The South Bayview Bulldog

Sydney (top) and Hong Kong

2019 has begun its entry with celebrations across Australasia and the Orient. Here we see Sydney (top) and Hong Kong. Also Aukland.

The TTC Metropass will be discontinued as of midnight when those wanting discounted fares will be required to purchase a Presto pass. The TTC will offer TTC passes, including a 12-month pass, through Presto. The price for the monthly pass will be unchanged at $146.50 for adults and $116.75 for seniors/ youth. Presto passes can be purchased at Shoppers Drug Mart, Fare Vending Machines at TTC subway station entrances, from the TTC Customer Service Centre, or online at prestocard.ca. Tickets and tokens will be phased out at the end of 2019 however. BT interview bdelow with Anne Marie Aikens is informative.

Alberto at work/Euronews capture

Madrid hairdresser Alberto Olmedo is appealing to jaded customers by fixing their hair with a blow torch, samurai swords and a pair of fearful slicing fingers that make him look like Edward Scissorhands. Euronews says that Alberto is a “real barber who owns a real hair salon.”

Summerhill subway Saturday/James Kozak Facebook

The incident at Summerhill subway station on Shaftesbury St. Saturday was the playing out of one’s worst fears. Many fire and paramedic personnel responded but their job was sadly too simple in bringing the victim up and out of the track channel. Readers are commiserating Sunday with a man who was there.

SEPARATE INCIDENT ON SUNDAY

One man is in custody after an attempted stabbing aboard a TTC subway train on Sunday afternoon. Police and transit officers responded to a call around 12:45 p.m. after a passenger assistance alarm was activated aboard a train at Summerhill station. A man with a knife aboard the train reportedly tried to stab a woman. When the train was held at the station due to the alarm, the man got off and left the scene. Transit officers pursued him on foot and he was taken into custody. Officers believe the knife was discarded and were searching for the weapon in the area. No injuries were reported and it’s unclear if the suspect and victim knew each other — City News

No winning ticket was sold for the $13 million jackpot in Saturday night’s Lotto 649 draw. The guaranteed $1 million prize was claimed by a ticket holder in the Prairies. The jackpot for the next Lotto 649 draw on January 2 will be approximately $16 million.

Eglinton and Laird about 9.30 a.m.

KIng St. West

Outside Hadju home

A little December surprise has been greeted with poetic resolution in many parts. Suzanne Hadju tweeted from the front window of her midtown home that “There is a quiet stillness to the day today.” So true. There will probably be mucky conditions underfoot soon with a high of 2 Celsius predicted for Sunday. Monday will be rainy with a high of four.

COLLISION:
Summerhill Subway Station
-Person with serious injuries
-Officers assisting with emergency run
^dh

— Toronto Police Operations (@TPSOperations) December 29, 2018

Razor-sharp/TPS

Toronto Police release

There will be no difficulty for those who know this gent personally in identifying him from the razor-sharp resolution of the security photo released by Toronto Police. He was busy a week ago on December 22 about 6.47 a.m. at a business near King St. West and Bathurst St. He forced open the door and removed a quantity of electronic equipment. He is described as 35-40, medium build, grey goatee, black ball cap, black parka, and blue jeans.

Complaints and concerns seen on Facebook Saturday morning include car break-ins, this time north and west of Bayview Ave. and Eglinton Ave. At Leaside Chit Chat a member has posted concerns about a woman seen apparently abusing her retriever-type dog on Donlea Drive. Also on Chit Chat, the ongoing local annoyance with those who feed cookies to the squirrels. It leads to bits and pieces as shown in a photo taken and illustrated by one man. Who knew. Feeding squirrels, although not a popular pastime, is sometimes done as a preventive measure to keep from gnawing window sills to sawdust.

Friday night’s $39.5 million dollar Lotto Max jackpot is claimed by a single ticket that was sold somewhere in British Columbia. The jackpot for the next Lotto Max draw will be about $10 million.

Modest Pearl St. in old Milton

Armed thieves, two men and a woman, broke into a modest home on Pearl St. in the Town of Milton and stole $55,000 in cash from the sole occupant about 4 a.m. Friday. She is a woman who is said to have recently received the cash in a “legal settlement” of an unnamed type. It seems apparent to the police that someone who knew the woman had the money, and had not put it in the bank, was behind the crime. Instead, it was in the home in a beige purse. The robbers are described as a black or South Asian man wearing dark clothing, a dark-skinned man with blue-eyes, 6 feet tall, of slim build, in dark clothing and a third person who “could be a woman” with dark hair, 5’ 4” to 5’ 6” tall, slim and in dark clothing. Anyone with information should call Halton Regional Police.