A curious call Thursday night to a shooting at Coxwell and Sammon Aves was really about an incident at Gerrard and Sackville Sts. Police have not explained the details yet but it appears a man was shot — or perhaps shot himself by accident — and then drove himself to hospital. We’re guessing the hospital is East General at Coxwell and Sammon. The injuries are apparently fairly minor. November 19, 2015
Blue Jays Josh Donaldson American League MVP
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CBC list of 18 recognizable Bell Media names now gone
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Some have been published here, some not. CBC
Canadian miner discovers largest diamond in a century
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1,111 carat diamond
Canadian diamond miner Lucara Mining says it has found what is thought to be the second largest diamond in history. The stone measures 1,111 carats, a gem the size of a tennis ball. TSX-listed and Vancouver-based Lucara said in a Wednesday it had found the enormous stone on the south lobe of the company’s Karowe Mine in Botswana on Monday. It is described as “gem quality, Type IIa,” and its dimensions are 65 by 56 by 40 millimetres. One caret is equal to a fifth of a gram, so Lucara’s 1,111-carat diamond weighs 222 grams. This would make newly-found stone the biggest gem-quality diamond discovered since the famed Cullinan diamond measuring more than 3,000 carats was found in South Africa in 1905. The Cullinan was subsequently cut into smaller pieces, with the two largest portions incorporated into Britain’s Crown Jewels. “The significance of the recovery of a gem-quality stone larger than 1,000 carats, the largest for more than a century … cannot be overstated,” Lucara CEO William Lamb said. On Thursday, Lucara announced it had found two more large diamonds, one measuring 813 carats — the sixth largest ever recovered — and another measuring 374 carats in the same vein.
Weather staying warmer than normal to month’s end
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Temperatures stay abnormally high in the Toronto area with generally fair weather expected through to the end of the month. There will however be some rain or wet snow on Sunday. Weather Network
Wildcats win 9th game of season having played only 12
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Leaside Wildcats registered their 9th win of the season yesterday in Aurora when they defeated the Panthers 3-0. This Saturday the Wildcats meet Mississuaga in Missy returning to Leaside Arena on Sunday for an 3.40 p.m. tilt against Stoney Creek Sabres. Along with their nine wins, Leaside owns one loss and two ties. They stand seventh in the league with 20 points but have played only 12 games, the fewest of any squad in the 20-team league. Standings
MT PLEASANT: Litter-bin-of-steel meets plastic rubbish
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At Mt. Pleasant Rd. and Soudan Ave. the City’s litter bin program has taken remarkably different forms on opposite sides of Mt. Pleasant. On the east is a tough-looking black container, apparently of all-steel construction, while on the west side of the street is the familiar broken-down plastic rubbish made by Astral.
SO HOT: When the Prime Minister of Canada is hot
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How the fabulously rich buy a Toronto hotel condo
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The Globe and Mail recounts the exploits of a fabulously rich “out-of-province” buyer of the two-bedroom corner suite in the Hazelton Hotel at 118 Yorkville Ave. He/she (they?) flew into town to see the place which is described as having “limited access” whatever that means. Maybe it was rented to another party. Anyway, it was love or something close as the buyer parted with $3,850,000 to own the two bedroom unit. Not a steal but a good deal better than the original listed price of $4,199,000. It has been on the market for 6 months. Taxes are a tidy $25,835. Check out the corner sitting room (top left below).
Downtown Bay will morph into Saks Fifth Ave in February
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As predicted, The Bay will introduce two locations of Saks Fifth Avenue in February. In a news release, Saks said it will open at the “Eaton Centre” which is really the old Bay store. Another store will open in Sherway Gardens soon after. Both locations will feature a Saks Food Hall with gourmet international food products from Pusateri’s. Oliver & Bonacini is also providing restaurants at both stores. The company says the 11,000 square-foot restaurant and bar in the Eaton Centre will span three floors at the corner of Yonge and Richmond streets while the Sherway Gardens restaurant will be 5,500 square feet.
Big five grocers permitted to sell beer but in very few stores
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The list is not as informative as one might think. The five big grocers (Loblaws, Metro, Sobeys, Longos and Walmart) will all get a chance to sell beer but as before there is no word on just where. Each will have to apply on a store by store basis and overall the vast majority of their stores will not have beer. The other grocers named are mostly local businesses in out-of-town places. CBC
5,000 REFUGEES: Not quite sure how says the Mayor
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John Tory is a can-do guy when he’s inspired to get a job done. But when it comes to finding homes for 5,000 Syrian refugees in 45 days, Toronto’s Chief Magistrate was sounding more like someone who has been dragooned into a scheme that won’t work. The Mayor admitted today (Wednesday November 18, 2015) that he is uncertain as to how Toronto will accommodate that many refugees before New Year’s. But he said, the City will simply have to find a way to do it. “It’s a big challenge but when you’re confronted with these challenges the thing is to make sure that you meet them,” said Tory. He said that it would be difficult to find homes immediately for a portion of the 25,000 Syrian refugees that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised to resettle by year’s end. Obvious places like the Pan Am Athletes’ Village or Toronto Community Housing are problematic, he said, because in the first case the structures are in the process of being converted for private-sector housing and in the second, Toronto Community Housing already has a sizeable waiting list. Ontario looking at decommissioned hospitals for temporary refugee housing