The frightening tangle of two trucks and car at O’Connor Drive and Dohme Ave. Friday about 5 p.m. has sent two people to hospital. The intersection has traffic signals and is northeast of the intersection of O’Connor and St.Clair Ave.
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Judge Timothy R. Lipson has found senior Dalton McGuinty aide David Livingston guilty of mischief and unlawful use of a computer in the notorious gas plant cover up scandal. His assistant, Laura Miller, was found not guilty. The Crown contended the accused had illegally erased emails from government computers to hide what had been said and done by the Liberal government ministers and staff on the eve of the 2010 general election. In convicting Mr Livingston, 65, Judge Lipson said the former chief of staff to former premier McGuinty was a sophisticated individual who knew exactly what he was doing.
BREAKING: Laura Miller not guilty, David Livingston guilty in Liberal gas plan email scandal. #onpoli https://t.co/1fgpH5elWe
— Toronto Sun (@TheTorontoSun) January 19, 2018
BREAKING: David Livingston found GUILTY of both charges in #onpoli #gasplants trial (still waiting for verdict on Laura Miller)https://t.co/H6TzW9UCE0
— Mike Crawley (@CBCQueensPark) January 19, 2018
Jurors have acquitted the three former Montreal, Maine and Atlantic (MMA) railway employees charged with criminal negligence causing death in the 2013 Lac-Mégantic rail disaster. Locomotive engineer Tom Harding, 56, rail traffic controller Richard Labrie, 59, and operations manager Jean Demaître, 53, were all charged after the derailment of a runaway fuel train early on July 6, 2013. Several tankers, carrying highly volatile crude oil, exploded, turning downtown Lac-Mégantic into an inferno and killing 47 people. CBC
Creeds Coffee Bar and Dry Cleaning opened Friday at 1595 Bayview Ave. with brisk business and a few finishing touches still to come. Patrons were told that the storefront sign will be installed Monday. The espresso is a suitably solid jolt to the brain. Other South Bayview news includes (right) the Shrove Tuesday (so soon?) Pancake Dinner at St.Cuthbert’s Anglican at Bayview and St. Cuthbert’s Rd. Centre left, the Carnaval de Glendon will take place Saturday, January 27 just up the road at the Gendon campus. Ça à l’air amusant. Then below, duelling events of St. Cuthbert’s and Leaside United, a potluck dinner versus a Trivia night. Hard to choose but they both go this Saturday (tomorrow). Finally (lower right) the January 22 meeting to plot a future for the old Belsize (now Regent) Theatre.
Toronto Raptor’s DeMar DeRozan has been selected for the second time to start the NBA all-star game on Thursday as a starter for the Eastern Conference. Selections are made by fan, media and player balloting. The game is being played in DeRozan’s hometown of Los Angeles. DeRozan’s father has been ill and he has been travelling back to Los Angeles whenever possible to be with him. He is hopeful that both his parents will be able to attend. He now matches Kyle Lowry and Chris Bosh as a two-time starter representing the Raptors; Vince Carter was named a starter five times while with the Raptors. Other starting players for the Eastern Conference include Boston’s Kyrie Irving, Cleveland’s LeBron James, Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo and Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid. Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant of Golden State, Houston’s James Harden and two New Orleans Pelicans, Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins, were voted in from the West. LeBron James and Stephen Curry, the top vote-getters, will be team captains in new draft format. NBA all-star votes include some ridiculous selections
Mayor Tory held a news conference Friday to announce that the City will launch a pothole blitz this weekend ahead of a freeze and thaw cycle. The work will likely put an added strain on local roads. Beginning Saturday, Toronto will double the number of pothole repair crews on the job from an average of 25 on a typical day to 55. The crews will be filling potholes across the City with a particular emphasis on the Don Valley Parkway and Gardiner Expressway. Sections of Mt. Pleasant have shown some severe damage. Drivers have to weave dangerously to avoid vehicle suspension damage. Exposed streetcar tracks and bricks can be seen in holes between St. Clair and Davisville. So far in 2018, city crews have filled a total of 6,041 potholes compared to 7,753 during the same time period last year
The Video Wheel wants you to know that this is National Popcorn Day. Whatever else happens, take comfort in the recipes offered here. In the US meanwhile, there is widespread alarm about the extent and severity of the flu this year. Many would like to create a more effective vaccine but as most people know, the flu doesn’t stand still. Then in New Zealand, the prime minister is having a baby. Jacinda Ardern is upbeat about balancing her duties. Such a different place is that little land of not even five million souls. Finally, Quebec psychiatrists are among many who wonder about the brave new world of legal marijuana. They want THC levels limited to 15 percent. And the City of Montreal is worried that toking is, after all, smoking. Will activists pursue a return to smoke-filled rooms?
The family of a girl, 11, has made a gracious apology for what it calls the “pain and anger” caused by a story that the child had been attacked by a scissor-wielding man who cut her hijab. It said: “This has been a very painful experience for our family. We want to thank everyone who has shown us support at this difficult time. Again, we are deeply sorry for this and want to express our sincere apologies to every Canadian.” The widely reported case was given a prominence which seemed improbable when the Toronto and District School Board either encouraged or permitted a news conference featuring the child. It occurred within a brief time after the incident was reported and seemed to many, even as it was happening, rather questionable. Thursday, columnist Rose Dimanno criticised the TDSB for this rush to publicity and also for its decision to end the Officer Resource Program even though a large majority of students said it seemed like a good idea. Carleton study finds cops and students a good fit in Peel
Two young men are dead and two gravely wounded in an ambush of sorts early Friday morning in Etobicoke. An unkown number of gunmen opened fire on a car in which the four were riding. It jumped a curb and stopped on the front lawn of a residence on West Deane Park Drive sometime after midnight. The matter continues to unfold. .
Creed Coffee Bar (and dry cleaning) has tweeted that it will open for business at 1595 Bayview Ave. Friday, January 19 at 7 a.m. Welcome Creeds. Upper right, Paige Cowan has posted an emotional announcement that she will close her shop, Wildbird at 622 Mt. Pleasant Rd., after 25 years in business. The birders and gift shop is a favorite in the area and greatly loved by many customers. Below that, Joanna Lavoie of the Beach Mirror says the crossing guard recently removed from the corner of Plains Rd. and Donlands Ave. has been restored after a community protest. A survey suggested to police that there were not enough kids crossing there to justify the guard but the community strongly disagreed. At bottom right, a tweet from Davisville Junior Public School about the new hot lunch program that started this week. One first grader declared to the principal “You gotta try the butter chicken with naan, Mrs. Farrelly.” Finally, as recorded by Rudy Limeback, it seems the self-effacing humour of Simon Hanlon, founder and former owner of McSorley’s Wonderful Saloon, is alive and well. Two boards outside the local favorite carry Hanlon chucklers this week, to wit: Many people have eaten here and gone on to live productive lives and The guy who parked your car doesn’t work here.
A New York Times article, as noted by City News, celebrates the creation of the butter tart in Ontario. They attribute the first butter tart to Mrs. Malcom MacLeod. Well thank you Mrs. MacLeod. Other news? The UK government has appointed Tracey Crouch, MP for Chatham and Aylesford, to be the country’s first Minister of Loneliness. It is a serious undertaking directed at dealing with this human affliction, said to affect nine million Britons at any given time. Below that, there is frenzy in much of New England and elsewhere in the US as parents hasten to get their children a flu shot. This follows the death over a period of about two days of 10-year-old Nico Mallozi. Lower left, those Scarborough kids who formed the Barenaked Ladies will be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. Their sophomoric name was both scandalous and, well, sophomoric when they burst onto the scene in 1988. Finally, a newly-born Okapi or zebra giraffe has been named after Meghan Markle. Although the Okapi bears striped markings reminiscent of zebras, it is most closely related to the giraffe.
Reuters is reporting that Amazon has short-listed 20 metropolitan areas, including Toronto, to build its second headquarters. It reviewed 238 proposals. Amazon said it would work with each of the candidate locations to gather more information and evaluate the potential of a partnership in the future. In September Amazon announced it would build a $5-billion second address in North America. It is estimated that the headquarters could bring as many as 50,000 new jobs. Unexpected Amazon selections included Columbus, Ohio; Indianapolis; Nashville; and Miami. Other cities that made the list include Atlanta, Austin, Chicago and New York. Los Angeles was the only city from the West Coast selected. List is here.
