Registration for the annual conservation exercise known as Paddle the Don opens next Tuesday, March 8, 2016. The event is set for Sunday, May 1, 2016 when some 600 canoe and kayak savvy paddlers will find their down the river into midtown Toronto. Floodgates are opened a bit just before the paddle to make the ride smoother and faster. Paddle the Don is no spur of the moment adventure. It requires planning and on the day of the event there are federal officials present to make sure you have things like a whistle, emergency rope and life vest. But for those who can do it, Manulife’s Paddle the Don is an exhilarating rite of Spring and tribute to the natural lands that run through our neighborhoods.
GTA woman ferries bottled water to Flint in pickup truck
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Jessica Dalessandreo
In what seems like an act of unmatched human kindness, a Mississauga woman is driving a pickup truck loaded bottled water to Flint, Michigan where the population can draw only polluted water out of its taps. The Flint story is known around the world. Whether City officials are criminally guilty of poisoning taxpayers or just monumentally stupid — or both — remains an open question but Jesssica Dalessandreo wants to help her fellow humans and is prepared to ferry clean water to them “until run out of money.” CBC
Scotiabank pays $20.6 million to settle overtime class action
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An Ontario judge has approved a revised agreement which will allow 1,600 employees of Scotiabank receive $ 20.6 million for overtime for which they were not paid. The judge, Edward Belobaba of the Superior Court of Ontario, said he will release his reasoning in coming weeks. A class action against Scotiabank was originally settled in 2014, and since that time, nearly $ 18.7 million has been distributed among 600 members of the appeal. But 1,600 of the 2,200 employees who had filed a claim had them reduced or rejected. These people will now share the 20.6 million. The bank is said to have paid another 12.5 million in legal costs to come to these two agreements.
Man mugged and robbed of $34,000 Rolex at a Starbucks
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Police report an unusual case of a mugging at Starbucks where the target was a $34,000 Rolex watch. They say a man brought his Rolex to the Starbucks at Bathurst St. and Finch Ave. to sell the timepiece. It must have been a set up because police say the man captured by a security camera slugged the 44-year-old watch owner, grabbed a bag containing the watch and fled. Police have released the image taken from security camera footage of their suspect. He is described as a white male in his 20s, standing five-feet-ten inches with a heavy build. He has facial hair, and was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 32 Division at 416-808-3200 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS.
Boeing invents toilet that cleans itself after each use
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Air travellers rejoice. Or at least, breathe easier. Boeing engineering has created a prototype lavatory that can clean itself using UV light to disinfect surfaces. According to Business Insider, the aircraft maker has patented the design which it says can kill 99.99 percent of all germs in three seconds and eliminate odors. Industry analysts agree that an invention which makes a busy bathroom clean and smell nice even as it is used by dozens of people is a breakthrough. The system is activated when the lavatory is unoccupied. “We’re trying to alleviate the anxiety we all face when using a restroom that gets a workout during a flight,” Boeing’s director of environmental performance Jeanne Yu said. The prototype also uses a list of touch-less features to keep things clean, including a toilet seat that lifts and closes itself to assure that the UV disinfecting process includes all surfaces. “Some of the touchless features are already in use on some Boeing airplanes today,” Yu said. “But combining that with the new UV sanitizing will give passengers even more protection from germs and make for an even better flying experience.”
Homes shake, rattle with noise on Eglinton from tunnelling
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City News has reported on complaints from homeowners on Eglinton between Sutherland Drive and Hanna Road about alarming shaking of their homes and noise caused by tunnelling of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT. Above is a portion of the embedable City News report transferred to YouTube.
It’s love! Justin Trudeau has been elected PM by 60 Minutes
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It’s hard to go wrong when you are a Canadian prime minister being interviewed by the CBS program 60 Minutes. In the case of Mr. Trudeau, it all went well. The program can be seen Sunday.
Market reality is good as traders cannot resist low prices
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The Toronto stock market finished the week with an inspiring 3.2 percent gain as resource stocks tracked commodity prices higher and after data showed a better-than-expected U.S. jobs gain and record Canadian exports. Energy stocks climbed nearly 3 percent, while the materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, added 0.2 percent after some gains were pared. That nature of markets was at last working for investors as downtrodden prices were just too attractive to resist, said analysts.
Target reaches an agreement with former landlords
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Target Canada Co. has reached an agreement with its former landlords, companies like Morguard, owners of the East York Town Centre, whose leases were terminated when Target pulled up stakes and move out last year. Under the agreement, the landlords will support the company’s plan under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act and presumably receive some payment.
NOON: Bon appetit as TSX surges up again for seventh day
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The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) was surging again Friday in what would be its seventh straight winning session if gains hold. The index was teasing an increase of 140 at noon. Equally delicious, the week seems set to deliver a 3 percent gain as mining and energy stocks rise on higher commodity prices and after data showing stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs data and higher Canadian exports.
Armour Heights girl, 8, lectures on filing taxes at U of T
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Carlie Weinreb
An Armour Heights girl, eight-year-old Carlie Weinreb has learned her Dad’s accounting skills so well she was invited to the University of Toronto to give a class of much older people an informed lecture on how to do your taxes. Mr.Weinrb started teaching Carlie math when she was just two By four, she was multiplying and dividing. By six, she was lecturing university students about Canada’s income tax system. Now the Summit Heights Public School student is eight and continues to teach students three times her age about taxes and applied math. After learning the mechanics of tax formulas from her father, Carlie was a quick study in filling out tax returns. CBC
Who ya gonna call? Ghostbusters 2016 trailer is released
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The scenes shown here seem to promise the same madcap energy as the original film. Leading the women of Who Ya Gonna Call are Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy. Bill Murray has a cameo. Such goofy fun. IMDb