Sandy Luong
The heart-breaking news for a Markham family came last night (Saturday, April 16, 2016) when someone found the body of 23-year-old Sandy Luong near Bathurst St and Steeles Ave in G. Ross Lord Park in Nlorth York. Detectives say they do not believe her death is a result of foul play. There was an extensive search for Ms Luong starting Tuesday when she walked away from home without her identification and other personal items.
It’s hard to imagine for many how Starbucks aficionados can become so worked up about a rewards program. It’s not like a million dollar Lotto ticket. But the reaction has been mean and nasty to the coffee chain’s decision to base rewards on how much one spends. It used to be a reward per transaction, no matter how small the amount. Locally, Starbucks watchers say the company stubbed its toe in closing the bright and airy shop at :Laird Drive and Kenrae Road. Yes, it was small, but so much nicer than the dark cave on Wicksteed. CBC
Police have told media that 20-year-old Abdullah Farah was the target of a drive-by shooter at 1.30 a.m.Sunday at the corner of Danforth and Coxwell. CP24 quotes Detective Leslie Dunkley as saying the assailants “fired several rounds from a moving vehicle” and that this was a white, four-door sedan heading east on Danforth. Mr. Farah was declared dead at hospital.
Crime scene photo by Jeremy Cohn of Global TV via Twitter
A woman has scaled a high fence at the Toronto Zoo tiger compound to retrieve a hat. The hat fell between two fences and the woman escaped injury but the video shows a highly excited tiger clearly ready to attack if only it got a chance. The outside fence is high, maybe seven feet, and it beggars the imagination how the hat got over it. It seems as if it could hardly have been an accident. The woman, whose name is not known, is strong and agile as she claws her way back up the fence to get out. But then a rather nasty confrontation occurs in which people scream at her. It is not clear whether they know her or are merely indignant bystanders. All of this apparently about 3 p.m. Saturday.
Photo by @InYourFaceMedia (Twitter)
The Cineplex theatre and the food court at the Scarborough Town Centre were evacuated Saturday night when customers were in contact with what seems to some sort of pepper spray. Many people were coughing and one person was treated for a respiratory irritation by an EMS crew. Police and paramedics think the pepper spray was released in a washroom by someone for purposes not known.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have recreated their version of the memorable picture of William’s mother at a solitary bench outside the Taj Mahal. It was eerily similar to one Princess Diana took in 1992.
A sun-drenched Saturday on Bayview Ave has marked the beginning of the season so far as most people are concerned. Once again food stores have their samples on the street and dogs are meeting up while owners chat. At Davenport Garden Centre at Bayview and Davisville the first weekend of business was brisk. Carla Rose, the amiable owner (above) was advising on soil for potting as opposed to the garden.
Hydro rates go up May 1, 2016 because you used less power during a mild winter. Such is the upside down logic of government thinking and you will hear in this CBC report DCeiran Bishop, manager of the Ontario Energy Board Rates and Prices say that “revenue” is the issue. The government needs money. The province has a $308 billion debt you know. It cost at least $10 billion a year just to carry it. When Hydro was created by Adam Beck in 1905 the committment was to “power at cost”.
Minerva Hui
About 150 people gathered at the Canadian Legion at 243 Coxwell Ave Saturday morning to protest the privatization of Ontario Hydro by the Liberal Government. This chapter of the province-wide protest is intended to pressure Beaches-East york MPP Artur Potts to oppose his party’s plan. So far, there is little sign of that with the member saying the government has a mandate for the sell off. If so, many people missed it and an Environics poll released by organizers at the meeting says that 84 percent of people living in downtown Toronto, East York and York oppose the sale, with 52 percent saying they strongly oppose it. Some 64 percent of the 727 person sample said it will make them less likely to vote Liberal in the next election. Minerva Hui, organizer of the meeting, said the poll “shows a vast majority of people in this riding and in Kathleen Wynne’s backyard (Don Valley West) wanted the government to stop the sale of Hydro One from going any further even before last week’s sell-off a further 15 percent.” The meeting plotted other activities to oppose Hydro privatization. There will be a leaflet campaign Thursday, May 26, 2016 at 5.30 at the Woodbine subway station. Where’s Adam Beck when you need him?
A desperate search for survivors is underway in Southern Japan even as authorities and residents brace themselves for the possibility of a third quake. Rescue crews scramble through rubble Saturday in a race against time following the magnitude-7.0 earthquake that struck Japan’s Kyushu Island, the same region rattled by a 6.2 quake two days earlier. A total of 25 people have died in both earthquakes, according to current estimates. The death toll in the latest Kyushu earthquake is 16 people, according to Kumamoto Prefecture’s disaster management office.
At the Vending Machine Expo in Chicago this week there is a look into the fast food mechanics of the future. We’re going well beyond chips and candy bars here. Vince Geresole reports.
