Leaside wins 2016 Troy May Tournament in Oshawa

Leaside has won the 2016 Troy May Memorial Tournament organized by Baseball Oshawa. Nice going guys.

troy tourney slider

Canadian 60s pop singer Bobby Curtola dead at age 73

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Bobby Curtola is dead. The one-time pop-star of the early 60s died at the age of 73 at his home in Nova Scotia. He was born in Thunder Bay.  Bobby Curtola is best remembered for international hit singles Fortune Teller and Aladdin. Below is Curtola singing Fortune Teller at Club Seven 44 on Mt. Pleasant Rd. just about one year ago.

ELGIEVILLE: 2016 pioneering at 262 Bessborough

Elgieville
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elgie original
Welcome to Elgieville (top) where three homes, still to be finished, now sit on the lot which held the original Thomas Elgie homestead. The City has given it the address 262 Bessborough. The pioneer home remains in the centre of the two new ones. It has been a year (centre) since it was moved onto a foundation which approximates the original location where the settler family huddled in good weather and bad. Bottom, a 1950s photo of the Elgie home with one of two additions it had over the years. Both additions were demolished to restore the look of the original.

Good, bad and ugly joking at Press Gallery dinner

The tone for this year’s correspondents night in Ottawa was set by hero-turned-diplomat Kevin Vickers who asked people to take their seats by cracking: “I hope everybody that’s standing realizes what happened to the last guy that pissed me off,” Vickers said, referring to his tackling of an Irish protester at a ceremony commemorating British war dead in Dublin last month. CBC

Swiss vote overwhelmingly against money for nothing

The European Union is contemplating a “pilot scheme” of free money for everyone. But this weekend nearly 80 percent of Swiss voters opposed such a giveaway. A referendum to introduce a guaranteed basic income for everyone living in the wealthy country was preceded by what is being called an uneasy debate about the future of work at a time of increasing automation. Supporters had said introducing a monthly income of 2,500 Swiss francs ($2,563) per adult and 625 francs per child under 18 no matter how much they work would promote human dignity and public service. Opponents said it would weaken the economy and perhaps bankrupt the country.

2nd Mac and Cheese Fest offers yummy starch, calories

Mac and Cheese loving foodies flocked to the second annual Mac and Cheese Festival at Ontario Place West Island Saturday and Friday. The free event is a celebration of starch and yummy cheese which continues Sunday with 75 vendors. Forty of those are backed by Toronto’s top chefs and food entrepreneurs. It is expected that this year’s festival will be three times bigger than last year’s, with close to 100,000 thousand people attending throughout the weekend. It is also cleaner and better organized. Mac and Jeez Festival leaves Liberty Village filthy 

Amsterdam girl offering a good price on craft 25-pack

victoria's brew So here is happy Victoria engaged in her honest work at Laird and Esandar Drives outside Leaside Village on Saturday. Go Victoria.

“The Greatest” Muhammad Ali dead at 74 in Phoenix

Muhammad Ali has died at the age of 74 after being treated for respiratory problems earlier this week. His children were at his bedside in Phoenix. A funeral will be held in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. This is a very good summary of his life with wonderful video voiced by Bonny Ghosh of the Associated Press.

NEWBORN: Squirming pink Panda cub weighs 171 grams

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A giant panda cub has been born at a zoo in Belgium, an event so rare it is being described a “true miracle”. The healthy male cub was born at a wildlife park outside Brussels to six-year-old Hao Hao and her mate Xing Hui, both on loan from China. The cub, which is hairless, blind and weighs just 171g (6oz), is yet to be named. There are only 1,864 giant pandas worldwide, and about 300 live in zoos to protect the species. BBC

Privacy adjudicator tells Ontario to release doctors billings

An adjudicator with the province’s Information and Privacy Commission has ordered the government to disclose the names of doctors and the amounts they have billed the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP). Doctors remuneration, public money that has long been held confidential, has become a contentious matter in a time of a $300 billion provincial debt. Health Minister Eric Hoskins has implicitly criticized certain specialists without naming them for the large sums they bill. Doctors respond that medical practices are expensive to run. The story has been broken by the CBC’s Mike Crawley who says the government may just let public disclosure happen.  “I’m not going to second guess what the information and privacy commission has said,” Wynne told reporters Friday in Ottawa. “We’ll work with the information and privacy commissioner to comply with what he has proposed.”  It is a change in tone for Ontario but might be seen as a useful development in harnessing public support for its efforts to throw a net over the cost of OHIP.  The Ontario Medical Association (OMA) opposes the release of doctors’ billings and could seek a judicial review of the ruling, potentially delaying or stopping the disclosure.

Couple’s year-long struggle after given the wrong baby

A couple who were given the wrong baby by a hospital in El Salvador a year ago has finally been allowed to travel home to Texas with their own child. Rich Cushworth and his wife Mercedes were given a birth certificate for their son Moses a few days ago. The agonizing realization that something might be wrong, the shocking truth when they took DNA, the international hassle to move a child across borders — the nightmare is re-told here to the BBC’s Matthew Price.

Mini Rogers Cup event underway at Leaside Tennis Club

Tuesday saw the kickoff of the Mini Rogers Cup with 40 kids running around the courts practicing their forehands and backhands at Leaside Tennis Club. The children ranged in age from six to 12 years old and showed off their determination and skill. Mini Rogers Cup at Leaside