A Facebook triumph midweek as a dog found in Bennington Heights early Wednesday turns out to be Jagger, a much-loved Munsterlander pup who got lost in Crothers Woods Tuesday evening. FB
A homeless man has died early Wednesday in an encampment fire in Orphans Green Dog Park at Adelaide East and Parliament St. Video here. And about 1,000 households have had their power restored after the unexplained collapse of a utility pole in Scarborough.
There’s renewed evidence this week that Metrolinx intends to sell off lands on the southeast corner of Eglinton Ave and Bayview Ave for the construction of a high-rise building along Bayview. This concern was flagged as early as 2015. The project would presumably rise over the new “Leaside” LRT station and on the quadruplex properties to the south. The Leaside Residents Association released information Tuesday that eviction notices have been sent to the residents of 1783-1785 Bayview, the northernmost of the ten quadruplexes on Bayview between Eglinton and Parkhurst (“Talbot Quads”). Metrolinx owns this property. It notes:
Premier Ford appears on Citytv and discusses the decision to begin re-opening business outside the GTA
Israel now vaccinating healthy 16-year-olds
The astonishing success of Israel in vaccinating almost all of its population against C-19 is examined here. Healthy kids of 16 are getting the jab. The implications are real for the population in general and for Prime Minister Netanyahu who is trying to salvage his political career.
Singer Joss Stone on her life as a sausage
Time to smile as the outlandish costumes on celebrities in The Masked Singer Contest dance across your screen. Any why not?
Toronto is digging out of a heavy snowfall Tuesday morning as traffic cameras seem to show roads are fairly passable but no doubt slippery. Go carefully all. Traffic cameras
.@BurlingtonFire crews arriving a snowplow which has struck a hydro pole on Millborough Line/ Concession 8. Driver trapped inside truck while hydro crews attempt to shut off hydro lines. Blizzard conditions in the area #ONStorm pic.twitter.com/esBgHVIr1r
— Andrew Collins (@ACollinsPhoto) February 16, 2021
Schools have closed or cancelled buses across southern and eastern Ontario this morning as 15-30 cm of snow, combined with wind gusts of 50+ km/h, is making for dangerous travel conditions.
📸: @OttawaPolice #ONstorm #ONsnow #SnowDay
— The Weather Network (@weathernetwork) February 16, 2021
The approaching snow is seen in shades of blue at about 6 p.m. Monday on the AccuWeather North American radar. It is forecast to drop 15 to 25 cm of snow overnight and into Tuesday daytime. Here’s a City News summary. It contains such useful advice as “Get up early and get ready to shovel your snow.” Umm, thanks.
Toronto Police say they have investigated an “irregular” discovery in Liberty Village on Monday and the matter is now concluded. The bomb squad was called to deal with what seemed to be the discovery of explosives. Police say they were conducting an unrelated investigation in the Wellington Street and Strachan Avenue area when they came across something “of great concern”. TTC buses were also called in to provide shelter to residents however police said no evacuations had been ordered. Around 1:40 p.m., police said the “situation has been resolved” and residents who were not inside the building already were allowed to return home. There is no word on any injuries or arrests. No further details were provided regarding the nature of the initial investigation or why the bomb squad had to be called — City News
The Leaside Rotary Club Scavenger Hunt is underway Monday. It’s a pleasant way for the family to find safe fun on Family Day. The website tells of a showpiece 7-foot tall Olaf from Frozen. He’s at 775 Eglinton Avenue at Sutherland. We haven’t got a picture of him but would love to get one and other photos of people enjoying the hunt.
Harry and Meghan have announced that they are expecting their second child. An artsy black-and-white photo taken in their California backyard was used to tell the news. The couple is shown barefoot. ITV
Canada recruits other countries to shame China
Canada says it has recruited some 57 countries to shame the Chinese Communist government in the PRC for its arbitrary seizure of Micheal Kovrig and Micheal Spavor It is a laudable condemnation but many countries don’t want their name made public fearing retaliation by the great Asian giant.
Comedian challenges human rights ruling at SCC
The Supreme Court of Canada is set to hear a case against Mike Ward, a stand-up comedian from Quebec, after a human rights tribunal ruled that his joke relating to the survival of a boy with a rare genetic disorder who was supposed to die, but didn’t, is an act of discrimination.
Significant snowfall is predicted in a special warning from Environment Canada for Monday and Tuesday. It’s unclear from the warning just where or when the heaviest fall may occur but it seems possible Toronto residents might wake up Tuesday with from 10 to 20 cm on the ground. Statement below:
Snowfall with total amounts of 15 to 25 cm is expected. Two rounds of precipitation are expected Monday into Tuesday morning across portions of southern Ontario. The first one is expected to begin overnight or early Monday morning with 5 cm of snow expected by afternoon. Potentially higher amounts of up to 10 cm may occur near Lake Erie. The precipitation may diminish during the afternoon, but another round of even heavier snow is expected to move in Monday evening and persist until Tuesday morning. An additional 10 to 20 cm is likely.
There’s a lot of fear in the air about C-19 variants, the most dreaded of which is the so-called B117. Research in the UK is useful although far from definitive. It appears B117 is slightly more likely to kill people over 65 but not a lot. Numbers quoted recently bump the death rate for this group from one percent per 100,000 patients to perhaps 1.3 percent. So how do you catch B117? It seems as if doing the same sensible things you’d do to avoid the original version works pretty well against B117. The variant doesn’t hide under your bed or chase you down the street. Keep your distance and wear a mask.
It helps to be healthy
There’s emerging evidence that it’s important to build an immunity system by taking Vitamin D every day. The Sunshine Vitamin isn’t a vaccine sadly but there is tentative evidence that if you use it consistently your immunity to catching all kinds of things, including C-19, improves. There is also limited evidence that strong immunity will help you avoid the worst symptoms of C-19 if you do catch it.
Wonky C-19 numbers in Toronto?
Sunday’s new cases count in Ontario is 981 for the 24-hour period ending at midnight. That’s an encouraging number although questions have been raised about the accuracy of numbers from the Toronto Board of Health. But it is vague. As reported by the Ministry of Health there were 122 new cases in Toronto compared to 433 cases Saturday. And there continues to be deep concern among doctors about re-opening for normal business as the province remains largely unvaccinated.
