Temporary lights south of Moore are “insane”

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A reader has complained that the new temporary traffic lights on Bayview south of Moore are not safe. He comments as follows: “These new lights are quite possibly the most dangerous that I have seen in my 43 years of driving. To put lights in the middle of a blind, downhill, reverse-camber corner is nothing short of insane. All of the driver’s attention needs to be focused on the road and the corner, preventing him from looking up to see the traffic signals. The worst thing that you can do when navigating a corner like this is to apply the brakes. If it’s even a little slippery, the car will end up skidding right over the divider and into oncoming traffic. Or worse, you will end up running down a pedestrian or pushing them into oncoming traffic. I predict countless fender benders will occur at these lights. I hope, but I’m not optimistic, that there won’t be any fatalities.The whole problem could have been avoided by putting the lights and the stop line before the corner instead of just after it.” Ed — Thanks for the comment. You make sense.

Sun TV Photoshops out ex-anchor, inserts new

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The National Post reports that rather than retake a group photo after the departure one of its anchors, the Sun News Network simply decided to “erase” the ex-employee and paste in anew one.In a Tuesday Web post announcing the channel’s return to Bell TV, the network’s anchors are featured at an April 1 ribbon-cutting with Toronto Mayor Rob Ford.To account for the June departure of Theo Caldwell, third from right in the second photo below, image editors pasted over the former anchor with a discoloured, mildly out-of-proportion image of his replacement, Michael Coren.

This practice has a long history in the former Soviet Union where ousted members of the Politburo were simply retouched out of group photos.

Mayhem, “Mazda sandwich” block Bayview

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A six-car property damage accident blocked Bayview between Hillsdale Ave and Soudan Ave this afternoon. It’s no mystery that it was a mess, although just how it happened was the source of much speculation. Upper left, two vehicles sideswiped, upper right, a badly damaged Toyota, Lower right and left, a Mazda Mx-5 sandwich (ouch!) with two heavy SUVs on either end. Once again, all six cars are said to be part of the same accident. Our colleague Rudy at rudy.ca has some good pictures too.

Williams to replace George as Suncor president

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Suncor Energy Inc. Chief Executive Officer Rick George (left) will retire next year after leading the oil- sands producer for more than two decades and transforming it into Canada’s largest energy company. George, 61, will be replaced in May by Chief Operating Officer Steve Williams, 55, the Calgary-based company said in a statement today. Williams was also promoted to president and given a seat on the board. Bloomberg

What does Ford owe the Star? And vice versa

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Mayor Ford would have to be pretty arrogant to deny the Toronto Star access to municipal releases because it had published a story which was accurate in all respects. Of course, the mayor says the story the Star published about him was false. The Star says that it stands by its story (which is frequently a way for newspapers to say they aren’t going to retract no matter what). And while there may be an administrative duty on the mayor to give official releases to the Star, it is indisputable that there is very little attention being paid to Mr Ford’s complaint. The Star has cast Mr. Ford as a bully and invoked its renowned importance as the largest newspaper in Canada. This is unfortunate. It would do far better to try to reconcile its original story to agreed upon facts rather than wage its present pompous campaign. The Star is a hugely powerful organization that almost daily thunders its way to conclusions which fit its own special point of view. It should stand down on this campaign. At least send an emissary to the mayor and try to agree on the facts. The facts are supposed to be important to newspapers.

Andrew Coyne to join Postmedia

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Andrew Coyne has announced in an e-mail that he will be leaving Maclean’s to write a column for the Postmedia newspaper chain, starting in the new year. He said “an opportunity to write for a combined national readership of five million, three times a week, is too good to pass up.””It’s exceedingly hard to leave Maclean’s, which is a great magazine and an even better place to work. I wish Ken Whyte, Mark Stevenson and his team the very best,” Coyne wrote. “It’s an auspicious time to be joining Postmedia, which is on a roll these days.”

Young victim was working in the sex trade

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The suspicion was there the moment we heard that a young woman was found shot in an isolated area of Toronto. Now police say what was previously only whispered. Leanne Freeman, 23, of Winnipeg, was in Toronto working in the sex trade. Her body was found with severe injuries in the middle of Unwin Avenue, west of Leslie Street in Toronto’s port lands just after 1 a.m. Tuesday. At the same time, police have been careful to make it clear that they cannot confirm that Ms. Freeman’s occupation was directly related to her death. Facebook photo

Watch out for “Police Watch” (2)

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The strident man who calls shops and businesses to announce that he’s from “Police Watch” is at it again. We took a call today. We told you about this caller on July, 16, 2010 (here) when he was very aggressive. The call this time came from the same telephone number. It’s a 647 code with the pre-fix 722. Be on guard. The real police don’t know anything about this fellow. The pay website NumberInvestigator.com says that this number was issued by Rogers in Toronto. Here is the capsule provided by that site:

Phone Number: 4167225917
Owner Name: On File – Click Here
Most Current Address: On File – Click Here
Area: , ON (Ontario)
Exchange: 416-722 (Rogers Wireless Inc)
Phone Company: ROGERS WIRELESS INC
Switch: TOROON02AMD

Event of a lifetime as MLG re-born

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It’s was an event of a lifetime Wednesday as a national sports shrine was re-born as an exciting shopping and university recreation centre. The new Gardens is a gift from many public-spirited people and companies. A gift to our history, to the neighborhood and to the City. Left, a blue maple leaf hangs above the escalator to the upper level. It houses a Joe Fresh, an LCBO and other stores. Centre, Galen G Weston beams at the opening ceremony. Right, a customer discovers “centre ice” and loves it.