Brandon Truaxe dead at 40. The founder of skincare brand Deciem, who lost his CEO role in a court battle with investor Estée Lauder, posted Instagram videos from his condo in the Distillery District prior to a reported fall that resulted in his death. Truaxe was ordered to stay away from his company after he announced he'd be shutting it down because of unspecified criminal activity. “The Abnormal Beauty Company” confirmed the news:

One city dominates an Oscar category thanks to a pair via Pixar. This year’s Best Animated Short Film nominees include two set in Toronto, both made by staffers who grew up here: Domee Shi’s Bao, released as a lead-in to The Incredibles 2, has the CN Tower as a defining shot in the story of a woman who raises a dumpling as her son. Trevor Jimenez’s Weekends, meanwhile, is an independent 1980s recollection of shuffling between divorced parents.

“We’re going to bring Ontario Place back to life and make it a spectacular world-class, year-round destination in North America.” This boilerplate from provincial tourism and culture minister Michael Tibollo kicked off a search for development proposals for Ontario Place. Queen’s Park’s role in the redevelopment is bringing on fear of ineptitude. The discussion wasn't always this way:

TTC is looking to find $33.5 billion a dime at a time. A potential 10-cent fare hike on April 1 comes with the usual grousing—and the Toronto Star editorial board telling riders to suck it up, given the estimated TTC costs of the next 15 years. The commission’s operating budget is further pondered in Matt Elliott’s new City Hall Watcher newsletter.

“Shitty Watercolour Leslieville” can’t keep the scrawling in stock. An anonymous artist has sold five $25 paintings, resulting from an attempt to share feelings about the neighbourhood. The artist hopes that their style will improve, considering the fact that they just received their watercolour paints for Christmas, in time to capture a vanishing landmark:

Jazz.FM91 loses yet another voice. Amidst the epic drama at the radio station, and with a newly launched streaming rival, Jazz.FM is still without a morning host. A previous one, Terry McElligott, stuck to middays. But now he’s given two weeks’ notice:

Jack Stoddart dead at 74. The former president of General Publishing, which his father bought in 1957, led the company to bankruptcy in 2002. The Wealthy Barber and Boom, Bust and Echo were among the zeitgeist Canadian books published by Stoddart.



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