Canada’s competition regulator said Thursday it is suing Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation, for allegedly misleading consumers on the prices for sports and other entertainment tickets. The Competition Bureau said an investigation found that Ticketmaster’s advertised prices are deceptive because consumers wind up paying additional fees that are added later in the purchasing process. The bureau called the practice “drip pricing” and said it results in consumers paying higher prices than advertised. The regulator claimed that Ticketmaster’s mandatory fees often inflate the price by more than 20 per cent, and, in some instances, by over 65 per cent.

William Nylander pops penalty shot by Jeff Glass

The Leafs won a thrilling 3-2 victory in Chicago Wednesday, their first defeat of the Blackhawks on Windy City ice in 15 years. William Nylander scored on a penalty shot 6 seconds into overtime to end the game. CBC  YouTube

2 Orchard Green

From the rear

Note the double-sided gas fireplace between the sitting and dining rooms.

Expansive

Restful bathing

Demolished in 2016 to make way for secluded manse

At 2 Orchard Green the little original Bennington Heights home has been torn down and replaced with a spacious four-bedroom “secluded manse” that is currently offered through Royal LePage Real Estate Services for $4,995,000. The property was purchased in 2016 for $1,800,000. Secluded describes this home well enough but as locations goes, it enjoys the extraordinary convenience to any point on the Midtown or downtown compass offered by that semi-secret place called Bennington Heights.

It was actually raining money on an Illinois interstate after a truck carrying cash from a video gambling machine lost control and collided with a car, spraying $5, $10 and $20 bills all over, forcing police to shut the road down for an hour — CNN

Toys “R” Us will close 180 stores in the US as it tries to deal with debt and the onslaught of Amazon.com. That’s 20 percent of its 900 locations there. Toys “R” Us Canada president Melanie Teed-Murch said all 83 stores will remain open for business. Then, Elton John says he will soon stop touring. This appears to be a response to the appeal of family life at home with children. Below that, Scarborough’s Mike Meyers has been inducted into the Order of Canada. And finally, an outspoken CP Rail conductor who was in the cab of the engine during a derailment has been fired for a second time. You be the judge.

The scandalous case of Larry Nassar, the one-time US Olympic doctor who used his position to prey on  young women athletes, has seen the disgraced physician sentenced in Lansing, Michigan to as much as 175 years in prison. The judge in the case, Rosemarie Aquilina, told Nassar she has just signed his death warrant. CBC

A video of a baby rhino taking a shower has been released by the Toronto Zoo. It is great fun to watch the first- time bathing splash of the three-week old rhino. The video is on Twitter and Facebook and embedded here. The infant, which has not yet been named, was the zoo’s first newborn of 2018. Zookeepers say the rhino was “not too sure of it” and startled when splashed by his mother, Asha, short for Ashakiran. “Today is the first time we see him frolicking, jumping, rolling on his side and tummy, and thoroughly enjoying himself under the water spray,” the zoo said on Facebook. Now, the baby rhino likes the cool water on his face and body and no longer minds being cleaned. It is seen jumping as the water sprays over him and taking a few playful steps in the water. At one point, he rolls on his side and tries to roll onto his back. Then, he stands and he sniffs the water. The whole time, his ears are flapping, and occasionally, his tail is wagging.

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Town Hall

Robyn’s advice

Maurice Cody Family Skate

Skate Canada Synchronized Championships

Please empty

Councillor Jon Burnside is reminding residents of his annual town hall meeting at the William Lea Room at Leaside Arena on February 5. That’s a Monday. At the upper right, advice from Robyn Hochglaube, estimable admin of Leaside Community Facebook group. She notes that other people’s negative energy is not worth your time. Words to live by Madam.  Below that, the cute drawings of kidlets are a reminder of the Maurice Cody Family Skate Night at Hodgson Middle School January 26 from 6 to 8 p.m. Lower left, the Skate Canada Synchronized Skating Championships February 23 to 25 will see many Leaside folk present. And finally, this eyesore was tweeted recently from the corner of Bayview Ave and Millwood Rd. The disgruntled poster said it had been that way a week.

The federal government is said to be ready to endorse the status-quo state of mail delivery across the country. Briefly stated, it appears that those who now get mail delivered to their homes will continue to do so. Those who have already been converted to community mail boxes will have to accept that fate. No new boxes will be built, it is understood. Public Services Minister Carla Qualtrough was expected to roll out new plan at a Canada Post plant in Mississauga Wednesday.

The medical staff at a Kalamazoo hospital and friends across that City are rallying to the aid of a physician who came to the US as a child. He has now suddenly been taken into custody by immigration officials due to misdemeanors carried out when he was a teen. Then, Neil Diamond will retire, a decision forced upon him by his health. Below that, the flu season is hitting hard but while services are stretched there does not seem to be quite the state of panic felt in the US. And finally, Minnie Mouse, cartoonings answer to Eve, has been honoured in Hollywood.

Ontario transit agency Metrolinx says that GO Transit was the target of an attack by North Korean hackers for reasons unknown. No no personal information was compromised and systems that operate its trains and buses were not affected. North Korea appears to be on a campaign of testing whatever foreign system it can find. The attack has qualities related to the so-called WannaCry virus that has shutdown hospitals in the UK.  Spokeswoman Anne Marie Aikins said Tuesday that the cyber attack happened recently, but would not give a date or what specifically was targeted because of security concerns.

BELL HIT BY DATA THEFT

The RCMP has launched an investigation into a data breach at Bell Canada that appears to have compromised customer names and email addresses, but no credit card or banking information. Bell Canada spokesman Nathan Gibson told The Canadian Press that “fewer than 100,000 customers were affected.” Bell Canada has alerted customers who were affected, and also informed them that additional security, authentication and identification requirements have been implemented