The Super Bowl kickoff is at 6.30 EST and for those who want to appear acceptable at a TV party we have two videos to put you in the picture. Below that, a professor assays Rob Ford, Caroline Mulroney, Christine Elliott etc. He says Ford may tap into hinterland PC values about such horrors as the provincial debt, Mulroney has the right name and gender while Elliott has the right name inside the party and, of course, the right gender. Yup. Finally, if you like cheating at board games, Hasbro will soon be selling Monopoly for Cheaters. It’s hard to believe but they say you can actually get shackled to the board for some thefts LOL.

Took squirrel

Seen at Eglinton and Rumsey

Maximum $25,000 fine for contant barking

Spotted deer at Chester Zoo

Rare creatures

Philippines spotted deer

Members of the Facebook group Leaside Community have posted pictures of hawks seen on their properties. Left is a bird that was seen plucking a squirrel from the fence and flying off with it. The post has generated dozens of comments including one from a woman who tries to reassure nervous neighbors that hawks rarely make off with prey weighing more than three pounds. To the right, this hawk was snapped near Eglinton Ave. E. and Rumsey Rd. last week. Lower left a yappy guy is announcing that the City of Hamilton has enacted legislation which could fine owners of barking dogs as much as $25,000 for repeated outdoor offenses. Seems high. And finally, three shots of the exquisite Philippines spotted deer born recently at the Chester Zoo in the UK. They are very rare, it is said.

Scoreboard records Oakville tying goal with 1.9 seconds left

Anxious families

All around the Flames net

Lobby of Gardens is busy

Select Invitational play between the Leaside Flames (Red) and Oakville Rangers in the Minor Peewee category offered an exciting snapshot of the tournament Saturday. The 11-year-olds took to the ice at the Dr. Tom Pashby Play Safely Rink shortly after 1 p.m. and battled to a 3-3 tie. The goal that evened it up was scored by Oakville with less than 2 seconds remaining in the game. With 120 teams lined up to play, there’s no such thing as overtime in regular play at the Select. The Memorial Community Gardens is ringing to the sound of not just hockey but of hundreds of family members as well as many concessionaires in the large lobby of the Pashby rink. The tournament concludes Sunday night. Select Tourney silent auction offers hockey stick deck chairs

A Florida nurse, Katherine Lockler, is a viral-video Flkorence Nightengale of sorts after her rant about the flu. Then, further flu distress as doctors say that 80 peercent of the more than 50 kids who have died in the US were not vaccinated. Below that, the compelling report from the CBC National News on the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Stalingrad. And finally, the charming ways of Meghan Markle as she helps a mixed up young man find his way through a presentation of some sort.

As a February cold stretch sets in, here are well-dressed friends who perhaps can keep warm outside Starbucks. But the concern of some go further than just cold weather. Jessica Scott-Reid, described as an animal welfare writer, writes in a  CBC post: “It is widely believed by animal welfare experts that leaving a dog tied up unattended poses great risk to both dogs and public safety. Dogs that are tethered or chained are not able to exercise and express natural behaviours, such as socializing or playing, says Ewa Demianowicz of Humane Society International Canada. Demianowicz states that the practice of tethering dogs, which she calls inhumane, is harmful to the physical and mental well being of the animals, and can contribute to aggression.

STARBUCKS VISA

Starbucks announced Thursday that it is launching  the Starbucks Reward Visa card  The credit card will allow customers to earn “Stars,” or rewards points, which can be redeemed at more than 8,000 Starbucks locations. With a $49 annual fee, the card may only be worth the investment for customers who already make Starbucks purchases super frequently. The rewards points can only be redeemed for food or drinks from Starbucks and expire six months after they were earned. You may be sure, however, that Visa is tickled green by the new card as plastic card companies work hard to stave off the day of iPhone Everything.

Maple syrup mystery folk

Ken Ogilvie writes mysterys

Mystery kitty needs to find its home

Northlea Shrove Tuesday

Dance, Dance, Dance

St. Cuthbert’s pancake dinner

The approach of Shrove Tuesday brings notice of pancake dinners across the community. Check the posters below for Northlea United Church and St. Cuthbert’s Anglican. But the jug-toting country folk (upper left) featured in the Leaside United Church pancake alerts may wish to identify themselves. These happy country folk appear each year with maple syrup in hand to herald the LUC dinner. To the right, mystery writer Ken Ogilvie was telling gathered fans at Sleuth of Baker Street this week that he re-invented himself in order to live the much-admired life of a published author. He is an environmentalist and among other occupations worked at Pollution Probe. His current book is Her Dark Path published by Joffe Books. Lower left, there’s an appeal on Leaside Community to see if anybody knows this coal-coloured guy. And Maurice Cody parents are warning all students and youthful moms and dads it will soon be time to Dance, Dance, Dance. Check it out.

Hockey stick chair

Great on porch or the dock

Hero images

A nice win for some youngster

Care for a taste?

Goodies

Among the many items up for silent auction this weekend at the Leaside Select Invitational Tournament are two very cool hockey-stick deck chairs. An array of desirable items can been seen in the William Lea Room at Leaside Memorial Community Gardens on Millwood. This year is the 28th version of the huge hockey event. It is being played out by 120 teams from as far away as Waterloo in nine arenas, including Leaside. More than 2,000 kids will play. This year’s chairpersons are Anthony Hammill, Brad Cressman and Jennifer O’Donnell. Games at the Leaside rinks continue through Saturday and Sunday with an estimated conclusion of play by 8 p.m.

Living rent-free in capital

It takes a lot of nerve to claim that diplomatic immunity lets you live rent-free in a pleasant luxury flat overlooking Ottawa’s Glebe neighbourhood. And Friday the Ontario Superior Court told US embassy employee Betsy Zouroudis to pay up or get out. She had rented the top floor of a townhouse in the Glebe last year. But then she refused to pay and in a letter from her lawyer argued she had “diplomatic immunity” from the landlord and tenant board. Justice Rohan Bansie delivered the bad news. He told Zouroudis that paying rent is a commercial activity not covered by diplomatic immunity. Zouroudis’ lawyer had argued the only way to make her subject to the rent payments was for the US to waive her diplomatic status.

Mona Piper

Friends and admirers of Mona May Piper may pay respects on Friday, February 9 at the Humphrey Funeral Home at Bayview Ave. and St. Cuthbert’s Road. Receiving will be from 2 to 4 p.m. and from 6 to 9 p.m. A memorial service will take place on Saturday, February 10 at 11 a.m. in St. Cuthbert’s Anglican Church at 1399 Bayview Ave. A private family burial will take place at a later time. Mona Piper died Wednesday, January 31 at the Sunnybrook Palliative Care Centre in her 89th year She touched the lives of thousands of children and parents in her conscientious and generous way as a school crossing guard at Maurice Cody Public School. Among the many tributes to Mona Piper received at the South Bayview Bulldog since her death notice is one from Morgan McDonell. She wrote: “When I was little I’d been gifted a My Little Pony that meant the world to me. It was unfortunately stolen one day at school which devastated me. Mrs Piper had asked why I was so upset as I was bawling my eyes out the whole way home. A few days later, when walking through her cross walk, she handed me a simple brown paper lunch bag and said “make sure your mom says it’s ok first”. She had bought me a new My Little Pony to replace my stolen toy.” Ms. McDonell says this story remains a vivid memory with her at the age of 40.

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Eight people including six children have been hurt, some critically, in the head-on collision of a bus and an SUV on Highway 26 and Nottawasaga Sideroad 27/28 near Stayner Friday afternoon. All the injured were passengers in the SUV, which bore Texas license plates. The children ranged n age from four to 15. At least two ORNGE helicopters took patients to the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. In total, there were said to be 50 people on the bus, including 47 students. There were only minor injuries among them. They were taken to Clearview Township Transportation Community Centre on this frigid February day. CBC News quotes ​Glenn Attridge, president of Attridge Transportation as saying the St. Thomas More students were a day trip to Blue Mountain and were heading back to Hamilton when he said the van crossed the median and hit the bus. Clearview Fire said on Twitter that all the individuals on the bus left the community centre and headed back to Hamilton shortly after 5 p.m.

Thank you, on behalf of the St. Thomas More Catholic S. S. community, to all of your staff for taking extraordinary care of our students and staff, who were involved in the collision. We will keep the injured in our prayers. Thanks to the @OPP_News, as well. @HWCDSB

— St. Thomas More CSS (@stmcss) February 2, 2018

The TSX Composite is plunging downward again Friday after a week of large and consistent losses related largely to falling commodity prices. The TSX has staggered badly out of the gate in 2018, falling nearly 1.6 percent to post the fourth-worst performance to start the year among 93 global exchanges. The Canadian benchmark index is slotted between Oman’s exchange and London’s FTSE 100. In the US, there is similar aversion among investors to improving employment and industrial strength. The Dow average was down more than 250 points by midday Friday.