The South Bayview Bulldog

Students and teachers from Crescent School on Bayview Ave who had been stranded in Brussels have arrived home safely. The group landed at Billy Bishop Airport Wednesday night around 11 p.m. They had been caught in a grounding of all aircraft after Tuesday’s terrorist attack. The party had been on a brief stop at Brussels airport during the trip home from India after an Outreach visit.

The 2016 Agnes Macphail Award will be presented to Patrick Rocca this evening at a ceremony at the East York Civic Centre. Mr Rocca is being honoured for his volunteerism and community work in keeping with the pinciples of Ms. Macphail, an activitst who was the first woman elected to Parliament. The ceremony  begins at 7 p.m. at 850 Coxwell Ave.

Freezing rain for March 24, 2016 has made a miserable morning. Weather people and the police suggest that it is best to stay home if at all possible. Thursday will see temperatures climb a little to as much as two degrees Celsius this evening and maybe four degree overnight.  Freezing rain closes schools, makes travel tricky 

STREETCARS AND ICE

There are many reports of how the 19th Century technology of streetcars is not working Thursday. Witnesses report the streetcars were  lined up at St. Clair West near Caledonia moving a few metres forward, then going (sliding?) backwards. Or, this may be a technique used to somehow clear the wires of ice. On Twitter, a hapless rider said “My streetcar is having definite issues this morning.”

LATEST WEATHER ADVICE

Freezing rain has developed and is expected to continue today. Several hours of freezing rain have been reported overnight resulting in ice accretion and several power outages. Between 5 and 10 mm of ice accumulation are possible before the freezing rain changes to rain this afternoon as temperatures slowly inch above zero. Surfaces such as highways, roads, walkways and parking lots will become icy, slippery and hazardous. Take extra care when walking or driving in affected areas. Slow down driving in slippery conditions. Watch for taillights ahead and maintain a safe following distance. There may be a significant impact on rush hour traffic in urban areas. Ice build-up may cause tree branches to break. Utility outages may occur. Please continue to monitor alerts and forecasts issued by Environment Canada. To report severe weather, send an email to storm.ontario@ec.gc.ca or tweet reports to #ONStorm.

A significant freezing rain event will begin Wednesday evening. A low pressure system will give periods of snow or ice pellets to the region through the day Wednesday. Then as the cold air continues to move into the regions from the northeast the precipitation will change over to freezing rain Wednesday night and continue until Thursday morning. Ice accretion on untreated surfaces of 5 to 10 millimeters is possible by Thursday morning. Slippery conditions may cause significant impact on transportation. There may also be power outages. Areas from Toronto westward will see the freezing rain change to rain Thursday morning. East of Toronto the freezing rain will end later in the day on Thursday. Surfaces such as highways, roads, walkways and parking lots will become icy, slippery and hazardous. There may be a significant impact on rush hour traffic in urban areas. Beware of branches or electrical wires that could break under the weight of ice. Utility outages may occur. Public Safety Canada encourages everyone to make an emergency plan and get an emergency kit with drinking water, food, medicine, a first-aid kit and a flashlight. For information on emergency plans and kits go to http://www.getprepared.gc.ca/ Please continue to monitor alerts and forecasts issued by Environment Canada. To report severe weather, send an email to storm.ontario@ec.gc.ca or tweet reports to #ONStorm.– AES alert.  CBC

New Zealand has voted to keep its 1902 flag carryng the Britsh national flag in its upper left hand corner by a margin of 57 per cent to 43 per cent in a nationwide poll that ended Thursday. More than 2 million people voted in the ballot to decide whether to keep the British Union Jack on their flag or replace it with a silver fern. New Zealand will vote on whch of these flags to salute

Health Minister Eric Hoskins has told reporters the that billing of medical specialists in Ontario is out of control and that it threatens home and community care in the province. Mr. Hoskins (St. Paul’s) introduced a desperate note into the government’s efforts to manage and pay for OHIP.  He suggested the present arrangement is not sustainable.  “Unpredictable and frankly out of control billing by some doctors is a problem that creates huge income for some doctors, but it leaves less for family doctors,” the minister. “It leaves less for our salaried doctors in community health centres, it squeezes our ability to invest more money in home care and community care, and it robs of us of the capacity to responsibly plan our health care spending each year.” Specialists he said “effectively set their own salaries,” and at an average of $360,000 a year are the highest paid in Canada. Canadian Press 

Former Mayor Ford and Councillor Rob Ford to lie in repose at Toronto City Hall where the public may pay its repects next week. The times for this opportunity will be on Monday, March 28 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.and Tuesday, March 29 from 7.30 a.m. to 9 p.m.  The honour was annoucned Wednesday afternoon. As well, books of condolence are set up at City Hall and also the East York, Etobicoke, North York, Scarborough and York Civic Centres. City Hall and the civic centres are open to the public from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Friday and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends and statutory holidays. An online book of condolence is available at http://cityoftorontocondolences.ca.

FUNERAL SERVICES

Funeral services for Councillor Ford will be held at noon on Wednesday, March 30 at St. James Cathedral, 65 Church St. (at King Street). The procession from City Hall to the cathedral will begin on Wednesday. Timing and route information will follow. The burial will be a private ceremony. Flags at City Hall, Metro Hall and the civic centres are lowered to half mast, and will remain lowered until the end of the day on March 30. The meeting of City Council scheduled for March 30 and 31 will be rescheduled to March 31 and April 1 beginning at 9:30 a.m.

An Alberta Conservative MP, Jim Hillyer, has died in Ottawa in his office Wednesday morning of an apparent heart attack. Mr.Hillyer, 41, had complained of feeling poorly. He had faced serious health issues including a battle with leukemia in 2003.

The day after an apparently generous (or perhaps terribly profligate) $880 million federal gift to Toronto for “transit” comes word that the TTC needs $34 million to repair old streetcars because of the failure of Bombardier to deliver useable new vehicles. It is this type of seemingly incompetent spending that makes reasonable taxpayers blanch. The City shows no indication of divorcing itself from its costly streetcar mentality. It isn’t clear that bureaucrats even understand the wastefulness of the current streetcar strategy. And to be fair, it costs a lot to run transit and there may be ways that the City will see a reasonable return.  Perhaps new resistance will form to the senseless Scarborough subway — an underground to nowhere with no stops. Here’s the view through rose-coloured glasses.

She comes off as a caring East York mom who wants to enroll her child at the local school but while she’s there the woman shown above is rooting around lockers and offices to steal phones, cash and anything else she can easily carry. Cops say this has been going on since February 4, 2016. At 54 Division detectives have released the surveillance camera image in hope of catching up with the school mom thief.  The woman is described as white, standing five-feet-two inches tall, with long blonde hair Below are the schools she has hit. Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-5400, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477), online at www.222tips.com, text TOR and your message to CRIMES (274637). Download the free Crime Stoppers Mobile App on iTunes, Google Play or Blackberry App World

– Adam Beck Junior Public School, 400 Scarborough Road
– Blantyre Public School, 290 Blantyre Avenue
– Gledhill Junior Public School, 2 Gledhill Avenue
– Kimberley Junior Public School, 50 Swanwick
– Secord Elementary School, 101 Barrington Avenue
– William J McCordic School, 45 Balfour Avenue
– Malvern Collegiate Institute, 55 Malvern Avenue

The money goes to set up five health, life and dental trusts that will consolidate more than 1,000 current benefit plans. The government believes it will eventually recover the set-up costs — $175 million to establish the trusts and $125 million to consolidate the plans — due to “long-term efficiencies” and “improved purchasing power.”  Canadian Press 

Now French’s says it will bottle some of its ketchup in Canada as the ultimate trick of one-upmanship on rival Heinz. Canadian bottling of Leamington-grown tomatoes would make French’s a 100 percent Canadian product. Loblaws recent clanger of removing French’s ketchup revealed the potent appeal of Canadian-grown food to Canuck consumers. French’s, a British firm, says it is getting ready to announce plans for bottling here soon with an unnamed partner.

Bas Balkissoon

Liberal backbencher Bas Balkissoon has abruptly resigned his Scarborough seat in the Legislature without explanation. Premier Wynne’s office announced Balkissoon‘s decision also without reason. A statement said there will be no further comment other than to thank Mr. Balkisson for his public service. He was first elected to the Legislature in 2005 and served as parliamentary assistant to several ministers but was never promoted to the Liberal cabinet. The 63-year-old MPP was born in Trinidad and Tobago. He served as a Toronto city councillor before his election to the riding of Scarborough-Rouge River. The government has six months to call a byelection to replace Balkissoon.