Jian Ghomeshi’s rock-steady defense counsel Marie Henein says women who think of her as a traitor to her gender are victims of a “fundamental misconception.” The Cairo-born Canadian partner in the firm of Henein Hutchison LLP told Peter Mansbridege “I know what my role is in the justice system.”
Harrowing tale of failed bid to rescue teens in 2012 fire
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An inquest in Whitby is examining response times and efforts made by firefighters to save three teenagers trapped upstairs in a frame house engulfed in flames. Court heard the 911 call in which the screams of the trapped teens left those present in tears and very unnerved. CBC
Police notice of Rob Ford procession and road closures
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Toronto Police Serivce release — On Wednesday, March 30, 2016, the funeral service will be held for former Toronto Mayor and sitting City Councillor Rob Ford. A ceremonial procession will escort the late Councillor, his family, dignitaries, and public mourners to the public funeral at the Cathedral Church of St. James, at 65 Church St.
ROUTING
To facilitate the move from the designated public visitation site to the Cathedral Church of St. James, a procession will escort the funeral cortege, westbound across Nathan Phillips Square to the lane that runs from the west side of Toronto City Hall, southbound to Queen Street West, eastbound to Yonge Street, southbound to King Street, and eastbound on King Street East to the front of the church.
The funeral service will start at 12 p.m. and is expected to last 90 minutes. There may be as many as 650 people in the cathedral. The following are the main road closures:
CLOSURES
– King Street East (from Jarvis Street to Church Street)
– Adelaide Street East (Church Street to Jarvis Street)
– Church Street (Wellington Street East to Adelaide Street east) Road closures will begin at 9 a.m., and are expected to last, intermittently, until approximately 3 p.m. TTC services will be diverted in the area.
Costco accused of demanding $1.3 million in drug rebates
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Costco is being accused by generic drug maker Ranbaxy of insisting on an unlawful rebate of as much as $1.3 to get its medications stocked at the giant store chain’s pharmacies. The Ontario College of Pharmacists began its probe after a sales rep for generic drug maker Ranbaxy filed a complaint accusing Costco of squeezing out nearly $1.3 million in unlawful rebates. As described in a Toronto Star story, the heart of the complaint is a secretly recorded phone conversation of a Costco director explaining to a drug company sales rep how much the drug company would have to pay to “greatly reduce the likelihood of somebody eating your business.” Metro News
Tearing up the McDonald’s at Bayview and Eglinton
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Thirty years later, it’s goodbye to the McDonald’s building that was part of the burger firm’s historic expansion of the 1980s. A giant backhoe is ripping up the parking lot Tuesday and will soon take down the former restaurant, second home to casual eaters and Leaside High kids. The site will become the “Leaside” LRT station at Bayview Ave. and quite possibly a good deal more. Metrolinx has consulted with developers about a large, maybe quite high building on this site and has purchased two of the four-plexes to the south on Bayview to make a sizeable footprint for this new building.
Marco Muzzo sentenced to ten years for drivng deaths
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Drunk driver Marco Muzzo was sentenced to ten years imprisonment for killing four people — three children and their grandfather — and for seriously injuring two others in a collision last fall. He has also been sentenced to a 12 year ban on driving after he is released from prison. Justice Michelle Fuerst passed sentence against the 29-year-old grandson of wealthy developer Marco Muzzo in a crowded courtroom.
Visitation for Cedric Ritchie at Humphrey’s on Thursday
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Cedric Ritchie
Friends and admirers of Cedric Ritchie, former CEO of the Bank of Nova Scotia, can pay respects at Humphrey’s Funeral Home on Thursday,March 31, 2016 at two opportunities during the day. Family will be present between 2 and 4 p.m. and again between 6 and 8 p.m. The Humphrey Funeral Home A.W. Miles-Newbigging Chapel is at 1403 Bayview Avenue at St. Cuthbert’s Ave. Services for Mr. Ritchie will be held Friday, April 1, 2016 at 11 a.m. at Timothy Eaton Memorial Church, 230 St. Clair Avenue West. Cedric Ritchie died Sunday at the age of 88 at home. His remarkable career with the bank began in 1945 as a teller. Obituary.
Now clever A&W switches to French’s ketchup, mustard
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Patriotism in the tomato world. First Loblaws said it would put French’s Leamington tomato-based ketchup back on the shelves. Then French’s said it would actually move bottling to Canada. Now canny A&W says it will switch to French’s O Canada ketchup and mustard. Bulldog reader Jack Frechette of London, Ontario writes to say that the mustard seed in French’s mustard are grown in Saskatchewan. Canada is the largest producer of Mustard seed in the world. Thus he says, the popularity of French’s Mustard. Hamilton Spectator
Great expectations as Alberta couple await quadruplet girls
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Bethani and Tom Webb have been stunned to learn they are about to become the parents of quadruplet girls. The Grand Prairie Alberta couple could hardly believe their eyes when they saw the ultrasound screen. Outlined in black and grey; the shape of not one, but four tiny, wriggling bodies — eight kicking feet.
Four-plex to be built at Merton St. and Bayview Ave.
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A real estate firm with the catchy name of Condo Commandos @CondoCommandos has tweeted a depiction of the finished four-plex which is now just a hole in the ground at the northwest corner of Merton St. and Bayview Ave. The building has a unit in the basement which doesn’t show here, information which comes from employees of the builder, Garrison Creek Construction.
Chinese $14 billion bid to grab Starwood from Marriott
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A Chinese insurance giant which already owns many U.S. firms is locked in a battle with Marriott International Inc. to buy Starwood Hotels International. China’s Anbang Insurance Group Co has raised its offer for Starwood to almost US$14-billion in its latest challenge to the U.S. hotel operator’s merger with Marriott International Inc. The Business News Network (BNN) says the bidding war for Starwood has pitted Marriott’s ambitions to create the world’s largest lodging company with about 5,700 hotels against Anbang’s drive to create a vast investment portfolio of high-yielding U.S. real estate assets. The acquisition of Starwood, owner of the Sheraton and Westin brands, by Anbang would be the largest ever by a Chinese company in the United States. BNN
Um, there’s not much news just now in 6ix (Toronto)
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It is widely said, or innately sensed, that there is way too much stuff passing as news. Or, maybe it’s just that there’s not enough news for the non-stop way it is marketed. CBC