SmartCentre Smiler pulls clean escape in Leaside

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Happy, happy,, happy
The “Exit Camera” picture of this happy heist artist shows him leaving Winners in the SmartCentre at Laird Drive and Wicksted Áve. It happened on Friday, March 14, 2014, at approximately 8 p.m., as the man walked into the store and began picking up a number of items. It seems he has a cart with him as he exits. Why not? If you’re not going to pay, take whatever moves. It is a remarkably good picture and one wonders what the SmartCentre Smiler must think of his chances to pull this off. Even if he isn’t from Leaside, it seems like an easy cop for the police.  He is described as being white, aged 30 to 40 years. blonde medium-length hair, clean shaven, wearing a dark jacket, grey striped scarf, dark pants, brown shoes, and carrying numerous bags. Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-3300, 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. For more news, visit TPSnews.ca.

Executive Committee votes to turn down pay raise

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Members of the City’s executive committee rejected a staff proposal Wednesday to give councillors a 13-per-cent salary hike. Instead they voted to maintain their salaries at their current levels with an adjustment for inflation. That leave councillors salaries at about $105,000. All members present voted to accept the inflation adjustment only. They are Gary Crawford, Vincent Crisanti, Frank Di Giorgio, Rob Ford, Norman Kelly (Chair), Peter Leon, Giorgio Mammoliti, Denzil Minnan-Wong, Cesar Palacio, Anthony Perruzza, David Shiner, Michael Thompson Peter. Councillor Peter Milczyn was absent. 

Signs will show travel times to Toronto drivers

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The City has announced that overhead electronic signs will display travel-time messages for Toronto motorists during pilot project. Real-time travel information will be shown on the City’s variable-message signs similar to the type of display shown inset from the U.S. Signs located on the Gardiner Expressway, the Don Valley Parkway and Lake Shore Boulevard will display the travel time to various points along these key roadways. On some signs, travel times for both the Gardiner Expressway and Lake Shore Boulevard will be posted, providing motorists with information needed to make choices about which roads to travel on to get to their destination. Eleven signs are currently in place to provide travel-time information. An additional seven electronic signs will be installed this year.

William Shakespeare is 450 years old today

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How nice if on;y we could wish him many happy returns personally, this most remarkable man who constructed our language it seems nearly all by himself. He was baptised on April 25, 1854 in Stratford-Upon-Avon but experts say that he was born on the 23rd. As was the way at that time, he lived only to the age of 52. When he was 18 he married Anne Hathaway and they had  three children. Sensing perhaps that there is a tide in the affairs of  men that, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune, Shakespeare moved his family to London and began his successful career. It seems unlikely that even  he could have understood the impact he was having on the entire English-speaking world and its many extensions in the centuries to come. From the indispensable “rant” — a staple of the late 20th and early 21st centuries — to the dazzling “bedazzled”, Shakespeare made up and made us love words and phrases like no one else. Here is an enjoyable list of 50 of them coined by this more than iconic man.

– “For goodness sake” – Henry VIII- “Neither here nor there” – Othello- “Mum’s the word” – Henry VI, Part II- “Eaten out of house and home” – Henry IV, Part II- “Rant” – Hamlet- “Knock knock! Who’s there?” – Macbeth- “All’s well that ends well” – All’s Well That Ends Well- “With bated breath” – The Merchant of Venice- “A wild goose chase” – Romeo and Juliet- “Assassination” – Macbeth- “Too much of a good thing” – As You Like It- “A heart of gold” – Henry V- “Such stuff as dreams are made on” – The Tempest- “Fashionable” – Troilus and Cressida- “What the dickens” – The Merry Wives of Windsor- “Puking” – As You Like It- “Lie low” – Much Ado About Nothing- “Dead as a doornail” – Henry VI, Part II- “Not slept one wink” – Cymbeline- “Foregone conclusion” – Othello- “The world’s mine oyster” – The Merry Wives of Windsor- “Obscene” – Love’s Labour’s Lost- “Bedazzled” – The Taming of the Shrew- “In stitches” – Twelfth Night- “Addiction” – Othello- “Naked truth” – Love’s Labour’s Lost- “Faint-hearted” – Henry VI, Part I- “Send him packing” – Henry IV- “Vanish into thin air” – Othello- “Swagger” – Henry V- “Own flesh and blood” – Hamlet- “Truth will out” – The Merchant of Venice- “Zany” – Love’s Labour’s Lost- “Give the devil his due” – Henry IV, Part I- “There’s method in my madness” – Hamlet- “Salad days” – Antony and Cleopatra- “Wear your heart on your sleeve” – Othello- “Spotless reputation” – Richard II- “Full circle” – King Lear- “There’s the rub” – Hamlet- “All of a sudden” – The Taming of the Shrew- “Come what, come may” – Macbeth

“Beer Store owners sell beer in corner stores”

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Everywhere but Ontario. Just one of  the points made by Ezra Levant as he unwinds with an entertaining and thoughtful critique of the The Beer Store’s sudden interest in the welfare of our teens.

Toronto East General to gain an 8-storey tower

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Toronto East General Hospital (TEGH) will be building an eight storey addition to the facility with work to begin in planning and design almost immediately. It was announced this week that the Ontario government will fund the planning to the tune of $19.6 million. The tower structure will contain 380,000-square-feet.  

Thorncliffe Park a good place to Live, Work, Shop

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Local naturalist and observer Rudy Limeback has been poking around the dignified entry to Thorncliffe Park at Overlea Blvd and Millwood Rd.  He took some pictures and discovered a forgotten motto for the neighborhood. Check out what he found at his site, rudy.ca 

Leaside High School’s Kevin Shier honoured

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Kevin Shier 

A Leaside resident and LHS grad has been honoured for his humanitarian work.  Kevin Shier, 20,  now plays for the Ontario Junior A Lakeshore Patriots team. Shier has been given the league’s standing award for good works for the rescue of a motorist from a crashed vehicle. It happened as Shier and his dad were on their way to Union College in Schenectady, New York where Kevin has been given a full scholarship with the school. The two men came across a burning truck that hit a bridge. They leaped out of their car and with a few others tried to release the man behind the wheel. Someone was able to cut the seat belt and Kevin and another rescuer got the man out of the truck. A few moments later, it exploded. Kevin will be well remembered by school mates as Leaside High where he captained the school’s hockey squad. Kevin Shier has participated in other commendable public service, including assisting seniors with their chores and serving meals to the homeless. Sounds like a very well deserved recognition for this son of Leaside. 

Nimue found and returned home safely

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Nimue McVannell, 12, has been found and returned home safely, police say. 

Housing CEO Jones plunged into more scandal

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The news reports are long on adjectives like “scathing” and “shocking” as the City Ombudsman, Fiona Crean, pretty much disassembles the administration of Toronto Public Housing boss Gene Jones. Too bad. He came here with what was said to be a good record from Detroit and was seen to be the man for the job. Now what for him and Toronto Housing.  Metro News

Stabbing victims remembered for laughter, love

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Calgary stabbing victims Kaiti Perras, Jordan Segura and Joshua Hunter laid to rest. Star-Phoneix

Humpback whale losing ‘threatened’ status

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The government is downgrading the protection of humpback whales off the coast of B.C. from “threatened” to “species of special concern.” It says the whales have increased in number since 2005 so the threatened status is no longer suitable. But conservationists say this is part of a plan to introduce oil tankers into these waters which might hit the whales or limit their capacity to care for their young because of noise. CBC