The Salvation Army Thrift Store at 60 Overlea Blvd is issuing a welcome in advance of its grand opening Thursday morning. Ron Nurse, the store manager, offered the invitation seen in the video below. A mural (above left) in multiple languages from the origins of the people of Thorncliffe Park was made by kids from Leaside High School and Marc Garneau High School.

A former Liberal Party of Canada organizer in Quebec has been convicted of fraud and sentenced to four-years in prison for his part in the so-called Adscam scandal more than 12 years ago. Jacques Corriveau is 83 and it is an open question as to just how long he will serve. In fact he was released on bail later in the day pending an appeal. But it is a bitter end to a life in politics. Corriveau swindled the federal government of an estimated $1.4 million. He has been given ten years to pay it back as a Montreal court rendered its verdict Wednesday morning.  Again, it seems like an open question as to how repayment will happen. The crimes Corriveau was convicted of occurred between 1997 and 2003 and were related to what became known as the sponsorship scandal (or Adscam) and which eventually helped bring down the Liberal government in 2006.

HOW IT WORKED

The program ran from 1996 until 2004, when broad corruption was discovered in its operations and the program was discontinued. Illicit and even illegal activities within the administration of the program were revealed, involving misuse and misdirection of public funds intended for government advertising in Quebec. Such misdirections included sponsorship money awarded to Liberal Party-linked ad firms in return for little or no work, in which firms maintained Liberal organizers or fundraisers on their payrolls or donated back part of the money to the Liberal Party. The resulting investigations and scandal affected the Liberal Party of Canada and the then-government of Prime Minister Paul Martin. It was an ongoing affair for years, but rose to national prominence in early 2004 after the program was examined by Sheila Fraser, the federal auditor general.

The University Health Network (UHN) is telling the story of Melissa B this Wednesday  The Burlington woman was dying from infection in her lungs that was resistant to antibiotics,. A lung transplant was needed but not at hand. Doctors asked her family if they wanted to make the heavy decision to remove Melissa’s lungs until a transplant was available. They did and Dr.Shaf Keshavjee, the surgeon in charge of the groundbreaking plan at Toronto General Hospital, went forward. She lived on an artificial system that kept her oxygenated and alive until the lung replacement was available. Dr. Keshavjee, among other things, is a graduate of North Toronto Collegiate. His dream as a boy was to become a surgeon.

We’re fond of telling each other how far the world has come by merely citing the calendar. It’s 2016. It’s 2017 and so on. Sadly, with each passing year the Era of the Internet reveals the capacity for an entire underclass of vulgar people to vent inbred anger. They’ve always been there. So it is, as reported by Mike Crawley of the CBC that the Twitter, Instagram and other social media accounts in the name of the member for Don Valley West, Kathleen Wynne, are often defaced by obscene and hateful comments.  We can’t believe that the Premier even reads them. You don’t get to be where she is by worrying about such stuff. The truth about 2017 is that much of the media is no longer moderated by editors and publishers who try to set a standard of decency for their publications. A misstep or two while you’re on Youtube will curl your hair.

Here’s a charming rendering of some of the shops on South Bayview Ave. by artist David Crighton. They appear in delicate colours and remind us of places we love. They’re not quite in the same order as they appears on the actual street and big names like Starbucks and Scotiabank have have been jumped over but that’s fine. They won’t mind.

@LeasideBIA @southbayview This is pretty special. Artist David Crighton's take of shops on Bayview https://t.co/ZxJGUAjO7o pic.twitter.com/4lNzsf54XG

— Leaside Chit Chat (@LeasideChitChat) January 25, 2017

Okay, in order, there’s the birth Tuesday of a premature Hippo at the Cincinnati Zoo. The zoo says 17-year-old Bibi gave birth early Tuesday to the first Nile hippo born there in 75 years. Clockwise, we have a FedEx tractor-trailer getting creamed at a Utah level-crossing when the gates didn’t come down. Everyone was okay, quite amazingly. Lower right is a truly odd complaint that the White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer has against a pebbled iced cream, whatever that is. Lower left, the happy rescue of a horse from a deep ditch in Miami-Dade County in Florida. Makes you feel good.

Councillor Jon Burnside is reminding constituents that his annual Community Town Hall meeting is this Wednesday, January 25, at the Leaside Memorial Gardens. There will be representatives from Financial Planning, Transportation Services, The Planning Partnership, Metrolinx and 53 Division in attendance to make updates on current projects. It is a chance for people to voice concerns and ask questions. He invites those with questions in advance to contact his office at 416-392-0215 or councillor_burnside@toronto.ca.

A group of about 50 people, many police officers, raised around $10,000 for Special Olympics Ontario by wading into Lake Ontario waters over the weekend. It was the first Toronto Polar Plunge in support of Special Olympics Ontario at Woodbine beach on Saturday, January 21, a new tradition for the Service, which fundraises for athletes each year.

 

This hole is still growing even as the school bus which fell into it is rescued by a tow truck. No one was injured in this incident at Symes Road and Hillborn Ave near St. Clair West and Keele Street.

No injuries after huge sinkhole opens under school bus in west end https://t.co/aqZWPy2uQa pic.twitter.com/9637x3BLvD

— CP24 (@CP24) January 24, 2017

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed executive actions to accelerate the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipeline projects and to decree that American steel should be used for pipelines built in the United States. Trump also signed an action to expedite environmental review and approval of high-priority infrastructure projects that he hopes to get moving as part of his drive to rebuild U.S. airports, roads and bridges. Trump told reporters that “we are going to renegotiate some of the terms” of the Keystone XL project. “And if they like we will see if we can get that pipeline built – a lot of jobs, 28,000 jobs, great construction jobs.”

 

Tracey Harding has posted photos to Facebook of Saturday’s East York Kiwanis Robbie Burns Supper on Saturday. It was held at York Banquet and Event Centre on Millwood Road and was judged by Vivien Young to be “lots of fun.” And so it seems. There was haggis of course and even more joyously perhaps single malt whiskey. Och! That’s guid.

A new movie, Kiss and Cry, tells the story of a Toronto girl, Carley Allison. She was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer at the age of 17 and died within two years at the age of 19. The film, Kiss and Cry, stars her best friend and supporter through this illness, actress Sarah Fisher portraying Carley. The cancer that struck Carley was a form of sarcoma, so rare it afflicts only one in 3.5 billion. As told by Shannon Martin of the CBC, Carley refused to let it define her. Instead she used her cancer diagnosis to inspire thousands of young people around the world by sharing her personal motto: “Always Smile.”