The South Bayview Bulldog

A news conference will be held Thursday at 8 a.m. in the media gallery at police headquarters to announce a new Gun Violence Reduction Plan. Chief Mark and Mayor Tory to make public details of the program. It will be live-streamed The news conference will be available on the TOC and will be live-streamed at this address.

Hydro One’s CEO is retiring as part of an agreement between the Ontario government and the utility company that will also see the replacement of the entire board. The deal, whatever else it may include, means Mayo Schmidt will receive a retirement sum of about $400,000 instead of the $10 million firing bonus he might have received if he had been dismissed. Wednesday night there is much speculation about possible unknowns attached to the deal. CTV says many want to know “what the government had to give up” to persuade Schmidt to retire.

The Bank of Canada is apparently staying calm about the widely-feared impact of Donald Trump trader tariffs both known and unknown. BOC jumped its rate a quarter point to 1.5 percent, a signal to all lenders that they too can charge more for borrowed money. It was the bank’s fourth increase over the last 12 months and the first time the rate has been this high since December 2008. It said it expects the negative blow of the trade policies recently put in place to be largely offset by the positives for Canada from higher oil prices, which are above US$73 per barrel, and the stronger US economy. Maybe someday there will be pipelines to move the oil.

• Canada to lead new training mission in Iraq
• Ted Arnott elected Speaker of the Legislature
• CN Rail to spend $315M to upgrade Ontario operations

Video has been released showing both the rescued Thai soccer boys in hospital, as well as shots taken during the rescue. The boys were sedated and effectively asleep as they were brought out. Rescuers feared there might be panic. In the event, it was a huge success and the boys are all said to be doing well in hospital.

The Honda Indy is a wonderful driving exhibition but no place for the family Accord, says Carl Hanske.

Fire: Laird Dr/ Eglinton Ave.. Vehicle on fire. Occupant is out of the vehicle. Reports that one lane is now blocked. No info on which roadway/lane is impacted. Units responding. #GO1261795^adc

— Toronto Police Operations (@TPSOperations) July 11, 2018

Donald Trump says a pipeline project has made Germany a “captive to Russia.” He launched his remarks during a combative breakfast Wednesday that began what was already expected to be a bumpy NATO summit. Trump scolded NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg about how the US protects Germany even as the European nation makes deals with Russia. CBC

Durham Polce are digging into the activities of an Oshawa man in connection with the death of Rori Hache and the discovery of DNA belonging to Kandis Fitzpatrick. Both women are traced to the same home. Then, joyous success by international rescuers in the safe delivery of 12 young soccer players and their coach in Thailand. Speaking of soccer, it will be either Croatia or England against France in competition for the World Cup. France beat Belgium 1-0 Tuesday and the Croatia-England game is Wednesday at 2 p.m. France is favoured against either team. Finally, excited commercialism to be sure but Travis Pastrana has matched the Evel Knievel motorcycle jump.

Heroes honoured by TTC/Mayor Tory photo

Mayor Tory has tweeted pictures and expressed his pleasure at being able to personally thank the heroes of the Broadview subway station rescue June 28. A blind man who had fallen to the tracks was pulled to safety by the men. They are Kyle Busquine, Julio Cabrera and Jehangir Faisal, seen at the centre of the group photo at Tuesday’s TTC board meeting. The men were given free passes to the transit system for a year.  Hero leaps onto tracks to save blind man stranded below

ALSO AT THE TTC

The TTC board has appointed Rick Leary as CEO, a job he has been doing on an interim basis since Andy Byford left the agency more than six months ago. Leary is a railway man through and through, having begun his career as a train attendant with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority in 1984 and risen through the ranks, eventually becoming the Chief Operating Officer of that system.

BOMBARDIER TRANSIT PRESIDENT APOLOGIZES

It hardly seems enough but the transit president of Bombardier, Benoit Brossoit, has apologized for the appalling performance of his company with respect to delayed delivery and massively slipshod work on Toronto’s new streetcars. Bombardier confirmed last week that it would have to recall 67 of the 89 streetcars already delivered to the TTC because to a “welding defect” that could impact the guaranteed 30-year lifespan of the vehicles. Brossoit appeared before the TTC board to say he “understands and shares the disappointment” of TTC riders and “truly apologizes” for the issue. Bombardier is doing everything it can to “make it right” and deliver on its commitments to Toronto. If Bombardier made dishwasher soap it would be out of business by now.

Thieves apparently followed a route similar to this

The theft of a Macbook and as much as $1,000 of other goods from an unlocked car on Heather Rd. overnight produced a fascinating and informative discussion on Facebook. It has since been deleted. The victim of the robbery reported that the Macbook was traced “via iCloud” to a specific address, a bungalow off Plains Rd. in East York some 4 or 5 km. away. According to the post, by the time police responded, the laptop battery had died. Continued tracking was not possible. The posts revealed that police went to the bungalow, the Macbook’s last known location, but did not get a response at the door. According to the victim, the police said “their hands are tied.” Facebook comments were questioning. Will the police not try again?  There was a lot of sympathy expressed and some recrimination about the unlocked car.

Morning mishap at Mt. Pleasant and Roehampton with former Best Western in background (Reddit / u/HNTRXHNTR)

A morning rush hour accident that saw a car (above) slam into a utility pole Tuesday was further distress for drivers at the construction war zone known as Mt. Pleasant and Eglinton. It seems everyone is okay, more or less. There is a long thread at Reddit Toronto where u/HNTRXHNTR posted this photo. Lots of discussion about how it wasn’t an accident but it was in fact unless the driver set out this morning intending to hit a pole. Catchy Reddit handle Mr. u/HNTRXHNTR.

A proposal to give Toronto’s transit authority broad new powers over things like taxi permits, bike sharing and road tolls will be put in front of the TTC board Tuesday. CBC Toronto has obtained two draft motions that TTC Chair Josh Colle and Vice-Chair Alan Heisey will put forward at Tuesday’s board meeting.