The South Bayview Bulldog

The Ontario government will announce today that producers of products and packaging will be fully responsible for the provincial Blue Box program. It’s current;y run by the Ontario Stewardship Council with the cost split among the municipalities. But the Ford government will shift to a new model where producers of the waste – businesses – will provide blue box collection and pay for the entire cost. The transition is set to take effect at different times across the province with Toronto set to make the shift in 2023. The government is also set to announce that the list of materials accepted in the blue box will increase to include paper and plastic cups, wraps, foils, trays, bags and other single-use items such as stir sticks, straws, cutlery and plates. Ontario is the birthplace of the blue-box.

Now for something different. An Olympia ice-surfacing machine manufactured by Resurface Corporation of Elmira north of Kitchener-Waterloo is seen on fire at a youth hockey practice. It occurred at Bill Gray’s Regional Iceplex in Brighton, NY. on Wednesday evening. The driver was not injured and no others were harmed.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is congratulated by her partner Clarke Gayford following her victory speech to Labour Party members in Auckland

Jacinda Ardern has been re-elected prime minister of New Zealand with her Labour Party winning a landslide victory in national voting. In her victory remarks, the 40-year-old mother of an infant girl said the world was deeply polarized and reminded New Zealanders that their small democracy needed to be able to listen.

Kick out Chinese ambassador says O’Toole

It was never more apparent that there is no democracy in China as Canada called in the PRC ambassador for a private dressing down Thursday after remarks he made warning Canada against offering political asylum to Hong Kong democrats. Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole says if Ambassador Cong Peiwu does not publicly apologize for his “belligerent” comments, which O’Toole called a threat to Canadians, Ottawa should kick him out. Toronto Star

Teacher decapitated after showing kids cartoons

A middle school history teacher in a Paris suburb has been knifed to death and decapitated near the school where earlier this month he had shown his pupils cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad considered blasphemous by some, French officials said on Friday. CBC

Salmon snapped by Bob Arsenault of Bayview Ave as he and his wife walked near Pottery Road in 2015

It’s the time of year when salmon are lunging up the Don River to spawn. Many people are posting on Twitter and this story from the CBC is worth a look for weekend planners. Bob Arsenault snaps salmon in Don north of Pottery Rd.

Pupils, parents and teachers are trying to adjust to that new contortion of the C-19 period known as hybrid schools. That’s where the teacher flips back and forth from kids in class to those online. Then, it’s the Nick Nurse story. An improbable hero of the NBA has written his story. Below that, the heartbreaking story of a grandfather who lost his grip on his granddaughter, dropping the child to her death off of a cruise ship. So sad. Finally, this Global News report suggests that some snowbirds will trade Florida for British Columbia this winter. Not as warm but maybe more interesting than the flat, windy US state.

The City will do maintenance on the Allen Road this weekend from Friday at 11 p.m. until Monday at 5 a.m. The closure will extend the entire length of the roadway from Sheppard Ave. to Eglinton Ave.

The Ministry of Health reports 783 new cases of C-19 cases Thursday for the 24-hour period ending at midnight. There were 239 new cases in Toronto, 136 new cases in Peel, 127 in York Region and 89 in Ottawa. Ontario reported 721 cases on Wednesday, 746 on Tuesday and 807 on Thanksgiving Monday. Health care staff processed 39,961 test results in the same period. Thursday’s count puts the four average of cases at 764

St. Mary Catholic Secondary School in Pickering is demanding students return their yearbooks after it was learned that someone replaced a graduation message with a racial slur. The school says it is intent on finding out who did this. Durham Police are said to be investigating what happened. The target of the phony message, Joshua Telemaque, 18, has been honoured by friends and given a scholarship by the Pinball Clemons Foundation.

Fire personnel catch a breath at scene of basement apartment fire/Bulldog

Burned out basement unit at St. Clair and Mt. Pleasant/Bulldog

It’s garage day and this truck has to back down St. Clair from Welland Ave. because of fire/Bulldog

Traffic on Glenrose Ave/Bulldog

fire trucks across Mt. Pleasant Rd/Bulldog

A single-alarm fire has gutted a basement apartment in the old Mount Pleasant Apartments on the southeast corner of Mt. Pleasant Rd. and St. Clair Ave. Wednesday afternoon. No one was injured in the fire and investigators are probing the cause. Traffic in Moore Park was snarled for more than an hour.

Mayor Tory has posted Instagram news about a plan to use a driverless shuttle called Olli to ferry residents of the remote West Rouge neighbourhood in Scarborough to the GO Transit station. The post says the scheme is a trial planned for Spring 2021. The little shuttle has been in service in the US for a while.