The South Bayview Bulldog

Rob McEwen with wife Cheryl

Toronto gold miner McEwen Mining, headed by Rob McEwen, is reporting that armed gunmen burst into its Mexican mine in Sinaloa and carried off an estimated 7,000 ounces of gold. At current prices the loot would be worth at least $8.5 million. The firm says it is very disappointed with events but insists that Mexican authorities are investigating “vigorously.” Sinaloa is on the western shore of Mexico opposite the Baja Peninsula. Mr. McEwen and his wife Cheryl are celebrated in Toronto for their philanthropic leadership at the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine. In March 2013, the McEwens invested $2.76 million to establish the McEwen Centre’s Facility and Program in Human Disease and Development. Publicity material indicates that the program will be housed in a new facility that is currently under development at University Health Network. Their gift leveraged $27.4 million from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation to support the overall redevelopment of the facilities.  McEwen News release. Toronto Sun 

This video taken from a New Zealand police helicopter shows the moment 11-year-old boy Luke Shambrook realizes he has been found. He was in dense bushland of Lake Eildon National Park, He is now in hospital suffering from exhaustion, hypothermia and dehydration. Despite being found just three kilometres from where he was last seen on Good Friday, police say he may have walked up to 10 kilometres in different directions during the time he was missing. Acting Assistant Commissioner Rick Nugent says search efforts were mindful of Luke’s autism, meaning volunteers looking for the boy were careful not to scare him off.

Day One of the trial of Mike Duffy on charges of fraud and bribery has begun in Ottawa to much excitement and speculation. But there has been nothing new so far as the Crown and defense present their cases. Click picture for all leads  Photo CBC 

In Truro, Nova Scotia, an exchange of words at a pizza shop leads to lives seriously damaged.

Globe and Mail 

An Ottawa courtroom will be packed today (Tuesday, April 7, 2015) as the criminal trial of suspended Conservative senator Mike Duffy gets underway. The judge-alone trial will give Duffy a chance to clear his name on 31 charges related to the Senate expense scandal, including bribery, fraud and breach of trust. A key question is whether Duffy’s primary residence was in P.E.I. or in Ottawa while he was a sitting senator.  Senators from outside Ottawa can claim up to 22-thousand dollars a year to cover living expenses. Duffy has denied any wrongdoing concerning his Senate expenses, and a $90,000 cheque written by Prime Minister Harper’s former chief of staff to pay those expenses. Many legal minds have said they don’t see how the giving of this money could be construed as a bribe, as the Crown alleges. It will be interesting to see. There is much discussion of a what might come out at the trial that would impact the forthcoming election. The trial is scheduled to last at least 40 days.

A family of four from Delaware is back home after their villa in the U.S Virgin Island was apparently fumigated while they were in the building by the Terminix firm. The chemical used was  a deadly agent, methyl bromide, something that would never be used for such a purpose.  According to reports, the teenage boys, ages 16 and 14 are in comas, in critical condition at a Philadelphia hospital after suffering seizures. Their father is conscious, but cannot move, and their mother has been released. Methyl Bromide is used in farming and insect control in the U.S. and is a highly restricted substance, but is not illegal. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, high exposure to humans can cause central nervous system and respiratory failure.

A harrowing experience like that of a three-year-old girl at the St. Clair West subway station Monday can usually be avoided by showing care when at the bottom or top of an escalator. This is where the steps disappear and loop back under the mechanism. They pass through the teeth of a finely-calibrated guard called a comb. It is closely machined but it isn’t perfect. You can see what they look like in the photos. The damaged shoe shown in the upper photo was caught when it slammed into a comb. If the rider had stepped over the comb, as is advised, the accident would not have happened. Low-hanging clothing is a peril as well. This appears to be how a Montreal woman died last year. It began when the fringe of her long-hanging scarf slipped into the comb. Children don’t know any better and must be watched. They frequently sit down on the lifts, creating a lot of opportunity for clothing to be trapped. Pictures taken by Arda Zakarian of CP24 show the site of the child’s entrapment at the St.Clair West station. There is a lot of chewed up and damaged clothing but it had to start with one little piece. The CBC report says the child was sitting on the steps and her sleeves finally slipped into the comb at the bottom. Earlier reports said the little girl’s hand had been trapped but this was not the case. An alert citizen turned off the escalator and for that act deserves recognition.

The intersection of Spadina Avenue and College Street is a mess, just the latest in the enormous cost paid by the people of Toronto for the inconvenient streetcar dream that the City has indulged for decades. The question superimposed on the picture above can be heard echoing through homes, offices, on the street, Twitter and no doubt on the pillow before drifting off. Why? The most obvious reason is that we own the streetcars. But why do we own streetcars? Who can begrudge those with nostalgia for our past? We do not.  But we are living with a kind of madness on the streets that surely must come to an end as soon as possible.