A suspected thief is being sought by Toronto Police for ripping off a man using an ATM machine in The Queensway and Kipling Ave. mall area.

Police said on December 6 about 9:10 a.m. they responded to the theft.

“A man was using the ATM,“ according to police. “The suspect approached the man and tapped him on the shoulder.”

Detectives said “when the man turned to face the suspect, the suspect took the man’s scarf and wallet.”

The culprit sped away on foot.

A security camera photograph has been released.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-1100, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477), online at www.222tips.com, online on our Facebook Leave a Tip page, or text TOR and your message to CRIMES (274637).

 

 

Mimico area women can breathe a bit easier today.

A man accused of prowling the Mimico area by night for women has been arrested by 22 Division officers.

Police in a press release said on December 10 officers of 22 Division Major Crime Unit made an arrest in relation to the investigation.

A suspect was on the lam after he tried to grab a woman through a bathroom window, police said.

Detectives in an earlier release said they responded to a call on December 1 for a break-and-enter in the Melrose Street and Grand Avenue area just after 12 a.m.

It is reported that “a man opened the window to a basement apartment,” according to police.

“He reached in and tried to grab a woman in the washroom taking a shower,” police alleged. “She screamed and he fled.”

Scott Wasson, 39, of Toronto, has been charged with four counts of trespass by night, three counts of voyeurism and break and enter.

He appeared for a bail hearing on December 11 at Old City Hall.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-2200, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477), online at www.222tips.com, online on our Facebook Leave a Tip page, or text TOR and your message to CRIMES (274637). Download the free Crime Stoppers Mobile App on iTunes or Google Play.

 

Popular pizza maker Adriano Stolay thanks the community for their support and wants residents to know that he is back in business.

Adriano’s Pizza and Pasta, at 3329 Lake Shore Blvd. W., is being reopened on December 7 after five days of round-the-clock construction to repair the severe damage of a smoky roof fire.

“We are very touched and happy to be back,” Stolay said. “I want to thank everyone who called, left money or stopped by to say hello.”

Almost $9,000 has been raised on a Go Fund Me page that was created by residents Jackie Goodman and Lisa Davis. Dozens of people donated from the community.  The goal was $7,500.

The family-owned and operated pizza parlour suffered major damage in what seems to have been a roof fire about 2 a.m. on December 2.

The business was closed and no one was there at that time. There were no reported injuries.

Toronto Fire arrived at the scene at 2:21 a.m. to put out the fire, which was upgraded to a two-alarmer after firefighters arrived.

There was an outpouring of love and support from the community to help Adriano return to business.

He said the news left school children crying, people were slipping money under his door and a local and rival Long Branch pizzeria made a substantial donation to help his business.
“I am so touch by all the support,” he said. “I will be thanking everyone who supported and stood by me when times were tough.”

The beloved pizza maker is known to give away free slices to the poor, homeless and supports countless charities with his pies.

 

DECEMBER 7 HOLIDAY COMMUNITY wellness get together and celebration on Zoom at 2 p.m. Self-care for the season and fun activities to reduce stress. Also Mindful meditation and relaxation on December 8 and 14 at 3 p.m. on Zoom. Call Jasmin at LAMP below.

DECEMBER 8, 14 for mindful meditation and relaxation Wednesdays on Zoom at 3 pm. Call Jasmin at 416 252 6471 ext. 308 for more information or email jasmind@lampchc.org

DECEMBER 9 ANNUAL TURKEY DINNER from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Franklin Horner Community Center, 432 Horner Ave., for a delicious holiday dinner in the gym with all the fixings. Tickets are $15 and are going fast. Contact the office at 416-252-6822.

DECEMBER 6, 13, 20 Interactive Polish language program from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. for children 18-months to 6-years and their caregivers on Zoom. Save a spot email anna.wasiak@stonegatechc.org or barbarac@stonegatechc.org

DECEMBER 18 BREAKFAST WITH SANTA from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Enjoy a delicious pancake breakfast, a bouncy castle and a visit from Good Old St. Nick as the holiday season continues at Franklin Horner Community Center, 432 Horner Ave. Contact the office at 416-252-6822 for tickets, which are $7 each and are available from December 2.

FREE EMERGENCY FOOD TAKEOUT MEALS offered Monday to Wednesday from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. through LAMP’s adult drop-in program. Thursday harm reduction supports from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

COMMUNITY SUPPORT CENTRE operating from St. Margaret’s Church on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Meals, snacks, washrooms, showers, and laundry available for folks who are unhoused.

LAMP’s COMMUNITY CHIROPODIST is now taking new patients for foot care services for people who are prediabetic or diabetic. For more information on call 416-252-6471 ext. 264.

EVERY WEDNESDAY from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Stonegate Community Health Centre presents Everything Baby Discussion with Barbara and Larissa to discuss prenatal, post-natal and parenting topics on Facebook Live on the Stonegate CHC Family Program Facebook page at facebook.com

CHAIR YOGA Mondays at 10 a.m. until December 20 by Stonegate Community Health Centre for Seniors and adults over 55-years of age on Zoom. Join Stephanie from the Yoga Outreach Project for 45 minutes of Chair Yoga fun. To register phone 416-231-7070 ext. 307 or email health.promotions@stonegatechc.org

LAMP TOY DRIVE looking for new unwrapped toys for South Etobicoke families for newborn to age 19. Our annual toy distribution continues to families in need of gifts this holiday season. There is a greater need for newborns and gift certificates for children aged 10-16. Drop off at the screening table until December 10. Contact Camishaj@lampchc.org or call 416 252 6471 ext. 292 for more.

EVERY THURSDAY The Good Food Market from 12 to 4 p.m. at Stonegate CHC at 10 Neighbourhood Lane for affordable produce, outdoor market and bring your own bags. COVID-19 protocols are in place. For more information call 416-231-7070 ext 307.

LAMP is launching a Toy Drive looking for new unwrapped Toys for South Etobicoke families  for children from newborn to 19. Our annual toy distribution continues to families in need of gifts this holiday season. There is a greater need for newborns and gift certificates for children aged 10-16. Drop off at the screening table until December 10.  Contact Camishaj@lampchc.org or call 416 252 6471 ext. 292 for more information.

VOLUNTEERS needed to help plan a community leadership program. The purpose is to build community capacity and involvement. Need your ideas! For more information contact jasmind@lampchc.org or call 416 252 6471 ext. 308

 

A young Stephen Harper was a skinny kid whose classmates at Richview Collegiate Institute never imagined he would someday end up as the 22nd Prime Minister of Canada.

Harper was born to a well-to-do family in Leaside and attended Northlea Public School, John G. Althouse Middle School and then Richview Collegiate, on Islington Ave., which helped form his political beliefs.

He is believed to be the only prime minister to have grown up in the Etobicoke area.

A good runner, he graduated from high school in 1978, and was a member of Richview’s team on Reach for the Top, a televised academic quiz show for bright high school students.

Years later he did attend the 30th reunion of fellow students at Richview, and attended a party at the Crooked Cue, a pool hall near Bloor St. W. and Royal York Rd.

Many who attended the reunion for graduates of ’78 said they could hardly remember the skinny teenager who grew up to become Prime Minister.

Harper was the first of three sons of Margaret and Joseph Harris Harper, an accountant at Imperial Oil, a great job even by today’s standards.

He studied at the University of Toronto Trinity College before moving to Edmonton, where he worked in the mail room at Imperial Oil. He later went to the University of Calgary to earn a master’s degree in economics in 1991.

A trained economist, Harper is reported to be the first prime minister to have an economics degree.

He became involved in politics as a member of his high school’s Young Liberals Club.  He later changed his political allegiance because he disagreed with the National Energy Program (NEP) of Pierre Trudeau’s Liberal government.

He became chief aide to Progressive Conservative MP Jim Hawkes in 1985, but later became disillusioned with the party and the government of Brian Mulroney.

He was then recommended by the University of Calgary’s economist Bob Mansell to Preston Manning, the founder and leader of the right wing Reform Party of Canada.

Manning invited him to participate in the party, and Harper gave a speech at Reform’s 1987 founding convention in Winnipeg.

Harper ran for the House of Commons in the 1988 federal election, and lost by a wide margin to Hawkes, his former boss. After Reform candidate Deborah Gray was elected as the party’s first MP in a 1989 by-election, Harper became Grey’s executive assistant, and was her chief adviser and speechwriter until 1993.

Harper stood for office again in the 1993 federal election, and defeated Hawkes in a significant Reform breakthrough in Western Canada.

He served as Prime Minister from 2006 to 2015. Harper won three mandates during his nearly decade long tenure. He was the first prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, serving as the party’s first leader from 2004 to 2015.

Harper was respected on the international stage and at home as well. He came to the attention of Time Magazine, who named him as Canada’s Newsmaker of the Year in 2006.

In 2008, he was awarded the Presidential Gold Medallion for Humanitarianism by B’nai B’rith International. He is the first Canadian to be awarded this medal.

In 2011, Harper was honoured by Alberta’s Blood Tribe. He was made Honorary Chief of the Kainai Nation during a ceremony, in which they recognized him for making an official apology on behalf of the Government of Canada or the residential school abuse.

And in 2012, Harper received the World Statesman of the Year award, offered through a U.S. group of faith representatives.

This valiant Canadian veteran helped changed the outcome of the WWII.

It was 13 years last October since the death of Second World War veteran Charley Fox who is best known for shooting legendary German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel and taking him out of the war.

Fox, who was born in Guelph n 1920, was a fighter pilot in an all-Canadian squadron of Spitfires that attacked a large formation of German Focke-Wulfs and Messerschmitts. The Canadians shot down two enemy planes and damaged several others before the Germans disengaged and withdrew.

Fox it is reported had been in the thick of the fight, “badly damaging at least one of the enemy aircraft himself and assisting others of his squadron to rout the enemy.”

Fox had struck a serious blow to Nazi Germany. In a strafing attack, he had wounded Rommel, known as the Desert Fox because of his campaigns in North Africa. Rommel was one of the senior German commanders, who was considered Germany’s most capable general.

Fox enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force in March 1940. He earned his wings and his officer’s commission in July 1941 at Dunnville, Ont., graduating near the top of his class.

He worked at first training pilots for two years in Dunnville, where he married his high school sweetheart, Helen Doughty. By the time Fox shipped out for England in 1943, they were expecting their first child.

Fox was serving with 412 Fighter Squadron, patrolling the skies over England, the Channel, and the North Sea. On one occasion he was in the officers’ mess at an airbase when it came under attack by German bombers.

In the spring of 1944, Fox took part in operations over France in preparation for the Allied invasion of Hitler’s “Fortress Europe.” On D-Day, he flew three patrols over the French coast.

Once the Allies had secured a foothold in Normandy and established airbases, fighter squadrons were sent up to clear the Luftwaffe from the sky and seek “targets of opportunity.”

They would attack trains, military convoys and artillery emplacements. Many Canadian pilots considered strafing men on the ground repugnant, but a German officer’s staff car was fair game.

Rommel travelled in an open military staff car and used country roads as much as possible to avoid detection.

At about 9 a.m. on July 17, Rommel was in his car on a country road near Caen, according to reports. With him were his driver, two other officers and a guard. Suddenly they were under attack by Allied fighter planes. The driver raced toward a place where they could pull over and take cover. Before he could reach it, a Spitfire strafed the car.

The driver lost control and the car went into a ditch. The only casualties were the driver, who soon died; and Rommel, who had serious head injuries and was taken out of action.

One day earlier, the British Special Air Service had decided to send a commando team behind German lines to assassinate or kidnap Rommel. Three days after the strafing, German military conspirators tried to kill Hitler with a bomb. Rommel was eventually implicated in the plot, and committed suicide with poison on Oct. 14. The Nazi government told the German people he had died from his wounds.

Everyone then was boasting of shooting Rommel. The Americans said one of their pilots had strafed Rommel’s car. A South African flying for the Royal Air Force also claimed the honour. Two other Canadian pilots thought they’d had Rommel in their gunsights.

It took many years before historians ruled “Charlie Fox is probably the guy that fired at Rommel’s car.” The Guelph flyer was deemed to be in the air at the right time and place to have attacked Rommel’s car.

 

 

Chatham’s Walter Chant Floody was a fighter pilot and prisoner of war in the Second World War who was instrumental in the Hollywood movie ‘The Great Escape’ for his cave-digging skills.

Floody, who died in September 1989 at the age of 71, played the fictional ‘Tunnel King,’ Danny Velinski, played by Charles Bronson in the blockbuster movie.

The pilot acted as the technical adviser of the 1963 award-winning feature film.

He at one time worked in a mine in Timmins as a mucker, shovelling the rock and mud into carts to be hauled up to the surface.

Floody was living in Toronto when he applied to join the military. In 1940 he was sent to an air station in Manitoba and became an operational pilot with No. 401 Squadron.

His Spitfire was shot down in October 1941 over France and two German soldiers were waiting for him on the ground.

He was imprisoned at the prisoner of war camp Stalag Luft III  at Sagan, now Zagan, Poland. There, he joined the “X-Organization”, headed by Roger Bushell codenamed “Big-X”), who put Floody in charge of digging tunnels and their camouflage for the upcoming escape attempts.

By March 1944, suspicious German guards found the tell-tale sign of sand being dropped by one of the ‘penguins’ out of the bottom of his pant legs and immediately rounded up Floody and 19 others and transferred them to another camp in Belaria.

The escape of 76 men went ahead on the moonless night of March 1944. Eventually the Germans caught all but three prisoners, and to make an example of them to all the other prisoners, Hitler ordered the execution of 50 of the recaptured Allied officers under the pretext that they were shot while attempting escape.

Floody at the end of the war gave evidence about conditions in prisoner of war camps at the Nuremberg Trials.

He was made a Member of the British Empire in September 1946 by King George VI two days after his first son, Brian, was born.

The veteran was asked to work as a technical adviser in the high-profile 1962 film based on a book by Paul Brickhill, an Australian flyer and writer who, like Floody, had spent time at Stalag Luft III.

Returning to civilian life, Floody became a businessman and co-founder of the Royal Canadian Air Force Prisoners of War Association.

The film starred top actors as Steve McQueen, James Garner, James Coburn and Charles Bronson among others.

 

 

 

The friendly staff at Delicia bakery were voted to have the best decorated Christmas tree this year by the Lakeshore Village Business Improvement Area (BIA).

A trophy for best Christmas tree was presented to Delicia’s Viviana Ruben By BIA chair Chris Korwin Kuczynski on December 4.

“It feels good to win this nice award,” Ruben said. “It took us almost three hours to decorate our tree.”

The staff at the 2864 Lake Shore Blvd. W., store were happy with to win the award.

“We are 100 per cent happy,” she said. “We will put in on a shelf inside the store.”

The second place winner for having the second-best decorated tree went to Pharmasave, Lake Shore Village Pharmacy, near Lake Shore Blvd. W., and Fourth Street.

“It feels great to win for second place tree,” said store official Christopher. “We are new here and have been getting a great welcome from area residents.”

Christopher said it took store staff about six hours to decorate their tree.

Third place went to the popular Village Vinyl Music Emporium and Café, at 2925 Lake Shore Blvd. W.,

“We didn’t expect to win this award,’ said owner Keith Pope. “We are honoured to have placed third in the best decorated Christmas tree contest.”

The winners get to keep their nice looking awards and bragging rights.

Korwin-Kuczynski said the competition was tough this year for the judges and more than 30 businesses entered the contest.

 

More than 1,500 people have voted in an online survey to save a row of 12 healthy trees on Dwight Avenue from being cut down to install a sidewalk.

A City of Toronto Infrastructure and Environment Committee on December 2 voted to adopt a staff recommendation to remove a dozen  Norway Maples from Dwight for a walkway.

Councillor Mark Grimes was noticeably absent from the meeting.

The trees scheduled for removal run along the fence of Second Street Junior Middle School and provide shade, exposure to nature, and separation from a busy street to the young children who play there, area residents said.

“These trees play a vital role in local ecosystems and water management, and help to mitigate climate change,” they argued.

The City of Toronto Transportation Services department scheduled installation this year of a sidewalk on the west side of Dwight Avenue between Birmingham Street and Maple Boulevard. The timing of the sidewalk installation was based on the opportunity for the work to be bundled with adjacent state-of-good-repair work on surrounding streets, which saves the city money.

However, the sidewalk installation plan included in the subcontracted work calls for the removal of 12 trees, most of which are large, healthy, mature trees.

“This is of special concern in this location, since new last mile logistics warehouses are being built directly adjacent to Second Street Junior Middle School, and can be expected to bring more traffic along Dwight Avenue,” officials heard.

City staff discard the option of narrowing the road because it is “beyond the scope of the existing contract” and further expenditure is not programmed in the near-term.

One year ago Mayor John Tory accepted the Champion of  Trees Award from the Arbor Day Foundation on behalf of the City of Toronto.

The Infrastructure and Environment Committee on December 2 will reaffirm Toronto’s longstanding target of 40 percent tree canover cover by 2050 to align with the City of Toronto’s Transform TO Net Zero Strategy. In the same meeting, it was proposed that the committee destroy an entire block of mature trees to install a sidewalk.

Seven of the trees to be removed are healthy, mature maples, which are located along an urban street from which they cannot spread to any forest or ravine.

The recommendation will be considered by Toronto City Council on 15 December before the trees can be removed.

 

Many Long Branch residents are stunned to learn that their favourite pizzeria has been destroyed by fire.

A fundraiser has been launched on Go Fund Me to help rebuild Adriano’s Pizza and Pasta, at 3329 Lake Shore Blvd. W. at Twenty-Seventh Street.

So far almost $3,000 has been raised by pizza lovers of a $7,500 goal that has been set.

Members of the community are saddened by the loss and are rallying online to help Adriano Stolay, the well-loved and respected owner of the parlour, get back on his feet.

Adriano, dubbed a “pizza maker with a heart of dough,” is very generous and is known to gladly feed with a slice those homeless, hungry or donate his tasty pies to area charities.

Organizers of the fundraiser, Jackie Goodman and Lisa Davis, said Adrian is “ensuring no one goes hungry because they can’t afford a slice, and offering lollipops to every child who enters his pizzeria, there isn’t a single person who walks out of Adriano’s without a smile on their face.”

“Adriano and his family need our help to get back to business,” they wrote. “Let’s show Adriano what he means to this community and show our appreciation for all that he has given to us.”

The family-owned and operated pizza parlour suffered major damage in what seems to have been a roof fire about 2 a.m. on December 2.

The business was closed and no one was there at that time. There were no reported injuries.

Toronto Fire arrived at the scene at 2:21 a.m. to put out the fire, which was upgraded to a two-alarmer after firefighters arrived.

“It was a bit of a stubborn fire. It took a little while to knock down,” a Platoon Chief said.

He said the fire was contained to the roof, but neighbouring buildings may have some smoke damage.

You can make a donation to help with the return of the parlour on Go Fund Me.

Pizza lovers took to social media to vent their frustration and loss of a good pizza place.

“Yes that is true Adriano has a heart of gold. This is heartbreaking, I’m hoping he can rebuild it fast,” wrote Monika Tabak.

“We just ordered from him last night,” Sue Clevely said. ‘Our go to pizza place. So sorry to hear.”

“We finally had Adriano’s amazing food just last week, and declared it our new go-to pizza,” noted  Carolyn Buchanan. “I hope the damage is not extensive and that he can reopen his wonderful business soon.”