The South Bayview Bulldog

Gerald Cotton

Michael Maguire

Arieta Gouvakis

Hang onto your hat as reporters dig away at whether bitcoin smoothie Gerald Cotton, merely 30, (at left) is really dead of natural causes in India as reported previously. The Canadian lone ranger of cryptocurrency firm QuadridaCX supposedly expired in Mumbai with all the passwords and known whereabouts of $250 million in bits sealed inside his laptop.  And maybe he did. But that part of the world is known, say scribes, as a great place to get a false death certificate for yourself. Then at centre is Michael Maguire. the TTC bus driver who has made a hit (or whatever) with riders for his wild manicures. See his brightly-lit Instagram midway here. Lastly, that’s Dental Assistant Arieta Gouvakis at right. She’s given new meaning to the toothache by stealing patients’ jewellery when they were asleep in the chair.

#Breaking: Serial killer Bruce McArthur sentenced to 8 x life in prison with 25 years before he can apply for parole in the first-degree murders of eight men. He will be able to apply for parole at the age of 91. https://t.co/7VAPj8qvvo

— Toronto Star (@TorontoStar) February 8, 2019

There is much comment on whether the sentence given to McArthur is adequate. One tweet calls it “horrendous.”

Dr Andrew Samis

Need not reduce meat, eggs and dairy

Canadian Clinicians for Therapeutic Nutrition

Dr. Andrew Samis is an assistant professor of surgery at Queen’s University in Kingston and a member of a group called Canadian Clinicians for Therapeutic Nutrition (CCTN). He thinks the Canada Food Guide is a load of baloney. Samis told CTV Thursday he takes issue with the guide’s recommendation that meat, eggs and dairy should make up a smaller portion of the typical Canadian’s diet than previous versions of the guide had suggested. He says there is no reason for such advice and the clinicians body suggests it’s bad for you. CCTN declares online that the country is “in the midst of a staggering nutritional disease epidemic. We have record numbers of people with diabetes, obesity, fatty liver, metabolic syndrome and other dietary diseases, mostly since we started telling Canadians to eat less fat and more carbohydrates. High carbohydrate filler foods such as refined starch and sugar are pushed as the foundation of the diet. For most people, these mostly empty filler foods add calories with minimal nutrition. Although this would probably come as a surprise to most Canadians, we now know that the current low-fat guidelines were never supported by evidence.”

Tenants at 280 Wellesley St. remain without water and some cases without heat as an electrical safety check of their building develops complications. The power was turned off Tuesday so the Electrical Safety Authority (ESA) could conduct a safety inspection of the building. The inspection was prompted by recent incidents at 260 Wellesley Street East and 650 Parliament Street, which are both owned by the same company as 280 Wellesley Street East. The Councillor, Kristyn Wong Tam, says inspectors say there is a level of neglect which is decades old.

Sadie the Pit Bull smelled gas

The Prime Minister is carefully denying that he told the former justice minister to “take a decision” in the case of SNC-Lavalin, the huge Quebec engineering firm. But did he put pressure on the minister? Then, Scarborough teacher Nicholas McCowan has been chosen Lenovo Visionary Teacher of the Year for his use of VR headsets in the classroom. Nice. Below that, an odious former rapper and four-time convicted killer seeks love from behind bars. Yech. And finally, eleven-year-old Sadie, a Pit Bull, is getting credit for saving her family’s home from a gas leak, or worse.

It’s a place where moms, dads, sweethearts and kids loaf along to the Skater’s Waltz. But Thursday City Hall rink at Queen and Bay Sts. was the scene of a Leafs practice. Fans turned out in force.

A new thread at Leaside Chit Chat indicates that car theft is rampant in Leaside and area. A Lexus RX350 and a Highlander were taken from near Donlea Dr. and Hanna Rd. The post says that both cars were locked with the keys well hidden. Another post says a Highlander was stolen from near Millwood Rd. and Forman Ave. The post says yet another Highlander and a 4Runner were stolen in November from the same area. 

YORK REGIONAL POLICE SAY SUVS SHIPPED TO NORTH AFRICA

York Regional Police revealed Thursday that SUV thieves are stealing late model vehicles throughout the GTA at a blazing rate. Some 80 have been stolen and apparently shipped to North Africa where there is high demand. The thieves reportedly move quickly with thefts taking no longer than 10-20 minutes, York Police allege. The culprits use screwdrivers to gain access to the vehicles without triggering any alarms. Once they gain access, the thieves then make use of an electronic device which allows them to reprogram the car. “This simple device can be purchased online and blocks access to the computer port where the thieves gain access to reprogram the vehicle’s keys,” reads the YRP news release. According to the police, most of the thefts have occurred between midnight and 6:00 AM. Drivers should be on high alert if they own any of the following vehicles: Lexus RX350, Lexus GX460, Toyota 4Runner, and the Toyota Highlander. Police say the video below shows such a theft in progress.

A Porter Airlines flight carrying about 30 passengers from Newark to Billy Bishop Airport has made an emergency landing at an airport in Pennsylvania’s Poconos Mountains. WNEP-TV says all passengers and crew are fine after the plane landed at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport. Airport executive director Carl Beardsley tells the news station the Porter Airlines plane had engine trouble and landed safely.

Thursday is the final day for nominations to be made for the Agnes Macphail Award (2019). Agnes Macphail Award nominations open, deadline Feb. 7

Leafs earn fourth straight home win after solid showing against the Senators.#LeafsForever #FuelledByG @GatoradeCanada pic.twitter.com/UQ5E6QOqVG

— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) February 7, 2019

Sybil Marie Hicks

Living life at Madeira Beach, Florida

Sybil posted this shot of Melissa McCarthy with her obit

Sybil Marie Hicks, a Hamilton-area mother and nurse who died Saturday, wrote her own positive and funny obituary. It is drawing much admiration from ordinary readers across the country. Among her candid thoughts in advance of her passing Sybil Hicks said: “I finally have the smoking hot body I have always wanted…having been cremated.” She recalls her family and remembers her graduation from Waterdown High School “with honors while wearing my shiny bright saddle shoes.”  Comments on Twitter include that of Judy Deane who says simply: “Sybil, you rocked your obituary.” A service for Mrs. Hicks will be held Thursday in Bracebridge.