The South Bayview Bulldog

A new app permits anyone to program 911 and her cell ready self-dial if she loses control of the phone when attacked. It is one of a number of self-defense apps being shown.

https://twitter.com/tpscalls/status/737896470716776449

A big bang in or near the Bloor station of Line 2 Wednesday erupted into fire and caused a lot of damage, the TTC reports. The line is stopped between Pape Ave and George Street. A feeder cable has been damaged in what sounds like a bad connection with the third rail. The fire caused a smoky morning in the station and on the street outside.

TTC CEO says trains now running on line 2 after morning shutdown due to fire. Says he'll "get to the bottom of this" pic.twitter.com/qj5nch1N5u

— Linda Ward (@LindaWardCBC) June 1, 2016

https://twitter.com/bradTTC/status/737981656741601281

TTC crews at Bloor report loud bang at track level. Station filling with smoke. Problem 3rd rail and feeder cable. pic.twitter.com/wlCaHupkg8

— Tony Smyth (@LateNightCam) June 1, 2016

Update: Shuttle buses continue to operate on Line 2 btwn Pape and St George Stns. #TTC

— TTC Service Alerts (@TTCnotices) June 1, 2016

Kim O’Connor is the woman who shot the gripping video of Isiah Dickerson being thrown around the gorilla canal at the Cincinnati Zoo has given a thoughtful interview to CNN. In it, she say she feels sure that Harambe, the 17-year old gorilla, was a  danger to Isiah. “I don’t believe Harambe was going to give that little boy up,” said O’Connor. Since the zoo shot the gorilla to permit the escape of the child, there have been news stories attacking the parents and online petitions against the zoo. Ms. O’Connor, an eyewitness to the conditions — water and concrete — as well as the state of the gorilla, seems like a sensible observer.

548

The 519 area code will be further supplemented by the 548 code this weekend. Then there will three codes in the southwestern Ontario phone district — 519, 226 (added in 2006) and the new 548. It is all about how so many of us now own more than one phone and the growing population of Ontario. The region served by these codes stretches from Windsor, to Brantford to Tobermory.

PC Zoran Ivkovic is Toronto’s police officer of the year for his rescue of a badly burned boy during an Etobicoke apartment fire on March 31, 2015. As he arrived, Ivkovic was told there were children inside the unit. He faced heavy smoke as he crawled along a hallway banging on doors as he passed. The last unit was fully engulfed in flames and despite the effects of the smoke and heat Ivkovic forced open the door and crawled in. He used his flashlight to find what appeared to be a human figure. It was a severely burned boy. The PC held the boy as he ran out of the apartment. Today the 49th annual awarding of police officer of the year was made to Ivkovic with his wife and daughter present.

An Asian collector has paid the equivalent of nearly $400,000 Canadian for a matte white Diamond Himalaya Niloticus crocodile diamond Birkin 30 with 18K white gold and diamond hardware by Hermes at Christie’s Hong Kong Monday. It is the most expensive handbag ever sold according to news sources. The posh purse crafted from pale Himalayan crocodile leather and encrusted with 245 diamonds was originally produced in 2008 and sold in 2009, and remains one of the rarest and most desirable bags in the world.

At 68, guitarist Ronnie Wood has become dad to twin girls, Gracie Jane and Alice Rose. The Rolling Stone guitarist is married to Sally Humphreys, 37. She is a theatre producer. Ronnie Wood has four other youngsters and nine grandchildren. Wood has lived a long life and beyond his music is recalled for the 1977 “relationship” with the newly-separated Margaret Trudeau  A 2007 autobiography by Wood revealed details of his encounter with a “lovely, dark-haired woman” at a Toronto hotel who happened to be Margaret Trudeau.

Depositors and stockholders at Scotiabank are looking at news stories about the bank’s “restructuring” costs and digital plans for what it all means  Scotia hinted at  the restructuring charge earlier setting aside money for bad loans apparently largely related to the energy (oil) sector. Profit for the quarter was down nearly 12 per cent compared to $1.80 billion of net income during the same period last year. After adjusting for the $278-million restructuring charge the bank’s second-quarter profit rose four per cent to $1.86 billion, or $1.46 per share. The president, Brian Porter, said loan losses in the energy sector are expected to decline next quarter. He says: “Customer behaviours and preferences continue to evolve, and Scotiabank is driving a digital transformation across all customer touch points in order to deliver a consistently excellent customer experience.” Touch points? Hope there are still a few left.

Any day police can return a stolen puppy to its 12-year-old owner is a good day. Let’s count this to be the case as Peel cops somehow tracked down a youth who snatched Junior, an American Bulldog, away from the lad as he and another boy played with their dogs in a park. Police are expected to have more to say about this Tuesday.