City to sell Island Ferry tickets online

The City of Toronto is rushing into the 21st Century! As early as January you might be able to buy tickets for the Toronto Island ferry online, The Star reports. The Toronto islands are a welcome respite from the city but many people are put off by the long lines for tickets during the summer months. The Star says that the city plans to hire a company to build a dedicated website that would sell tickets online, allowing passengers to go straight through the pre-purchase line. The contract is valued at $588,908.

Paypal genius launches “Hyperloop” transport

Good morning. One should never underestimate the ingenuity of the race, so we won’t. In this case, a Silicon Valley billionaire named Elon Musk has presented the world with the Hyperloop. It is a  pneumatic travel route faster than the speed of sound.  Its backer is a  wunderkind with a proven track record of turning science fiction into reality. Mr. Musk’s CV is impressive, to say the least. He made his initial fortune from PayPal, the online secure payment system, before going on to launch spaceships. Last year his SpaceX venture became the first private operation to dock a cargo capsule with the International Space Station. Hyperlooping. Better than streetcars or subways. (Just kidding). 

Mark Carney leaves cares in office to enjoy a music festival

Canada’s best-known and most exclusive export to the United Kingdom is a guy named Mark Carney. He is now the boss of the Bank of England. The British holidays are on so Mr. Carney and his family headed for a music festival in Oxfordshire. He chatted with his wife Diana and appeared to do some light exercise. As the Mailonline said with hopeful signs on the economy and the best summer weather for years, Mr. Carney could perhaps be forgiven for making the most of his time off. He was at the Wilderness festival in the 1,700-acre grounds of the Cornbury Park estate near Bicester.

Q Living now open at 1622 South Bayview

Q-Living has opened at 1622 Bayview Ave. and the Korean family business appears to be a dynamic operation. The owner, Eddie, is there to greet you personally with his upbeat staff. They seem knowledgeable. Q-Living is a closely ordered treasure of some 16,000 items ranging from vitamins, frozen food and even a little fresh produce.  On Sunday the store seemed busy with many customers, and potential customers, full of questions. It appears the Q-Living name is employed by other vendors but Eddie has one more store on Eglinton Ave. West west of Bathurst Street. 

Handbags, headdresses and the perils of retail

Oprah Winfrey is probably right when she suspects there was some racism behind the charade about pricing in that Geneva handbag shop. The clerk kept telling the fabulously wealthy Winfrey that she couldn’t afford the items on display. What many North Americans don’t know is just how far bigotry seeps into the everyday business affairs of many Europeans. Born into affluent culturally-unified  communities, a lot of high-brow Swiss, German, French and others are quite openly prejudiced, especially against non-whites. As to the intense sensitivity of Kim Wheeler, an Ojibway-Mohawk lady from Winnipeg, over the toy headdress piece in an H&M, it seems overdone. Of course Ms. Wheeler is entitled to dislike what she saw and to complain if she must.  But her overweening notion that headdresses are not be worn in nightclubs is over the top. People wear the Queen’s tiara in nightclubs. They wear the Pope’s ring.  It may give offense to some but our freedoms trump hurt feelings. 

Help solve the mystery of Kasandra’s death

Kasandra Bolduc

Toronto Police Service is asking for the public’s help to solve the mystery of the death of an Elliot Lake woman, Kasandra Bolduc 22. Her body was found in Lake Ontario on March 22, 2013 wrapped in a garbage bag. Now police say that after months of checking with other police departments across Ontario the investigative leads into what happened to Ms. Bolduc have been exhausted. They are appealing to anyone with knowledge of the young woman to contact Detective Constable Amy McGuire at 416-808-1405 or Detective Greg Forestall at 4160-808-1405. The public may also call  Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477) or go  online at www.222tips.com. Text:  TOR and your message to CRIMES (274637), or Leave A Tip on Facebook. Writer Jennifer Pagliaro has a fine account of this small town woman who found her way to the  big city and death