A company called the Ontario Energy Group and its director Eugene Farber have been charged with 142 counts of violating the Consumer Protection Act in the wake of hundreds of customer complaints against the door-to-door sales firm. The government says complaints have been appearing since 2009. The company sells air conditioners and furnaces. The charges were laid Friday and include using false, misleading or deceptive practices, failure to deliver a valid contract and failure to issue a refund. CBC
Final hours of 1980s McDonald’s at Eglinton and Bayview
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Sorry officer, we were busy kissing and stuff you know
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A couple in Montana was so busy making out they missed three armed robbers holding up a bar early Monday morning, surveillance video appears to show. Billings police are looking for three suspects who hit the Tap Inn at gunpoint and the cops probably didn’t get much of a description from the two lovebirds. Very funny. Except for the robbery.
Evangelical mood at Starbucks annual meeting in Seattle
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A British reporter has visited the Starbucks Annual General Meeting in Seattle and found all the odd things about SBUX HQ are true. Is it a business or a cult, asks Ruth Sutherland This is Money
Record number of homes sold in Canada during March
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The Canadian Real Estate Association reports a slowdown in Vancouver and Toronto markets even as agents sold a record number of homes overall. CREA says about 60 per cent of all local markets showed an increase in transactions, including Edmonton, Calgary, Montreal and Victoria. The national average price for homes sold through its members was $508,567, up 15.7 per cent from a year earlier. Excluding the Vancouver area and Toronto area, which have Canada’s most expensive real estate, the national average would be $366,950 — up 10.4 per cent from March 2015.
Doctor called nurses, patients “stupid” and “useless”
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A top doctor at Brockville General Hospital has been suspended by the College of Physicians and Surgeons for four months because of rude and abusive behaviour toward women. The targets of Dr. Jayant Bhatt’s choice epithets like “stupid” and “useless” were his patients, nurses and other female staff. But the language was even worse than that from time to time. Dr.Bhatt apparently missed all those portrayals of sweet and kind physicians ranging from Young Doctor Kildare to Marcus Welby. He had been known to dismiss nurses questions with “shut the f— up.” An investigation launched by the College revealed some patients refused to be treated by him. The information has come to light from the College’s discipline committee decision which found that Bhatt’s behaviour amounted to professional misconduct. It took away his licence to practise medicine until the end of July. “The details of your comments and arrogant behaviour can only be described as egregious and completely unacceptable,” the committee said in addressing Bhatt, a specialist in internal medicine. “The committee was particularly concerned that the behaviour was directed almost exclusively at women colleagues, patients and co-workers.” The future will see what Dr.Bhatt can manage in this regard. He has a long history of such conduct and one nurse who had the courage to tell him off said he changed his manner for a short time but then returned to his obnoxious ways. This matter was brought to the College’s attention by Brockville General Hospital.
Donaldson homer delivers winning run plus insurance
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Don Valley Parkway closure will spill traffic onto Bayview
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The Don Valley Parkway annual Spring cleaning and repair will send traffic onto Bayview Ave. and other South Bayview streets this weekend. The DVP will be closed from Highway 401 down to the Gardiner Expressway from 11 p.m. Friday until Monday at 5 a.m.
Andre Marin remains in Ombudsman’s lovely spotlight
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André Marin isn’t going quietly. The former Ontario Ombudsman is suing the Ontario Legislature and his former office for wrongful dismissal because he wasn’t granted a third five-year term. It is an unseemly grievance from this man-of-the-people Ombudsman. He had a knack of dramatizing his triumphs in defense of ordinary folk. A kind of civil service superman. Now however he claims he was misled and humiliated by Premier Wynne’s office. His document, filed with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in March, states he “suffered personally, professionally, financially and emotionally as a result of relying on misleading representations and assertions as well as the oppressive and high-handed actions” of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario and the Office of the Ombudsman of Ontario.
Police publish photo from Pink Day at Harbord Collegiate
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Police have released this great picture of officers and students of Harbord Collegiate Institute during yesterday’s International Day of Pink celebrations. There is a nice account of the day and sentiments of officers linked here on the TPS website.
Beaches-East York jolts MPP Potts to Keep Hydro Public
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A yeasty bunch of residents of Beaches-East York are teaming up with the Keep Hydro Public coalition to launch a new phase in the campaign to stop hydro privatization on Saturday, April 16. Their release via MarketWired notes that Ontario still owns about 70 percent of Hydro One. On Saturday, Beaches-East York residents will attend an organizing meeting and campaign launch before they fan out to distribute leaflets and posters urging MPP Arthur Potts to stop any further sale of Hydro One while there is still time to keep it under public control. Local polling results will be released at the campaign launch. MarketWired
Chimp plays among electrical wires during rescue effort
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It was literally a thrill a minute as police and animal officials in Japan tried to recapture a chimpanzee as he played about among electrical wires. Yikes. The agile simian was hit by a sedative arrow and finally became so drowsy he lost his grip and fell unhurt into blanket or sheet held by rescuers. The chimp had escaped from the Yagiyama Zoological Park in Sendai city, Miyagi Prefecture, in the early afternoon Thursday and was on the loose for more than an hour. The video is quite thrilling heard in excited Japanese



