Kachkar found “not criminally responsible”

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A Toronto jury has found Richard Kachkar not criminally responsible for the death of Toronto Police Sgt. Ryan Russell during a rampage with a snow plow. The verdict is a statement about Kachkar’s mental state and not his responsibility for the death, which has been established by the court. The jury of six men and six women had been well instructed by the judge on its options. Sgt Russell’s widow, Christine, was is said to have been silent with her head hung during the process. Commentators say another women in the gallery uttered a contemptuous outburst at the convicted man. The court will resume shortly at which time it is expected the sentence will be delivered. 

Police warn of break-ins when owners are home

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Toronto Police covering South Bayview and Central Toronto have issued a warning to homeowners about a rash of break-in which occured when the homeowners were asleep. The purpose was to grab the keys to a car and steal it from the driveway. The brazen nature of these break-ins is a concern and is a caution to homeowners to make sure their homes are secure and, according to police, make sure car keys are not stored in an obvious place.   

China’s new first lady turns heads in Russia

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As the new Chinese president Xi Jinping made the rounds on his state visit to Russia, it seemed to be his wife, the poised and stylish Peng Liyuan who was getting most of the attention both in Russia and back home in China. Among those apparently quite charmed by China’s first lady was Vladimir Putin. The president’s wife has had a considerable career as a singer and television personality. Chinese state media, which usually ignore the wives of political leaders, praised the dress sense and hairstyle of Peng Liyuan.  It seems now however that she will try to recede into the background a bit so she doesn’t upstage the president.   

Star editor Cooke’s advice to mayor on how to be re-elected

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To hear Star Editor-in-Chief Michael Cooke tell it, his employer just wants to help Rob Ford get re-elected. “If he goes into re-hab, he’ll get re-elected,” the doughty Mr. Cooke insisted as he rebutted  Stephen LeDrew’s questions on CP24. LeDrew wondered how any of Canada’s great leaders could have gotten elected if the Toronto Star had been on their case the way the paper has dogged Mr. Ford. Cooke said the paper was just as interested in previous mayors (he mentioned David Miller) but they wouldn’t talk, Cooke noted. Mr. Ford’s problems were all out in the open, said the Star editor. Overall, the Star’s Editor-in-Chief evaded LeDrew’s curiosity about its sources. Mr. Cooke insisted that the many anonymous contributors to the front page screamer were the  Mayor’s friends. “They love this guy,” said Mr, Cooke.  He also said the Star would not be suing the mayor for calling its reporters “pathological liars” despite the mayor’s invitation. The mayor, through his brother, has said that Mr. Ford will not be suing the Star for its accusations although as we note below, the things said in the story seem highly actionable and potentially, if they cannot be proved, monetarily quite damaging.   Previous post

 

Winter clothing sale at Bayview pop up store

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There is a good-looking clearance of winter coats and related clothing in the former premises of the Country Store at 1657 Bayview Ave. north of Fleming Cres.  This sale is the inventory of The Sign of the Skier, 2794 Yonge Street, which as many may know sells ski-related goods in the fall and winter and garden furniture in the summer. Bonnie de Mertis of the The Sign recalls for us that the firm has been in business for 50 years. Markdowns begin at 50 percent, we’re told.  The pop up store is expected to last two weeks. 

Terry Fallis to speak in Leaside April 8 and 18

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Terry Fallis
Celebrated author Terry Fallis will be in Leaside next month as part of his busy speaking schedule. The Leaside High School graduate will speak on Monday, April 8, 2013 at 7.30 pm. at the Leaside Library on McRae Drive. His subject will be Keep Toronto Reading.  Then, ten days later, Mr. Fallis will meet the Leaside/East York Chapter of the University Women’s Club. That will happen Thursday, April 18, 2013, 7:30 pm at Northlea United Church, 125 Brentcliffe Rd. His presentation will be in the form of a talk and reading.  Terry Fallis’ career extends across many fields. He has worked for a number of important Liberal leaders and at present is a partner in the consulting firm of Thornley Fallis.  He is a successful writer and the author of  The Best Laid Plans, a satirical novel which was crowned the winner of CBC Canada Reads as the “essential Canadian novel of the decade.”   TBLP is in production as a CBC series.  

Ford calls reporters “liars” and invites them to sue

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Toronto Star reporters Robin Doolittle and Kevin Donovan have collaborated in a long, damning “expose” of,  they claim, the drinking problem of Mayor Ford. Most of the story is attributed to unnamed sources but at least one source, Councillor Paul Ainslie, has spoken publicly about an incident at the Garrison Ball in February where, it is said, the Mayor was asked to leave because he was apparently drunk. And although the Star story is based largely on the words of people who are not named, there are details which are very specific. The story effectively says that the mayor is a binge drinker and that he is an habitual purchaser of mickeys of  Russian Prince Vodka. The information is said to come from those who care about Mr. Ford and wish him well. They are said  in many cases to be former staff members. Such information, presented as fact, would most certainly be actionable and would require proof in court if it were not to be very damaging to the Toronto Star. Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday has said that he has never seen the mayor drink, although he says that doesn’t mean that the mayor does not drink. Today the mayor has accused the Star reporters of being “pathological liars” at a news conference at City Hall honouring boxer George Chuvalo.  The mayor dared the Star to sue him for this defamatory accusation. 

Playbills recall vital years of Bayview Playhouse

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Virginia Cooper and Theatre Museum Canada have been kind enough to let us use some of the many playbills from productions which were staged at the Bayview Playhouse at 1605 Bayview. The Theatre, which has had many incarnations now, was built in 1936 as the Bayview Cinema. As Ms Cooper has noted, the theatre’s life as a film venue ended in the 60s. It was then that the Bayview Cinema became the Bayview Playhouse and began a distinguished additional 30 years as a place of live production. Ms Cooper was present at a recent meeting of supporters of the Leaside 100 film  being produced by public-spirited Leasiders Barry H. Samuels and Anthony Regan. Anyone with vignettes or physical recollections (pictures, film) are invited to contact the producers. As to the Bayview Playhouse, it has had a pretty interesting history in recent years as well. It was renovated as a grocery store by Bruno, the well known grocer, and then a couple of years ago became the Bayview Ave Shoppers Drug Mart. Much of that history was recorded as it occurred by the The South Bayview Bulldog and may be accessed here. The composite above shows playbills from Automatic Pilot, The Royal Canadian Air Farce, Harry’s Back in Town, Brel is Back, The World Goes Round, The Desert Song, Growing Up and Tableau. 

Dutch Finance Minister sets nerves on edge

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Jeroen Dijsselbloem

Political blunders will happen. But the Dutch Finance Minister dropped a real clanger this morning when he said that the cash-grab on account holders in Cypriot banks was a “template”” for Europe. A promising day on the markets immediately turned into a horror. Well of course the minister hurriedly backtracked on that, even though the business day was well over in Europe by the time it became clear there that the minister had spooked stock markets all over the world. His name is  Jeroen Dijsselbloem incidentally and maybe his name will become a synonym for destroying public confidence in banks. The markets took no notice of his protestation that he didn’t mean it and just kept heading for the cellar. Sigh.

Er Shun and Da Mao arrive safely in Toronto

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Er Shun and Da Mao are here. The two Giant Pandas arrived in Toronto from the world’s Panda Capital, Chengdu, China, at 10.46 this morning  There was a fitting ceremony with speeches by Prime Minister Harper and the Chinese ambassador to Canada to mark the much anticipated visit. The panda pair, who have never really lived together, will spend five years at the Toronto Zoo and five years in the Calgary Zoo. It is hoped they will produce one or more cubs. They have been kept apart and therefore there are no pictures of them together. The shots above show the arrival of the FedEx Panda Express this morning and a flashback shot to China last year as Laureen Harper tries to keep control of a wiggly panda cub. Across the city, there was predictable excitement. “Feeling like a kid again with the arrival of the pandas,” one person tweeted. “I was 25 when our last set came to Toronto. Happy days are here again.”  As part of the show upon arrival, Mr. Harper was required to sign (electronically)  for “proof of delivery” just as he would have done for any other shipment. Customs officers came out to the tarmac to process them. The pandas will  now spend about a month getting used to Canada — and to each other — before they meet the public at Toronto Zoo. Er Shun is the female. Her name apparently means “Smooth” which may be better rendered in English as “Smoothie.”  She and Da Mao are said to be young (6 and 5 respectively) and highly suitable for parenthood. The mating cycle is brief however and may have passed for this season. Thus it may be next year if there is to be a pregnancy. 

Chengdu pandas in the air en route to Toronto

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The much-awaited visit to Canada of two giant Pandas from China will begin with the official welcome Monday morning shortly after 10 am. On the left above, video of Er Shun and Da Mao as they departed Chengdu today.The commentary is in Chinese but the video is interesting. On the right, video released last week by FedEx and the Toronto Zoo which is quite informative.

Panda Express

 It also shows the nifty FedEx plane with a panda painted on the front.  In addition to Mr.and Mrs Harper, the pandas will be met by Zhang Junsai, the Chinese ambassador to Canada. The pandas will take up residence in Toronto and live here for five years before being moved to Calgary, where they will live there for another five years. A complete guest list for the pandas arrival had not been released as of Sunday evening. But, according to the Toronto Star,  based on the guest list released by the Prime Minister’s Office the pandas can at least expect a welcome similar in size to that which greeted U.S. President Barack Obama..