Did Leslie thieves get the red dye treatment?

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Check the picture published below of the discarded bank notes from that holdup on Leslie Street at York Mills Road yesterday. When you do, see if you think there are some odd looking pink or red pieces in the mess. The banks and police don’t like to talk about it but for many years they have used “exploding” bank rolls on unsuspecting bandits. The package looks like a roll of cash but it is a harmless exploding device that sprays red dye on whomever is holding it. This trick was played to good effect on a Bayview Ave. bank robber a few years ago. Elsewhere, the inset picture shows a hapless bandit in Britain enveloped by this red dye trick.  In the Bayview case, the terrified bandit made his getaway on foot but as he raced north he was clearly declared guilty by the red stains all over his hands and face. 

Garden of Distinction has an English feel

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Here’s the wonderful English garden of Marilyn Kenny and Ian Hallett, owners of the home at 1 Kenrae Rd. where it meets Randolph Ave. This inventive garden is one of six chosen by the Leaside Garden Society and in future days we’re going to try to drop in on all of of them. This garden enhances a difficult triangular shaped lot with shrubs, flowers and trees. Like a good English garden this one has paths and little hiding places away from the busy world just a few feet away. Very nice and greatly deserving of the award. Photo shows the garden with home hidden behind and a cherub with the garden society’s notice inset. 


Commuters move train car to rescue trapped man

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There’s been a most remarkable group effort by commuters on the Perth, Australia transit system. Together, they tilted a train car to free a man whose leg had gone into the gap between the platform and the train. It is an exhilarating and alarming thing to watch all at once. Few of us think about the “train gap” that lurks in most stations. Last year, a 5-year-old girl, Ava Buckareff, slipped between a subway car and platform at the St. Clair station. TTC officials explained that there is indeed jeopardy for riders at this station under certain conditions. Happily for young Ava, her aunt pulled the child free before the train started to move. Video from Perth is amazing.  Flashback to St. Clair subway incident

Photobombing the Beetles before it was even cool

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This was photobombing before it was cool — or even known. This gentleman, seen as a young man (on the right curb of Abbey Road) was included in the famous Beetles walk-across. Now people stand there to watch others do it. No one seems to know the man’s name although it must be in the archives. Today, however he is tweeted and twellabrated as the most famous photobomb ever. 

Cops report cigarettes, handbags are stolen

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Any like this taken?

The overnight Major News Reports reveal quite a little crime wave with five write-ups making it to the police blotter. The pathetic state of things is captured well by the mugging of a 30 year old woman at Church and Wellesley Streets for a pack of cigarettes. The assailent left the purse behind. The loot was no doubt much pricier at Fashionably Yours at 709 Queen Street West where an early morning break-in August 5, 2014 yielded a bunch of handbags. No specifics are stated but ladies in the know will wonder if any of those Chanel quilted metallic jumbo flop bags (inset) were part of the swag. It’s a mere $2,900 on Queen West. Don’t let avarice get you if someone says they know where to buy them cheap. So easy to fence — and to be convicted.  Wednesday report for Tuesday, August 5, 2014 

Noah Ritter is apparently a worldwide sensation

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An adorable and astonishingly chatty little guy named Noah Ritter is a worldwide sensation on YouTube and in the press. He is the toast of millions for his interview at the Wayne County Fair in Pennsylvania where reporter Sofia Ojeda merely asked Noah what he thought of a ride he had just been on. “It was great. Apparently I’ve never been on live television before,” he told Sofia. Why apparently? Noah has heard this word many times before maybe even from Sofia herself. It’s that handy caution journalists use to hedge their bets about the accuracy of what they’re reporting. Like, “apparently police think so and so.” In other words, be warned that maybe we know this for a fact, or maybe not. Anyway, Noah has gone from success to success. 

Taste of Danforth road closings this weekend

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Police have announced road closings for the Taste of the Danforth event this weekend. The days are Friday, August 8, 2014 to Sunday, August 10, 2014. Road closures will run from Friday, August 8, 2014 at 11 a.m. to Monday, August, 11, 2014 at 1 a.m. Danforth Avenue will be closed from Broadview Avenue to Jones Avenue. All intersections 30 metres north and south from Broadview Avenue to Jones Avenue, will be closed. Motorists are advised to consider the road closures when planning for their travels. The event will proceed regardless of weather conditions. The long-time and very successful attraction causes other Business Improvement Areas (BIAs) to dream about having similar success with their promotions. Taste of the Danforth has certain assets which only a few other BIAs possess. That would be the main subway line and enormous parking. 

Memo to the Second Cup: It’s the Coffee

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Second Cup should have it all. They’ve got pretty good locations, a neat name and they’re Canadian. Why is the Second Cup the second choice of so many coffee drinkers? Today Second Cup Ltd. suspended its quarterly dividend to refocus on growing the business. Second-quarter sales and earnings have been going backwards. Sales fell 3.9 percent to $45.8 million, and comparable cafe sales declined 5 percent in the three months ended June 28.  Yes there’s competition but coffee drinkers might well agree that Second Cup has let Tim Horton’s eat its lunch. The secret is better coffee and better sweets. Starbucks has good coffee but its muffins aren’t anything to write home about. Horton’s has been smart to offer a lot more food than the others while talking up its coffee. It seems to have worked. Another perspective is had by noting that Second Cup is a largely franchised business and frankly that can make it hard to sustain a high standard across the whole chain.

Brown pill, clear capsule bring grief to VELD party

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As they promised, Toronto police have updated their search and public appeal for the unknown drugs or substances that caused so much grief at the VELD concert over the weekend. Two people are dead and 13 others were hospitalized after ingesting what cops say was one or more of two items — a small brown pill and a small clear capsule containing a white substance. They had earlier urged anyone who may have bought the drug to turn it over to authorities so experts can analyze the substance. Det. Sgt. Peter Trimble says several people have since turned over the drugs. George Mammoliti (Ward 7) has said the city should consider banning Electronic Dance Music (EDM) events on public property. CP24 

Teen boy 16 in BMW strikes boy 17 on bicycle

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Police have reported the tragic case of two young men, one driving a car and the other on his bike. Now the 17-year-old cyclist is dead. It happened  Friday, August 1, 2014, at about 5 p.m. at Sheppard Avenue East and Neilson Road. The 17-year-old was riding a bicycle westbound on Sheppard and the other boy, 16, driving a BMW 323i westbound on Sheppard Avenue East. Thus it appears that the car and bike were traveling in the same direction and presumably were required to share the road in some fashion. It is among the most difficult and generally unpredictable situations in which motorists and cyclists can find themselves. The cyclist was struck by the BMW. The cyclist suffered life-threatening injuries and was taken to hospital, where he later died.