Ontario doctors are chaffing under the pressure of government cuts as it tries to manage the provincial debt, now nearly 292 billion and growing. Each resident’s share is said to be $21,258. Medical fees have been cut twice this year and the Ministry of Health has dictated other restrictions such a the number of times a patient may see a specialist for preventive procedures. Many may discount the concern of this well paid profession but it cannot be denied that family doctors, earning perhaps $200,000 a year, work very hard. Spectator
Selfie spoon and the essential breakfast-eating photo
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It’s all quite clear to everyone, we’re sure.Each of us should be self-snapped eating breakfast. It looks a bit awkward though. IBN
She is drunk and mean-minded at wheel of her CRV
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This is an extraordinary sequence from WCBS in New York of a mean-minded drunk driver. The woman smashes her Honda CRV head on into a car with a mother and two daughters in it. Then she backs up and does it again. Wild stuff.
Children fill bags with Thanksgiving food at Valumart
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This was the scene in the basement of McDowell’s Valumart as children filled food bags for donation to the Daily Bread Food Bank. This annual good work is organized under the auspices of Sarah’s Food Drive in Leaside and area Sarah Jordan and her sister Claire along with many friends gather food, collect donations and then prepare the bags with the help of parents and sponsors for pick up by Daily Bread. Watch as the kids carry first a frozen turkey, then get canned cranberry sauce, corn, grab a box of stuffing and jellied dessert before depositing the bag in a huge container. Realtor Patrick Rocca, seen in the video, is the sponsor of this event along with Chad McDowell. They both make a large donation to the cost. Of course Sarah and Claire’s parents, Mark Jordan and Linda DeBono were there as was Councillor Jon Burnside. There are many local business helping the drive. There are 22 such public-spirited firms named here on the Sarah’s website
Barbecue at noon as Sarah’s Food Drive gets underway
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Adelaide, Sarah and Claire accept a donation outside McDowell’s Valumart
Sarah’s Food Drive on behalf of the Daily Bread Food Bank is underway at the parking lot just outside the front door of McDowell’s Valumart on Bayview Ave (Saturday, October 10, 2015). Shoppers can make a contribution and/or buy a can or two of food for delivery to Daily Bread. A barbecue will feed as many as ask beginning at noon and there will be cotton candy too from the well-known candy machine of Councillor Jon Burnside. Councillor Josh Matlow will be there too. Sounds good.
Crystal, 15, is found safe and is returned home
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Dorsey: “Twitter too complicated and overstaffed”
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Jack Dorsey is planning is planning company-wide layoffs next week, sources say. It’s unclear how much of the staff will be let go from Twitter but some said the focus will be on engineers. It is believed the firings will fall across all departments. Remarkably, Twitter has about 4,100 employees, more than double the roughly 2,000 employees it had in 2013 just before its IPO.
TWITTER TWERPS
Twitter’s user base has grown less than 50 percent in that time. The reorg also aligns with what Dorsey has been preaching for the last four months: That Twitter needs to be more focused — easier to use. It would be nice if they could blow away the angry and abusive Twitter twerps too. Just saying.
Fatal sequence as tanker tries to avoid mattress on road
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A tanker driver on the New Jersey Turnpike swerved to miss a mattress and box spring that flew off the top of a cargo van. It landed directly in front of the tanker and from a dash cam on a following truck we can see it all happen. Some lessons to be learned here.
Little 142 Rose Park Drive undergoes a big renovation
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While the Blue Jays fought a losing battle in the second game of their American League Championship playoffs with the Texas Rangers Friday, these men were clambering all over the little concrete-block home at 142 Rose Park Drive near Mt. Pleasant They are removing the second floor for a new upper level. At the back, according to plans, there will be an addition and decking. As we noted last year when the tree fencing went up, 142 is a true Moore Park relic, a curious anomaly to the neighborhood where it has stood since heaven knows when. They just don’t build houses out of concrete blocks anymore. Before the wrecking began this morning, the front of 142 was nicely stuccoed and the gardening in lovely condition. It will be interesting to see what the owners plan for this bit of neighborhood history.
Rangers take 2-0 series lead with 14th inning rally
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Big crowds at advance polls despite Jays-Rangers game
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Advance polling for the general election began today (Friday, October 9, 2015). Those who have already voted said one would never have known there was an American League playoff game starting just as the polls opened at noon. There were as many as 50 people waiting to vote in the gymnasium of Our Lady of Perpetual Help School on Garfield Ave. Similar lineups were reported at the polling station in the Leaside Arena. Polling extends right through the weekend including Sunday and Monday. It is the first four-day advance voting in federal history. Some voters complained that they had not received a voting card although most had. It is easily possible to determine that status at elections.ca. Voting was permitted with one’s name on the list and a driver’s license.. Registration is relatively easy online. Good advice is to take a passport too as well as a driver’s license. But a driver’s license was sufficient ID at the OLPH school station.
Defining new wards: Does Toronto need 37, 44, 57? More?
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As some may know there is a review of the City of Toronto ward boundaries underway. The linked series of maps reveals Options being considered which would create as many as 57 wards or reduce them to as few as 37. At present, there are 44 wards. It might be useful to check the Team page as well to learn just who is at work on your behalf. City Council will decide what is enacted.