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

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.

DiCaprio causes a stir on King Street West

Leonardo DiCaprio walked the red carpet at today’s TIFF premiere of documentary, Before The Flood.  It was shown this afternoon at The Princess of Wales Theatre.  Toronto loves Leo.

City to re-make the corner of Laird and Millwood next year

Jon Burnside (Ward 26) has told the South Bayview Bulldog that the City will rationalize the intersection of Laird Drive and Millwood Rd. (below) next year by eliminating the speedy right turn curve onto Millwood southbound toward the CP bridge. That lane now is controlled by a Yield sign but in the future all traffic will be required to obey universal traffic signals at the corner.  The change is intended to make the corner safer for pedestrians but it seems likely to cause a back-up of outbound traffic (i.e. toward Thorncliffe Park).

3-5 SOUTHVALE

In a related matter, a meeting Thursday night at Leaside arena has heard about revised plans for the Shane Baghai development at 3-5 Southvale Drive, next to the arena. Mr. Burnside said that the developer has reduced the size of the prospective condominium from eight floors to seven and agreed to place the driveway entrance to underground parking on Southvale Drive. Previously, the proposal called for the garage driveway to enter/exit off the road into the arena. This idea caused much concern about congestion for families using the facility. The number of housing units proposed has been reduced from 98 yo 67 with a similar reduction on the proposed parking requirements.

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Eternal City in turmoil! Your world beyond South Bayview

Rome is in orbit these days as the Eternal City’s first woman mayor hires and fires executives daily. See Euronews report at bottom. Meantime, North Korea has set off another nuclear blast sending jitters through southeast Asia. The mafia family government of Kim Jong Un continues to be a disgrace to China, which is unable to deal with its client state.

 

Public sector does the most to improve August job scene

Canada created 26,000 jobs in August but the increase was largely caused by an jump of 57,000 jobs in the public sector. Only 8,000 private sector jobs were created and self-employed ranks fell by 39,000. The unemployment rate rose as expected to 7 per cent from 6.9 per cent in July. It is a mixed picture with elements that brighten the state of the economy somewhat — but not a lot — from July where there was a net loss of 31,200 positions.

Liberals in a pickle about how to reduce high hydro rates

The linked Global News story more or less states the obvious for anyone paying attention to the awful cost of hydro electric power in Ontario. It says the Liberal government, stinging from a byelection loss and huge arrears in unpaid power bills by consumers, is unable to do anything about this festering political issue. The reason is the well-known, long-term determination of the government to re-make hydro generation in a greener form by signing long-term agreements with power generators — or would-be power generators. Economist Brady Yauch told Global: “Over the long term, the province can stop giving new contracts. It can stop contracting for more capacity, it can be potentially more aggressive with some of the utilities through the OEB, or hopes the OEB is more aggressive with utilities. But you can’t suddenly just erase 10 years of policy to suddenly lower rates.” Global News

United Church to defrock atheist minister Gretta Vosper

A committee of the United Church of Canada has voted to expel Rev. Gretta Vosper for her steadfast atheism. The panel judging the reverend said she would not be eligible for admission given her beliefs. Four members of the 23-member committee however voted to support Vosper. They concluded that she was “suitable” as a minister. They said the church has evolved since its founding and must continue doing so to meet the spiritual needs of Canadians. For her part, the former pastor of West Hill United Church argues that her spiritual home has always been about “ethos” not belief. This seems to suggest that fellowship, kindness and similar upstanding qualities are sufficient to qualify one for such a position in the church.