Beleaguered railway chief meets media, residents

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The beleaguered president of Maritime, Maine and Atlantic Rail was cornered by media and residents on the street in Lac-Megantic  The above clip gives an idea of where the little railway is standing as the issue of just who dealt with the train’s brakes and what those persons did. As seen in the video, the police have to shepherd Burkhardt out of the scrum. MMA was formed a decade ago to salvage the assets of local companies which were facing bankruptcy. It can only be imagined what will happen to MMA in the oncoming lawsuits that are sure to start flying very soon.

Lawyer abandons Ferrari to make court date

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One of the most commented on tweet-pictures out of Monday’s storm is the shot of lawyer Howard A. Levitt’s $192,000 Ferrari sitting above the axles in water under the Simcoe Street underpass. People found it titillating and downright unbelievable but Mr. Levitt did get it right. If the rule of successful people is that they put first things first, Mr. Levitt figured it out. He decided that his obligation to appear in court at an important hearing in Ottawa trumped his fancy car. A lawyer telling a judge he missed court because his car got stuck in water is like a kid telling a teacher that the dog ate his homework.   Mr. Levitt left the Ferrari and took a cab to the Island Airport crossing. Fun details at Wheels.ca 

Two attendants ejected from Asiana flight survive

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Two flight attendants survived being thrown onto the runway in the San Francisco plane crash, it has emerged. The crew members were ‘ejected’ as doomed Asiana Airlines flight 214 slammed into a sea wall and lost its tail. Deborah Hersman, who chairs the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), said: “Two of the flight attendants in the rear of the aircraft were ejected during the impact sequence, so they were not at their stations when the aircraft came to rest. “They were found further down and off to the side of the runway. They survived but they’ve obviously been through a serious event and have some injuries.” She also revealed that the South Korean airline’s plane crashed when it came in too low and slow for landing. Mirror U-K 

Are these the faces of the new federal Cabinet?

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With the Conservatives saying every day that a new, younger and somehow more friendly cabinet is on the way, focus has fallen on three western MPs all of whom have acquitted themselves in support roles. Candice Bergen (left) is the 48-year-old member for Portage-Lisgar. and serves as parliamentary secretary to the minister of public safety. In the middle above is Michelle Rempel the 33-year-old MP for Calgary Centre-North. She has served as parliamentary secretary to the minister of the environment. Her work has apparently been good but she may be young to assume a ministerial job. On  the right is Shelly A. Glover, 46, the member for Saint Boniface in Manitoba. She has worked as parliamentary secretary to the minister of finance and is  the first policewoman MP in Canadian history. She served as a member of the Winnipeg Police Service for almost 19 years prior to her election. With the retirement of ministers and remarks by others that they may be returning to the  backbench there is speculation that at least one or two of these women may be appointed to the cabinet. 

Rosedale Valley Road closed Tuesday morning

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Tree clearance work has closed Rosedale Valley Road and seems likely to block the route for most of the day.  At 8 a.m. the City announced that the Bayview Extension is closed, as is Rosedale Valley Road from Bayview to Park Road, and the underpass at King and Atlantic streets. There continue to be some limited impacts and closures to some local roads throughout the city.

Power to be restored by mid-day Hydro expects

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Release — Toronto Hydro-Electric System Limited emergency crews and customer care staff have been working through the night to restore power following heavy flooding across Toronto. At the height of the event, approximately 300,000 customers were without power. The main issue related to a lack of supply from Hydro One stations in Toronto due to flooding. All but 35,000 customers, mainly in the west end were restored by 3 a.m. The remaining 35,000 customers within the boundaries of Highway 401, Hwy 427, Lakeshore Blvd and Jane Street extending over towards the Humber River should expect to be restored by mid-day.

Lower Bayview rescue of stranded GO commuters

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Lower Bayview Ave was the scene tonight of a remarkable rescue operation in which 1,400 GO commuters were being taken safely off a train that was at least a third submerged in flood water. Some said water was knee deep on the first level of the cars. The train left Union Station headed for Newmarket about 5.30. It was the pinnacle of the afternoon downpour that has caused grief all across the city. The train operators apparently thought they could traverse the right of way along the Don River but swiftly rising water stalled the train. It took about three hours to pull together the large body of police and emergency workers. A system of dinghies and guide lines was devised to slowly move passengers from the train to a knee-deep landing on the fringe of Bayview Ave. where they boarded buses. Many passengers were bitter and angry nonetheless as some GO riders remained on the train at the clock neared 11 p.m. Conditions on the train were hot, humid and  dark. Despite the unhappiness, it is clear that the authorities were working to remove the most vulnerable cases first. One couple with a son who had asthma was among the first removed. As the clock neared 11.30 police said there might be as many 500 passengers on the train. The scene of the rescue will be well-known to anyone who has found his way home off the Don Valley Parkway by way of the Bayview exit ramp. The familiar Yield sign at the bottom of this ramp was shown all evening on TV. The rescue was said to have been complete by about 1 a.m. 

Blindside leaves 300,000 residents in dark

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The powerful thunderstorms that blindsided Toronto this afternoon have left more than 300,000 people without power, Toronto Hydro says. The utility’s well-known map showing the location of outages and the numbers of residents effected can’t be kept up to date and has been taken offline. The power failure has also brought subways to a halt and there seems little idea when they might be operational again.  Globe and Mail