A lottery win to touch the heart of all Canada

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Liam and Tina Ferrone

An Ottawa area woman, Tina Ferrone, has won the $48 million Lotto Max prize. It is a lottery outcome which will touch the heart of the country.  Ms Ferrone’s husband was stricken with cancer in January of 2012 and is out of work. It has been “a long hard road” since then, says Liam Ferrone. He has undergone chemotherapy and stem cell treatment during the succeeding two years. Liam is now said to be in remission. Even with a catastrophic disease like cancer, a $48 million dollar windfall will change the lives of the Kanata, Ontario couple in a way they could never imagine. Liam will repay debt incurred because of his illness. Tina says she wants to start a yoga studio. It’s a lifelong passion. Then they will travel and Liam will buy a truck. Tina bought the  ticket “on a whim” last Friday while picking up groceries. She had never played Lotto Max before, and when she checked her ticket Saturday at a Shopper’s Drug Mart she was shocked. “I thought it was $48,000 at first, I couldn’t process what was happening,” she said while picking up her prize in Toronto today (Tuesday, April 1, 2014).  

Liberals talk up LCBO kiosks in big grocers

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We don’t know how many or where or who will get them but the Ontario Government is saying it is moving ahead with a scheme to put LCBO kiosks in some big grocery stores. How it works out for those who don’t get a kiosk is open to question. Maybe they will lose business. Hmmm. Charter of Rights appeal anyone? CBC

Shrinking Indigo as flagship Chapters closes

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Indigo has announced that it is closing its flagship  Chapters store at Richmond and John Sts. The announcement comes a day after the closing of the company’s World’s Biggest Bookstore. The Chapters will lock the doors on May 30, 2014. It is an all too understandable move as the digital era continues to pummel books and music retailers around the globe. The location is the home of a Cineplex complex bearing the name of Scotiabank. 

Boy, 13, mugged, tablet stolen in Thorncliffe

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A 13 year old boy reports that on March 28, 2014 at approximately 7.30 p.m. he was in the area of Thorncliffe Park Drive and Overlea Boulevard when he was approached by three youths. They surrounded the victim and demanded for his tablet. The victim complied. The suspects then fled the scene in an unknown direction. No injuries were sustained by the victim.

Semi at 369 Belsize Drive sold for $807,000

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After just seven days on the market, a single bathroom, three bedroom semi at 369 Belsize Dr. has sold for $807,000. The asking price was $769,000 with a previous selling price of $514,000 in 2010. It is about 900 sq. ft. in size on a  24 by 125-ft. lot. It has no garage on a mutual drive with one parking space.

Billion dollar “BLT” a Queen’s Park stomach ache

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The Progressive Conservatives at Queen’s Park say they have obtained a confidential 11-page document that describes how the Liberals are going to dazzle the public over the coming month with billions of dollars in proposed spending. According to the PCs, those involved in the budget rollout tease are known as the BLT — Budget Leaking Team. In the Legislature, the Premier deflected questions from PC leader Hudak about this information.  Toronto Star

No marijuana for casual users says clinic doctor

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Dr. Danial Schecter of the soon-to-be-open-for business Cannabinoid Medical Clinic at Yonge and Eglinton is sounding pretty tough on just who will get access to his services. The clinic is set to open Wednesday, July 2, 2014 at a local address as yet unpublished. In an article posted in Leaf Science magazine Dr. Schecter says his clinic won’t be handing out prescriptions to just anyone. “We won’t be seeing the 18- or 25-year-old who walks in and says, ‘Hey Doc, I’ve got a really bad back, and I think cannabis helps me. Can I have a prescription?’” says Dr. Schecter. “I’m not seeing those guys. I’m seeing the patients who have a true medical diagnosis.” Smart. 

Dr. Daniel Schecter

Earlier post:  A medical cannabis clinic will be opened at Yonge St. and Eglinton Ave. in  May. It will be known as the Cannabinoid Medical Clinic. The owner and  operator will be Dr. Danial Schecter, a Georgian Bay area family physician whose online record of experience lists a residency at Mount Sinai Hospital. Dr. Schecter is the owner of the Georgian Bay House Calls practice and is shown as a hospitalist at Royal Victoria Hospital in Barrie. The medical marijuana clinic is thought of by some physicians as “medicine by the court system.” Dr. Louis Hugo Francescutti, president of the Canadian Medical Association (CMA), told the Toronto Star’s Isabel Teotonio that few doctors are comfortable prescribing cannabis because the medicinal benefits aren’t proven. He said the courts decided on marijuana’s therapeutic role but it hasn’t gone through the same rigorous testing that’s customary with other medications. The CMA chief said that while the opening of pot clinics was bound to happen,  he believes there will be consequences.  Dr Francescutti told reporter Teotonio: “There’s going to be more than one physician who’s going to get disciplined over this.”   For his part, Dr. Schecter is expecting a successful practice. Under new medical marijuana regulations, which take full effect April 1, medical marijuana patients must be prescribed cannabis by a doctor or nurse practitioner, and buy their maryjane from a licensed commercial grower. 

The refined and just-fine rubbish of Moore Ave.

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We are not saying Moore Ave is rubbish. Not any part of it, especially not the elegant approach to Bennington Heights and Moore Park. Moore Ave. is fine and so is its garbage now that workmen have installed some of those flossy Astral litter bins beside the TTC stops. Here we see two stalwart guys hefting the bin into place at the Orchard Green stop. Let’s hope the funny foot-pedal doesn’t snap off next winter. Along the bottom of the image some examples we noticed at this location of things which from now on will, we trust, go into the bin. The sophisticated taste of Bennington Heights commuters ranges from the nutritional drink known as Ensure, a can of Dole “cocktail de jus”, a green-glass bottle of super refined Peroni Nastro Azzurra (we think that’s water) and the always fine-by-us Tim Horton’s coffee. Where they bought the Timmy’s to leave it here is a good question.  Astral by the way is now owned by Bell Media. 

Wynne no-show as laptop scandal boils #ONpoli

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Voters will soon have a chance to act on how they feel about the gas plant scandal, it seems  Monday’s explosive morning at the Legislature has probably taken events beyond recall. The Premier was not present to answer questions about the “hard-drive erasures” scandal by which a Liberal aide’s boyfriend was paid $154,000 to eliminate all digital evidence related to the gas plant cancellation. It took him barely two months There is a whiff of a suggestion that the man, Peter Faist, was actually on contract to the government until very recent days.  The NDP marched out of the chamber to protest Ms. Wynne’s absence. PC leader Hudak insisted that the Premier was either complicit or willfully negligent in the lap top cleansings. This is so, he insisted, because she was “de facto premier” when the plan was hatched and that the computer work actually went ahead after her swearing in. Health Minister Deb Matthews conducted a spirited defense of the premier’s absence saying she had many events to attend. Reporter did not seem to buy that.  She said the Conservatives were guilty of “dirty politics”. Names named.

Traffic circles to control “barely there” traffic

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The estimable “Fixer” at the Toronto Star has ventured into those rarified parts of town where traffic circles decorate residential intersections. Residents of the Broadway Ave. area west of Bayview know them well as do those on Governor’s Road below Bennington Heights. The circle inset  is at Governor’s and Nesbitt Drive. It is fun to see drivers try to figure out what to do. Many who want to turn left just ignore the circle. A common reality at these neighborhood circles is the scarceness of traffic needed to justify cluttering up the intersection with “traffic control” suitable for highways. The Fixer, Jack Lakey, reports on the decision of residents further north to ask for stop signs so everybody is kept safe.  Jack Lakey

China calls for calm as Koreas trade barrages

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Voice of America 

Toronto Bike Share is the new Bixi Bike

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Toronto Bike Share is the new name for what”s left of the bankrupt Bixi Bike operation in this city. Toronto Bike Share will run by a U.S. firm, Alta Bicycle Share, an Oregon company which has had success operating the Bike Share concept in a number of U.S. cities. The Toronto Parking Authority will announce the changes Monday (March 21, 2014). Everything takes effect Tuesday, the same day TPA takes over as the new operator. It will a test to see if Bike share can make a go of it in Toronto’s difficult weather. A new pricing scheme is designed to encourage riders to commit for longer period.  Twenty-four-hour passes increase from $5 to $7 and 72-hour passes from $12 to $15. However monthly memberships will drop more than half from $41 to $18 and annual memberships will decrease from $97 to $90. TPA is said to be still  looking for a sponsor to help offset the costs, which might change the name again.