Premier, mayor at Northlea School talking photo radar

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Premier Wynne, Mayor Tory and others were at Northlea Elementary and Middle School on Rumsey Rd. Thursday morning to announce and promote the photo radar legislation which is now part of the government’s agenda. More pictures on Twitter from school.

Council votes 26-13 to stay with red, white and blue cars

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City Council has voted to ask Chief Saunders if it was really necessary to change the colour of police cars. Especially to gray.  The vote was 26-13 on Wednesday and there was a lot of feeling that the old colour scheme is just fine. And Thursday, Chief Saunders said that he will stop the rollout of the new colour cars pending consultation with the public on their dark-grey-and-white design. The motion came from Michael Thompson (Ward 37) asking that the current white, red and blue colour scheme remain pending a further review and to explain why the change was made. He says the colour scheme — grey with white lettering — makes police harder to approach and undermines the service’s efforts to improve community relations. “What I actually see in terms of the policing particularly in these cars is that we’re actually approaching an American model of policing where it’s becoming more militaristic,” Thompson said. Police chief’s statement 

Praying for a miracle in China as rescuers dig for boy

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Dozens of rescuers in China are trying to reach a five-year-old boy who has been trapped deep down an abandoned well in Baoding, Hebei province since Sunday. .Some 60 excavators and 100 dump trucks are being used in the search.  They boy had been helping harvest vegetables, his father told Chinese media. His condition is unknown. Oxygen, food and water have been supplied but the 30cm-diameter well is too narrow for an adult to enter. The well had been left unused for five years and there were no warning signs. Visual imagery has so far failed to locate the boy.

Jury finds python owner not guilty in death of boys

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Canadian Press 

Maple Leafs raising the flag for our veterans at Sunnybrook

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Toronto Maple Leafs Stand Witness

Why did BMW fly through T-junction and fence into pond?

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Police are struggling with just what was going on when a BMW containing young brothers, 20 and 22, flew through a T-junction in Mississauga, smashed through a chain link fence and plunged into a long deep pond. The calamity occurred sometime last Friday evening after 9 p.m. shortly after the men, Hamza and Shahruka Khan, were last seen in the vicinity of the intersection. There is nothing in the information to cause concern. There are traffic lights controlling the intersection. The Toronto Sun carries comment of an older brother Malik Sikander. He posted a Facebook speculation as to what happened once the car was in the water.

PAINFUL DEATH?

“My brothers died a very painful death. After the car crash, their car went into the pond. Airbags deployed, yet somehow they managed to escape through the sun roof. Shocked by the car crash and cold water, they must have been confused and were swimming in the wrong direction,” he said. Sikander said the men weren’t good swimmers. “They must have cried and shouted their lungs out for help and must have been calling my name to come and help them. I’m sorry babies I weren’t (sic) there for you,” the grieving brother wrote. The men appear to have had a good home life and be otherwise responsible men. The intersection is at Ninth Line and Thomas Street near a 7-Eleven operation. The family had immigrated to Canada from Kuwait two years ago and was said to be enjoying life in Oakville.

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Shakurah Khan, 20, and Hamza Khan, 22

Alert teller helps cops “get to the bottom” of gold theft

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A one-time employee of the Canadian Mint has been found guilty of smuggling $165,000 worth of gold from the building on Sussex Drive apparently in his rectum. A judge concluded the RCMP theory about how Leston Lawrence got the gold out of the mint was correct. As a seven-year employee he was largely unsuspicious to guards when he set off metal detectors 28 times in 2014-15. Hand detectors employed by the guards did not detect the gold inside the man’s body. He was brought to police attention by the Royal Bank when a teller noticed that cheques to Lawrence worth more than $15,000 from an Ottawa gold buyer were being deposited by an employee of the mint.

Georgia’s Leaside playground fund needs your final push

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Those who honour the memory of George Walsh are being asked to help give the campaign to rejuvenate the playground that she loved an extra home-stretch push. It’s important because unless the goal of $1 million is achieved by the end of the year,  the City will require the budget to be renegotiated. This is potentially expensive and wastes the money that has already been given to actually create the new playground. The campaign has raised $600,000 which is held safely in trust for this project. Between now and the end of the year, it should be possible to get the Georgia Walsh Playground Fund close to or at the $1  million mark. Please help. Donate here.

Ouch! Truck’s rear lift crunches Chevy on Millwood Rd.

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iphone-004This nice looking Chevy car suffered a direct hit from the mea-looking rear-lift on this delivery truck behind Epi Bread on Millwood Road, just west of Bayview Avenue on Wednesday morning. Ouch!

Leaside United offers a haven from stress of U.S. election

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Leaside United Church has sent a note that it is open today (Wednesday, November 9) for those who are having a difficult time dealing with the result of the American election. The church invites visitors between 11 a.m.and 8 p.m. tonight.  It suggests silent reflections, the lighting of a candle for peace or a chat with others or with the Rev. Emily Gordon.  LUC

SmartTrack approved by Council, financing up in the air

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City Council approves SmartTrack proposal plan with fingers crossed about how it will be paid for. The Toronto Sun said the plan was accepted overwhelmingly in a series of 10 votes. They sealed the deal City staff negotiated with the province on the project, which now includes six heavy-rail stops on GO Transit lines and a new Eglinton West light-rail line.  CBC

Trump defies polls and stuns millions to win presidency

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Donald Trump, defying the pundits and polls to the end, defeated Hillary Clinton in Tuesday’s presidential election and claimed an establishment-stunning victory that exposes the depth of voter dissatisfaction – and signals immense changes ahead for American policy at home and abroad. Seventeen months after the billionaire tycoon’s Trump Tower entrance into the race, the first-time candidate once dismissed by the political elite will become the 45th president, Fox News projects. The electoral college vote Wednesday stands at Trump 306, Clinton, 232.

REPUBLICANS CONTROL ALL THREE BRANCHES

The Republican Party has retained control of both the Senate and the House of representatives after last night’s election. This will probably make the new president’s agenda much easier to adopt.

TRUDEAU MESSAGE

The Prime Minister congratulated the new president on his victory and made what may seem like a hopeful statement. “Canada has no closer friend, partner, and ally than the United States. We look forward to working very closely with President-elect Trump, his administration, and with the United States Congress in the years ahead, including on issues such as trade, investment, and international peace and security,” the prime minister’s statement read. “The relationship between our two countries serves as a model for the world. Our shared values, deep cultural ties, and strong integrated economies will continue to provide the basis for advancing our strong and prosperous partnership.” Kathleen Wynne on Trump’s Wynne: “I was shocked”