The South Bayview Bulldog

Free rides on St. Patrick’s Day/TTC photo

Irish Distillers Inc, makers of Jameson Irish Whiskey, have paid the TTC to run service for free on Saturday after 4 p.m. on the 501 Queen, 504 King and 514 Cherry routes. Entertainment will be offered on some cars by the Canadian indie rock band Hollerado between the hours of 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. The TTC says it is proud of this promotion and the whiskey firm ads on the outside of trams says that “Jameson has your green covered.”  An old Irish expression, it seems.

Bodies remain under the collapsed footbridge at Florida International University Friday morning as work continues to recover them. Six are confirmed dead. Traffic video shows the collapse occurring.

Crash: Male ejected from a vehicle during a single motor vehicle crash. Rushed to hospital without vital signs. 16th Ave is closed between Fern Ave and Bayview Ave for investigation. pic.twitter.com/JBiWwSn2p1

— Tony Smyth (@LateNightCam) March 16, 2018

The CBC says that “City staff” are at work on a plan to widely increase permits for overnight parking in Midtown and East York. Public consultations are said to be planned for north Toronto, East York and at City Hall between April 3 and 10, but no times and locations are yet available. City-issued overnight parking permits — which the report says are currently only required on about 60 per cent of streets — would become mandatory wherever parking is allowed in East York and the old City of Toronto. There’s big money to be harvested.  CBC

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has told CTV that while he doesn’t support Sikh separatism in India he will continue to attend events held by Sikh nationalists in Canada because the gatherings are an opportunity to share his beliefs. It is the same argument that caused concern about former Liberal governments where ministers attended Tamil separatist meetings in Toronto but professed not to support such activity. It is a tricky position for Mr. Singh and will almost certainly be mightily resented in India. Singh told the network that because of his experience dealing personally with the discrimination and marginalization as a member of the Sikh community, he views invitations to speak at these events as opportunities to speak about how he’s personally overcome that adversity.

On Friday, March 16 (today) you can have Coffee with a Cop at four locations. Community members may drop in at these McDonald’s in 41, 42, 43 and 54 Divisions from 10 a.m. to noon..

41 Division: 3150 St. Clair Avenue East
42 Division: 395 Bamburgh Circle
43 Division: 1280 Markham Road
54 Division: 1045 Pape Avenue

A release Friday says that the majority of contacts police have with the public “happen during emergencies or emotional situations. Those situations are not always the most effective times for relationship-building with the community, and some community members may feel officers are unapproachable on the street. “Coffee with a Cop” breaks down barriers and allows for a relaxed, one-on-one, interaction.”

A teen boy is in hospital with several gun wounds after he was found in an underground garage on Rochefort Drive and Deauville Lane, near Don Mills Road and Eglinton Avenue East, at about 11 p.m., Toronto police said. Shell casings could be seen on the ground of the parking lot. Police told the CBC that people were seen fleeing the scene but it is not known if they were suspects.  The boy, 15, is expected to recover.

Rochefort Dr. parking garage/TonySmyth@LateNightCam Twitter

The current newsletter from Ward 26 Councillor Jon Burnside says that the planned opening of the Costco store on Overlea Blvd has now been delayed to June. Previously, the agents for Costco had said that cold winter weather had moved the opening from February to perhaps the end of April. The newsletter also says that the challenge to the re-drawn City ward boundaries has been turned down by the Ontario Municipal Board. This challenge was launched by Ward 5 (Etobicoke) Councillor Justin Di Ciano for reasons not at hand. It is also reported the board of Leaside Memorial Community Gardens is seeking new members. It says that if readers in the ward are “passionate about recreation and community engagement” they may contact the Public Appointments Secretariat at 416-397-0088. Application deadline:is Monday, March 19

Author Sylv Chiang (left) with fan and mom

Artist Connie Choi

Large turnout of tweens and parents

Tournament Trouble

Adventures of kids playing digital games

Mabel herself

Author Sylv Chiang and illustrator Connie Choi were at Mabel’s Fables kids book store Thursday to promote their first book called Tournament Trouble. If the turnout at the upstairs annex to the little shop at 662 Mt. Pleasant is any indication, the two women are onto something. A good crowd of March-break tweens and parents checked publications and many kids joined Choi at a table to do some drawing. Ms Chiang is a teacher by way of a “day job” as she puts it. Ms. Choi is an illustrator of games as well as books. Tournament Trouble tells the story of the adventures experienced by children in their real lives while playing make-believe games.

Aisha Addo/AVNU

Safe trip

DriveHer app

Aisha Addo will launch her women-only ride service Friday. It is called DriveHer and the idea is that both the passenger and the driver are women. It’s easy to understand. She says it has taken nearly two years of groundwork navigating through the City’s bureaucracy, but now it is on. The idea is not new. Some versions of it have failed as was seen recently in Los Angeles. But many feel there is a need in the male-dominated options of Uber and Lyft.

OTHER NEWS

• Run-down Toronto row house, mocked on social media, sells for $675000
• Toronto transit plans get major boost from federal, provincial governments
• Toronto businessman’s companies owe more than $23M in mortgage, contracts, employee wages
• Toronto’s low-rise neighbourhoods losing density as ‘overhousing’ spreads
• Left, right eye challengers to Toronto Mayor John Tory with Doug Ford out of race

Toys “R” Us is headed toward shuttering its US and UK operations, jeopardizing the jobs of some 30,000 employees. It spells the end for a chain known to generations of children and parents for its sprawling stores and Geoffrey the giraffe mascot. CBC says the closing of the company’s 740 US stores over the coming months will finalize the downfall of the chain that succumbed to relentless trends that undercut its business, from online shopping to mobile games. In Canada, Toys ‘R’ Us Canada will try to carry on with CEO David Brandon telling employees Wednesday the Canadian firm will try to bundle its 200 store Canadian business and find a buyer. The company’s US online store would still be running for the next couple of weeks in case there’s a buyer for it.