Regular at 132.9 at Merton and Mt. Pleasant, more to come

Regular test gasoline is pumping at 132.9 a litre at the Esso station at Mt. Pleasant Rd. and Merton St. Monday but you may be able to get it for a penny less a litre at others stations, including some Esso locations. We’re in the switch-over period from winter to summer grade fuel, a period of about ten days. Prices may yet rise to 133.9 before slackening a bit. Dan McTeague, the man who has made a lifetime out of following gas prices, says he suspects prices will soar this summer. He told the CBC he foresees prices as high as 139.9 close to the all-time high of 142.9. The reasons for this appear to be demand and the cost of summer additives.  Prices in BC are already above 1.39.9 related local pipeline repairs.

23 CENTS HIGHER THAN LAST YEAR

“Those additives are quite expensive and they usually mean a four cent across-the-board increase for most Canadian drivers, starting at about the first few days of April all the way to the middle of September, at which point we then revert back to less expensive to make winter gasoline,”  Mr. McTeague told the CBC. “It means, of course, that prices in Toronto will pass, likely, marks that we haven’t seen at the pumps going back to about August of 2014.” He said prices today are about 23 cents per litre higher than this time last year when consumers were paying as little as $1.03.9 for a litre. “For average drivers, that amounts to well into the vicinity of an additional $10 to $12 a tankful weekly,” he said.

Free Metro tabloids to change their names to StarMetro

Torstar Corp. says it will hire 20 reporters in Western Canada and rebrand the “digital offerings” of its five free daily Metro urban newspapers across Canada. It says that as of April 10, the Metro tabs will be called StarMetro Vancouver, StarMetro Calgary, StarMetro Edmonton, StarMetro Toronto and StarMetro Halifax. Irene Gentle, the Star’s managing editor, has tweeted that StarMetro coverage online will be “richer, deeper.” Hey, go deep.

STELLA  ARTOIS RECALL

Stella Artois is recalling beer packaged in 330 millilitre glass bottles as a safety precaution related to bottles that may shed pieces of glass into the beer. Stella Artois said the bottles were manufactured by one of its many suppliers, which wasn’t identified.The recall applies to packages of six, 12, 18 and 24 bottles of Stella Artois and “Best of Belgium” multi-packs sold in the U.S. and Canada.

PATIENTS WARNED AS NEEDLES WRONGLY RE-USED

Toronto Public Health is advising those who underwent blood glucose testing at a Scarborough health fair last week to follow up with their doctor after the needles used to do the testing were “not consistently changed.” TPH told CTV News confirmed that a complaint was filed following the Vision Infinite Foundation’s health fair at the Scarborough Village Recreation Centre located at 3600 Kingston Road on March 25. After further investigation, public health said it was determined that the lancets/needles used to do blood sugar testing were mistakenly reused.

Plan to kite candidate into Liberal St. Paul’s all oopsy daisy

If you reside in the Ontario Liberal Party back room you might have known that Premier Wynne reportedly was ready to appoint Will Falk, “a consultant with a history tied to the eHealth scandal” as the candidate in St. Paul’s. That’s where Eric Hoskins reigned for so long. But this link reveals at least some folks were miffed enough that Wynne’s plan is now history. Obscure reference to “the Wizard and the Board” flies right by The Bulldog.

RAF is 100 and a problem with photo-deposit banking app

The Royal Air Force is 100 this year. Two veterans, a man who was a fighter ace and a woman who ferried aircraft to the front, were on hand for this ITV report. Then, it seems that the photographic deposit of cheques is a problem because the bank doesn’t take possession of the actual paper. Guess what? Some cheques are being cashed twice. Below that we have Kim Jung-un at a K-Pop concert of ROK performers. And a natural history bonanza at scientists discovered 1.5 million previously uncounted penguins in the Danger Islands in the Antarctic. Love that.






Do you know this Leaside “Jimmy Carter” returning bag?

There is a long discussion on Leaside Community Facebook Monday morning after these pictures of a man who looks like Jimmy Carter returned a bag belonging to the lady of the house were posted there. The story is sparse but it appears the couple were at Creeds Sunday and came home without the bag. But this silver-haired gent in a Mercedes had arrived and left it on the porch. Now they’d like to know who he is. Leaside Community.

Huge crowds mob new Jollibee fast food spot in Toronto

The was a huge crowd of customers waiting for the opening Sunday of the first Jollibee restaurant in Ontario. (There are two in Winnipeg). The Toronto location is at 15 William Kitchen Rd in Scarborough near Kennedy and Progress Rds. You will see the mob in the City News report at left. Jollibee is a Filipino favorite and customers were saying things like “soon we’ll taste Manila” as they waited for the place to open. The video at the right shows Jollibee-mad customer Nikki Salas knocking on the door. Read how Spam became a national favorite in the Philipinnes in the 2015 archive post here.  Jollibee outlet would be welcome in Thorncliffe Park




Smoak a run-scoring superman in Jays 7-4 win over Yanks

Another look at the wonderful winning grand slam homer executed by Justin Smoak Sunday to earn a 7-4 victory over the New York Yankees. Smoak was the force behind six of the Jay’s seven runs. The victory gave Toronto a 2-2 in the series. Reporters are saying Smoak said he felt like he had let the team down in the first inning when he struck out with two men on and nobody out. Hey, it’s okay. Smoak slammed a two-run homer in the seventh and then powered the grand slam in the eighth.

Saks at Sherway, Bramalea, Pickering exposed to data leak

A New York-based cybersecurity firm, Gemini Advisory, has said that three Canadian branches of Saks Fifth Avenue stores were exposed to a data breach of customer information. Gemini found that the stores are Sherway Gardens, Bramalea City Centre and Pickering Town Centre. Word first came Sunday from Hudson’s Bay Co. which said customer payment information may have been stolen from shoppers at certain Saks Fifth Avenue, Saks Off Fifth and Lord & Taylor stores in North America.

 

April bulletin board invites you to do good and get involved

Wednesday the Leaside Blood Donor Clinic takes place at Northlea Elementary and Middle School at 305 Rumsey Road. Please give.

No winning Lotto 649 ticket sold for Saturday night draw

No winning ticket was sold for the $5 million jackpot in Saturday night’s Lotto 649 draw. But a total of 26 guaranteed prizes of $1 million each were handed out with 17 in Ontario. The jackpot for the next Lotto 649 draw on April 4 will be approximately $7 million.

Beaches Easter Parade will be a sunny day on Queen East

It will be a cool sunny day for the Beaches Easter Prade Sunday. The parade will start at Queen Street East and Munro Park Avenue and continue along Queen Street East and Woodbine Avenue.  Police advise Queen will be closed in sections.

Road closure: 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
– Queen Street East, from Munroe Park Avenue to Fallingbrook Road

Road closure: 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
– Queen Street East, from Munroe Park Avenue to Fallingbrook Road
– Nursewood Road, from Queen Street East to #24 Nursewood Road

Road closure: 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
– Queen Street East, from Fallingbrook Road to Woodbine Avenue

Road closure: 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
– Woodbine Avenue, from Queen Street East to Lake Shore Boulevard East
– Lake Shore Boulevard East, from Coxwell Avenue to Woodbine Avenue

Oh hello there! We’ll be seeing you real soon in handcuffs

Peel police have released video of two burglars recorded March 10 near Eglinton Ave West and Dubonet Dr. in Mississauga. The video is here and shows the lead perpetrator carefully removing shards of glass from a smashed sliding door. He then enters and poses for this apparently quite good likeness. As posted to CP24 the perp speaks in Spanish after spotting the camera pointed right at him. He grabs it in an apparent effort to disable it. He asks the other suspect named Carlos for assistance. But it was all too late. The two made off with jewelry and various electronic items. Investigators are appealing for witnesses, or anyone who may have information concerning this investigation to contact 11 Division Criminal Investigation Bureau at (905) 453-2121 Ext 1133. Information may also be left anonymously by calling Peel Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), or by visiting www.peelpolice.ca.