The South Bayview Bulldog

As many as 5,000 Toronto Hydro customers lost power when an ambulance hit a pole near Weston Road and Bradstock Road in the west end overnight. The driver of the ambulance was taken to hospital and treated for minor injuries. Power has since been restored. Paramedics says the driver was not responding to a a call at the time of the crash but there is no reason given for the crash.

Crane lifts broken trailer

Lucky to get off road

Heavy rolls of paper

Snow collapsed walls

Then floor gave way

The remarkable situation occurred on Highway 400 southbound at Bradford yesterday as a tractor-trailer loaded with heavy rolls of paper just collapsed. The driver was able to get the vehicle to the roadside. The trailer walls were weakened by snow and ice on the roof and that weakened the floor. Next thing you know, the trailer snapped and was dragging on the pavement. No one was hurt.

A nasty exchange between Cynthia Giles of the Environmental Protection Agency and Fiat Chrysler boss Sergio Marchionne has gripped the attention of North American car owners. Ms. Giles, assistant administrator of the EPA, today accused Fiat Chrysler equipping more than 100,000 diesel Jeep vehicles with software which she said represented a “clear and serious violation of the Clean Air Act.”  The accusation applies to 2014, 2015 and 2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee and to light-duty Ram 1500 trucks with 3-liter diesel engines. Marchionne seemed livid in categorical denials and saying he was offended by the agency’s “incredibly belligerent” attacks on the auto industry. He said his company had done “nothing” illegally and those who said differently were “smoking illegal material.”  But the EPA pointed to what it called “eight different undisclosed software programs” installed on the vehicles, collectively causing them to spew harmful nitrous oxide emissions which can exacerbate respiratory conditions. The allegations will raise fears among Jeep and Ram diesel owners that they are about to face the nightmare of devalued vehicles and long battles for compensation. But analyst Michelle Krebs says she does not think this is the same as the VW scandal.

Would Ray Kroc approve? See trailer below

It is the most asked for change by McDonald’s customers and it has been for years. The all-day breakfast, introduced last year in the  U.S. has boosted sales there. Now, finally, McDonald’s will test the market for eggs after 11 a.m in Canada. And it is the egg, make no mistake, which many consider the universal food, that propels unknown numbers of restaurants to profitability. None of the pilot stores will be in Toronto but eight of them will be in Whitby-Ajax. Three will be three in Mississauga and the rest in places like Montreal and suburban Vancouver. McDonald’s has about 1,400 restaurants across the country.

RAY KROC MOVIE

Which makes one wonder if it was Ray Kroc that decided there would be no eggs after 11 a.m. The story of the McDonald’s founder will be in theatres January 20 but the all-day breakfast is not mentioned so far as we know.

A security camera shows the terrifying moment when a teen girl waiting on a corner in the New York neighborhood of Borough Park is struck by an out-of-control car. She is hit and seems to go up on the hood (better than under the wheels). She is okay. The driver, however, a man his 60s died from a medical condition that caused him to lose control of his car. Unexplained, the way the back door opens as if someone is trying to get out of the car.

Sharon Navarro (Admin) loves new logo

Good crowd for birthday

Staff gives thumbs up

New logo to re-brand MGH

It has been a lively day at Michael Garron Hospital (Toronto East General) as the staff and community celebrate 88 years of service at Coxwell and Mortimer Avenues. Many happy returns everyone and thanks for all your good work already done and endless triumphs still to come. Take a look at #WeAreMGH 

Mary Fragedakis joins friends and staff to celebrate

Premier Wynne has appointed Marie-France Lalonde (Ottawa-Orleans) Corrections Minister. Now former minister David Orazietti resigned last month to spend more time with family. Corrections has become the focus of a furious Toronto Star crusade targeting solitary confinement. Sadly, it is sometimes needed to simply protect an inmate from others, or vice versa.  Lalonde had been government and consumer services minister, a post that will now be filled by Tracy MacCharles, who also keeps her role as minister responsible for accessibility. MacCharles had also been minister responsible for women’s issues, a portfolio that is now transferred to Indira Naidoo-Harris, who retains responsibility for Early Years and Child Care. Agriculture Minister Jeff Leal gets a new job added, also assuming a new portfolio as minister responsible for small business. Does anyone remember when the Premier herself was Agriculture Minister?

You’re invited

Tom Pashby and friend

His good work

The Leaside Sports Hall of fame is tweeting an invitation to the evening January 19, 2017 at the William Lea Room. It will celebrate the gift of $500,000 to the Leaside Memorial Community Arena. Thanks so much.

Selecting next week's wardrobe. When it comes to men's fashion, this guy knows his stuff! Thnx 4 making me look on point, @thesourcestyle ! pic.twitter.com/RCQZy2dCWa

— Bill Coulter (@BillCoulterTO) January 11, 2017

Statistics from the fourth quarter of 2016 suggest that Midtown re-sale home prices are feeling the pressure from buyers looking elsewhere. Prices were up everywhere but less so in the priciest part of the the GTA.  The average price of a home in the City of Toronto in the final months of 2016 was $720,029, which represents a 12.4 per cent increase from the same time period in 2015. CBC

Good mtg with Judie Arrowood & Sheila Lacroix from Leaside-EastYork Fed of University Women on electoral reform and (many!) other issues. pic.twitter.com/a2X3v3GQch

— Rob Oliphant (@Rob_Oliphant) January 11, 2017

The photo that revealed all

Packers vs Seahawks

Tears of Joy

Ten-year-old Chinese twin sisters separated by adoption as babies have met for the first time in person this week in a deeply touching moment broadcast live on the ABC program Good Morning America. Both girls — Audrey Doering from Wausau, Wisconsin and Gracie Rainsberry of Richland, Washington — wept tears of joy. They might never have found each other except for the curiosity of Audrey’s mom. Through adoption sources in China she found a photo of them as babies with their foster mother. She realized they were twins. She went to work trying to locate her daughter’s sister and found Gracie in the same country, albeit 1,500 miles away. They’re sameness is remarkable, the more so because ABC arranged to dress them identically for their meeting. Both girls wear glasses naturally.