Justin Yates

Where did he get this?

How did he get out?

Justin Yates, the violent criminal who slipped out of Toronto General Hospital Thursday, used a prepaid credit card to grab a taxi outside TGH.  He didn’t go far — the cab dropped him at Yonge and Dundas. But the mystery of where the card came from remains. Det. Const. Aggrey Koech confirmed that Yates used a prepaid credit card to pay for a cab he hailed outside the hospital during his getaway — which involved somehow ridding himself of leg irons. Koech said he had “no idea” how Yates — escorted by two guards to the hospital — was able to get his hands on the card. He told the Toronto Sun that nothing points to Yates having help, but that possibility remains under investigation.

Toronto on a January morning is just as likely to deliver a young man shot in the leg as it is a drifting of snow. Maybe more likely. Saturday the City has both. Police say the incident occurred outside the Thomson Diner at 550 Wellington West near Bathurst. There are no other details. Officers would very much appreciate hearing from witnesses if any.

Those were the days

Eaton Centre

Hot music values

The remainder of the HMV retailing company left in Canada has declared bankruptcy. The firm has been shrinking for years. There are three stores left in Toronto and they will close April 30. The location which HMV had in the SmartCentre on Laird is now occupied by Roots Canada. HMV stands for hot music values but, as is well known, that business vanished with the arrival of the Internet. HUK 10 Ltd. the firm’s British parent had lent money to the Canadian subsidiary but no payment had been forwarded since 2014, court was told in an  application Thursday. It said HMV owed $39 million and would require between $2 million and $5 million annually in cash to stay open.and the company was losing $100,000 a day as customers turned towards online media in recent years. Senior Justice Geoffrey B. Morawetz approved the application and appointed Gordon Brothers Canada ULC and Merchant Retail Solutions ULC as the agent to sell HMV’s remaining merchandise. HMV Wikipedia

Douglas Lamb, the chief financial officer for Postmedia Network will leave newspaper chain at the end of February. Late last year he was identified as one of five senior executives eligible for a bonus of about $450,000. It’s not clear if this is addition to severance. .Postmedia, like all newspaper operations, is struggling with declining advertising. It has executed several buyout and lay off reductions of staff.

We don’t know what Theresa May really thinks of Donald Trump but the two of them got along like a house on fire Friday at the White House. On the plane over the Atlantic May seemed to slip slightly with a jocular comment that opposites attract. We will never know what that really means. But with a decorated china cup and a box of Bakewell tarts in hand as gifts, the British Prime Minister began a historic political gambit. The two leaders agreed that the UK and the US do indeed have a “special relationship” and are going to get along well.

Road tolls nixed: Tory wants the province to stop treating him like 'boy in short pants' https://t.co/JA16tRVpuA #TOpoli pic.twitter.com/3Cvl78Ljd6

— CityNews Toronto (@CityNewsTO) January 27, 2017

Mayor Tory responded angrily today to the Premier’s decision to reject road tolls saying it is time she stopped treating the City — and him — “like a boy in short pants.” He blasted Kathleen Wynne’s rejection on the Gardiner Expressway and Don Valley Parkway calling her decision “short-sighted” and “not right.” He called the Premier’s option to extend more gasoline taxes to municipalities inadequate. No new source of revenue as Wynne rejects road tolls. 

Mayor Tory says greater share of gas tax isn't what Toronto could have raised in revenue from road tolls. #TOpoli pic.twitter.com/AK3HjIC7C7

— Kevin Misener (@Kevin_Misener) January 27, 2017

Through this door passed the finest wrecks

Quiet now

Quonset history

Wreckage

Laird and Wicksteed

Low-rise relic

They say that the rusted and falling down remains of Four Seasons Auto at Laird Drive and Wicksteed Ave. is in its last days. Demolition seems likely soon. The venerable but unsightly property at 199 Laird was sold for $10.5 million in July. The corner has been the hands of the Ricci brothers for more than 50 years But the building, including the large wartime quonset structure, pre-date that area by decades

As telegraphed Thursday night, the Premier has said she will not permit road tolls on the Gardiner Expressway and Don Valley Parkway as requested by Toronto City Council. Speaking at Richmond Hill bus terminal Friday, Kathleen Wynne characterized the matter as a need to give suburban motorists better transit before such tolls might be considered. Instead, she says, the government will double the share of the provincial gasoline tax with the municipalities. It begs the question of how Ontario is spending that money now. And who will lose it if it goes to transit. It is a decision that creates no new income, apparently. The Premier’s calculation seems clearly connected to the next provincial general election in 2018 and the popularity of her government in the so-called 905 ridings.

The QEW at Dixie Road was re-opened by early afternoon Friday following a serious accident in which a van broke through the sound barrier walls which line the highway in Port Credit. One person was taken to hospital but the injuries are believed to be minor. Below is a video made by OPP  Sgt. Kerry Schmidt shortly after the 9 a.m. mishap in which he describes the situation.

The official start of the Chinese New Year is tomorrow. The Year of the Rooster is inspiring activities both simple and complex. Right, Chinese soldiers who were not able to get home for the holiday perform a “little chicken dance” which seems entertaining. Beside that video is one that has been viewed nearly 400,000 times in seven days. Computer game maker Overwatch shows “skins” suitable to the Year of the Rooster. If you, like us, are saying “Help” here it is. On the Internet, a skin is a graphic or audio file used to change the appearance of the user interface to a program or for a game character.

The Bayview-Leaside BIA reports that the City is conducting a review of sidewalk café and marketing display fees as part of an attempt at bylaw harmonization. The proposal suggests increasing permit fees, with some Toronto businesses being asked to pay an almost 900% increase per meter squared per year.Specifically, Bayview Leaside businesses with patio’s, or street marketing currently pay $21.42 per meter squared per year. The review suggests that fees would increase almost 900% in some cases, with non-alcoholic patios at $148.86 per meter squared, patios with alcohol sales at $161.78 per meter squared, and enclosed patios at $213.56 per meter squared. The proposal relies on market values to make estimates surrounding the permit fees. Along with an increase in permit fee’s, officials suggest that new categories of permitting be created (cafe, patio, parklet and marketing display) each with their own specific fee, while new boundaries for fee zones are also being proposed. The city stresses that the review has not been adopted and officials are still looking for feedback, we encourage all businesses that will be affected to attend the upcoming meeting to discuss and share your thoughts.

2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Monday, January 30, 2017
Committee Room 1, 2nd Floor
Toronto City Hall (100 Queen St. West)
Check out all the informational slides here.

CBC News is saying Premier Wynne will reject Toronto’s request to impose tolls on the Don Valley Parkway and Gardiner Expressway, a move the City had asked for in order to pay for new transit projects. Sources tell the news service that Wynne believes Mayor John Tory’s plan for tolls “just isn’t affordable” for drivers when they lack alternatives for commuting to downtown Toronto.  What this means, more bluntly, is that Wynne thinks she might be blamed for it in advance of the 2018 Ontario general election. At the same time, according to the Hamilton Spectator, Wynne will announce Friday “hundreds of millions of dollars” in new money annually (from where?) for municipalities with public transit systems. “We’re trying to help people get ahead and stay ahead — even a toll of $20 more a week is not affordable for Ontario families,” an official is said to have confided.