Area churches and those all across the country have marked Shrove Tuesday. Here are scenes from Leaside United Church where Councillor Burnside and Mayor Tory were present. The event raised money for LUC’s ongoing support of El Hogar, the Honduran home and educational centre for needy children. Pancake dinners were held at St.Cuthbert’s Anglican Church, Northlea United Church and many others.
Meghan Markle has dazzled Edinburgh in a trip to the righteous capital of the Scots tribe. A Shetland pony tried to take a love-nip at Prince Harry’s bride-to-be but she eluded the creature. To the right, Mike Wilner talks of Jerry Howarth’s decision to retire. Below that, a BBC report asks the question why does high fashion like to portray women as dead. Good question. Finally, Susan Wojcicki, head of YouTube, defends the firm’s ongoing business relationship with the young nitwit-genius-millionaire Logan Paul. Video Wheel compliments to all.
The parade of car-sharing companies seeking free street parking from City Council may well include General Motors. They’re touting a new app called Maven that lets millennials (and anybody else we suppose) start a share car from a phone. What a Golden Age we live in. City Council is rightly nervous about issuing “permits” because, after all, tax-paying people who actually own cars might like to park there and the moral high-ground of car-sharing may turn out to be populated with mere money-grubbing
REMINGTON BROKE
Reuters says that Remington Arms, the foremost gunmaker in the world, has reached a deal to reduce its $950 million debt load, seeking to write off about $700 million. The company will continue to operate as usual as the case proceeds in Delaware federal court, Remington executives are quoted as saying. Here is how this happened. The firearm industry was riding high during the run-up to the 2016 election. Hillary Clinton was favored to win, and an array of gun rights advocates warned of a looming Second Amendment crackdown. One Las Vegas gun store advertised a “pre-Hillary” sale. “Don’t wait!” it cautioned. “Prices will skyrocket after Crooked Hillary gets in.” But with its great friend Donald Trump having won the election, Remington finds that people are yawning at the idea of buying a new weapon.
Toronto police have said Tuesday that no human remains were found buried in the back yard of 53 Mallory Crescent, the property where landscaper Bruce McArthur worked and stored landscaping equipment. This finding was separate from the discovery of remains of at least six people in planters on the property. It appears that there is still work left for the forensic anthropology teams. Detective Hank Idsinga of the homicide squad told CBC police “will have a second run at some of the properties” when the ground thaws.The report below contains news from late Tuesday as police decided to dig up the drain at the home.
Jerry Howarth will retire from his play-by-play duties calling Blue Jays games immediately, he has announced. Howarth, who joined original Blue Jays announcer Tom Cheek in 1981, says his health, stamina and continuing voice issues dictated the move. “Who knew that I would spend more than half my life in Toronto with my wife, Mary, and our two sons, Ben and Joe, doing what I love to do most, reaching out to friends and fans alike across our great country to talk baseball?” he told Canadian Press. Howarth has broadcast an estimated 7,500 professional baseball games in his career. A native of York, Pa., who was raised in San Francisco, Howarth began his broadcast career in 1974 with the Tacoma Twins of the Pacific Coast League. Howarth called Toronto’s back-to-back World Series victories in 1992 and 1993 with Cheek, who died in 2005 from brain cancer. The radio audience for Blue Jays games has shrunk over the years with the elimination of television blackouts, but there may still be a need for such a service among commuters. Still, it may also be possible to simply simulcast TV broadcasts to radio. Time will tell.
Congratulations on a wonderful career, Jerry!
We wish you the best in retirement. #ThankYouJerry pic.twitter.com/bHI6dpUKgH
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) February 13, 2018
Police have issued a special clarification about the address of the police culture meeting Thursday in Thorncliffe Park. It offers apologies for an incorrect address published in a release Tuesday and states the correct address as 1 Leaside Park Dr, Toronto on Thursday, February 15, 2018 – 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
A heartbreaking story is coming out Monday night about the death of Avery Kernaghan, 13, of Mt. Brydges near London. Friends at Leaside Memorial Community Gardens have sent condolences to Avery’s family. She was part of the synchronized skating family. Avery died in a car accident Sunday during a break in the Provincial Skating Championships in nearby Komoka. Her dad was seriously hurt. We may wish to say a prayer on Shrove Tuesday as families gather at area churches. There are dinners at Leaside United, St.Cuthbert’s, Northlea United and many others. To the right, the Winterfolk Blues and Roots Festival at the Black Swan Tavern on the Danforth. Lower left, a new business will open downstairs at 1560 Bayview. That’s at the corner of Belsize Drive. And right, an invitation to Family Day Skating on February 19.
Government accountants at Queen’s Park say the sell-off of Hydro One is $1.8 billion had idea. That’s how much money the public would have saved if the Liberal cabinet had simply borrowed what money it thought it needed. The Financial Accountability Office examined both scenarios and found the cost implications were clear. “Over the long-term, the FAO estimates that the province’s net debt will be higher as a result of the partial sale of Hydro One when compared to an alternative of borrowing to finance an equivalent amount of infrastructure investment,” said Jeffrey Novak, chief financial analyst for the FAO.
CBC SAYS OPP EXAMINING OPINION POLLS FROM 2014 ELECTION
John Lancaster at the CBC says the OPP has been looking into whether there was a financial benefit to Justin Di Ciano in Ward 5 and Mark Grimes in Ward 6 from polls done during the run-up to the 2014 municipal general election. The polls appear to have been paid for by Dunpar Homes, a firm that once employed Di Ciano. CBC
Trucks — as many as three — and other vehicles tangled on the eastbound 401 at Weston Rd. Monday. Two people went to hospital with serious injuries. The mid-morning collision has the signs of misjudged speeds and perhaps inattention. OPP say only that the vehicles collided.
A man has gone berserk on a train arriving at the College St. station on Line 1, stabbing another passenger and struggling with witnesses who attempted to intervene. The victim has been taken to hospital and is said by a witness interviewed by CP24 to have lost a lot of blood. The attacker is in custody. The witness interview detailed passengers preparing to exit the train at College when the attacker produced a weapon, apparently an ice pick, and began to stab a man. The witness said the attacker and victim were not known to each other.
