The Leaside Jr. Wildcats fought back to a 2-2 tie with the Brampton Canadettes at Leaside Arena Sunday afternoon. The home team fell behind the feisty Canadettes who scored in both the first and second periods to lead the game 2-0 at the end of two. But the Wildcats came alive in the third launching two textbook passing attacks in the Brampton end that resulted in the tying markers. The overtime period yielded no goals. Kristin Della Rovere scored at 5.48 of the third assisted by Mariah Hinds and Megan Pardy. This line was full value as it hammered away to finally put the puck past Brampton’s capable net minder Allison Small even as the teams were five on five.  At 18.48 of the third, Olivia Reid scored on  a power play with the assistance of Della Rovere and Hinds. Brampton goals were scored by Kaitlyn Perichak  at 3.22 of the first assisted by Jamie Bulleid and Sydney Pierce, and by Nicole Augello at 13.28 of the second assisted by Kaitlyn Perichak. Allison Small stopped 36 shots on goal for Brampton and Danielle Toland 25 for Leaside. The tie leaves Leaside standing at 7th spot in the 20-team Provincial Women’s Hockey League after 23 games. In the game recap, the PWHL online narrator notes that Leaside stayed out of the box better than usual, totalling one minor for two minutes in penalty time, well below its average of nine. Boxscore 

Newly elected Liberal MP and former broadcast journalist Seamus O’Regan says he has entered a wellness program to adopt “an alcohol free lifestyle.” CP24

CNN report tells of what seems like a rather doubtful activity for teens. Where are their parents?

The City has issued an extreme cold weather alert of the season as Toronto braces for a blast of wintry weather. Temperatures are expected to plunge as low as –15 C overnight — the threshold for such alerts — and will rise no higher than –11 on Monday it is forecast.

From the 15-km ride costing $630 from Montreal to suburban Laval to the flat fare of $25 a mile in New York City, the Uber horror stories are hitting home like a hangover from New Year. According to CTV, some people say Uber wanted a $1,000 to deliver them home. Is it any wonder that many people just don’t like this view of our taxi future. “$600 dollars for a taxi,” lamented Veronica Iafrancesco to CTV. “We might as well have just rented a room at that point.”

Buffalo Evening News 

One of the convicts who plotted to blow up the TSE and other downtown locations has been given as much as six months parole to go to school. There are a number of restrictions on Saad Gaya, now 28. He was 21 when he prepared to detonate three tonnes of what he thought was ammonia nitrate fertilizer as part of the infamous Toronto 18 terror plot. His lawyer says he is very remorseful and rehabilitated and we can only hope that this is true. Sadly, the world is full of “reformed” terrorists who faked it just long enough to go out and kill people. Sorry Saad, hope you put it together and stay straight. CBC 

They say that age doesn’t matter that much in young women’s hockey but it must have been something that gave the Ryerson Rams that big sister edge they used to whip the Leaside Wildcats 5 to 1 in exhibition play at Mattamy Arena Saturday night. The Ryerson girls, cellar-dwellers in the Ontario University Athletic League, average a year or two older than the Grade 12 teammates of the Wildcats squad. Siobhan Birch potted the lone Leaside goal unassisted on Rams netminder Ally Sarna in the second. Shots on goal told a true story with Leaside’s Danielle Tolland facing 37 and Ryerson’s Sarna merely 20. Sunday afternoon it’s back to regular season play with an afternoon match at Leaside Arena against the Brampton Canadettes.

Toronto Star writer Edward Keenan has embarked on a three-part series (if you please) dealing with NIMBYism. You can find the first one here. He mentions the Jefferson Homeless Shelter hoax. South Bayview residents are still stinging from the calculated dishonesty and entrapment perpetrated by the homeless charity Raise the Roof and the ad agency Leo Burnett.  On October 2, 2015, pedestrians on Bayview Ave. were informed by signage that a 62-bed shelter was moving into a vacant building. The affairs of this new hostel would be managed by three volunteers. In nearby shops “staff” of the hostel sought out residents to confirm that buses would indeed ferry the homeless from wherever they might be found to fill the place. The Jefferson Shelter said in a notice that it knew people living in South Bayview might have questions. How thoughtful. Why not call the number provided and (it was implied) hear our side, said the notice. Of course there was no one at the other end of the line, just a recording to leave a message.

MEDIA FELL OVERBOARD

The whiz kids at Leo Burnett knew that this was their access to juicy recorded material that would permit them to paint their lurid picture. With suckers like the people of Leaside and Davisville who needed paid actors?  The holy warriors of anti-NIMBYism would be fully unleashed with this stuff.  The media fell overboard. Writers snickered that people might cry at being told that a homeless hostel was moving in. But one respectable single woman renting a flat above a shop next door to the fictitious shelter did cry. How silly of her to think that maybe as she walked from the bus after dark she might not feel as safe as she once did. Yes, and some people who own fine homes here actually wondered if they should sell them. It is a distress that comfortable reporters no doubt think these people deserved.  You know, it’s what you get when you react badly to carefully calculated deceit and entrapment.

The Mt. Pleasant Village BIA has announced winners in the annual Window Wanderland contest. The people’s choice was found to be a tie between Uptown Chiropractic and Jacaranda Tree (two perennial contenders) with the next spot owned by Periwinkle Flowers The judges on the other hand said first place went to Briton House with second spot to Wild Bird & Bernardi’s Antiques.

The CBC has put together this excellent report on relevant baby arrivals in the New Year — as if moments really mattered. The times in “after witching hour seconds and minutes” are 39 seconds, five minutes even and 34 minutes. We’ll let you match up the times with the names. Nice stuff.