The South Bayview Bulldog

It was actually raining money on an Illinois interstate after a truck carrying cash from a video gambling machine lost control and collided with a car, spraying $5, $10 and $20 bills all over, forcing police to shut the road down for an hour — CNN

Toys “R” Us will close 180 stores in the US as it tries to deal with debt and the onslaught of Amazon.com. That’s 20 percent of its 900 locations there. Toys “R” Us Canada president Melanie Teed-Murch said all 83 stores will remain open for business. Then, Elton John says he will soon stop touring. This appears to be a response to the appeal of family life at home with children. Below that, Scarborough’s Mike Meyers has been inducted into the Order of Canada. And finally, an outspoken CP Rail conductor who was in the cab of the engine during a derailment has been fired for a second time. You be the judge.

The scandalous case of Larry Nassar, the one-time US Olympic doctor who used his position to prey on  young women athletes, has seen the disgraced physician sentenced in Lansing, Michigan to as much as 175 years in prison. The judge in the case, Rosemarie Aquilina, told Nassar she has just signed his death warrant. CBC

A video of a baby rhino taking a shower has been released by the Toronto Zoo. It is great fun to watch the first- time bathing splash of the three-week old rhino. The video is on Twitter and Facebook and embedded here. The infant, which has not yet been named, was the zoo’s first newborn of 2018. Zookeepers say the rhino was “not too sure of it” and startled when splashed by his mother, Asha, short for Ashakiran. “Today is the first time we see him frolicking, jumping, rolling on his side and tummy, and thoroughly enjoying himself under the water spray,” the zoo said on Facebook. Now, the baby rhino likes the cool water on his face and body and no longer minds being cleaned. It is seen jumping as the water sprays over him and taking a few playful steps in the water. At one point, he rolls on his side and tries to roll onto his back. Then, he stands and he sniffs the water. The whole time, his ears are flapping, and occasionally, his tail is wagging.

.

Town Hall

Robyn’s advice

Maurice Cody Family Skate

Skate Canada Synchronized Championships

Please empty

Councillor Jon Burnside is reminding residents of his annual town hall meeting at the William Lea Room at Leaside Arena on February 5. That’s a Monday. At the upper right, advice from Robyn Hochglaube, estimable admin of Leaside Community Facebook group. She notes that other people’s negative energy is not worth your time. Words to live by Madam.  Below that, the cute drawings of kidlets are a reminder of the Maurice Cody Family Skate Night at Hodgson Middle School January 26 from 6 to 8 p.m. Lower left, the Skate Canada Synchronized Skating Championships February 23 to 25 will see many Leaside folk present. And finally, this eyesore was tweeted recently from the corner of Bayview Ave and Millwood Rd. The disgruntled poster said it had been that way a week.

The federal government is said to be ready to endorse the status-quo state of mail delivery across the country. Briefly stated, it appears that those who now get mail delivered to their homes will continue to do so. Those who have already been converted to community mail boxes will have to accept that fate. No new boxes will be built, it is understood. Public Services Minister Carla Qualtrough was expected to roll out new plan at a Canada Post plant in Mississauga Wednesday.

The medical staff at a Kalamazoo hospital and friends across that City are rallying to the aid of a physician who came to the US as a child. He has now suddenly been taken into custody by immigration officials due to misdemeanors carried out when he was a teen. Then, Neil Diamond will retire, a decision forced upon him by his health. Below that, the flu season is hitting hard but while services are stretched there does not seem to be quite the state of panic felt in the US. And finally, Minnie Mouse, cartoonings answer to Eve, has been honoured in Hollywood.

Ontario transit agency Metrolinx says that GO Transit was the target of an attack by North Korean hackers for reasons unknown. No no personal information was compromised and systems that operate its trains and buses were not affected. North Korea appears to be on a campaign of testing whatever foreign system it can find. The attack has qualities related to the so-called WannaCry virus that has shutdown hospitals in the UK.  Spokeswoman Anne Marie Aikins said Tuesday that the cyber attack happened recently, but would not give a date or what specifically was targeted because of security concerns.

BELL HIT BY DATA THEFT

The RCMP has launched an investigation into a data breach at Bell Canada that appears to have compromised customer names and email addresses, but no credit card or banking information. Bell Canada spokesman Nathan Gibson told The Canadian Press that “fewer than 100,000 customers were affected.” Bell Canada has alerted customers who were affected, and also informed them that additional security, authentication and identification requirements have been implemented

Union ad in the Star

911

Mike McCormick, union president

The Toronto Police Association has published an ad that depicts Mayor Tory and Chief Saunders, as well as police board chair Andrew Pringle, laughing at delays which have apparently occurred in dealing with 911 calls. Behind the three public figures is the emergency number scrawled in blood. By any measure, the ad seems to take the union’s campaign against efforts to control the cost of policing to a new low. The ad was published by the Toronto Star Tuesday. It carries the wording: “These guys are putting your safety on hold.”  Speaking with reporters about the ad, Tory conceded that there have been some issues with callers to 911 being put on hold but he said that efforts are underway to address them.

“BEYOND COMPREHENSION” SAYS MAYOR

“The notion to me that the way you deal with this is to put an ad in the newspaper showing people laughing while blood is splattered behind them is beyond comprehension,” he said. “It is a throwback to the old days of the way police union bosses acted and I just don’t want to be part of it. I have my job to do and I will continue to do it the way that I do which I hope is responsibly and respectfully.” The specifics of any delays are not contained in reportage. Head of the TPA, Mike McCormick, says some people have been put on hold for minutes not seconds but the circumstances are not stated. 911 operators deal with many calls that do not require immediate responses.

Canada and the ten remaining members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership have vowed to sign on to a trade agreement without the US. The deal leaves Canadian unionists, farmers and businessmen widely divided on the meaning of such trade. The heads of unions and auto manufacturing condemned the idea and predicted Canadian-made cars would soon be full of foreign-made parts. Dairy farmers were equally upset. But Canadian Cattlemen and the Chamber of Commerce applauded the prospect. The TPP is made up of Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Maylasia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam .

WYNNE EXPRESSES CONCERN

Ontario’s premier says the revised Trans-Pacific Partnership must not come at the expense of key Ontario sectors, including the auto industry. Kathleen Wynne says while freer trade and diversification is a good thing, she has heard concerns from many in the automotive sector over the course of TPP negotiations. Wynne says she will continue to stand up for those Ontario jobs and for all of the province’s workers and businesses.

Archbishop Colin Johnson is seen with Ms. Elizabeth Hill at presentation of The Order of the Diocese of Toronto.

LOL in Leaside is March 2

Screenagers at NTCI Wednesday

St. Luke’s on Coxwell

Drop off skates and hockey gear at Davisville JPS

Leaside United Shrove Tuesday February 13

Archbishop Colin Johnson will visit St. Cuthbert’s Anglican Church Sunday for worship and a reception after the 10 a.m. service. Archbishop Johnson retires from long and distinguished service in December. To the right, Charlene Kalia has announced that Laughing Out Loud in Leaside (9) will take place Friday March 2 in the Lea Room at Leaside Arena. The beneficiary of this long-standing local event this year will be Moorelands Community Services on Merton St.  Lower left, the North Toronto Collegiate Institute’s Parents Council will screen the informative film Screenagers on Wednesday night (January 24) at 7.30 at 17 Broadway Ave.  Screenagers addresses the most pervasive parenting issue of our time head on — the social media capture of young minds with distractions that can hardly be imagined. The film empowers kids to best navigate the digital world and provides practical resources to help them do it. To the right two notices of the annual pancake dinners locally and a reminder again from Davisville Junior Public School about the chance to help kids skate by dropping off unused gear at the school office. Please do.

A boxer-mix pet dog has been put down in Windsor after it attacked a child who tried to get between it and another canine as they fought. The six-year-old, Karma Jarrett, told her story to the Windsor Star. Police were alerted to the incident on Jan. 11 and an investigation determined that a family dog attacked a member of the extended family in the owner’s home. They say the family chose to euthanize the pet, meaning there’s no danger to the public. Boxers are not a banned breed. The terrible wounds that mark the girl’s cheek are cautionary evidence to parents with pets, especially multiple pets.

Karma Jariett, 6, talks about being mauled by a dog in West Windsor, Thursday, January 11, 2018. pic.twitter.com/NKEVolD3V0

— The Windsor Star (@TheWindsorStar) January 12, 2018