The Bulldog

Wynne, Trudeau bring transit billions to Barrie bus garage

The federal government will contribute as much as $1.49 billion in transit infrastructure money for transit. The money is part of the first phase of a $60-billion infrastructure funding plan to pay for projects nationwide over the next 10 years. The details were announced Tuesday morning by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne at a municipal transit garage in Barrie. The projects are named here.

Brewers target abstainers as moderate drinking questioned

Research debunking the long-held view that moderate drinking of alcohol extends life is causing brewers to seek a new market in non-alcoholic beer. The online site Consumerist, which is run by Consumer Reports, makes note of how many countries are abandoning the moderate alcohol advice. Brewers have responded by targeting a new market — non-drinkers. In Canada, Budweiser aims to have 20% of its volume come from no-or low-alcohol beer by 2025, the Wall Street Journal reports. The alleged deception about the effects of moderate drinking — intentional or otherwise — came into full focus this year with evidence that most studies included terminally ill people the “abstainer” category, effectively giving the “moderate” category a substantial advantage when it came to life expectancy.

New speed bumps on Cleveland at Maurice Cody School

Drivers will wish to watch out for the newly-installed speed bumps on Cleveland St just north of Belsize Drive outside of Maurice Cody Junior Public School. The 1928 school sits closer to the street than modern structures and the congestion of parents and kids sometimes spills out onto the road.

Canadian athletes home Tuesday to proud welcome

Twitter

Beach BIA hopes to stage homecoming parade for Penny

The Beach Village Business Improvement Area is hoping to stage a short parade along Queen Street East to honour Penny Oleksiak and celebrate her victories. The neighborhood where she grew up and went to school is decked out in welcome home greetings

What’s that smell? Curious video uploaded by prankster

swerve mystery

Courier, cabbie, bystander, Porsche driver and cyclist

Police are wisely trying to locate all the parties shown above, and a couple of others too, before they decide what to do about the case of the cabbie who swerved into a bike courier. It happened on Bay Street north of St. Mary Street on Thursday August 18, 2016. Adding an odd odour to this mixture, the video of the taxi swerving to bump the courier is supposedly the work of a Youtube video hotshot from Los Angeles on a visit to Toronto. His name is Fousey and he makes pranks of car incidents. Terrific. Some reports say police are looking for four witnesses but there are at least five seen on the video besides the courier and the cabbie.

IS THERE MORE VIDEO?

Two of the witnesses pictured above, the bystander and the Porsche driver, seem to take the side of the taxi driver. The witness cyclist seen near the end of the tape says ominously to the cabbie that “I saw you at the last light.” The cabbie is on his cell saying the courier has been tailing him and the courier tells the cabbie “You’re going to jail.” There are two other cyclists in the background being sought as witnesses by cops. They say nothing during the video. It is clear something has been going on because whoever shot this video was inspired by ongoing activity and there may well be more of it. Okay, Mr. YouTube prankster, time to dump all your video up to the police.

https://twitter.com/brammezan/status/766734718935134208

CP Rail alerts City when hazardous goods cross Midtown

The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) is suggesting that the “sideswipe” which apparently occurred at a switch on the CP mainline near Spadina Rd was caused because one crew did not respond quickly enough to a stop signal. It appears to be as simple and as complicated as that. CBC.

NEIGHBOURS

Neighbours all along the mainline from Leaside to the Junction are expressing concern. Some say the railway should be moved. The enormous cost of such an undertaking, both physical and financial, make the mind swim. Sunday’s derailment was minor as such things go. The cargo of aerosol cans was not particularly dangerous and did not spill. Some 1,200 litres of diesel fuel did leak however.

CP SHARES CARGO INFORMATION

The railway actually shares information about dangerous shipments with municipalities and emergency services so that they may be better able to respond if there is a crisis. Why not share this information with everyone? You may guess that authorities are concerned that dangerous people might use timetables and other particulars to blow up or derail trains.

Elderly women robbed outside their homes in Cabbagetown

Two elderly women have been robbed in separate incidents as they stood outside their own homes in Cabbagetown. A man and woman operating out of a white van stopped on Sackville Street and the two emerged wielding a knife. They took jewelry from a woman of 81. Later on the same day, Wednesday, August 10, the two robbed a 76-year-old woman in her driveway near Wellesley and Parliament. The occupants of the van are described as having olive complexions, in their mid-40s.

Couche-Tard buys CST Brands for tidy price of C$4.4 bln

Canadian corner store giant Couche-Tard set to grow

Break and enter call to Rumsey Rd. and Sutherland Dr.

https://twitter.com/tpscalls/status/767545088478220289

Taxi driver swerves into cyclist as rider thumps on window

See later post 

Teen tells cops mom and dad forced her to go on vacation

Any adult with a memory will concede that being a teenager isn’t always a happy experience. But adults know that most of such distress is rooted in a youthful lack of perspective. So when a 15-year-old Mississauga girl called 911 to complain that her parents were forcing her to go on vacation with them she got a mild reproof from the OPP. This outcome is no doubt much more welcome to her parents than running away — another frequently seen tactic.