Minister says toll lanes will not take over highways

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The government is said to be working on a plan for toll lanes in Toronto. Published reports say the plan is under wraps until the federal election is over. Today (Tuesday, August 25, 2015)  transportation minister Steven Del Duca  responded to the story by saying the government does not intend to convert existing free and open highway lanes into high-occupancy toll lanes as part of its long-term transportation strategy. “At this time the plan would not be to remove a general purpose lane, it would be to add or extend or expand a highway and add an (high occupancy toll) lane, or perhaps take an existing high occupancy vehicle lane and convert it to a high occupancy toll lane,” he told CP24.   680 News 

Threatening scamsters pose as CRA, Toronto Hydro staff

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A telephone scam is at work in South Bayview. A recorded a message to a Moore Park home said the resident was going to be sued or arrested immediately for non-payment of taxes. It offered the prospective victim a chance to speak to a “live agent” about the matter. Similar calls are being made claiming Toronto Hydro is about to cut off power if a payment is not made immediately. In Vancouver, the messages recently in the CRA scam were so frightening that people went to the police station in fear that were about to be arrested. None of this is real, but the messages are likely to make anyone stop for a moment before hanging up.  Which is what they should do.

Beach artists to show work at Todmorden next month

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Artists from the Beach Guild of Fine Art are hoping people will mark down the dates of Friday, September 18 to Sunday, September 27, 2015 to attend the exhibition by 20 artists at Todmorden Mills, 67 Pottery Road. There will be 125 pieces of artwork on display for the period of the show. The opening reception takes place on the Friday and runs from 6 to 9 p.m. Facebook

2 suicides in Ashley Madison hack, $500,000 reward

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Toronto Police launched a full-scale appeal and public awareness campaign today to catch the hackers who leaked the names of people who signed up to commit infidelity. The Ashley Madison leaks have already led to two suicides, they said. A reward of half a million dollars is being offered for those who hacked the site and released 37 million names and addresses, purportedly because the owners of the site would not shut it down immediately. Now two of the affair-seeking members of Ashley Madison are dead by their own hand.

Two men steal backpack with large amount of cash

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money guys

Cash exchange withdrawal and a backpack. It doesn’t sound like the way most people handle large amounts of cash and a Toronto family has paid a big price for this unorthodox behaviour. They tell police the cash, an unstated amount, was intended to help buy a house. They withdrew it from a “cash exchange” and put it in a backpack. The backpack  was then left on a table in a restaurant near Yonge St and Churchill Ave. in North York as they ordered food. Two men who had been watching them from the beginning walked over, took the backpack and walked out. This all happened on Thursday, August 6, 2015  There are security pictures of the two seen above. One suspect is described as a white male around 50 to 60 years old wearing a vertical-striped short collared shirt, blue jeans and black and white sneakers. The second suspect is described as a white male around 35 to 45 years old wearing a white golf shirt, beige shorts and a baseball cap. Anyone with information is asked to call at police at (416) 808-3206 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at (416) 222-TIPS (8477).

Stars visit girl’s lemonade stand to help ailing brother

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squad

The stars of Suicide Squad, Jai Courtney and Margot Robbins, visited the John St. lemonade stand of 5-year-old Na’ama Uzan  set up to help her brother Nadav. He suffers from Angleman Syndrome, a rare   congenital disorder caused by genetic malformations.  “I heard about Na’ama’s story and what she’s doing for her brother Nadav,” Courtney told CTV Toronto. “There’s no act too small when you’re talking about making a difference.”

Bus shelters: Painted Parrots or Cool Citrus Listerine?

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shelter-550 John Lorinc of Space magazine online and the Globe and Mail has tweeted pictures of art used in Philadelphia transit shelters. The painted parrot the left is a sample. The idea, as we understand it, is to perhaps improve the streetscape and elevate the minds of your ordinary commuter. The Bulldog is a simple canine, a dog of ordinary tastes and therefore not qualified to judge such things definitively. But honestly, the 2012 hacked version of a Toronto shelter sign (centre) is more interesting than the art. Quite good for a laugh. The sentiment declares that “The World of Advertisement (sic) Creates Artificial Desires.” Finally, the bottle of orange flavoured Listerine is just hilarious. Love it. You may sure it will inspire neither artificial nor genuine desire in the Bulldog. Hope they put one at Millwood and Bayview.