The South Bayview Bulldog

Mona Piper

Mona Piper, the faithful and vigilant crossing guard who manned the corner of Cleveland St. and Millwood Rd. for 43 years, has passed away at the age of 88. She was the longest-serving crossing guard in the City and might have been on the job to the day of her death had she not taken a fall last year. The news was passed on by Josh Matlow (Ward 22) who announced Piper’s death on Twitter Wednesday. Mona Piper was a legend in the area and lifelong friend to many students, parents and staff at Maurice Cody Junior Public School.

It’s not fun any more. Two years into the construction of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT and with three more years to go, Urban Toronto has published a feature on the conditions at Yonge St. and Eglinton Ave. which can safely be called dangerous to the health. That might also include the frayed mental state of anyone who has to confront the challenge of crossing Eglinton at any point, or worse, drive along it. Urban Toronto

Remember when?

Court documents seen by Canadian Press are said to show that the Federal Competition Bureau requested search warrants for premises of seven companies because it had reasonable grounds to believe they committed multiple offences. It says bread wholesalers Canada Bread Company Ltd. and George Weston Ltd.’s senior officers directly communicated with one another and agreed to increase prices. It claims the suppliers met with their retail customers named as Loblaw Companies Ltd., Walmart Canada Corp., Sobeys Inc., Metro Inc. and Giant Tiger Stores Ltd. to get their approval for the price increase. Late last year, Loblaw and George Weston admitted they sparked the investigation when they approached the bureau after becoming aware of an industry-wide arrangement to agree on retail and wholesale prices of some packaged bread products from late 2001 to March 2015.

Bloor station/CBC

Cracked/CBC

Anyone might begin to question the quality of the steel being used as the TTC dealt with another cracked rail Wednesday morning during the rush. It was fixed by 10 a.m. according to TTC customer service tweets. The transit body said travel between Bloor station (where the crack occurred) and Union station was doubled from ten minutes to 20 minutes. Cracked rail at Bloor station caused morning delay. 

Neck jewellery was the object of criminal intent of these four men, according to police. They say a man, 20, was targeted for distraction and robbery by the foursome. It occurred at 2 a.m. (what a surprise) at Duncan and Pearl Sts on December 29. If you know them, call 52 Division police.

A celebration of life is scheduled for Wednesday (today) for Beverly Cooke (nee Willoughby) at Humphrey’s Funeral Home on Bayview Ave. She died at her home in Port Dalhousie (St. Catharines) on Thursday, January 25, 2018 after a courageous battle with cancer. Beverly Cooke was for many years a Kindergarten Educational Assistant at both Blythwood Public School and Rosedale Junior Public School. Obituary

Reporter Taylor Dungjen decided to become a cop

Car 2 Go wants City permits

Super Blue Blood Moon

Amazon, JP Morgan Chase and Berkshire Hathaway

Parents of Otto Warmbier

Some stories we liked this Wednesday include the jarring career change of Toledo Blade reporter Taylor Dungjen (upper left). She found that her appetite for police news made her want to be a cop. See it below. Then upper right, the Car 2 Go people are trying to get the City to sell up to 2,000 residential parking permits to companies that run so-called “free floating” car rentals. We’ll see. Below that, we find the “super blue blood moon” which you did not get up early to observe. The Toronto Star tries to explain it. Lower left, Amazon, JP Morgan Chase and Berkshire Hathaway sent drug stocks reeling Tuesday when they announced they will start their own health plan to serve a combined billion employees. Bottom right, the parents of Otto Warmbier wept as Donald Trump paid tribute to the boy who was locked up and beaten in North Korea. He was sent home to die. And lastly, an informative video report below on the contentious Facebook app for children.

Snow in amounts of maybe 4 cm is forecast for Wednesday. And then Friday, sub-zero daytime temperatures will return and the Weather Network suggests they will extend into the middle of February.

Cookie?

The suspension of two policemen, Vito Dominelli and Jamie Young, for allegedly consuming marijuana edibles of some sort has illuminated the concern about the hallucinogenic nature, if any, of such products. The CBC writes Tuesday that Ryan Vandrey, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioural sciences at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, says it is known. “Folks tend to be more prone to have hallucinations if they have a family history of psychosis, but there have been cases, even one recently in my laboratory, where somebody without a family history of psychosis has had hallucinations following acute dosing with cannabis,” he said. In other parts of the US, legislators in places like Colorado, where recreational marijuana is legal, are concerned that edible pot products are just too much like normal candy and snacks such as brownies and cookies. They fear the temptation or simple misunderstanding that flows from such look-alike food. The two officers work at 13 Division and are reported to have somehow obtained the edibles through legal visits to marijuana dispensaries. An earlier report said that one officer was in a tree when support units found them but the CBC says they were both found in their patrol car.

Prominent Canadian broadcast pioneer and former president of CHUM Limited, Jay Switzer has died. He passed away in Toronto Monday with his family at his side after a brief battle with brain cancer. He was 61. Kevin Beggs, chairman of Lionsgate Television Group, who got to know Switzer in the early days of the company in the late 90s, remembers Switzer as a “larger-than-life figure.”  Switzer began his broadcast career working a switchboard for Toronto’s City TV in 1972. His mother Phyllis was granted the station license and founded the broadcaster.  By 1984, Mr. Switzer would be credited with helping to launch an array of successful CHUM specialty channels, including MuchMusic, Bravo, Space and Pulse 24, later CP24. In 2002, he became president and CEO of Chum Limited. He stepped down from that role after CHUM was acquired by then CTVglobemedia in 2007.

HOLLYWOOD SUITE

Three years later, Switzer would help launch Hollywood Suite, a Toronto-based company that manages four channels that broadcast classic movies. In a statement, fellow Hollywood Suite co-founder Jeff Sackman said Switzer had made a lasting impact on the broadcast industry. “Jay defined friendship, loyalty, fairness, selflessness, and basic human decency. He will be proud to know that these traits have been passed on to so many others who will pay it forward, ensuring that Jay’s legacy is intact and the world will be a better place

First, a  very smart report from City News scribe Danielle Michaud on a move to call a new Halifax CFL team the Explosions. Oh dear. Then, the New England Patriots were showing off their private Boeing 737 aircraft as they landed in Minneapolis for the Super Bowl. Below that, the CBC is calling it the dirty little secret of government gambling. It says that 50 percent of the revenues of Ontario casinos comes from problem gamblers. Finally, culture vultures will enjoy the success of the Malta Baroque Music Festival now underway in its sixth year.

Doug Ford

Caroline Mulroney

A conventional take on the scheduled March leadership convention of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario is that the heavyweight contenders are Doug Ford and Caroline Mulroney. Name recognition and political credentials bulk large for both as does their desire to defeat Kathleen Wynne, ending the 15-year Liberal suzerainty of the province. Ford is a pugnacious defender of the people’s money while Mulroney is a lawyer, businesswoman, wife and mother. She has the Mulroney name and has already been acclaimed in the Conservative heartland riding of York-Simcoe.