Singer-songwriter Lesley Gore has died in New York at the age of 68 from cancer. Gore burst onto the charts in 1963 with a pounding wall-of-sound wail that topped the charts for eleven weeks. It’s My Party (And I’ll Cry If I Want To) became the single that launched a series of teen girl declarations including the vengeful Judy’s Turn to Cry and the feminist anthem You Don’t Own Me. Hear about that bad boy Johnny once again below. CBC Twitter
Lesley Gore captured angst, spirit of 60s teen girls
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Singer-songwriter Lesley Gore has died in New York at the age of 68 from cancer. Gore burst onto the charts in 1963 with a pounding wall-of-sound wail that topped the charts for eleven weeks. It’s My Party (And I’ll Cry If I Want To) became the single that launched a series of teen girl declarations including the vengeful Judy’s Turn to Cry and the feminist anthem You Don’t Own Me. Hear about that bad boy Johnny once again below. CBC Twitter
Look east to Durham for garbage solutions
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The Durham York Energy Centre in Clarington east of Toronto began burning its first haul of curbside garbage Friday morning. It is the second phase in testing the newly-built plant before it opens fully to the incineration of the area’s waste. It is a profound time as the technology, which is well-proven and in use all over the world, stands to put an end to the mindless destruction of agricultural land by garbage dumping. “We had what they call first fire today,” said Cliff Curtis, commissioner of works for Durham Region. “They are still in the testing phase, but it’s the first time they fired the plant with garbage,” he said. Since last November, it has been using natural gas to test the various systems, “and now we are switching over to garbage to make sure it works as well.” The energy-from-waste plant, built by Covanta Energy Corporation, is the first to be built in the GTA in more than two decades, and will be able to process 140,000 tonnes of residual waste a year from Durham and York regions that would have otherwise gone to landfill. Energy-to-waste is a well established means of dealing with garbage in the far east, especially Japan and in many parts of Europe like Denmark and Scandinavia. It has also been put forward by Jim Harnum, head of Toronto’s solid waste management services. Toronto has fallen behind many municipalities in this technology. There has been a deeply rooted opposition to any kind of incineration and this included former mayor Miller. The only alternative however has been landfill. According to Durham Region, the facility will generate between 17.5 gross megawatts of renewable energy — enough to power between 10,000 and 12,000 homes. Over the past few years, the project has faced opposition from locals concerned about emissions and the cost to taxpayers. The final price tag is $286.56 million, according to the Region. There is also an energy-from-waste incinerator being built in Brampton. Common sense of waste to energy
Look east to Durham for garbage solutions
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The Durham York Energy Centre in Clarington east of Toronto began burning its first haul of curbside garbage Friday morning. It is the second phase in testing the newly-built plant before it opens fully to the incineration of the area’s waste. It is a profound time as the technology, which is well-proven and in use all over the world, stands to put an end to the mindless destruction of agricultural land by garbage dumping. “We had what they call first fire today,” said Cliff Curtis, commissioner of works for Durham Region. “They are still in the testing phase, but it’s the first time they fired the plant with garbage,” he said. Since last November, it has been using natural gas to test the various systems, “and now we are switching over to garbage to make sure it works as well.” The energy-from-waste plant, built by Covanta Energy Corporation, is the first to be built in the GTA in more than two decades, and will be able to process 140,000 tonnes of residual waste a year from Durham and York regions that would have otherwise gone to landfill. Energy-to-waste is a well established means of dealing with garbage in the far east, especially Japan and in many parts of Europe like Denmark and Scandinavia. It has also been put forward by Jim Harnum, head of Toronto’s solid waste management services. Toronto has fallen behind many municipalities in this technology. There has been a deeply rooted opposition to any kind of incineration and this included former mayor Miller. The only alternative however has been landfill. According to Durham Region, the facility will generate between 17.5 gross megawatts of renewable energy — enough to power between 10,000 and 12,000 homes. Over the past few years, the project has faced opposition from locals concerned about emissions and the cost to taxpayers. The final price tag is $286.56 million, according to the Region. There is also an energy-from-waste incinerator being built in Brampton. Common sense of waste to energy
Good turnout for free skate at Leaside arena
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Good turnout for free skate at Leaside arena
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Cynical forced closure of shops on Family Day
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Once again on Family Day large influential retail operations like the Eaton Centre have been permitted to remain open while small shops are threatened with fines if they dare to sell a thing. This legal abomination sits technically with the City. It’s a power Council has had since the Toronto Act invested it with the means to manage an embarrassing convention that Queen’s Park no longer wanted to shoulder, at least not in this great metropolis where people expect to be able to shop every day. There are many reasons why this unfair practice continues, all of them bad. Powerful realty companies and Lord’s Day hangover lobbies are two. The government will say it’s all about families and the fear that a parent won’t be able to spend time with a child. We have a hot flash. Thousands of parents are at work on Family day in exempted occupations ranging from theatre ushers to salt miners. Never mind the countless people at the shops in the Eaton Centre who would rather have a day off but are forced to work. It’s all as phony as Dalton McGuinty’s maudlin complaint that he just had to declare a mid-winter statuary holiday because he hadn’t spent enough time with his late father. What rubbish. There is a thing called the Ontario Labour Standards Act. It is perfectly suited to make sure that employees are dealt with fairly. Those who don’t want to work can have it their way. Those who want to work should be permitted. Spare us the bogus concern about our families.
Cynical forced closure of shops on Family Day
by •
Once again on Family Day large influential retail operations like the Eaton Centre have been permitted to remain open while small shops are threatened with fines if they dare to sell a thing. This legal abomination sits technically with the City. It’s a power Council has had since the Toronto Act invested it with the means to manage an embarrassing convention that Queen’s Park no longer wanted to shoulder, at least not in this great metropolis where people expect to be able to shop every day. There are many reasons why this unfair practice continues, all of them bad. Powerful realty companies and Lord’s Day hangover lobbies are two. The government will say it’s all about families and the fear that a parent won’t be able to spend time with a child. We have a hot flash. Thousands of parents are at work on Family day in exempted occupations ranging from theatre ushers to salt miners. Never mind the countless people at the shops in the Eaton Centre who would rather have a day off but are forced to work. It’s all as phony as Dalton McGuinty’s maudlin complaint that he just had to declare a mid-winter statuary holiday because he hadn’t spent enough time with his late father. What rubbish. There is a thing called the Ontario Labour Standards Act. It is perfectly suited to make sure that employees are dealt with fairly. Those who don’t want to work can have it their way. Those who want to work should be permitted. Spare us the bogus concern about our families.
As many as 1,300 exposed to measles at church
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The Ontario health ministry is saying that as many as 1,300 people, most of them teenagers, were potentially exposed to measles at the two-day Christian event at Church of the Queensway on February 6 and 7, 2015. But this can be balanced against the likelihood that most of the youth present were immunized, as is 98 percent of the school population. See below
As many as 1,300 exposed to measles at church
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The Ontario health ministry is saying that as many as 1,300 people, most of them teenagers, were potentially exposed to measles at the two-day Christian event at Church of the Queensway on February 6 and 7, 2015. But this can be balanced against the likelihood that most of the youth present were immunized, as is 98 percent of the school population. See below

