Blame game engulfs Yonge and Eglinton demolition derby. A 110-year-old Bank of Montreal building at 2444 Yonge was flattened, to the alarm of locals under the impression that its facade would be worked into a new condo building. But a demolition amendment submitted last week was approved by the city. Chief planner Jennifer Keesmaat responded by tweeting that the confusion wasn’t due to lack of communication, but rather “a lack of staff to be proactive and address the backlog of required evaluation.” The local councillor has been spared the hassle of trying to stop the bulldozers:

Kevin O’Leary might as well be PM already. Forum Research ran some numbers, and they give the impression that the 13 other Conservative leadership candidates should just quit now—although the choices aren't enough for some. Meanwhile, open letters to O’Leary keep flying out of the Ontario Liberal cabinet, where the feeling seems to be that he's the guy they’re running against in 2018. (O’Leary seems content to watch it from afar.)

Suicide Squad is actually nominated for an Academy Award. The Best Makeup and Hairstyling category made room for the Toronto-shot bomb. Surprisingly, the film claimed just two Razzie nominations: Worst Actor for Jared Leto and Worst Screenplay for David Ayer. Meanwhile, Ayer is on Twitter wishing he had a time machine so he could insert more scenes of Leto as the Joker, rather than fewer.

“The Trump Effect” sounds like a job for the CBC ombudsman. Reaction to a Marketplace segment, featuring a roadside actor selling racist T-shirts, raised questions like, is this what the public broadcaster is spending its budget on? Rebel Media will apparently be sending the CBC a cease and desist, because Ezra Levant has registered the trademark on “Make Canada Great Again.”

The oldest living NHLer found in Mattawa. Chick Webster, 96, has become the answer to an obscure and difficult trivia question following the death of Boston Bruins legend Milt Schmidt earlier this month at 98—so, Curtis Rush tracked him down for the New York Times. Webster played just 14 games for the New York Rangers in 1949-50, with no goals or assists to show for it. “Broadway was just about a block away from us,” Webster recalls of his days on the job at Madison Square Garden. “That was a big deal. It was a great town then.”

Dick Smyth’s new life as a joint pain relief cream pitchman. The legendary radio newsman beat back skin cancer last year at age 82. Now, he’s getting attention as the mascot for LivRelief—a role he's perfect for, because traditional TV advertising is no place to be young anymore.

Progressive rock group Saga is winding down. Formed in Oakville 40 years ago, with a few early hits before they faded away amidst some unsuccessful attempts to emulate pop music fashion, the act ended up a local joke for remaining superstars in Germany—only rivalled over there by David Hasselhoff. Saga’s final tour will be this year, but they have one last booking to fulfill in 2018, on the annual boat cruise headlined by the band Yes.

Word of the moment

NOROVIRUS

The suspicious stomach activity that afflicted 215 Humber College students turned out to be an outbreak of this nasty variety of pathogen.




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