The Toronto Fire Service was called Friday to extinguish a fire under the Gardiner. It is one of many such fires set by homeless people to cook and keep warm. On the right is a similar fire last Sunday.
WATCH: California National Guard delivering coronavirus test kits to the Grand Princess cruise ship pic.twitter.com/RpN0H6qTvU
— BNO News (@BNOFeed) March 6, 2020
There are 235 Canadians on the passenger manifest for a cruise ship that is being held off the coast of California for coronavirus testing. Global Affairs Canada says there are no confirmed cases of the new coronavirus on the ship. But the federal department says previous passengers of the Grand Princess cruise ship have tested positive for COVID-19, which is the respiratory disease caused by a new strain of coronavirus that first appeared in China last year.
Police Chief Saunders has vowed Friday to get to the bottom the abduction a 14-year-old boy. The lad was grabbed off Driftwood Ave. in North York Thursday morning by drug dealers in a bizarre act of revenge for his brother’s apparent theft of some $4 million in dope. The chief made an appeal for information on who was behind the abduction.
It started with a simple birthday wish — and turned into a global celebration. Today, Second World War veteran Fred Arsenault has 90,000 birthday cards to open, after his son's request for well-wishes went viral. #cbcnn pic.twitter.com/sPFbsjLiWs
— CBC Morning Live (@CBCMorningLive) March 6, 2020
The Toronto area’s raging tow truck war has seen four trucks burned in about 15 minutes in Richmond Hill and Aurora on Friday morning. Two of the trucks were parked in Aurora and two were in Richmond Hill. Between 4:15 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. Friday, dispatchers received calls that all four of them had been torched. The locations of the fires are 64 Wellington Street East in Aurora, 145 Wellington Street West in Aurora, 10366 Yonge Street in Richmond Hill and 16th Avenue and Fern Avenue in Richmond Hill.
Extraordinary violence related to a legal business
The so-called turf war between tow truck drivers is said to have been raging for as long as 18 months without a resolution. The violence seems related to illegal practices that have sprung up in an otherwise legal business.
The Ontario Ministry of Health reports a further case of coronavirus in the province. It was diagnosed in a patient had recently travelled to Las Vegas. It is the 24th such case in the province.
A teen boy abducted from near his school Wednesday was found hidden in a barn at 10869 Heritage Road near Wanless Drive in Brampton about 11 p.m.Thursday. He had been kidnapped in some sort of bizarre revenge or extortion for his stepbrother’s alleged $4 million drug debt. The boy was taken by Halton paramedics to the Hospital for Sick Children where he was met by his mother. Also late Thursday, OPP officers located a burned-out Jeep vehicle in Forks of the Credit Provincial Park in Caledon that they believe is the Jeep that was used to abduct the boy. It was found a 26-minute drive away from the barn. There are questions about why the lad’s school did not report him absent sooner. The Toronto District School Board said four staff members have been put on home assignment while an investigation is launched into why the boy’s family wasn’t notified sooner of their son’s absence from school.
Live news conference Friday morning
Chief Mark Saunders will hold a news conference at police headquarters, in the media gallery, to address the community and media regarding the recent abduction investigation of a 14-year-old boy. The event will be available on Bell TOC, and live-streamed on YouTube.
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Some 65 comments (by mid-morning Thursday) tell of a man who rang a photo-doorbell in Leslieville and who seemed suspicious to the homeowner and others. But at least one person felt the need to say that the man, who said he was just looking for Mike, wasn’t doing anything wrong. Take a look.
U.S. stocks and bond yields dropped Thursday, reflecting continued volatility in markets as investors around the world remain jittery about the economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak. The Dow index plummeted more than 600 in early trading. The TSX was down more than 250.
Ontario virus cases jump to 22
Two more people in Ontario have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the province’s active cases to 22. Ontario Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Williams said one of the new patients is a woman in her 50s who returned to Canada from Italy on March 3 and later went to a hospital in Kitchener with symptoms. The second patient returned to Toronto from Iran on Feb. 29 and went to Sunnybrook HSC on March 3 with symptoms.
A FB post which notes the closure of Rollian Sushi in the Sunnybrook Plaza has inspired a thread of comment that includes a spooky tale of quicksand under the old commercial site. History records that Walmsley Brook did indeed flow through the intersection and it’s believed the foundation of the re-developed Sunnybrook will require reinforcement. One post has a sinister suggestion that the redeveloped plaza will ultimately sink into the muck. Hmm. It also asserts there is a steam engine buried somewhere there.
UPS store now relocated at 82 Laird Drive
Among the last businesses to depart Sunnybrook was the UPS store. It’s now open at its new location at 82 Laird Drive opposite Leaside Village. They say they’re up and running, printer and all.
Mabel’s Fables children’s bookstore, 662 Mt Pleasant Rd at Hillsdale Ave., is facing a staggering 70 percent rent increase from developer Maple Venture Properties. It appears to be an attempt to drive out the long-standing business, a landmark for Midtown shoppers. Mabel’s has been at the location for 31 years. A Facebook post indicates the rent increase is being called a final offer. Maple Ventures already owns buildings on the west side of the block north of Hillsdale and is apparently consolidating property for redevelopment. Councillor Josh Matlow is urging people to sign a petition in support of Mabel’s Fables. He urges residents to share the news with neighbors and friends. He has also organized a public meeting for March 10 at 7 p.m. at Eglinton Public School.
