Businesses that are already suffering in South Etobicoke are bracing for another financial hit in the fight against the spread of COVID-19.

The Ontario government has decreed another emergency stay-at-home order that begins on April 8 and will last four weeks.

This is Ontario’s third state of emergency declaration and will mean the closure of all non-essential retail outlets for in-person shopping until the end of April.

The new restrictions announced by Premier Doug Ford, and his staff, will allow grocery stores and pharmacies to remain open with capacity limits, as well as big-box stores that sell grocery items and all other stores that sell beer, wine or liquor.

“The COVID-19 situation is at a critical stage and we must act quickly and decisively to stay ahead of these deadly new variants,” said Ford. “By imposing these strict new measures we will keep people safe while allowing our vaccination program to reach more people, starting with our high risk population and identified hot spots.”

But big box stores will only be permitted to sell groceries, household cleaning supplies and pharmacy items to in-person shoppers, something that was not the case during the last stay-at-home order this past winter.

Most businesses in the community have complained about massive crowds at Sherway Gardens mall as family-owned businesses are forced to close.

Most other non-essential retailers will be limited to curbside pickup and delivery only and will not be able to operate outside of the hours of 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. Malls can also remain open for the purpose of curbside pickup but customers will not be able to get their orders from individual stores and will instead have to head to a single designated location inside the mall.

All non-essential retailers will close to in-person shopping, in-person dining will be prohibited and gyms and personal care services will be shuttered.

A select group of stores will be allowed to remain open by appointment only with a 25 per cent capacity limit. The stay-at-home order makes it illegal to leave a place of residence, except for essential reasons such as work, school, trips to a grocery store or pharmacy and for health-care reasons.

Ford said residents are required to stay at home except for “except for essential purposes, such as going to the grocery store or pharmacy, accessing health care services, including getting vaccinated.”

He said teams of healthcare workers are now vaccinating residents and workers in identified congregate “hot spots,” and large industrial plants, where there are many people.

The province is allowing outdoor garden centres and plant nurseries, and indoor greenhouses that engage in sales to the public, to operate with a 25 per cent capacity limit and a restriction on hours of operation to between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m.

Ontario’s daily COVID-19 case growth more than tripled through the month of March, leading to record-high hospital ICU occupancy of more than 500 by early April.

Ontario’s science table released new modelling last week, which suggested that Ontario could reduce its case counts from more than 3,000 a day to between 1,000 and 1,500 by the end of April with a four-week stay-at-home order.

The number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in the province have increased by 28.2 per cent between the period of March 28 and April 5, 2021.

 

Two of Mimico’s top money-earning automated speed enforcement cameras have been vandalized and made inoperable by what appears to be orange spray paint.

The cameras are located on Stanley Avenue, near Elizabeth Street; and on Mimico Ave., and Station Rd., according to photos of the vandalized cameras posted on social media.

The Stanley Avenue camera gained media notoriety after city statistics showed that between Dec. 1 and Dec. 31, issued 2,888 tickets or 13 per cent of all the fines issued.

A vehicle was caught on Stanley Avenue going 71 km an hour in a 30 km an hour zone, the highest speed noted, with a fine of $607.

The camera on Mimico Avenue, which is in between two elementary schools caught 408 offenders much less than on Stanley Avenue. The highest speed was clocked at 66 km an hour in a 30 km an hour zone with the highest fine at $532.

Area residents say the cameras play an important role in protecting local children from motorists speeding through area streets.

“I couldn’t imagine how valuable these speed cameras are to the community, especially that there are a lot of kids in the area,” Mark wrote on social media. “It’s sad to see both being tampered with…”

Mark used to live in the area and “used to pass by this place almost every day with my wife.”

Shari wondered if the vandals who spray painted the camera will be captured on video.

There were no warnings about the vandalized cameras from Toronto Police on their social media pages.

Fifty automated speed enforcement (ASE)  cameras were installed, two per ward, across Toronto in community safety zones (near schools) and began issuing speeding tickets last summer.

There were 2,057 repeat offenders across all the cameras in December, with one driver receiving 15 tickets for speeding on both Stanley Avenue and Mimico Avenue, which are also one-way streets.

Tickets through ASE cameras are fines only; no demerit points are issued. The fines are also billed and mailed to the registered vehicle owner, regardless of who was driving. The registered vehicle owner’s driving record will not be impacted through these tickets, the city said.

The cameras were previously installed on different streets across Toronto but were moved in late November to new locations and began issuing tickets again Dec. 1.

The City of Toronto said a total of 22,180 speeding tickets were mailed out to vehicle owners in the second round of locations within the first month of December.

Two 18-year-olds from Toronto have been charged by police in connection with a series of violent bank robberies, including one in Mimico in which two officers were hospitalized.

The 22 Division officers were treated for cuts and stab wounds in hospital and released.

Police allege the men are responsible for four bank robberies which were committed in the South Etobicoke area in a violent spree that terrorized tellers from January 25 to March 24.

Hold Up Squad officers said during the robberies a man would enter the bank with a balaclava mask to conceal his identity. He would approach the teller and hand over a note that said he had a gun and demanded cash.

Police said during the March 26 robbery, in which the officers were injured, the men were armed with knives.

“The man then went behind the teller counter while holding the knife and yelling at the teller,” officers said in a release.

Plainclothes officers were nearby and arrived at the scene with the men still inside the bank.

“One man ran out of the rear exit with an officer pursuing him,” police said. “The officer caught up with the man and was able to place him in custody after a violent struggle.”

Another violent struggle broke out between the officer and suspect inside the bank.

“The man stabbed the officer in the abdomen during the struggle causing serious injuries,” according to police.

Hold Up Squad officers conducted a search warrant and located clothing and other evidence linking one man to several robberies.

Neelkanth Shah, 18, was arrested on March 26 and charged with: attempt murder, aggravated assault, robbery with an offensive weapon, four counts of robbery and five counts of disguise with intent.

He appeared for a bail hearing on March 27 at Old City Hall Court.

Nathaniel Mohabir, 18, was arrested the same day and charged with: robbery with an offensive weapon, disguise with intent and assault with intent to resist arrest.

He is slated to return to court on May 3.

Police suspect this family may have been using COVID-19 to avert a massive drug bust.

Two members of a Brampton family will appear in provincial court in April after $1.6 million worth of drugs were found in a suitcase belonging to one of their children, aged 10 and 12.

The RCMP Cpl. Dmitri Malakhov said the family of two adults and the two children were arriving from Montego Bay, Jamaica, on February 2021, at Pearson Airport when their luggage were examined.

Police said one piece of the children’s luggage contained 7.7 kilograms of cocaine, worth $962,500; 93 kilograms of marijuana, worth $688,940, and 218 grams of hash, worth $4,360.

“A suitcase concealing cannabis was checked in under the ticket of a 12-yar-old girl,” the RCMP said in a statement. The value of the drugs seized is estimated at $1.6 million.

Police said both parents were charged with three counts each of importation of a controlled substance and three counts of conspiracy to commit an indictable offence.

The children were released to other family members.

“Seizures like this underscore the necessity for the RCMP to work closely with our law enforcement partners and the public to protect our communities and our border,” Said Inspector Barry Dolan, RCMP Officer in Charge of Toronto Airport Detachment.

 

The needy in the community are the big winners as more two vanloads of non-perishable items were collected in the first annual Lakeshore Village BIA Cruising Easter Bunny.

A team of volunteers on March 27 circled the area collecting bags of food that were left by residents on their porches to help St. Margaret’s Church, on Sixth Street.

All the children had an opportunity to have their photos taken with the Easter Bunny, who said it was the most photos he ever had taken of him.

Organizers said the campaign was a success and they plan to continue it next year.

St. Margaret’s official Julie McMillan said their cupboards were “overflowing” with the much-needed donations to help feed the community.

“We have finished sorting out the food and for the first time in a long time our cupboards are overflowing,” McMillan told volunteers.

The food will be made available to those in need through programs offered by the church.

Kris Korwin-Kuczynski, Chair of the Lakeshore Village BIA, said it was a very successful food drive and thanked the many residents for pitching in.

“This community has been good to us,” he said. “Now it is our turn to give back to the community.”

He thanks St. Margaret’s Church and the New Toronto Ratepayers Association for their support.

John, a volunteer, said he was taken back by the large amount of food left on the porches to pick up.

“It was a fair bit of work,” John said. “But we totally loved it and enjoyed watching the children with the Easter Bunny made our day.”

The Easter Bunny was surrounded by children as he hopped along Lake Shore Blvd., near Sixth Street, handing out candies.

The drivers of vehicles passing by did a double take and many pulled over so their children could get some candies and have a photo taken with the Easter Bunny. Others were blowing their horns.

One young child, in a stroller, recognized the bunny and demanded to have a photo taken with the long-eared rabbit.

Mimico residents are in shock after learning that two Toronto Police officers were injured in their local bank.

The officers, who have not been identified, are in hospital with knife wounds after a bank robbery in Mimico went sour.

Officers from 22 Division were called to a TD Canada Trust Bank, at 2472 Lakeshore Blvd. W., and Allen Avenue, just after 7 p.m. on March 26.

Police say detectives were hot on the trail of the thieves, who are believed to be committing robberies in the Etobicoke area.

Two plainclothes officers, who were working on another case nearby, heard the call and rushed to the bank and apparently confronted the robbers inside.

Insp. Andy Singh said both suspects were armed with knives and got into an altercation with the officers.

One officer was stabbed and the other was cut, Singh said.

One man was arrested inside the bank, while the other fled the scene and was arrested after a short foot chase down Lake Shore Blvd. W. Two knives were recovered at the scene.

“It truly showcases how dangerous and how quick these situations and how they can quickly escalate,” Singh said.

He said both officers were transported to hospital and were in stable condition. They were visited by Chief James Ramer later that night.

Police said there was no threat to public safety.

The suspects are slated to appear for bail hearings.