Two 19-year-olds have been rescued off Lake Ontario tonight because, while they had no safety equipment in their little dinghy, they did have a cell phone. And it was still nip and tuck because there are no reference points on a dark lake. But cops worked a triangulation on the cell signal and were able to zero in on the two. Tonight they were brought ashore at Ashbridge’s Bay. CTV
Toddler crawls through farm fields before rescue
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Little Susanna Martin was missing from her home at dusk down near Stratford Tuesday night. She was missing even though everyone knew in general terms where she was. Susanna had slipped into a huge field of seven-foot-high corn while playing with four other children. It’s perimeter is just a few feet from her home. Her parents, aunt and uncle, dozens of firefighters and police knew she was in there somewhere. But overnight they could not locate her despite the presence of a helicopter with a heat-detecting device. Remarkably the little girl had blindly fought her way through the 80-acre cornfield and an adjoining soy field before entering the hayfield of a neighbor, Gerard Steenbeck. It would be all night and until 10.30 a.m. Wednesday morning for the happy moment of her discovery. Steenbeck said he spotted the child exhausted on the ground. She got to her knees, held out her arms and began to cry when she saw him. He grabbed Susanna and held her close. She quieted down in a moment. She was weary, hungry and had a few scratches but was generally okay. She was taken to a local hospital and checked out before going homeLow of 13 tonight as temps foretell Autumn
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Definitely “Ex” weather as mom and dad used to say. An unusual but not unknown chilly spell is on us tonight with a low of merely 13 tonight. Weather Channel
Have a nice Bitcoin Day if you can find them
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Today we have the Canadian Bitcoin Exchange placing “Bitcoin ATMs” around town so you can buy, sell or dream about this largely imaginary money. You can go to the Bitcoin ATM and “buy Bitcoins”. But you have to pay for them in Canadian money, apparently. Uh-huh. Then you can place your Bitcoins in your imaginary Bitcoin “wallet” and at some point trade them for other invisible Bitcoins. Oh, those metal Bitcoins you see on the web are made by a guy in Salt Lake City. His name is Mike Caldwell (inset making Bitcoins). Sure, it’s not the Canadian Mint but Mike’s a nice name. He makes the coins himself. They contain some kind of code or something that certifies they are genuine physical digital bitcoins. Trust Mike. But last year at the big hackers convention in Las Vega, the hackers took those hardly money metal Bitcoins all apart and made them worthless. Have a nice Bitcoin Day everyone. John Parker calls for extension of Redway Rd.
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John Parker (Ward 26) has told Mike Adler of the East York Mirror that the Redway Road extension should be built now. He has brought a motion to the Public Works Committee to this effect. The Redway proposal would extend the road from the CPR overpass at Millwood Rd. to the Bayview extension at Nesbitt Drive. In the past, the proposed road has been resisted by Rosedale residents who fear more traffic through the north end of the neighborhood coming and going from the Mt. Pleasant extension But there have been renewed concerns about Leaside traffic since the death of Georgia Walsh at the corner of McRae Drive and Millwood in July. Mr. Parker told the Mirror that the need to take action could not be clearer. At present, Redway Road ends at the Loblaws store. East York Mirror
Hang on as City ponders Nelson Mandela Ave.
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Members of the Public Works Committee led by Kristyn Wong-Tam (Ward 27) and Pam McConnell (Ward 28) have asked staff to give advice to Council on how the City’s “Honourific and Street Naming Policy” can be amended to implement a changing of the name of University Ave (or part of it) to honour Nelson Mandela. The online poll in the Toronto Star (above) is running 76 per cent against this idea. The intent of the councillors is said to be to somehow dedicate University Ave. to Mr. Mandela which would add signage but not change the name of University.
Ford sorry but “I had reason to say what I did”
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If you want to listen to Doug Ford again (and you may not) CP24 has his apology to Chief Blair here. The way Mr.Ford puts it, you kind of feel he’s doing Blair a favour. If you are using a contrition detector, you should set it on high.
Untested Canadian drug sent to battle Ebola killer
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Work is going on furiously at private and government laboratories to find a vaccine that will be effective against Ebola. The Canadian government owns the rights to an untested vaccine which, because of the urgent nature of the problem, has been approved for use in African countries where Ebola rages. The Wall Street Journal reports that the World Health Organization (WHO) gave a green light to the use of the drug which was developed at the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg. The Canadian government said it would donate 800 to 1,000 doses. It has been shown to have promise in animal research. The government has licensed the rights to a U.S. company, BioProtection Systems Corp.
Matlow motion seeks study of lower speed limit
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Toronto and East Community Council has approved a motion by Josh Matlow (Ward 22) to ask City Staff to examine the possibility of lowering the speed limit to 30 km/h on neighborhood streets within Ward 22.
Slow Down signs are at 3 schools tomorrow
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Roger Cattell the hard-working McRae Drive man who has sustained the Slow Down lawn sign program following the death of Georgia Walsh has sent out an update. There will be a new supply of these signs for the many people seeking to have one at the front doors of three Leaside schools tomorrow evening (Thursday, August 14, 2014). Pick-up time is between 6:30 and 8 p.m. The schools are Rolph Road Public, Bessborough Public and Northlea Elementary and Middle School. Each location will have 90 signs on a first-come-first-serve basis. An additional 30 signs will be available after 9 p. m. at the Leaside Pub, 180 Laird Drive. Tomorrow is the evening of the pub’s official re-opening. Donations will be gratefully accepted at that time. Mr. Cattell reports that another 200 signs are coming in ten days time. The aim of the campaign is to have as many signs as possible out for the return to school time period as possible. There is now a Facebook page which will provide further updates. You can subscribe at www.facebook.com/leasidekidsatplay. Neighborhoods in the Beach, Yonge and Eglinton and Davisville Village are starting their own traffic calming sign campaigns too.Semi at 444 Davisville Ave. sells for $834,000
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The well-maintained semi detached home at 444 Davisville Ave. has sold this summer for $834,000. It fetched a nice $85,000 bonus on the asking price of $749,000. Put another way, that’s 111 per cent of the asking. The home is located at the corner of Davisville and McCord Rd., about midway between Cleveland St and Forman Ave. The previous selling price in 1990 was $249,000. Although it is small (about $1250 sq feet) it has three bedrooms and three bathrooms. It also has many updates like new furnace, air conditioner, roof and windows. The picture shown was taken by Google in the summer of 2013 and shows a considerable amount of pride in the garden by both owners. Bogart’s pal Lauren Bacall dead at age 89
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| Lauren Bacall |
Lauren Bacall, the husky-voiced actress whose marriage to Humphrey Bogart was the stuff of Hollywood legend, has died of a stroke in New York. She was 89. Bacall was born Betty Joan Perske in 1924 and was a little-known 19-year-old fashion model when she was cast opposite Bogart in “To Have and Have Not” in 1944. Her impact was immediate, and with one memorable line — “You know how to whistle, don’t you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow.” — she shot to stardom. The next year she and Bogart, 25 years her senior, were married.