Man is dead in high-speed crash which demolishes Jaguar

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Into a tree on Spadina rd. in Rchmond Hill/Video capture off Twitter Jeremy Cohn @JeremyGlobalTV

A man is dead and another is in hospital in serious condition in the collision of a Jaguar vehicle into a tree on Spadina Rd in Richmond Hill Sunday afternoon. The dead man is said to be about 38 years old. The damage to the Jaguar is testament perhaps to the speed with which it struck the tree.

Many thousands attend #TorontoStrong vigil Sunday night

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Efforts to stay strong in the face of unspeakable death and injury brought many thousands of people to the Inter-Faith vigil at Mel Lastman Square Sunday night. Then, in Australia, the government has committed half a billion Oz dollars to rescue the Great Barrier Reef. The huge natural feature is beset by pollution and the parasite Crown of Thorns Starfish. Below that, the US secretary of State answers some hard questions about how much trust the world may place in the word of Kim Jong-un. Finally, the benefits of microchipping your pet as ChiChi is returned home after running loose for three years.






Judge calls Bell’s price diddling arbitrary and unacceptable

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The CBC reports Sunday night on a man who took Bell to court after it diddled a price-promise. The complaint has been heard from many Bell customers. David Ramsay says a Bell customer service rep told him on the phone that he could buy Bell Fibe TV and internet service for $112.90 a month for 24 months. He was told he’d get an email confirmation of this. But the email contained a proviso that Bell might increase that price, apparently at any time. In a judgment last month in Toronto small claims court, Deputy Judge William C. De Lucia said that Bell’s attempt to impose new terms after a verbal contract guaranteeing a monthly price for 24 months had been struck was “high-handed, arbitrary and unacceptable.”

TSE OPEN FOR BUSINESS MONDAY

The TMX group says the S&P/TSX will be open for business Monday morning after its systems failed Friday because of a “hardware failure in a central storage appliance.”

MAKING SIRI SAY BAD THINGS

Gizmodo reports that Siri will descend into vulgar language if you ask her the right question. It notes the off-colour slang option for mother as one of the more shocking examples. At the same time, Siri expects phone users to talk nicely to her. She will tongue lash brutes who say bad words. Siri, should we be committed for talking to a machine?

First responders receive applause at #TorontoStrong vigil

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Goodbye, good riddance to April and hello summery May

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No need to recall the wretched few weeks known as April 2018. Here it is the 29th day and the temperature is 7C at 6 p.m — but it feels like 2C. Sure. Try on some of the predictions above from the Weather Network.

Landscaping is underway at new Costco on Overlea Blvd.

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Front doors of new Costco
Former Coca Cola edifice joined to Costco structure
Trees awaiting planting

Landscaping has begun at the site of the new Costco store on Overlea Blvd. Councillor Burnside has estimated an opening in June. These pictures were taken Sunday. A sign is up saying the store is hiring.

Front of former Coca Cola building shines in sun

Order of service for Sunday’s Yonge #TorontoStrong vigil

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The City has issued this order of service for the #TorontoStrong Inter-faith Vigil Sunday night at Mel Lastman Square. All times are approximate. Speakers: 3 minutes each (approximately) Choirs: 5 minutes (including transition time)

Time
6–6:30 Illuminated lanterns placed on stage
6:15 Arrival of community walking from Olive Square Park and Albert Standing Park to Mel Lastman Square
6:40 Red Spirit Singers (Drumming begins)
6:40 – 6:58 Dignitaries seated
7:00 Toronto Jewish Chorus
Soloist – Judy Gershon “One Voice”
Begins with soloist Judy alone on stage with mic, choir joins her onstage through the first verse.

7:05 Welcome
Words of Introduction
Show begins
Indigenous Elder, Steve Teekins
Rev. Alexa Gilmour, United Church
Hosts (Lily Cheng, Dwight Drummond, Pooja Handa)

7:10 Willard Metzger
V.P. of Canadian Council of Churches & E.D. of Mennonite Church of Canada
Christian community

7:14 Imam Refaat Mohamed
V.P. of the Canadian Council of Imams Muslim community

7:18 Willowdale Community Choir
Soloist – Melissa Davis
“Instruments of Peace”
Performed a capella
soloist Melissa with mic

7:28 Pandit Suraj Persad
Hindu Chaplain
Hindu Community

7:32 Rabbi Baruch Frydman-Kohl
Rabbi Yael Splansky, Jewish Community

7:36 Toronto Children’s Concert Choir
35 performers: “Hold On Just A Little While Longer”

7:46 Venerable Dr. Bhante Saranapala
Deputy Abbot of the West End Buddhist Temple and Meditation Centre
Buddhist Chaplain to the University of Toronto
Buddhist community
Also known as the “Urban Buddhist Monk”

7:49 Eva Goldfinger
Ritual led by Inter-faith team
Instrumental accompaniment by MCC artists Diane Leah (pianist) and Colleen Allen (saxophone)
Inter-faith Community, Humanist

7:52 Choir of Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto
(26 to 28 members)
“Amazing Grace – Reach out and Touch”

7:57 Final remarks by hosts

7:59 Earl Haig Secondary School & Cardinal Carter Academy for the Arts
Between 30 and 40 students
National Anthem in English and French

8:04 Candles removed from stage and carried backstage by hosts and speakers (10 people, 10 candles)

Poem read by Toronto’s Poet Laureate Anne Michaels

42 years later, Mt. Pleasant tracks still peek out of potholes

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Northbound past Eglinton Public School/TTC Collection
Southbound at Dominion Coal/TTC Collection
Leaving the Eglinton loop with 1920 bank building in background (soon to be an LTR station) TTC Collection

Some 42 years after the Mt. Pleasant streetcar was cancelled by the TTC a stretch of the street holds a buried curse on road maintenance and a smooth drive through Moore Park. It’s the streetcar tracks, covered over with asphalt. Though the tracks have been removed on many parts of the street, it seems they still lurk under the surface from just north of the Moore Park loop (now a parkette) at St. Clair to about Merton St. At a few points, the rusted steel peeks out. It’s a curious footnote to history that just as the streetcar lobby at City Hall had convinced Council to keep the big trolley brutes in Toronto, the TTC found it a good idea to get rid of the cars on Mt. Pleasant. They even double-crossed SERRA, the South Eglinton Ratepayers and Residents Association by promising to keep the cars, but then removed them less than a year later. Glimpse of Mt. Pleasant Rd. as trolley tracks are laid in 1925

Video shows Porsche driver hit TPS truck and ran like mad

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About to slam into TPS vehicle
He squirms out of car and takes off like a deer. He is now in custody.

A young man in bright red hoodie slams Porsche into a TPS SUV on the Gardiner under the Dufferin Street overpass. He flees past the car where video is being recorded but is soon captured. Police say the Porsche was stolen. More as available. All video on Twitter

Glimpse of Mt. Pleasant Rd. as trolley tracks are laid in 1925

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South from Heath St./Alfred J. Pearson August 24, 1925
Looking north from Moore Ave/Alfred J. Pearson August 24, 1925

Interesting pictures show work underway in 1925 on Mt. Pleasant Rd. looking south at Heath St. (left) and north from Moore Ave (right). Tracks orginally carried cars from far west St. Clair Ave. to Eglinton This was before the Yonge subway and St. Clair station split the line in two.

Justin Bieber visit to Stratford museum with grandparents

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John Kastner poses with Justin Bieber
Justin Bieber was here
With staff
With grandparents Diane and Bruce Dale
Playing drums in 2002/Stratford Beacon-Herald

Maybe he is just a nice small town boy after all. These pictures were taken by and for John Kastner, manager of the Justin Bieber Museum in Stratford. They show a long-haired and much more likeable kid than recent history records. It happened Friday and Kastner reports that he got a text from the grandmother Diane Dale asking if they could pop in. As the video below tells us, the visit went nicely and Justin was appreciative of the exhibits.

EU bans pesticide, pink bats and shining Hamilton Tomboy

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Protesters celebrate EU ban
Pink bats for mothers day
Cassie Levy of Hamilton

These stories are in the news Saturday. EU countries have decreed a total ban on the contentious pesticides known as neonicotinoids. All speculation aside, the alarming decline of bee populations seems to coincide directly with the use of this chemical. It has been a burning issue in Ontario for three years and late in 2017 the federal government said it will limit but not ban neonicotinoids. Centre, time for the pink bats at the Lousville Slugger plant. MLB teams will swing pink on Mother’s Day (May 13) to aid breast cancer research. At right is Cassie Levy, a self-styled Tomboy from Hamilton who has launched the role of Elsa in the Disney favorite Frozen. Her debut in New York has been well-received at the box office.