Four Quebec teens on Facebook find stolen baby

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The Quebec media this morning is telling the story of four young teenage heroes from Trois Rivieres who were key to rescuing the baby abducted from a local hospital. The four saw the amber alert information on FaceBook and since they nothing else to do, began to look around the neighborhood. The four teenagers who spoke to reporters as they left the hospital were identified by a local newspaper as Charlène Plante, Mélizanne Bergeron, Charel Bergeron et Marc-André Côté. “We had nothing to do and we saw [the alert] on Facebook. So we decided to take a drive and look around. En route, we saw the photo and recognized her. We went to her house, saw the vehicle, saw the baby in the house, Mélizanne Bergeron told reporters in Trois-Rivières after meeting with investigators. It was a amazing stroke of good luck. Police say the abductor entered the maternity ward dressed as an employee and took the child from its mother under false pretenses. She walked out and drove away in a red car with a sign “Bebe A Bord!” 

Cops hope vid, pix will spook mummy bandit

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Somebody knows the mummy
The video captures released today of the so-called mummy bandit show a darn good resemblance to somebody. Do you know him? This fellow is on tear, continuing to hold up banks using a gun well into May. Between October 2013 and today the suspect has robbed nine banks in the downtown core. The last was Wednesday, May 14, 2014, at about 12:15 p.m. He entered the  branch in the area of College Street and Bathurst Streets where he went behind the teller’s wicket, demanded money and threatened the victims. He is described as white, 20-30, and 5’6″-5’10”. In one of the security camera images, he is wearing an prominent ring on his right hand. As to the mummy stuff, he appears to have treated his face with something. Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-7350, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477), online at www.222tips.com, text TOR and your message to CRIMES (274637), or Leave A Tip on Facebook. Download the free Crime Stoppers Mobile App on iTunes, Google Play or Blackberry App World.


Sorry to disrupt your reverie in the Caribbean sun

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There is a genuinely unreal feeling in the air when Canadians talk about owning the Turks and Caicos Islands. It is as if all our troubles will vanish if only the nice people (and their leader Rufus Ewing) will just say yes. Common sense departs on a Caribbean breeze. There’s not a serious thought among the twittering tweets tonight. It’s all just “yes sirree Bob, let me at that Canadian tropical beach”. Never a word about the incredible canyon between the cultures of Toronto and Grand Turk or the lop-sided economic advantage offered to the Turks and Caicos by being part of Canada. CPP does not stand for cinnamon and pear pie. Nor a thought as to whether dominantly European-extracted Canadian millions really want to become the inevitable big brothers to 35,000 people of the Turks and Caicos. Is there a potential for unfulfilled expectations? Would this be an arrangement that would prompt the ever watchful “rapporteurs” of the United Nations to tell the world that Canadians were behaving a lot like imperialists? Would it make the people of the Turks and Caicos feel like colonials? Would there be plenty of people to tell them that they were colonials?  Sorry to raise these little matters during your reverie in the sun.    

Richmond Hill fire sweeps unfinished homes

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Houses under construction have gone up in flames in the Elgin Mills Road and Yonge Street area of Richmond Hill. This afternoon’s fire pretty much destroyed three homes, damaged one and gave nearby occupants of other homes a serious scare. Inset is a picture taken by a local resident identified on Twitter as BianaLianca.   The fire started around 4 p.m. in an unfinished house on Canyon Hill Avenue and quickly spread to the other neighbouring homes. Firefighters were able to get control over the fire but not before it caused significant damage to the structures, leaving little more than the frames of the homes. Large black plumes of smoke could be seen throughout Richmond Hill. Police say there have been no reports of injuries. The roads near Gracedale Drive and Canyon Hill Avenue have been closed as crews work to extinguish the blaze.  No doubt the arson squad will be sniffing around the neighborhood following these fires. 

Helen Godfrey spearheads tree care this year

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Helen Godfrey writes to alert everyone to the third annual Bayview Buckets program. It’s all about seeing the trees on the Ward 22 side of South Bayview get watered and cared for. It’s easy work for those who want to try and Helen says the response continues to be good. Shops and businesses along the street are encouraged to adopt a tree and if you don’t have a watering pail (bucket) Helen will get you one. Some trees didn’t survive the winter and Helen hopes the busy guys at Urban Forestry might find the time to replace them. Thanks to you  Helen for showing the type of  interest in your neighborhood we would like to see in everyone. LEAF stands for Local Appreciation and Enhancement of Forests. 

Kimberley Moffit at SLMG this morning

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Relationship expert Kimberley Moffit was speaking to the South Leaside Monday Group this morning (May 26, 2014) Kimberley makes regular appearances on Canada AM, Breakfast Television and The National. Her topic was “ways to keep our relationships strong despite the demands of kids.”  Okay. 

Blue Jays sweep Athletics to lead the AL East

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The high-riding A’s are taken down by the Blue Jay three straight.  Globe and Mail.

Not happening now but definitely in Leaside

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Bill Stevenson (@billstevenson57) is busy this morning alerting Leaside to the rather rough landing of this aircraft at the Leaside Airport. Oh wait, that was maybe 100 years ago. Never mind, it’s a great picture that Mr. Stevenson thought we might like. Folks on Aerodrome Crescent probably know the history of their neighborhood but this is an enjoyable reminder. As someone says: “Flight 13 now loading from the top of the barn.” Thanks all. Lesaide. The picture is from a FaceBook page called Vintage Toronto and it has a lot of pictures worth checking. Vintage Toronto 

Bike to Work Day attracts many cyclists

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Bike to work day is the thrill of the week so far in the media and this Twitter search (Bike to Work Toronto) has some advice that goes both ways. Like, “Share the road” and “Be considerate of others.” Yep. It goes both ways. Ride in hood health.    

Fire at former Carman’s Steak on Alexander St.

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Rescued raccoon

A fire this evening has damaged the now vacant Alexander St. premises which for close to 50 years housed the Carman’s Steak House. One tweet called it a serious and dangerous fire but no one appears to have been hurt. Arthur Carman ran a steak house at this address, 26 Alexander, beginning in the 60s closing out his long tour as the genial host of grand evenings only in 2009. It is said that Carman’s was the restaurant that introduced Toronto to garlic bread. It’s a bit of Toronto trivia that seems as odd now as the Sunday closure of the TTC in the 30s. In Carman’s heyday the neighborhood was peopled day and night by television celebrities and imported performers related to CBC production just down the street. In the course of clambering all over the stucco home of Carman’s restaurant police and firefighters came across a baby raccoon and rescued it. We must assume that this darling creature is going back into the wild  and will not become a 53 Division mascot. Picture: Twitter 

Roxy natives recoil at (eew!) Yorkville label

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Hey, it’s a big city and it doesn’t necessarily make a difference in getting things right when the name of your magazine is Toronto Life. And so it seems the venerable and sometimes pesky profiler of prominent persons has placed the proposed new location for the 119 Isabella St. “coach house” in Yorkville. Many homeowners even on the west side of Yonge would like to claim a Rosedale connection. But common sense and old maps say they are in Summerhill. Ah Summerhill, that upscale escape for wealthy families in hot weather from the disease-ridden downtown of the 19th Century. Yorkville was originally defined as south of Davenport but it appears to have crept somewhat north to Castle Frank Creek, which once coursed along Pears Ave. in Ramsden Park. The story so far is that Hiscox Holding Group wants to move the building to a small and yet-to-be severed lot on Molson Street behind 92 Roxborough St. W. It’s fairly well established that the building is not a coach house but a home used by servants of the family across the street. 

Large fog bank engulfs Great Lakes fishermen

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Two Michigan men were stunned to see an enormous bank of fog rolling in on them last Wednesday as they did a little fishing just off shore in Lake Michigan. After about an hour on the water, Andrew Ballard, along with his father Spencer, noticed what they thought were clouds moving in to the area. “We couldn’t see anything and the wind was crazy — it wasn’t like anything I’ve seen before,” Ballard, 25, told local media. Andrew was able to film the fog as it moved towards them over the water. Meteorologists say the formation, also known as advection fog, is common in the Great Lakes at this time of year when the water is still cold. Fortunately the men were close to shore and found their way off the water without delay.