A freight train derailment near Brockville has shut down the Via rail line between Toronto and Montreal. It has caused the cancellation of all Ottawa-Toronto and Toronto-Montreal Via Rail routes. Via passengers affected by the derailment are being carried by bus. The derailment does not appear too serious and may be cleaned up by the weekend.
Implosion spectacle set for 7 a.m. Sunday
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| Sir John Carling Building |
Sunday morning at 7 a.m. will see an implosion spectacle in one of the most scenic parts of Ottawa. The Sir John Carling Building, an unwanted federal landmark dating from 1967, will come crashing down with the detonation of a series of smartly-placed explosive packages. The obsolete office tower overlooks lovely Dow’s Lake. It’s demise is being called the biggest blast in the capital’s history. Such superlatives might tempt political wags but we will leave it alone. Sunday’s demolition will be executed by a U.S. demolition team skilled in such work. Eric “master blaster” Kelly of Advance Explosives Demolition Inc. of Idaho will push a button detonating about 400 kilograms of dynamite in an intricate sequence of small, controlled explosions within the 11-storey structure. Watch for it.
65 people (so far) running for mayor of Toronto
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Toronto is still four months away from the general election of 2014 and already there are 65 people registered as candidates for mayor. One of them is Happy Happy. He or she may or may not make you happy. And as the polls for support indicates, there maybe 62 of these folks who have no chance whatsoever of winning. Most amazing of all is the keen desire to be a candidate when most people can hardly be bothered to vote. It’s hard to guess just where the candidate list will top out by October 27, 2014. In South Bayview, a number of councillors are running unopposed. Josh Matlow (Ward 22) and Jaye Robinson (Ward 25) are all alone in the race for their positions. In Ward 26, John Parker, two-time incumbent, lawyer and long-time resident of Leaside, has opposition from Dave Sparrow, Jon Burnside and former Parker assistant, Velshi Ishrath. In Ward 27, Krystin Wong-Tam will face three opponents, as of this date. Traditionally, this ward yields a bumper load of candidates. As many 15 is not unusual. Those now in are Benjamin Richter, Pat Roberge and Jordan Stone. In Ward 29, Mary Fragedakis has two opponents, so far. They are Dave Andre and John Papadakis. The war drums are pounding out in Ward 16 where Mike Colle is facing opposition from nine would-be councillors. The City has produced a very good interactive page where it is keeping track in real-time of who is in and who is out. Take a look here.
Decisive World Cup tilt an absolute scoring oddity
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It’s going to be Argentina versus Germany on Sunday for possession of the World Cup. In a European football oddity that is just too much, neither team scored in regular time today. The hefty number of markers that settled the match came solely from penalty rounds. Final score: Arg 4, Ned 2. Amazing. It’s like the Jays and Yankees hashing out a 0-0 nine-innings with an hour of batting practice. Netherlands and Brazil will settle for what’s left on Saturday. Nice account of today”s game here in the Telegraph (London)
Identity of car fire victims is confirmed by OPP
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As police suspected, the deceased persons found in a burned out car last Friday are a Mississauga man, Samuel Masih, 36 and his two sons. The OPP is being very circumspect about what happened but their cautious information leaves little doubt that they think Masih was responsible for the death of the boys and for the fire. The linked story here suggests Masih and his wife Brintha Shanmugalingam were preparing to divorce. Todd Coyne, Brian Platt, Toronto Star
Worries on spending, secrecy at Waterfront TO
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Mayor Ford, Mr. Minnan-Wong and others are concerned about Waterfront Toronto’s cap-in-hand approach for money to make the waterfront nice. Waterfront Toronto is a made-up creature with no apparent responsibility to anyone. 680 News
Chorley Park trail plan may be delayed a year
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The Chorley Park proposed trail is discussed here in the National Post. The paper touches briefly on the least discussed aspect of the plan, namely the creation of a way for people from just anywhere to travel from the Brickyards up to Rosedale. National Post
Simcoe St. a test tube for bikes lanes, killer fines
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Simcoe Street has become a kind of test tube for what the City may wish to do with other downtown thoroughfares. Simcoe now has painted-line bikes lanes, $150 fines for stopping in a bicycle lane and the section of the street between Front St. W. and Wellington St. W. has been converted to two-way traffic. The stories are vague about the rest of the street — the part that starts at Queen West and runs to Wellington — but it appears to continue to be one-way south. Take this merely as a guide. Many people may be putting Simcoe on their “no-go” zone map right now.
Rainbow over QEW on anniversary of 2013 flood
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It has been a damp day to mark the anniversary of the wretched flooding of July of last year. Who can forget the flooded basements and stranded GO train passengers. A nice manifestation of today was sent out by 680 News and it landed in the Twitter box. This double rainbow was visible from the QEW near Winston Churchill Parkway later in the day as things began to clear a little. The severe weather alerts issued in Toronto were lifted by the afternoon but thunderstorm watches remained throughout the GTA and eastern Ontario. Nothing much seems to have come of them however. Though exempt from the severe thunderstorm watch, the Toronto forecast was still calling for showers and thunderstorms into this evening evening. (Tuesday, July 9, 2014)
Brazil humiliated after 7-1 loss to Germany
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To understand what it means, you have to listen to commentators who say they don’t quite know how the losing team members can even go on living in Brazil after today’s defeat at the hands of Germany. At half time the enormity of the Brazilian humiliation was rolled out. Then in the second half, two more easy goals by the Germans. The lone Brazilian score drew barely a cheer from the dejected fans. It is said to be the worst loss suffered by Brazil in the history of international play. Some were saying it is entirely the fault of the green and yellow squad. They have played a “terrible”game said a CBC commentator. “Germany isn’t doing anything especially good.”
Keep your shirt on when you tell Rob Ford to quit
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Shirtless protesters shouting “resign, resign” have bearded Mayor Ford as he complained about the proposed plan to apparently reduce the number of lanes on Eglinton Ave. in Toronto’s post-LRT-construction world. Ford may have a point but so do the protesters. After the event, they explained they will follow the mayor wherever he goes and they urged others to do the same. “Just whip off your shirt and start shouting Resign,” said one. Actually, telling the mayor to quit will work just as well, if at all, if you keep your shirt on.
Hannah Batty, aged 15, has been found
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The Toronto Police Service reports that Hannah Batty, 15 has been found. TPS thanked everyone who helped in the search.