Saturday’s $5 million Lotto 649 jackpot will be split between two ticket holders – one in the Prairies and the other in Ontario, the lottery says. Each winner will collect $2.5 million. The draw’s guaranteed $1 million prize also went to a lottery player in the Prairies. The jackpot for the next Lotto 649 draw on Feb. 17 will be approximately $5 million.

Toronto Police Parking Enforcement will not be enforcing routine on-street parking bylaws during the Family Day holiday on Monday. This will apply for pay-and-display/metered area and rush-hour route restrictions as well as posted signs indicating Monday to Friday regulations. All other areas and parking offenses will continue to be enforced in accordance with parking enforcement lockdown measures.

Message of good wishes and love from Northlea children/Yee Hong

It’s the Year of the Ox

Hey, Jordan. Go girl/Leaside Wildcats

Superintendent Dave Rydzik

Leslieville BIA

Grade 1 and 2 kids at Northlea Elementary and Middle School were busy this week preparing colourful greetings for residents of the Yee Hong Centre to mark the Chinese New Year. It’s the Year of the Ox. Pictures at the upper left and right were tweeted by the centre. At centre right is the shining face of Jordan Lloyd, a hard-skating member of the Leaside Wildcats who just scored a $1,000 scholarship from the Black Girl Hockey Club. Take a look at the tribute given to this fine young role model. At lower left, we see that wild and crazy senior police officer Dave Rydzik, Superintendent of 43 Division.  Watch the hilarious ice-water video of Dave polar plunging for the Special Olympics. What a guy. Lastly in this gallery, some very pretty lights installed the Leslieville BIA.

Balliol St. at Forman Ave Friday evening/Bulldog

Police say the woman who rolled her car on quiet Balliol St at Forman Ave Friday night is apparently not seriously injured. Officers at the scene said she appeared to be impaired. Her car was eastbound on Balliol and got a little too close to the bumper of a parked car on the north side. The collision was enough to flip the small sedan.

Car hit bumper of a parked vehicle as it headed east/Bulldog

An on-site media scrum Friday by Acting Staff Superintendent Pauline Gray and Superintendent Ron Taverner outside 31 Division on Norfinch Drive is embedded here. The senior officers discuss the early morning shooting on Stong Ct. in northwest Toronto. The audio is low but the senior officers say that the girl, 14, who was critically injured is apparently likely to survive.

Dr. Micheal Warner, head of critical care at Micheal Garron Hospital/CBC

The head of critical care at Micahel Garron Hospital, Dr. Michael Warner, has added his voice to the medical opposition to any early relaxation of lockdown rules. Again, projections of 5,000 or more new cases per day of the virus are being heard. It’s similar to the fears discussed at New Year’s. In the event, Ontario began to flatten the second wave of C-19 in the middle of the month. Daily new cases rose to somewhat more than 3,000 and then began to decline.

Government determined

But the government seems determined. While Toronto apparently remains locked down in stay-at-home mode until February 22, a maze of timed re-openings will be permitted starting Tuesday. Readers will recall the post yesterday in which the government’s sickness-modeling expert Dr. Adalsteinn Brown did not contradict a reporter who asked if the doctor foresaw “a disaster.”

• Ontario postponing March Break to mid-April, says education minister
• Reporter uses word “disaster” and gov’t doctor lets it pass

Erich Schwam

Michala and Ben

Loujain Alhathloul

Faces, faces and what better likeness to show you first than that of the late Erich Schwam, who died at 90 in December. He was an Austrian Jew who found refuge as a child from the Nazis during WWII with the people of a tiny village in Southern France. Oh yes, his will contained a gift of some two million Euros to the town in gratitude for their humanity. At the centre, Michala and Ben are among those who have found love during the pandemic. Like many others, they met online and because of isolation rules spent a lot of time getting to know each other that way. Finally, women’s rights protester Loujain Alhathloul has been released from prison in Saudi Arabia. Note the bitter comments to this CBC story about how Canada continues to buy its oil and sell arms to Saudia Arabia. Why do we do it? Because we like Iran less.

Wreckage of a salt truck on Highway 410 Wednesday/OPP

The OPP Highway Safety Division tweeted scenes of a salt truck collision on Highway 410 Wednesday.

Join the Leaside Heritage Preservation Society

Ladies at Leaside Airport

The Leaside Heritage Preservation Society is seeking members during a limited-time two-for-one membership drive. There are five levels: Founding (Life), Corporate, Adult Annual, Senior Annual and Student. See the details.

The City has issued a cold weather alert as very low temperatures are forecast both in the daytime and at night over the weekend. Municipal warming centres are open at the following locations: 129 Peter St., 5800 Yonge St., Exhibition Place, Better Living Centre,195 Princes’ Blvd. and Scarborough Civic Centre, 150 Borough Dr.

Wednesday sees another of the periodic C-19 free tests at local sites. They start at 1 p.m. and run through to 7 p.m.