The South Bayview Bulldog

The meeting to hear about the two month summer closure of Leslie St. at Eglinton Avenue is set for Thursday night at Japanese-Canadian Cultural Centre, 6 Garamond Ct. It was revealed last month that the closure in July and August will shut the street for construction of the LRT track or guideway. Question and answer period scheduled. Time: 7 to 8:30 p.m., parking available. Vow easier crossing at Bayview, Don Mills in Leslie closure

The wonderful world of bitcoin has proven costly to investors in the defunct cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX. The firm’s court appointed monitor says in a report that there is little chance some $200 million that disappeared completely on the death of founder Gerald Cotton can ever be found. He recommends bankruptcy instead of trying to restructure. Incredibly, Cotton kept all knowledge of how to access funds to himself and when he died in India earlier this year no one knew where the money was. Into the bargain, it appears Cotton mixed his personal and business affairs and that he could have used the company‘s funds to acquire assets outside the business. Is Gerald really dead, Nails Maguire and stealing your teeth 

Deranged man with knife taunted police to shoot him/YouTube Josh Giha

Video posted to YouTube shows a deranged man with a knife taunting police and inviting them to shoot him. This occurred Monday at the Toronto Library branch at 789 Yonge St. at Asquith Ave. north of Bloor St. The man wanders about the main floor of the library for a short period uttering threats and saying “shoot me” and similar invitations. The first officer on the scene tries to talk the man down saying “I don’t want to” and “that’s not what I’m here to do. I don’t want to hurt you,” she says. Other officers arrive and as the man continues to invite police to shoot him he is tasered twice over a period of five or six seconds. He then falls to the floor and is taken into custody.

More young workers in Alberta

The conservative Fraser Institute has released a report Wednesday which says Albertans make a disproportionate contribution to national programs such as the Canada Pension Plan. Fraser Institute is a supporter of improving Canada’s ability to ship Alberta oil abroad and of oil and gasoline self-sufficiency for Canada. Many people agree. But it may seem disingenuous to imply that Alberta citizens are treated differently. Young people everywhere make the same contribution to CPP but Alberta has more young. It is a useful reminder to anti-pipeline advocates however that without the Alberta contribution to the CPP, the pension plan might not be entirely viable. Or so says Fraser.

Issued at 10:33 Wednesday 03 April 2019

Strong winds today. The passage of a cold front is ushering in strong westerly winds this morning. Widespread wind gusts to 70 km/h are expected with isolated wind gusts to 80 km/h. The wind will begin to ease later this afternoon. Isolated power outages may be possible.

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Please continue to monitor alerts and forecasts issued by Environment Canada. To report severe weather, send an email to ONstorm@canada.ca or tweet reports using #ONStorm.

Drummer girls

Light show

Dancer

A donation of $1,200 will be given to the Thorncliffe Neighbourhood Office to allow 20 youth to attend the Thorncliffe Day Camp for three weeks this summer. It is money raised through the Leaside United Church Variety Show last week. Fine photos of the show by Murray Fenner are now posted at the church site. Wide range of acts entertain large crowd at LUC talent show

The five-team National Women’s Hockey League in the US will expand to Canada following the announced end of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League. NWHL will expand to Montreal and Toronto, creating a league of seven teams. At present the league is composed of the Boston Pride, Buffalo Beauts, Connecticut Whale, Metropolitan (Newark) Riveters and Minnesota Whitecaps. The CWHL consisted of the Worcester (Massachusetts) Blades, Calgary Inferno, Shenzhen (China) KRS Vanke Rays, Les Canadiennes de Montréal, Markham Thunder and the Toronto Furies

The Toronto Real Estate Board says March home sales were flat compared to last March, some 7,187 down by one home from 2018. The average selling price for March was up 0.5 per cent, or $3,821 from a year earlier to $788,335. “Despite sales being markedly lower than the record levels of 2016 and early 2017, the supply of listings has also receded,” said Jason Mercer, the board’s chief market analyst, in a statement.

Mr. Trudeau addresses cheering caucus

Ministers Wilson-Raybould and Philpott

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has expelled Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott from the Liberal caucus, saying that trust with the two former cabinet ministers has been irreparably broken. Trudeau delivered the news to the national Liberal caucus in Ottawa Tuesday night to loud applause. He said the two could not stay on because they could not express confidence in the caucus. “The trust that previously existed between these two individuals and our team has been broken, whether it’s taping conversations without consent, or repeatedly expressing a lack of confidence in our government or me personally as leader,” he said.

• Tuesday night massacre and other opinion

Trudeau said it’s wrong for any politician to secretly record a conversation, but called it “unconscionable” that an attorney general would tape a conversation with the country’s top civil servant — a reference to Wilson-Raybould’s release last week of a recording of a phone conversation she had with Clerk of the Privy Council Michael Wernick in December. Under Canadian law, it is legal for a party to a phone call to record the conversation without disclosing that it is being done.

Maurice Cody Grade Fives at City Hall/John Tory@JohnTory

Mayor Tory met Ms. Cohnstaedt’s Grade Five class from Maurice Cody Junior Public Tuesday.

The Toronto Blue Jays have traded centre-fielder Kevin Pillar to the San Francisco Giants for right-handed pitchers Juan De Paula and Derek Law and infielder Alen Hanson. CBC

Let’s get out of here

Tourists fled for their lives when it became apparent that a huge wave might drown them all. It happened in Iceland as reported by the BBC.

Some other videos of interest Tuesday include a pushback by urban voters in Turkey against President Erdogan and how the fascinating Japanese people create a “new Era” with the replacement of an Emperor. BBC Youtube