Video of bus driver using cell phone while at the wheel

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Video has been posted on YouTube showing a bus driver using a cell phone as he wheels his vehicle along a City street. The TTC says it has identified a driver in question. A 12-second video posted to YouTube by user C Stan on Saturday shows the driver tapping on a mobile device with one hand and steering with the other as the bus travels down a house-lined street while oncoming cars pass by. TTC spokesperson Brad Ross told CBC News in an email that the video was brought to the TTC’s attention on Friday. It was taken on the 20 Cliffside route in Scarborough, and Ross believes it was shot late Thursday afternoon.  Mr. Ross said the self-evident: “This is a very serious matter and the TTC is treating it as such given the enormous responsibility it has for the safety of its customers and all road users.” YouTube

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14 large-breed dogs die of heat exhaustion in Saskatoon

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Fourteen large-breed dogs have died at a Saskatoon boarding kennel when a heating malfunction caused an upstairs room to overheat. Cause of death is said to be heat exhaustion. The dogs were all pets of customers of the Playful Paws veterinary and dog boarding facility in the City. The animals included a border collie, Newfoundland lab, golden retriever, catahoula and a border collie/German shepherd puppy.

Saturday night mayhem as men shot in separate incidents

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A young man was shot outside a club on Mowat Street in Liberty Village about 4 a.m. Sunday morning. The victim, 20, has life-threatening wounded after he was shot in the face outside the bar. In a second incident, police are searching for suspects in a shotgun shooting in Scarborough shortly before midnight at Kingston Road and Overture Road. A man aged in his 20s is seriously injured in this occurrence.

 

Flaming wreck of 4 cars on Jarvis causes man grave injuries

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An SUV and a van taxi were in collision at Jarvis St. and Gerrard St. early Sunday setting off a reaction in which two other cars ran into a utility pole. The pole fell onto the cars. Then sparks started a fire that consumed the vehicles. As resident Nicole Quevillon @NicolyWoly said on Twitter: “Huge accident at Gerrard and Jarvis. Woke up to yelling and saw a crowd of people pulling others out of the cars.”  She took the picture below. In all of this a man, 47, has life-threatening injuries and two others are in hospital as well.

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Hydro cuts down trees in Robertson Davies Park “in error”

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Hydro One workers made a mistake last week while pruning trees in Robertson Davies Park on Avenue Road between the CP mainline and Cottingham Street. They decided to simply cut down 29 mature trees that have stood for years as a barrier to the sound of trains without calling their supervisor. Hydro One concedes it was a mistake and has apologized. But that won’t bring back the trees and there is a lot of hard feeling about it. Summerhill area residents say they were blindsided by the clear-cutting — as they surely were. The CBC reports that clear cut occurred last week when crews were there to prune the trees away from power lines. But it says they chopped the trees down without permission.

PROMISED NOT TO DO IT

Among others, Councillor Josh Matlow (Ward 22) was on scene today and recalled that Hydro One had promised that they would not clear-cut the trees. “Hydro One is discussing the possibility of pruning or cutting trees in neighbourhoods across Ontario and I expect communities will be looking at what happens here for some direction, because if Hydro One breaks their word in one place … communities are going to wonder how they’re going to behave elsewhere,” he said. Unlike private businesses and citizens,  Hydro One is authorized to make such clearings. A hydro spokesperson said of the workers: “They didn’t follow our process, which is if they have to change their job plan … they’re meant to call their supervisor,” Daffyd Roderick said. “That didn’t happen and it’s very, very regrettable.”

Douglas Ray Dyment service set for Friday, Sept. 23

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Douglas Ray Dyment

Well-known businessman Douglas Ray Dyment has died at 89 as the result of stroke while at his Caledon home last weekend. Mr. Dyment was for many years the president of Dyment Limited, North America’s leading supplier of point of purchase advertising displays. “Dyment’s” also became a pioneer in the distribution of sales materials, with a computer said to be as large as Air Canada’s. The firm was started by his father Philip A. Dyment in 1912.  He leaves Mary Kenner Dyment, his wife and cherished partner of 53 years as well as children David, Philip, and Deirdre; his daughter-in-law Jane Gurr; and his grandchildren Alexander Taylor, Oliver Dyment, Gabrielle Dyment, Summer Taylor, Claire Dyment, and Jack Dyment.  A service to celebrate Doug Dyment’s life will be held Friday, September 23, 2016 from 3 to 5 p.m. at 135 St. George Street.

U.S. and Russia announce ceasefire plan in Syria civil war

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The United States and Russia have announced a plan to bring about a ceasefire in Syria, US Secretary of State John Kerry said. “Today we are announcing an arrangement that we think has the capability of sticking, but it’s dependent on people’s choices,” Kerry said Friday in Geneva, Switzerland, appearing alongside Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Kerry said the pact calls for the Syrian government and the opposition to respect a nationwide ceasefire scheduled to take effect at sundown Monday. CNN

Highest cable bridge in world soars 1853 feet above river

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Engineers in China have connected the two sides of the world’s highest cable bridge. The Beipanjiang Bridge joins southwest China’s Yunnan and Guizhou provinces. The second last deck was put in place on Saturday morning. The final piece is being put in place later Saturday afternoon. The bridge stretches across the Nizhu river Gorge and is 565 metres (1853 feet) above the river bed.

B.C. Mountie caught in “creep catcher” Facebook incident

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BC RCMP say charges are pending against an officer apparently caught on camera in Surrey by a group of so-called creep catchers — vigilantes intent on trapping pedophiles. In this case the Mountie was confronted on camera in a live Facebook broadcast and ran off with the creep catchers following him shouting his name. The vigilantes lying in wait for this officer had placed a fake profile on an online dating site and waited for a message. Their method is start chatting with anyone who answers and tell the person the presumed correspondent is a minor. If the person wants to meet, creep catchers arranges a place and time and then record the encounter on video. There is nothing to be seen on camera in the current case that appears illegal or even suspicious except that the officer ran away. The charges have yet to be approved by Crown Counsel, therefore his name has not been released yet. The officer in question has been removed from duty and is currently in custody. In the murky nighttime video a man is seen standing outside a building with an adult woman before being confronted by the vigilantes. Postmedia

 

Tinto Bar De Tapas gets winter makeover as Val d’Isere

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Otta Zapotocky

Tinto Bar De Tapas at 1581 Bayview will be transformed for the winter season of 2016-17 into an Alpine Chalet-style restaurant with hearty European dishes. Beer and wine will match the hungry-man cold-weather menu. Rich fondue, traditional melted cheese raclette, bone in pork shoulder schnitzel, rabbit stew, duck confit, short-rib goulash and local sausages with home-made sauerkraut and other authentic Alpine food will sharpen winter appetites October through February. Even the name will change. During the snowy season the restaurant will be known as Val d’Isere, after the celebrated ski resort in southern France.

CHANGE WITH THE SEASON

Owner Otta Zapotocky has decided to have his restaurant on the east side of Bayview change with the seasons. In the Spring, it will be Tinto Bar De Tapas again. As Val d’Isere however, the spot will lack nothing to create a warm chalet environment, including mulled wine for any who wish to sit outside with heaters. Zapotocky, well known as a sommelier and founder of the popular L’Avenue Bistro on the west side of Bayview, guarantees his cooking as well. Of his fondue he promises that it will be “a very honest dish”. Says he: “Mine will taste like cheese not like flour and water.”  Good to hear on a cold day. The transition will begin over Thanksgiving weekend when Tinto Bar will close Sunday, October 9 and re-open as Val d’Isere on Friday, October 14.