Toronto Police Service report: A 32 year old female reports that on October 9, 2013 at approximately 2254 hours she was in the area of Erskine Avenue and Broadway Avenue when she was approached from behind by a male suspect. The suspect pushed the victim violently so that she fell to the ground and struck her head. The suspect made a demand for money and the victim surrendered her purse. The suspect went through the purse and then fled the scene in an unknown direction. The victim sustained minor injuries and was transported to a hospital by Toronto EMS. Police are requesting the assistance of the public in identifying the following described person in connection with this offence. Description of Suspect: Male.
Watch out for man who’s a “furnace inspector”
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The Toronto Police Service is warning of a man who has knocked on the door of a home and announced that he was there to inspect the furnace. This happened Wednesday in the Sheppard and Keele area. He asked several questions the householder found unusual and he asked to come into her home. She did not allow him in and the man walked away He is described as white, 5’6″-5’8″, with a medium build and short black hair. He was wearing a dark-blue jacket with white writing on the sleeve, which was described as similar to a service uniform jacket.
Bright new science teacher gets a hitch at NSS
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The bright young teacher Jason Trinh, over at Northern Secondary School, is an example to his profession. The way he had to get his current job is not. That’s because Jason (inset top) has had to wiggle past an oddly framed regulation to catch a full-time job at the venerable Mount Pleasant Rd. hall of learning. Regulation 274 was designed to prevent nepotism by principals and others in a position to hire. The story has been followed by the estimable Louise Brown, veteran education writer at the Toronto Star. No. 274 requires new hires to come from among the five candidates with the most seniority. It isn’t clear to most people how this straitjacket is supposed to maintain or enhance teaching standards. It might prevent nepotism but it can’t be the best way to do that. In fact, it might not prevent nepotism. In any case, the exemplary Trinh — named New Teacher of the Year in 2012 — just happened to be at Northern on a temporary assignment when that school’s well-liked principal Ron Felsen (inset centre) needed a quick fix for an unexpected vacancy in the science department. Regulation 274 permits principals to hire at their discretion if they have less than ten days to find a replacement. Felsen grabbed Trinh for the three sciences courses that needed a teacher. Back at the Legislature, MPP Lisa MacLeod (inset lower) has tried to get the regulation changed to merely prohibit favoritism and nepotism. The NDP and Liberals defeated the motion and the Education Minister, Liz Sanders, has asked two experts to study the regulation and report back. Louise Brown (subscription may be required)12 sent to hospital as car crosses centre line
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Twelve people, including three children, have been injured in a head-on collision in King Township Thursday evening. Police say that a vehicle travelling east on King Road, west of Bathurst Street, crossed the centre line and collided with a westbound pickup truck at around 6:30 p.m. CP24
Peter Leon wins voting for Toronto Ward 3
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| Peter Leon |
Former Etobicoke Hydro Chair Peter Leon has been appointed by City Council to serve as the member for Etobicoke Ward 3 until the next election in November 2014. Mr Leon will not run in the election by the terms of his appointment. He emerged from among the 30 persons who had put forward their names after an endorsement from Doug Holiday, the former member from that ward and now MPP for the area. It was an exciting contest as Council ran three votes for this position, with Mr. Leon, 71, tied with former MPP Chris Stockwell on the first vote. Mr. Stockwell had been the favorite heading into balloting with the support of the Etobicoke York Community Council. It nominated him for the position last week. But Holyday wrote a letter urging his former colleagues to ignore the local body and choose Leon. “I would like to point out that ever since this process began, my calls from my former constituents strongly support the appointment of Peter Leon as opposed to that of any former office holder. Obviously, I agree with them. Hopefully, you will give every consideration to what appears to me to be the wishes of Ward 3 residents,” Holyday wrote. Leon needed 23 votes to win. On the third round of voting, he got 26 to Stockwell’s 16. Councillors make just under $105,000. Leon is a self-described fiscal conservative. The vote split among Bayview area councillors is as follows: For Peter Leon: Karen Stintz (Ward 16) Josh Matlow (ward 22) Jay Robinson (Ward 25) and Kristyn Tam-Wong (Ward 27). John Parker (Ward 26) voted for Mr. Stockwell.
For Peter Leon: Councillor Paul Ainslie Councillor Maria Augimeri Councillor Ana Bailão Councillor Michelle Berardinetti Councillor Shelley Carroll Councillor Raymond Cho Councillor Josh Colle Councillor Janet Davis Councillor Mike Del Grande Councilllor Sarah Doucette Councillor John Filion Councillor Paula Fletcher Councillor Mary Fragedakis Councillor Mike Layton Councillor Chin Lee Councillor Josh Matlow Councillor Pam McConnell Councillor Mary-Margaret McMahon Councillor Joe Mihevc Councillor Peter Milczyn Councillor Cesar Palacio Councillor James Pasternak Councillor Jaye Robinson Councillor Karen Stintz Councillor Adam Vaughan Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam.
For Chris Stockwell: Mayor Rob Ford Councillor Gary Crawford Councillor Vincent Crisanti Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker Councillor Frank Di Giorgio Councillor Doug Ford Councillor Mark Grimes Deputy Mayor Norman Kelly Councillor Gloria Lindsay Luby Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong Councillor Ron Moeser Councillor John Parker Councillor Anthony Perruzza Councillor David Shiner Councillor Michael Thompson
List of candidates: Dennis Ewaniuk, Valrie Cushing,, Chaitanya Kalevar, Vincent Conforzi, Brian Dillon, Aziza Mohammed, Mario Giansante, Nickolaos Fragos, Stephen Thiele, Chris Stockwell, Princess Boucher Daniel Trayes, Tony Vella, Marek Zarkowski, Bruce Sinclair, Robert Scott, Nancy Green, Peter Leon, John Nunziata, Naidu Pandurangan, Lake Pong, Jack Huynh, Roland Ollivier,William Star, Gary Walsh, Rosemarie Mulhall, Paul Agapito, Peter Surjanac, Danish Ahmed , Ross Vaughan.
What are they building in Thorncliffe Park?
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You may feel stumped at trying to guess the purpose of this large structure next to the Target store at Thorncliffe Park Ave. and Overlea Blvd. It is a seldom seen roof-top garage to hold dozens of vehicles at the new Thorncliffe Park Kindergarten. The new school is officially known as the Fraser Mustard Learning Academy, as we reported a few weeks ago. Upper right is the daunting in and out ramp. Below is a side shot as seen from the Target parking lot. For such a large structure it has joy in the walls. Numbers in the side of the long wall indicate the courses ( or layers) of bricks under the number. It will be source of learning to kids for as long as it stands. The Mustard Centre is already open, home to some 700 kindergarten children from all over. Previous postNorthlea United Fall Market Saturday, October 26
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The Northlea United Church Fall Market will take place Saturday, October 26 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. There will be artiswts, artisans and craft folk and a kids table too. The church is located at 125 Brentcliffe Road.
Rogers outage a reminder of digital frailties
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Rogers Communications has its service back on line after a six-hour or so outage Thursday evening. The company has said it will “proactively credit” all of its postpaid customers one day of service for the failure, something that was much on the mind of every Rogers customer last night. The company has not explained what happened. At the height of the outage cell phone users were being advised by straight-faced news anchors to “use a land line instead.” To which the stranded wireless victims might have muttered: “Easy for you to say.” The most common analysis of the wireless phenomenon in recent years is always that customers are cancelling their land lines at a frenetic rate. And that would be fine if the rather over-confident brave new world of wireless was as reliable as its providers advertise. The state of the digital revolution, it appears, is still somewhat fragile. Many will recall the failures that coincided with the downward spiral of the BlackBerry empire.
“New LCBO” just a move across the parking lot
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It was quite exciting to see the headline in the online publication Yonge Street: “Leaside to get new LCBO store at Laird and Eglinton.” Sadly the excited story about 10,000 square feet of new space is just a bit a bit incomplete. The “new” store is a replacement for the LCBO on the opposite side of the SmartCentre. Too bad about that. Leaside would surely love to have another LCBO, or two. Purely for medicinal purposes.
Alice Munro wins Nobel Prize for Literature
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Victoria’s Alice Munro has greeted the honour of her Nobel Prize for Literature with grace, saying she never ever thought she might win. The 82-year-old “maser of the short story” is the 110th Nobel laureate in literature and only the 13th woman to receive the distinction. BBC
Malala takes fight for education to night-time talk
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Malala Yousafzai interview from Jon Stewart program Tuesday. Very moving.
Erskine Ave. man finds new friends not friendly
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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.