Premier suggests PC member is “homophobic”

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Premier Wynne says she feels homophobia is behind some opposition to Ontario’s proposed sex education curriculum. The plan calls for the instruction of same sex instruction in Grade 3.  An opening for this accusation came on the use of a single word from PC MPP Monte McNaughton in heated debate. He said “especially”  the Premier should not be the judge of what was age appropriate for school kids. Would the Premier have used the H-word if McNaughton had not used the word especially? There is homophobia around no doubt. But the word never seems to be sufficiently well-defined in most contexts. Some parents fear impressionable children are going to be offered “alternatives” to the sex preference which most parents hope for when it comes to  their children  Is this a reasonable fear? Is it publicly permitted? Is it homophobia?   

Couple gives birth to rare identical triplets

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A suburban Detroit couple, Lauren and Michael Whitely, have given birth to identical triplet boys. They already have two older son aged three and two. Amazingly, the rare identical births occurred without the use of fertility treatment of any kind. Identical births are those created from one egg. The triplets were born at Henry Ford Hospital in St. Clair Shores on January 25, 2015.  The babies have been in newborn intensive care but now are able to carry on at home. The Whitelys are young. Lauren is 32 and Michael 31. He says it is amazing to find himself with five children at that age. Identical triplets also were born December 5 to a woman in Billings, Montana. Dr. Savitri Kumar, a neonatologist at Henry Ford Hospital, said data on identical triplet births by natural conception varies from one in 60,000 to one in 2 million. Most doctors call the chances “one-in-a-million,” Kumar said.

Man says chunks fell from Gardiner yesterday

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A Toronto man, Ahsen Ali Siddiqi, has told CP24 that two or more chunks of concrete fell from the Gardiner Expressway onto his mother’s car and another vehicle yesterday near the foot of Simcoe Street. No one was hurt. Siddiqi says however that vehicle glass was smashed to a crumpled safety-glass mess by the objects. The Gardiner Expressway has had pieces fall in recent times. Twitter suggests the last incident was recent December 2012. At that time several chunk were reported down and City Hall asked anyone seeing fallen concrete to leave it where it had dropped. The entire expressway is supposed to be under a type of maintenance to prevent such things.    

4 brothers aged 2-15 die in Manitoba farm fire

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Four little boys have died in a farmhouse fire in the tiny Manitoba crossroads of Kane. They were caught in the two-storey home when fire destroyed it shortly after midnight. Their mother, 34, and three other children, a boy and two girls, escaped the flames and were found by police and fire officials sitting a vehicle on the property. The children who died are said be between the age of two  and 15 years. The father arrived home from work to find his home in flames. He and his wife are said to have tried to enter, but were unable.  Ralph Groening, the reeve of the area told CBC News many in the community know the family. “It was a large family and it’s a huge tragedy,” said Groening “We also know that the adults, the parents, put every effort into saving all of their children but were unsuccessful.”  Bernard Schellenberg, fire chief  is quoted as saying that “one section of the house, which is a new addition, had already collapsed, and the older portion of the house had fire coming out of the windows.” There is very little else known “It sounded like the parents tried to go in to get their children, but with heavy smoke conditions, they could not.” Schellenberg said the father made the emergency call when he saw smoke coming from his house as he was returning from work. He said 20 firefighters in three trucks responded to the call. He said the remains of those who died are still in the rubble of the house and the scene is now in the hands of the Office of the Fire Commissioner.

Fancy a nice east view overlooking Howard Talbot Park?

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It appears that Bayview Ave. and Laird Drive will have serious developments at the corners where they meet Eglinton Ave. E. courtesy of the Ontario Government. This is because Metrolinx, the Ontario  transit authority that owns the sites will be trying to maximize the return to the government at the sites of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT stations. Bayview (Leaside) station will be on the southeast corner where the McDonalds is now located. Units on the east side of an office or condo there would overlook Talbot Park. Nice. At Laird Drive, the strip plaza containing many familiar businesses on the southwest corner will be home to the main station. There will be a secondary location in what i snow the parking lot of  the RioCan Leaside Centre on the east side of Laird.

City forms Water SWAT Team to battle “no water”

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Mayor Tory, City Manager Pennachetti and Toronto Water General Manager Lou Di Gironimo met on an urgent basis Wednesday morning to discuss the 300 or so properties where there is  “no water” in the City. The mayor acknowledged the need to fix the lack of water as quickly as possible. “Toronto Water crews are working as hard as they can to respond to the large volume of calls. however, we need more resources to help customers understand what we are dealing with, and when staff will be on site to investigate each situation.” It appears the city has created a Water SWAT Team that will provide what is called customized care to these residents. This may involve creating a temporary water service connection to a neighbour’s property, which is called a highline. If a highline cannot be established, either for mechanical reasons or if the neighbour would prefer not to install a temporary connection, the property will be put on the priority list to have the outside water service thawed. Since the cold weather first hit on February 14, the City of Toronto has received close to 2,000 “no water” calls due to frozen pipes. More than 1,200 of these calls were received within the first three days. In the majority of cases, investigations have found that the pipes within the dwelling are frozen. The problem falls to the homeowner. The City recommends the use of a blow dry to thaw frozen pipes but in the end, residents may require a plumber.  Full release with advice on getting information

March begins to really hurt as water dries up

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The unspeakable weather has caused more than 2,000 calls for no water so far this year. Josh Matlow (Ward 22) and others at City Hall were saying Wednesday morning that many homes  have not had running water for days. Criticism naturally falls on Toronto Water. That may be unfair. Councillor Joe Milhevc (Ward 21) blames it squarely on the weather. There is criticism of the system and the lack of information about when crews can attend to them. This assumes such things can be made coherent in the midst of natural chaos.  Mayor Tory was said to be speaking with Toronto Water officials today.  More and better infrastructure is the cry but that doesn’t help today. Nor will it ensure that the ravages of a  month like this won’t strike again. 

What a break! Mercury to reach zero March 10

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These days people are prepared to cling to any slim promise of a less frigid way of life. As we know, predictions for the rest of February and indeed most of March are for colder than normal temperatures. The Weather Network’s 14-day forecast tells the unwelcome story. It indicates that the first time we will see the mercury reach zero will be on Tuesday March 10, 2015 under mostly sunny skies. There are no guarantees however.  The Weather Network

NSS students win prom breathalyzer challenge

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Two students attending Northern Secondary School have won a court case that demonstrates the limits on schools in keeping kids safe from alcohol misuse at school events.  An Ontario judge, Susan Himel,  has found that requiring kids to take a breathalyzer test as a condition of getting into  the prom is an unreasonable search under the Charter of Rights.  It is of course entirely a matter of opinion whether this expectation is really what judge Himel thinks, but in this case, she is the judge. Northern Secondary School principal Ron Felsen had wanted to make sure that the school did not risk the not uncommon problem of intoxicated students causing trouble at the prom. In last year’s event, it appears there were no problems. The students involved were Brett Gorski and Simon Gillies. They challenged the school’s ruling with the assistance Mr. Gillie’s father, a lawyer.