Jaye Robinson on Toronto mission to Chicago

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Councillor Robinson

The City’s business development mission to Chicago, Team Toronto, is on its way.  The mission is led by political and business leaders — Mayor Ford and a number of Council members including Jaye Robinson, Councillor for Don Valley West (Ward 25). Business notables on the trip include George Cohon, founder of McDonald’s Canada who is the Mission Co-Chair, Robert Deluce, president of Porter Airline, Co-Chair,  Wayne Barwise, of Cadillac Fairview,Clare Copeland, Chairman of Toronto Hydro, Paul Deegan of  BMO Financial Group, Betty K. DeVita, President, MasterCard, Mike Harris, Former Premier of Ontario, Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP, Elizabeth Geleff, Principal, Phillips Properties, Mary Gendron, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Celestica, E. M. Blake Hutcheson, President and CEO, Oxford Properties Group Ralph Lean, Partner, Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP, Ian MacEachern, Vice-President, Government and Stakeholder Relations, OMERS Administration Corporation. A complete list is in the Globe and Mail with an informative article.   Marcus Gee, Globe and Mail

Kate photos are banned by court in France

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A French court has banned a gossip magazine from further publishing topless pictures of Kate Middleton and ordered it to hand over all images, including digital, to the Duke and Duchess. The magazine, Closer, will be fined 10,000 euros ($13,100) per day of delay in handing over the images. The couple are on the final leg of their nine-day Diamond Jubilee tour of South-east Asia and the South Pacific and are on the island of Tuvalu where the Duchess was carried through the streets in fitting manner. . 

Fast-track lanes soon for citizens at Pearson

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Fast-track for EU 

Most civilized places (and probably some uncivilized) have arrival lanes at their airports dedicated to those carrying the national passport. Toronto however has always been a place of equal-opportunity delays. Arrive from New York on Air Canada and queue up behind an Airbus-load of folks from half a world away.  Maybe that’s the Canadian way. Fairness and all that. But now it seems, Ottawa’s mania with levelling out everything  has softened. Within a month of two there will be a lane especially for Canadians and permanent residents installed at Pearson Airport.  Will there be a human rights complaint about this?  Quite possibly.  Will it proceed on a Charter appeal to the Supreme Court?  Well, this is Canada.

Home to be proud of at McRae and Hanna

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This modest but well-maintained home must be the pride and joy of its owners. They are relatively new to the neighbourhood but like canny home buyers everywhere they sought out excellent location. And they got it. Here at the intersection of McRae and Hanna Rd (the front door is on Hanna) they have now contracted to landscape their front entrance and garden. The job is nearly done and it looks great. The walkway is bricked pavement supported at the rises with attractive garden rocks. The Garden has been cleared of scrub and will now form a peaceful green retreat for these homeowners. Good luck to them as they feather their nest. 

Airdrie closed east of Bayview for film-making

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There’s a lot of security around the movie location on Airdrie Rd. at what appears to be the re-make of the Kick-Ass movie (Kick-Ass 2, we believe it’s called), Anyone venturing down Airdrie from Bayview Ave today was quickly shooed away with police on  duty to make sure you obeyed. For those of you who may not know, this series is all about the costumed high-school hero Kick-Ass, who is joined by normal comic book citizens (much like the residents Leaside:)) who have been inspired to fight crime in costume. (Where’s mine?) Meanwhile, the bad guy Red Mist plots an act of revenge that will affect everyone Kick-Ass knows. The cast includes Chloe Moretz freshly scrubbed up from her summer drenched in blood on the Carrie set at Northern Secondary School. Also starring, Nicholas Cage. Now we’re not saying either of these two were on Airdrie today but then, all that security! 

Michelle Dube to replace Christine Bentley

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Michelle Dube

And the winner is Michelle Dube. Bell Media has made the announcement just a few minutes before Michelle makes her appearance on the Noon News, which will be half of her new assignment, along with co-anchoring with Ken Shaw at 6 pm.  She was certainly one of the most likely candidates for the job. She has, as one viewer said, a very agile extemporaneous style and dresses very well.  Of course, from now on it seems unlikely she will have to pay for that good-looking on-air apparel. Michelle is quoted in the release as saying “I am proud and excited to join Ken, and spend time with our viewers each day,” said Dubé. “My goal is to deliver the news with the same professionalism viewers have come to expect from this newsroom. I also hope we can have some fun along the way.”

Now Kate’s topless shots in Italian magazine

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The royal family appears to be losing a legal struggle to prevent further publication of topless photos of Prince William’s wife Kate as more magazines print the pictures. The sneaky photographers who took the pictures are said to be due in court in France today.  Lawyers for the British Royal Family are seeking an injunction and damages against Italian media group Mondadori, a company owned by former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. The spread in Chi shows the Duchess relaxing with her husband in the south of France last month. It includes a never-before-published shot of her lathering sunscreen on her backside. In an editorial, Chi editor Alfonso Signorini argued that the photos were not “perverse nor harmful” to the Duchess’ dignity. He wrote that the images made her “more likable, less anachronistic” in the eyes of the public. But as Josephine McKenna reports in the video above, many people think the former Italian prime minister is still stinging from the treatment he has received in the United Kingdom press and is getting back at the British by publishing the pictures.

Saturday night swarming at Yonge and St.Clair

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Toronto Police Service report: Two males, ages 13 and 14 report that on September 15, 2012 at approximately 11.15 pm., they were in the area of Yonge Street and St. Clair Avenue when they were approached by four male suspects. The suspects made a demand for the victims’ cellular phones and the victims complied. The suspects fled the scene eastbound on St. Clair Avenue. No injuries were sustained by the victims.