’s idea. You will see she also has trouble keeping her eyes open during this amusing interview because it seems she got up early to do it. Then, much moaning because the TTC ridership numbers are down. Do they think people ride the subway and wait for buses for fun? Below that, a return to the Teamway at Union Station to see what’s being done to keep chunks of concrete from falling. And finally, shades of Loblaws and other businesses where you get asked in front of your neighbors if you will give to charity today.

A commuter train traveling at high speed in northern India has run over a crowd of people seated on the tracks watching the burning of effigies as part of the Dussehra festival,” a police officer has told Reuters. Dozens are said to be dead including children. Witnesses say the crowd did not hear the train approaching because of the noise of the festival. Local television stations showed images of angry and distraught locals including a weeping mother who had just lost a child in the tragedy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was extremely saddened by the train accident. “The tragedy is heart-wrenching,” he tweeted. “My deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their loved ones and I pray that the injured recover quickly. Have asked officials to provide immediate assistance that is required.” Video account not in English.

The Line 1 subway will be effectively shut down on weekends for as much as a year because of work related to Eglinton LRT at what will become the Eglinton and Yonge LRT station.  The earliest of these shutdowns will occur October 27-28, November 3-4, November 24-25, December 8-9 and December 15-16.

Alexander Edward (Alex) Ling

With Mayor June Rowlands in early 1990s

Alex Ling, the highly regarded and dynamic merchant who conceived the Toronto Association of BIAs (TABIA) has died at home at the age of 86. Mr. Ling and his wife Helen moved to the Bloor West Village in Toronto in 1971. A post at the TABIA website recalls that the couple thought they wouldn’t be so busy but this was not the case. “Alex became involved in the BIA right away. He was first elected as chair in 1979 and worked very hard for the Bloor West Village BIA and the neighbourhood. In the early 1980s, with the help of City Hall, he started the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas (TABIA) to give support to all BIAs in the City of Toronto. Alex ate and slept the BIA philosophy. He loved the work and the challenge of the job. He was TABIA’s President for 19 years and in 2001 he finally engineered himself to Past President. In 2004 Alex became Chairman of the Bloor West Village BIA by promising to continue to help out, staying on as a board member.”

Many roads will be closed in central downtown and along the waterfront both Saturday and Sunday because of  the Scotiabank Waterfront Marathon. Police notice here,

Among the coldest of cold cases in GTA living memory is the disappearance of Noreen Greenley, 13, in 1963. Stories have been told for years that a construction worker abducted the teen and then buried his car with her body in it to hide the evidence. Thursday police dug in an area near Regional Road 57 north of Bowmanville in hope of finding that near-legendary vehicle. Nothing was found and spirits were dampened.

Kleenex in the United Kingdom will re-brand its “Mansize” tissues after some consumers complained the name was sexist. Can the Papa Burger, lady finger cookies and gender offensive Croque Madame and Croque Monsieur be long for this world? Croque non-binary perhaps. In any case, Kimberly-Clark (Kleenex) says the product will now be called Kleenex Extra Large.