Saturday afternoon will see the exhibition known as Telling Thorncliffe Park’s Stories at the Jenner Jean-Marie Community Centre at 48 Thorncliffe P:ark. This is a community-based collaboration and exhibit which investigates the history of Thorncliffe Park’s development; from First Nations and settlers to Thorncliffe Park Raceway, planned modern residential, commercial. industrial development and contemporary challenges. The event is sponsored by Myseum of Toronto and organised by Thorncliffe Park Women’s Committee, Tree of Life Video and Neighbours Night Out It is on from 1 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, March 19, 2016.
TTC “better way” advocacy struggles with vanishing riders
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Stories Thursday morning report declining ridership and a significant likely shortfall in cash in 2016 at the TTC. So far this year, the TTC has seen about four million fewer rides than expected. The total might be down 13 million from the 553 million projected.
WHO ENJOYS TRANSIT?
While public transit is a necessary service, it is hard to imagine most riders saying they prefer it to a ride that is faster, more reliable, more comfortable, more direct and probably more pleasant. Transit advocates and green warriors may howl, but too many Torontonians are, on average, too affluent and too focused on the use of their personal time to prefer transit over the use of a vehicle. That calculus will not apply to every trip, but is an enormous factor in the lives of many.
Video of 2013 Quebec prison break made public at trial
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Video showing the helicopter escape of two inmates in 2013 from the detention centre in St-Jérôme, Que. was released Tuesday during the trial of Hells Angels sympathizer Benjamin Hudon-Barbeau. He is being tried on other charges but is seen here with fellow inmate Danny Provençal in a the successful and seemingly dangerous escape three years ago. The two were captured a couple of days later. .
Records from Outer Space to invade Leaside Gardens
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Bryan Gaensler
The William Lea Room is often called Leaside’s Town Hall and next week it will really change things up with a lecture by Professor Bryan Gaensler on The World Records of the Universe. As Director of the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Dr. Gaensler knows his stuff. He notes that the records which come and go here on earth are puny compared to those set out there in our vast cosmos. What’s the coldest place in space? What’s the fastest object in the Universe? What’s the biggest object we’ve ever seen in space, and the smallest? How weak and how strong does gravity get? Dr. Gaensler has the answers (we’re sure) and it should be an interesting evening. It is free and it happens Tuesday, March 22, 2016 at 6:30 p.m. with Registration and Refreshments followed at 6.50 p.m. by the Presentation and Q&A. For information write to Lorraine Gillis dua.events@utoronto.ca
Select Red Atoms visit Leaside Sport Chek to aid charity
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This fine gang of people from the Leaside Flames Select Red Atom team bounced into Sport Chek in the SmartCentre today and left a cheque behind in support of the Canadian Tire Jump Start charity. Well done team.
Payday loan firm MoneyTree hit by “CEO phishing” email
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The U.S. payday loan company MoneyTree, with offices in Vancouver, has been duped by a simple “CEO phishing” email which ordered an employee to send the CEO all the personal data of some 1,500 MoneyTree employees. Except, the email wasn’t from the CEO. Scammers counting on the instant obedience of employees when the boss barks were rewarded with information with which to steal employee identities galore. One favorite is to make up phony tax returns and claim a huge refund. The CEO email scam has worked with other firms in the U.S. and maybe in Canada. MoneyTree informed employees of the breach of security at the beginning of March. The real CEO, Dennis Bassford said: “Moneytree was apparently targeted by a scam in which the scammer impersonated me and asked for an emailed copy of certain information about the company’s payroll including team member names, home addresses, Social Security numbers, birth dates and (tax) information.”
Butter Studio finds a new sweet spot at 1597 Bayview
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Butter Studio, the fashionable women’s accessories shop previously at 1653 Bayview, has moved into the south block at 1597 Bayview Ave. next door to the Second Cup. It is the former Bell Jewellers shop. In the merchant shorthand of South Bayview it is often written that the sweetest piece of the street sits between the two chain-operated coffee shops. As a general rule this notion about location is not wrong even through it slides over the reality that businesses frequently make their own sweet spots.
Ayanle Hassan Ali is a purely Canadian-born conundrum
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Ayanle Hassan Ali is a 27-year-old Canadian conundrum. He is accused of walking into the armed forces recruiting office on north Yonge Street and stabbing two soldiers. He is said by his victims and others to have shouted that Allah made him do it. Conundrum? Ali is Canadian born, has no criminal record, is well-liked by those who know him and who are stunned by the idea that he might do such a thing. It is a situation to give authorities pause. Now it is learned that Ali was employed for four months by an unnamed third-party employer at Pearson airport and that during the four-month period in 2008-9 he had a restricted area identification card. It is not said exactly what that means but presumably he was allowed to go where others were not for security reasons. .
Dangerous glare blinds motorists on South Bayview roads
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Many South Bayview drivers have found themselves struggling to safely navigate westbound streets today as Daylight Road Glare Time impacts motoring. The scene here is west along Moore where because of today’s rain, the glare was physically dangerous on the eyes. In such situations it may be safest to pull over. Sunglasses are essential as late afternoon arrives.
Newborns help Canada’s population surpass 36 million
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Canada has grown to a nation of more than 36 million, Statistics Canada announced today. The figure being used is 36,048,500, a number set on January 1, 2016. The population grew some 62,800 from October 1, 2015 because of the country’s busy storks — there were 95,300 births compared with 67,900 deaths, based on preliminary estimates. Net international migration was 35,400, up 600 from the same quarter in 2014.
German court denies VW buyer bid to cancel purchase
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Calling his Tiguan SUV effectively unsellable, a German consumer has tried to get the dealership to cancel his purchase of the vehicle. Today a court denied that bid but the man said he will appeal to a higher court. The court decision says the dealer was not to blame for the Volkswagen emissions scandal. VW admitted in September it had fitted illegal software on up to about 11 million cars worldwide that mitigated emissions during tests but stopped doing so on the road. The plaintiff took legal action against the dealership in Bochum where he bought his Tiguan saying the manipulations by VW had rendered the model unsellable
John Cruickshank steps down as publisher of Toronto Star
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John Cruickshank
John Cruickshank will be step down as publisher of the Toronto Star in May after six years in that demanding position. Mr.Cruickshank, a well-liked personality has had a long career in journalism in Toronto, coming to the Star from the CBC. The Star announced Wednesday that his responsibilities will be assumed for now by David Holland, who is president and chief executive of Torstar. Cruickshank will remain co-chair of the board of Canadian Press Enterprises as a Torstar director.