Da Mao and Er Shun and Toronto-born offspring Jia Panpan and Jia Yueyue have left Toronto Zoo for their flight to Calgary. The 10-year agreement with China specified five years at Toronto and five at Calgary. The family will be the first pandas to visit the Alberta city since the 1988 Olympics and will take up residence in a multimillion-dollar facility at the Calgary Zoo built for their stay.
The Video Wheel begins downtown where a homeless man has camped out, it is said, for decades. Now there are planters placed there and his long residence on this pavement is over, at least for now. Few societies anguish as much as does this one about the right to live on the sidewalk and the guilt felt by those who wish it were not so. Then to the right, Harry and Meghan have sent the invitations. Watch the mail. Next, a well done report from Heart’s Delight, Newfoundland where saving trapped dolphins is second-nature to the citizenry. Worth watching. And Apple will repatriate overseas cash and pay a tax of $38 billion to the US government. Truly staggering.
Meridian Credit Union will be showing the 2005 re-make of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at 11 a.m. at the Regent Theatre on Mt. Pleasant on Saturday, March 31. This is the Third Annual Easter in the Village event. The movie is followed by an egg hunt in Davisville Park sponsored by the BIA. Upper right, Toronto Greeks and their friends will parade again on the Danforth Sunday. The street will be closed from about 12.45 to 3 p.m. Below that, Andy Elder’s fun evening of Burgers, Butter Tarts, Beer, Band and Bingo is set for March 29 at the Amsterdam Brewery at 45 Esandar Dr. Call 416-467-4745 or inquire at admin@grilltime.ca. Donations of gently-used clothing to New Circles Prom Drive would be appreciated. At bottom, a reminder of the Agnes Macphail presentation to Carol Burtin Fripp Saturday night and an upcoming appearance by author and illustrator Brenden Wenzel at Mabel’s Fables March 28 (416) 322-0438.
Water has been restored to some 2,000 tenants of 49 Thorncliffe Park Dr. Friday morning after crews worked through the night to repair a water main. Owners of the building, Morguard Property, said it understood the frustration that the two-day loss of running water created. Thursday, City Councillor Jon Burnside was present at the Jenner Jean-Marie Community Centre across the street was opened to provide toilet and cooking facilities to the tenants. The landlord was reported to have thought that repairs begun Wednesday had fixed the main. But when the water was turned on Thursday afternoon, the pipe shifted and began to leak again. Bottled water was being distributed and there was considerable anger. Mayor Tory was at the scene Thursday and ordered the fire service to open a nearby hydrant and send water through a hose to the apartment building. Suzanne Desrochers of Morguard said the property management firm’s first priority was always to “ensure tenant needs are addressed and that the water service is restored.” She thanked both the city and the contractor for making “every effort” to restore water service as soon as possible.
I am witnessing caring public service at its finest as @Toronto_Fire and Toronto Water are going above and beyond to help residents at 49 Thorncliffe Park during the domestic water issues inside the building. Thank you all! @JohnTory @jon_burnside
— Matthew Pegg (@ChiefPeggTFS) March 23, 2018
Oh hey there, @AM34. Nice to have you back. https://t.co/lHjbAR0FqV
— NHL (@NHL) March 23, 2018
Auston Matthews scored this enormously entertaining goal to put the Leafs out in front of the Predators Thursday night in Nashville. The Leafs went on to a convincing 5-2 finish against league-leading Nashville.
North American stock markets plunged Thursday as President Trump announced tariffs on Chinese goods that might amount to $60 billion US. The plan intends to limit Chinese imports and as well as its investment in the US in retaliation for years of alleged intellectual property theft. The White House said the actions were necessary to counter unfair competition from China’s state-led economy. It said years of talks had failed to produce change. China said it was ready to retaliate with “necessary measures”. Beijing also said it would “fight to the end” in any trade war with the US. The Dow Jones ended the day at 23,957.89, a fall of 2.9% or 724.42 points making it the fifth biggest points fall ever. Toronto’s TSX fell some 275 points in sympathy.
Mastermind Toys has announced the imminent opening of three more stores and is saying it will open seven more by the end of the year. The three opening soon are in Hamilton, Edmonton and Saskatoon. That will make the total 70 stores in eight provinces. Mastermind says it has 1,300 employees. The firm is 30 years old and since 2011 has been on an expansion program which has seen the opening of 53 stores.
FOUNDER OF TOYS “R” US DEAD
Charles P. Lazarus, the World War II veteran who founded Toys “R” Us six decades ago has died at age 94. His death comes a week after the chain announced it was going out of business in the US.
The Royal Bank will close its branch at the corner of Mt. Pleasant Rd. and Hillsdale Ave. in July, the bank has confirmed. This closure along with the shuttering of the Royal branch on Eglinton West west of Duncannon Dr. leaves RBC branches at Bayview and Belsize, Wicksteed and Laird and at Yonge and Orchard View Blvd., across the street from the Yonge-Eglinton Centre. The Royal says accounts from Mt. Pleasant will be consolidated at the Yonge St. branch. The closure leaves Meridian Credit Union at Mt. Pleasant Rd. and Soudan Ave. as the only financial institution left in the BIA strip from Davisville to Eglinton. Which brave bank will start closing branches to be “digital”
The federal Competition Bureau alleges in court documents that Torstar Corp. and Postmedia Network Canada Corp. conspired in their 2017 newspaper transaction, which was followed by the closure of dozens of mostly community publications. So far, no charges are laid and the companies deny they did anything illegal. Toronto Star
Karen Sintz, the popular three-term Councillor for Ward 16 from 2002 to 2014, continues to keep her name in front of the public. She has again written about the need for parkland at the corner of that present-day disaster zone known as Yonge St. and Eglinton Ave. Stintz resigned to run for mayor in 2014 but pulled out in the face of the onslaught from John Tory, Rob Ford and Olivia Chow. Money was also an issue. Christin Carmichael Greb won the ward in 2014 with merely 17 percent of the vote. Ranked ballots anyone? Upper right, we see 1970s Queen St. E. at Baseball Place. It is the site of the City’s first baseball stadium, Sunlight Park. But Google Sidewalk Labs thinks this is a picture taken at the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in the farm town of St. Mary’s. Brendan @Dovercourter is not amused and has many other examples of Google map making gone haywire. Below that, kids at Davisville Public School learn about the Persian New Year and a reminder of the Third Annual Easter in the Village event on Mt. Pleasant March 31. Lower left, Carol Burtin Fripp will receive the Agnes Macphail Award Saturday night and Andy Elder’s Just “B” Cause charity evening is set for March 29.
The US has backed down on a demand that a re-negotiated NAFTA contain a requirement that 50 percent of parts made in cars here in Canada come from the US. It was a staggering expectation and the auto unions say it would have put carmakers out of business in Canada. Some say the Ontario economy stands on two legs. One foot is in Oakville and the other in Oshawa. Then, video of the accident in which an Uber self-driving car hits a woman walking her bike on a dark, dark roadway. Some are saying that it may not be possible to stop a car in time — even a super-smart car — when something like that happens. Below, it’s embarrassing when two police cars collide on their way to a call. The question is, what happened in Peel Region early Wednesday? Pam Seatle of City News is asking the question. Finally, if you want something to dislike, try the third-world problem called Boko Haram. Ugh.
