Toronto

Toronto

Thankfully the emergence of Daulton Varsho as an elite defensive centre fielder and a power bat has temporarily put to rest the yearly referendum on whether trading for him made sense. On December 23, 2022, the Blue Jays pulled off a surprise move by dealing outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and catching prospect Gabriel Moreno for Varsho. This transaction was the first of many in an organizational shift towards acquiring or signing defensive-minded players in the vein of promoting run prevention over run creation.

After two straight games where the Caps gave up the first goal - and proceeded to lose by a large margin - it seemed important for them to get off to a stronger start last night against the visiting Leafs. Thanks to Justin Sourdif and Aliaksei Protas, they did just that, getting the Caps on the board with the eventual game-winning goal just a little over 14 minutes into the first period.

The Welland Hospital and schools in the area are in lockdown as Niagara police say they're investigating reports of a shooting. There's a heavy police presence on Second Street between Plymouth Road and Lincoln Street in Welland, say police. Residents are asked to shelter in place or avoid the area as of Friday morning "while our officers work to make the area safe," police said in a news release.

On this date last year, Major League Baseball teams had spent around $2.1 billion on free agents. So far this year, that number is shy of $1.4 billion. And as big as that difference seems, it's impossible not to notice the gap between the two numbers shares the same first digit as Juan Soto's $765 million megadeal with the New York Mets signed last December.

A man in his 30s has been taken to hospital in life-threatening condition after being injured at a Toronto construction site Thursday, said first responders. Officers responded around 10:10 a.m. to calls of an injured construction worker near Eglinton Avenue W. and Jane Street, said Toronto police in a post on social media. The man was taken to hospital via emergency run by paramedics, police said.

Prosecutors have withdrawn a second-degree murder charge against a man who spent 23 years in prison for the killing of a 10-year-old girl in 1989. Ontario's court of appeal set aside the conviction against Timothy Rees, 62, last month and ordered a new trial into the complex case, which includes recanted confessions, accusations of police conspiracy and mishandled evidence. It came after two former federal justice ministers said a miscarriage of justice had likely occurred during Rees's original trial more than 30 years ago.

At least 11 people were killed and more than two dozen injured in a shooting by two gunmen at a Jewish holiday event at the Sydney beach. Australian police have deemed the shooting a terrorist attack and are working to determine whether others were involved. One suspected gunman was dead and another in critical condition, authorities said. A police officer is also among the dead and another was injured, said New South Wales Police.

Nearly a week after it was first opened, service on Line 6 has resumed after it was yet again partially shut down on Saturday. Service between Finch West and Tobermory stations stopped twice at two different intervals due to a mechanical problem, according to TTC Service Alerts on social media. The first stoppage took place around 8:50 a.m. and resumed 20 minutes later, while the second occurred around 11:45 a.m. only to be fixed about 25 minutes later.

Residents and businesses should not consume tap water, the Mayor of Collingwood Yvonne Hamlin said in a statement issued Friday. I want to assure residents and businesses that we are doing everything we can to fix the broken water main and to restore safe, reliable water service as quickly as possible, she said. I ask everyone to avoid the area of Pretty River Parkway and Hume Street, where repair crews are actively working.

Transit service on the Scarborough busway will begin next September, Mayor Chow announced on Friday. The four-kilometre designated bus corridor will run along the route of the former Scarborough RT from Kennedy Station to Ellesmere Station and will provide service to 120,000 people every week, Chow said at a news conference on Friday. The people of Scarborough deserve reliable and efficient transit options, Chow said in a TTC news release announcing the busway.

Adam Macko has been mentioned among the top Blue Jays prospects since he came over from Seattle in the 2022 offseason trade that sent Teoscar Hernandez to the Mariners. The 24-year-old has dealt with some minor injuries that have led to him missing time in each of the past three seasons. Last season at triple-A Buffalo, the left-hander compiled a 5.06 ERA and 1.51 WHIP across 18 appearances (10 starts).

Singa Bui's licence to practise law was revoked following a three-hour-long hearing in which the Law Society of Ontario presented more than 2,000 pages of evidence, which she did not contest, that Bui repeatedly dipped into her firm's trust account to steal millions of dollars of client money and even forged bank records in a way that hid the theft.

The Toronto Blue Jays sure came out as a double-winner following the Rule 5 Draft that took place on Wednesday (Dec. 10). Not only did they pick up a promising arm in right-hander Spencer Miles from the San Francisco Giants, the Blue Jays somehow managed to come out of it unscathed, as none of their own top prospects were taken in the draft.

Toronto police say they have linked three cold cases from the 1980s and identified the killer of three women over the span of five years as the same man. Through DNA testing, or investigative genetic genealogy, police have identified Kenneth Smith as the killer of Christine Prince, Gracelyn Greenridge and Claire Samson, Det. Sgt. Steve Smith said in a video statement provided by Toronto police Thursday. The three women were killed in separate incidents between 1982 and 1987, Smith said.

One person is dead after being shot by a police officer in Mississauga, Peel Regional Police say. Peel police say in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that they have notified Ontario's Special Investigations Unit of the officer-involved shooting. Police say they were called to a stabbing in the area of Winston Churchill Boulevard and Britannia Road W. at about 2:30 p.m. An officer shot and killed the stabbing suspect, police say. The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene.