Toronto Police Service report: A 23 year old male reports that on October 4, 2013 at approximately 2100 hours, he was in his apartment in the area of Yonge Street and Erskine Avenue. He was in the company of a male and a female suspect whom he had just met. The male suspect produced a baseball bat and made a demand for the victim’s valuables while the female suspect obtained a knife from the kitchen area. The victim surrendered his watch and iPhone, and the two suspects fled the scene in an unknown direction. No injuries were sustained by the victim. Police are requesting the assistance of the public in identifying the following described persons in connection with this offence. Description of Suspect #1: Male, black, 25 to 30 years, 5’7” to 5’8”, 130 to 141 pounds, thin build, black hair in shoulder-length dreadlocks. Suspect #2: Female, white, 25 to 30 years, 5’11”, 119 pounds, thin build.
Failure of government weighs heavily on us all
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The full failure of the Ontario government — the government at large — is writ large in the wake of the $1 billion gas plant cancellation fiasco. The Liberal story is the same except for the staggering amount of money squandered. A billion dollars. The Premier has apologized — again — and tried to spin the gas-electric plant cancellation as bipartisan in origin. The party line follows the fretful refrain that the plants were too dangerous to be located in Mississauga and Oakville. But the Liberals know very well – as does the opposition — that the plants were properly located because that is where the power is needed. And they know that sooner or later other plants are going to have to be relatively close to hospitals and schools, just as nuclear plants are already located. To suggest otherwise is a lie that was peddled again today by Dalton McGuinty from Elliot Lake. This pretense defines the cowardice of the government — all government. Today Tim Hudak was fairly exploding with talk of jail time for the Premier and other Liberal ministers. Ms Horwath, leader of the NDP, somehow seems able to live with her conscience as she pretends that she isn’t the single obstacle to an immediate general election. It’s quite shameful and just as deceitful as anything being said by the Premier. Tonight there is a reception for delegates from countries which will attend the Pan American Games in 2016. The Conservatives have boycotted the party. Health Minister Deb Matthews is doing her best to create favorable attention with an announcement that Ontario will require all restaurants with more than 20 outlets to put the calorie count on menus. Will it get this fat, money-gulping government off our shoulders?Canada refutes spying charges by Brazil, others
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Edward Snowden and the Guardian newspaper notwithstanding, the head of Canada’s electronic eavesdropping agency has vigorously defended the way the agency operates. John Forster, head of the Communications Security Establishment Canada told an Ottawa conference that everything the agency does is reviewed by an independent commissioner. He said he and his office have full access to every record, every system and every staff member to ensure that we follow Canadian laws and respect Canadians’ privacy, CTV
Rogers wireless service is out Wednesday evening
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Rogers wireless service is out across the countty, news organizations are reporting. The outage began in Quebec and Ontario, but later in the evening the company acknowledged the problem was national. According to the website CanadianOutages.com there are thousands of complaints pouring in about Rogers’ lack of service. Toronto Sun Canadian Outages
Bayview area councillors favour LRT over subway
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City Council voted to re-confirm support for a full-fledged, federal-moneyed, heavy-duty subway to Scarborough yesterday (Tuesday, October 8, 2013) but there was very little support for that concept from South Bayview-area councillors. The split was 24 in favour of the subway, 20 opposed with no abstentions or absentees, and we may be sure the “no” votes preferred the LRT concept. The project in question is the extension of the Danforth line to Sheppard Avenue, not the current Eglinton Crosstown LRT already under construction. The yays and nays are below. From nearby wards, only TTC Chair Karen Stintz (Ward 16) was in favour of the subway. Those South Bayview area members opposed were Mary Fragedakis (Ward 29) Josh Matlow (Ward 22) John Parker (Ward 26) Jaye Robinson (Ward 25) and Kristyn Wong-Tam (Ward 27). It is a question of at least two parts. The public support for subways often rises in the desire to clear the roads of buses (and streetcars). Once the transit service is buried in a tunnel, a lot of people find they don’t care whether it’s a subway or LRT. Since the LRT is cheaper, it’s easy to see how that option gathers support. Still, the subway proponents, citing perhaps durability and load capacity, prevailed at the yesterday’s vote.
Yes: 24 Ana Bailão, Michelle Berardinetti, Raymond Cho, Josh Colle, Gary Crawford, Vincent Crisanti, Glenn De Baeremaeker, Mike Del Grande, Frank Di Giorgio, Doug Ford, Rob Ford, Mark Grimes, Norman Kelly, Chin Lee, Giorgio Mammoliti, Peter Milczyn, Ron Moeser, Frances Nunziata (Chair), Cesar Palacio, James Pasternak, Anthony Perruzza, David Shiner, Karen Stintz, Michael Thompson
No: 20 Paul Ainslie, Maria Augimeri, Shelley Carroll, Janet Davis, Sarah Doucette, John Filion, Paula Fletcher, Mary Fragedakis, Mike Layton, Gloria Lindsay Luby, Josh Matlow, Pam McConnell, Mary-Margaret McMahon, Joe Mihevc, Denzil Minnan-Wong, John Parker, Gord Perks, Jaye Robinson, Adam Vaughan, Kristyn Wong-Tam
Green, green fields of Eglinton Avenue, year 2022
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A planning sketch from the City of Toronto showing Eglinton Ave. in the year 2022 or beyond may well make you shake your head and mutter, “Yeah sure.” Or maybe, “How lovely.” Now don’t get your bike chains in a knot, but this concept will put an effective end to stores on the street. Dream all you like about parking lots. Does that matter? Previous post
Teachers struck by car at Avenue-Glengrove
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The accident at Avenue Rd. to Glengrove Ave. resulted in serious injuries to two teachers at Allenby Junior Public School at the beginning of the evening rush hour. The two were struck by a southbound vehicle which then collided with a northbound pickup truck. The teachers are 66-years-old and 46-years-old. They remain in hospital. A school social worker will be at the school today (Wednesday, October 9, 2013) to help students, parents and school cope with the news. The woman driver of the vehicle was also sent to hospital. There is no information as to charges if any. Previous post
Two women hit crossing Avenue at Glegrove
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West-central traffic was badly snarled during rush hour following an accident on Avenue Rd. and Glengrove Ave. about 4.30 Tuesday. Two women pedestrians were taken to hospital with one said to have life-threatening injuries after being struck by a vehicle. From the picture here, courtesy of a South Bayview Bulldog reader, it appears the car which hit the pedestrians was headed south. It collided with the blue truck and the driver of that vehicle can been seen in the foreground talking to his family about the situation. He was unable to leave before the investigation was over. Yellow tape was strung extensively at intersections north and south. We can report that there was an apparently lengthy exchange between a police officer and a nearby resident of Glengrove about her decision to proceed to her nearby driveway despite, it appears, the presence of police. As is frequently the case when law-abiding motorists do not follow the strictest direction, the discussion was about “running down the officer.” The woman was seen to be near tears in her protestation that she at no time tried to run down the officer, nor did she. This is an unfortunate refrain from police in emergencies when they feel a driver has not obeyed their direction exactly. It must be clear to the police command that it is an unacceptable suggestion to drivers who clearly had no such intent.
Trouble, trouble for Mike Duffy, Mayor Ford
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Accusation and innuendo are just everywhere for Senator Mike and Mayor Rob. First the senator’s latest problems because they are newer and maybe a little easier to take in. The CBC says that RCMP Cpl. Greg Horton believes Duffy “hired a friend as a consultant over an approximate four year period, and paid him a total of approximately $65,000 during that time, for little or no apparent work.” Horton said in the affidavit that the friend, Gerald Donohue, was interviewed by investigators “and acknowledged that he produced no tangible work product for Duffy.” Donohue, a former technician who worked for CTV and CBC, told investigators that he did Internet research and provided verbal advice to Duffy, Horton wrote. We’ll have to wait to see where this one goes. As to Mayor Ford, the Toronto Star (of course) says that Mr.Ford’s friend Sandro Lisi attempted last March to swap drugs for a stolen cellular phone believed to belong to Mayor Rob Ford. That investigation, the Star reports, brought about the multiple arrests of June 13. You will have to draw your own conclusions about what this might mean for the future of the mayor, if anything. Can a phone be a smoking gun? And how do you smoke a phone? Trouble, trouble.
Agile seal performs nimble balance to foil shark
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Astonishing pictures taken by photographer David ‘Baz’ Jenkins as a lucky seal is able to balance itself on the nose of a hungry White shark and then slide off to at least temporary safety. The escape was recorded by Jenkins during a shark tour off the coast of Cape Town
Daylight game for East York vs Leaside High
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The annual Autumn tilt between East York Collegiate and Leaside High School will take place this Thursday, Oct. 10. This year it will be played in daylight. East York Mirror
Elgie House, 262 Bessborough, to be heritage site
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Courtesy of Anthony Regan
John Parker (Ward 26) has sent a general e-mail reporting on the status of the Thomas G. Elgie House, 262 Bessborough Drive. He says that the Toronto Preservation Board last week voted to recommend that City Council state its intention to designate the property a heritage site. He recalls that the large property is located on the heights south of Talbot Park overlooking Leaside High School. Mr. Parker notes that the most recent residents were Mary and Sven Linholm, who are said to be well remembered and fondly so by Leaside residents. The proposed designation identifies specific “heritage attributes” in accordance with the legislation. These include “the building known historically as the Thomas G. Elgie House”, “the original centre section of the two-storey house form building with its scale, form and massing,” the “original red brick cladding and trim on the exposed elevations of the original main body of the house,” “the gable roof and trim, brick chimney and original fenestration” on the east facade (facing Bessborough)” and “the original window opening” on the west wall. Mr. Parker’s mail is lengthy and will be of interest to those who know the property. It may be read in full on this page.