A fight among young people outside the Meadowvale Town Centre in Mississsauga has left one young man  dead of stab wounds and two other people with wounds. It is not clear Wednesday night what precipitated the fight.

The Toronto and District School Board has voted to end the School Resource Officer (SRO) program.  The outcome was well telegraphed beginning with publication of a staff report last week that called for such a decision. The vote was 18 to 3. At issue, as stated by trustees, was that some students (perhaps 2,000 out of 15,000) said they were uncomfortable and felt as if they were being watched by the police. There were heartfelt concerns expressed that these “intimidated” students should be free from such pressure. There was however opinion beyond the board that cancelling the program against the majority opinion was not the most sensible way to address the fears expressed by the minority.

At @tdsb Board meeting, discussing discontinuing the School Resource Officer (sro) program. Pic: Student Trustee @shamsmehdiTDSB speaking to it. So happy to be parent & Volunteer at a school (Leaside High) where such well-spoken students attend – impressed as always, kudos & thx! pic.twitter.com/VzK7nJ1Ode

— Wilmar Kortleever (@WKortleever) November 23, 2017

The federal government has announced a $40 billion long-term housing strategy designed to provide “affordable” housing and help the homeless. It will not begin until after the next election and roll out over ten years. Among other things, the prime minister said that “housing rights are human rights.” The ambitious plan promises to tackle everything from homelessness, the shortage of new housing units and repairs to existing units. Mayor Tory was laudatory of the strategy saying it shows the federal government was paying attention to the concerns raised by Canada’s seven big-city mayors when they met last year.

The changing skyline on Esandar Drive opposite Leaside Village and behind the Telus building is #19, shown at the Toronto Building Application site as a six-storey self-service storage building “with some retail space on ground floor.” The frame of this building has jumped up almost overnight and presents a surprise on all sides, including how it looms up in the view from Southvale Drive heading to Laird Drive. The steel structure has a large concrete apron in front which would accommodate a lot of retail if that is what it is for although it may be mostly for parking.

Glenn and Stacey Murphy

A Toronto couple, Glenn and Stacey Murphy and their children, have donated $10 million to build the Murphy Family Centre for Mental Health at Sunnybrook Medical Sciences Centre on Bayview Ave. It will be a state-of-the-art 27,000 square foot space within the new Garry Hurvitz Brain Sciences Centre where mental illnesses will be treated the same as other brain disorders like stroke or dementia. The Centre’s inpatient units for adults and youth will offer advanced clinical facilities that include home-like private suites, a gym, a classroom, and an outdoor courtyard. SHSC said in a recent release that the donation brings the project within reach of the $62 million needed to break ground for the 60,000 square foot Hurvitz Brain Sciences Centre. Glenn Murphy is the head of FIS Holdings Limited, a Toronto investment firm. He was Chairman and CEO of The Gap from 2007 to 2014 and previously Chairman and CEO of Shoppers Drug Mart from 2001 to 2007. He has also had leadership positions with Indigo Books, Loblaw Companies, Lululemon Athletica and Yellow Pages Income Fund.

ST MICHAEL’ S TO BUILD MS CENTRE

St. Michael’s Hospital will build the BARLO MS Centre to treat multiple sclerosis on the top two floors of a 17-storey tower under construction at the downtown Toronto complex. MS is known as “Canada’s disease” because the country has the highest prevalence of the neurological disease in the world, with one in every 340 Canadians living with MS. It affects three times as many women as men.

The Competition Bureau has has ended its three-year investigation into how Loblaws deals with its suppliers. It found no action was necessary but added it could re-open the case if it had new information. The issue relates to fees and discounts Loblaws might impose to do business. At the same time, the bureau confirmed it continues with a multi-firm probe of what it says might be price-fixing in the sale of bread. BNN

David Cassidy has died at age 67, an apparent victim of dementia. Then, rather shocking news that Uber has hidden a huge hack of customers information and paid hackers $100,000 to keep it quiet. It is also silent on how many Canadians were compromised. Ugh. Below that, a restaurant for nudists has opened in Paris. South Bayview needs one of these. Just kidding. Finally, the devastating cost of the college teachers strike on international students. Many have to go home after getting exactly nothing for their money. Shameful.

Constable Jennifer Sidhu

Um, this would be chocolate

And strawberry. What more do you want?

The new Cheesecake Factory restaurant opened Tuesday at Yorkdale and Toronto PC Jenniferjit Sidhu @OfficerJen carried out an investigation to authenticate the cheesecake. Yep, it’s real.

Mayoralty candidate Doug Ford was working over core issues among his supporters. The war on the car. Elsewhere, the marginalization of cars on King has been met with hallelujahs, it’s said, by politicians and streetcar riders.