A condo vendor has ripped up hundreds of signed deals complete with hefty down payments because, it seems, it can make more money that way.  The Cosmos project by Liberty Development in Vaughan was pre-sold two years ago. Global News and City News are running stories Friday about couples who invested their life savings to get a foot in the housing market.They will now have to start over. But the deposits, which will be returned, won’t go nearly as far in the 2018 market. The hapless would-be owners were told the their deals were being scrapped because “the vendor had not secured satisfactory financing.”  They read this as a decision related to how much money can now be made if the still-unbuilt condos are sold all over again. City News revealed that the “vendor,” a numbered company, has the same address as Liberty Development, 8-1 Steelcase Rd., Markham.

• Police officers comfort girl hit by train while using tourniquet to save her life
• Man in 30s dead in shooting at Victoria Park and Terraview

Options presented to City Design Committee

Urban Toronto has published details of plans for a high-rise mixed-use residential development at 545 Lake Shore Boulevard West. It is the 1927 heritage Crosse & Blackwell Building. For many years the elegant art deco building has been a media centre and television studio.

A poll showing more men than women supporting the PC Party in Ontario should surprise no one. It was ever thus. Ekos Research found just over 50 per cent of men said they would vote for the Tories “if the election was held tomorrow,” or were leaning towards voting for them. That’s compared with roughly 27 per cent of men who said they would support or were leaning towards supporting the governing Liberals, and almost 16 per cent who said they would choose or were leaning towards choosing the New Democrats. Among the women voters polled, around 35 per cent said they would vote for or were leaning towards the Tories, compared with nearly 32 per cent for the Liberals and about 26 per cent for the NDP.

Toronto will offer a $6 discount on street parking purchased through the Green P app along Eglinton Ave. from Jane St. to Don Mills Rd. The discount effectively implements approximately 2 hours of free parking with promo code. A news release Friday also says the discount on the Green P app will extend 200 metres from Eglinton. In the case of shoppers on Mt. Pleasant Rd., it would to apply to a stretch of the street nearly as far south as Soudan Ave. The local Councillors have been asked to interpret this. See the news release here

Canada’s spaceman David Saint-Jacques

Stamp honours Harlequin Romance artist

Emily Hinchberger writes to her late Dad

David Saint-Jacques is Canada’s newest astronaut. He’s an engineer, physician, astrophysicist, pilot and he speaks five languages. Fairly qualified. Then, Canada has honoured Will Davies, a legendary artist who among many achievements created some 500 paperback covers for Harlequin Romances. A stamp has been issued with his work on it.  Finally, an alert that Emily Hinchberger’s way of remembering her Dad, and how it has changed her life, will melt your heart.

Toronto Police will adopt a dog Friday at 10:30 a.m, at the SPCA Provincial Education and Animal Centre, 16586 Woodbine Avenue in Whitchurch-Stouffville. Jasmine is a year-old Dutch Shepherd-mix. She will begin Toronto Police canine training in the coming months.

Meet our new @TPSK9 Jasmine, she is an approximately one-year-old Dutch Shepherd-mix! @OntarioSPCA@OSPCAPEAC@TorontoPolice pic.twitter.com/n58VkBvrw5

— Caroline de Kloet (@TPSMediaGirl) April 6, 2018

See later post

Neighbours are telling police that they saw someone between the houses on Coleridge Ave near Woodbine and Lumsden Aves early Friday just before a fire gutted a garage about 1:30 a.m.  The fire is being investigated as a possible act of arson. Video: John Hanley

A new in-road safety sign behind Davisville Public School has been removed because in one incident a school bus was forced to drive around it on the wrong side of the road. The complete details of this have not been reported but it was enough for the City to rip up the sign. Last week, the City installed flexible in-road traffic calming signs in a dozen school zones across the city. The initiative was a widely promoted part of the $86-million Vision Zero Road Safety Plan and Mayor John Tory even helped install one of the signs. The future of these signs now seems quite uncertain.

Myah Bowal’s birthday

Grilled Jail Island Salmon w/sundried tomatoes, green beans and pesto cream

Sweep The Streets/BIA

Leaside Jr. Wildcats forward Myah Bowal celebrated her birthday this week with some teammates and of course one of their gifts was food in the face. What are friends for? And among the posters for interesting things to do in South Bayview this month is a last look at the cuisine of Chef RossBoss at Il Sogno on Yonge St. He will soon close, a victim of “increases in rent, taxes, costs and wages.” Sorry to see you go friend.

Police dealt with and cleared a collision that snarled the Don Valley Parkway Thursday evening. Traffic was moving again by 9 p.m.

Driver unaware as box goes up at speed

Makes contact

Boom!

Here is the scene from Highway 40 east of Montreal Wednesday. We have witnessed dump trucks do this before. Is the industry up to installing a signal in the cab when the box is up? Then, the cleanup after windy Wednesday. Lots of good fallen tree shots seen here. Below that, Yulia Skripal speaks out and says that she and her dad are recovering from whatever it was that laid them low. Finally, the National Gallery will auction off Marc Chagall’s Eiffel Tower (1929) and the use the estimated $7 to $11 million in proceeds to buy a secret Canadian work. Not everyone is happy.