Toronto

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Mayor Rob Ford fired his chief of staff Thursday after growing tired of Mark Towhey urging him to go to rehab, the Toronto Sun has learned.

John Tortorella is known for being short with the media.

The Toronto Catholic District School Board has rejected a call from two trustees to ban gay-straight alliances in schools — which Ontario now says schools must allow.Trustees voted 7 to 4 against a motion Thursday by trustee Garry Tanuan calling on the board to defy Ontario’s year-old Accepting Schools Act that says boards must let students set up gay-straight alliances (GSAs) if they wish. Tanuan’s motion, seconded by trustee John Del Grande, said gay-straight alliances “promote a positive view of homosexual activity, which undermines Catholic teaching on chastity and marriage.”However, students from two new gay-straight alliances in Catholic high schools argued they are having a “positive impact” on school climate and leading to fewer homophobic slurs.“Gay-straight alliances and Catholicism are not mutually exclusive; they go hand in hand … and provide a safe space for those who need support,” said student Jersey David from the gay-straight alliance at Mary Ward Catholic Secondary School. “Our discussions are about anti-bullying and inclusive language,” and does not conflict with Catholic schools’ promotion of chastity, argued fellow student Erin Edgehill.Students from the gay-straight alliance club of Francis Liberman Catholic High School — which is called Bridges — noted they start each club meeting with a prayer and believe the Catholic faith extends to accepting those of different sexual identities.However, parent Iola Fortino argued against allowing gay-straight alliances, calling them “an encouragement of the gay lifestyle. This is about corrupting our youth.”There were two hours of emotional presentations by parents, teachers and students on both sides of the issue before trustees began to debate the motion.Tanuan suggested anti-bullying clubs should follow the guidelines set out last year by Catholic trustees, parents and bishops that such groups be called “Respecting Differences” clubs and not include political activism or personal counselling or discussion of gender identity or sexual attraction.Tanuan also claimed the Accepting Schools Act steps on Catholic boards’ constitutional right to provide teaching that follows Catholic values.“Let’s be clear; some will say we’re (recommending) not following the law of the land, but Bill 13 is not the law of the land. The Constitution is the law of the land and it trumps all provincial laws.”Trustee Sal Piccininni said Catholic education must change with the times, and that he was always taught that “Jesus accepts everybody.” He said he was proud of the students who defended GSAs at the meeting.Noa Mendelsohn Aviv is the Equality Program Director of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. She told trustees “the people who attend Catholic schools in Ontario have a right to freedom of association, to form clubs and choose a name that they wish, and to be free from discrimination on the basis of gender activity.“It is well known the rate of bullying of LGBTQ students is high and the rate of suicide among LGBTQ students is terribly high.”

Former Blue Jays scout Epifanio Obdulio (Epy) Guerrero died of kidney failure at age 71 in the Dominican Republic.

The New York Rangers must like living on the edge.Outplayed badly through the first eight minutes of the second period, the Rangers were trailing the Boston Bruins 2-0 and their season was in the countdown mode.Then Bruins goalie stumbled at the same time Carl Hagelin tossed an easy shot at him. The puck took a slow, meandering journey and ended up in the net. It was an ugly, tortured goal, but it gave the Rangers life.Instead of skating in mud the rest of the way, the Rangers did nothing but fight, and they came away with a 4-3 overtime victory in the fourth game of the conference semifinals.The Rangers have been teetering on the brink of failure through much of the season. It seems to bring out the best in themDuring the regular season, a playoff spot seemed to be slipping away from them, but trade deadline deals that brought them Derick Brassard, Derek Dorsett and John Moore from Columbus along with Ryane Clowe from San Jose allowed them to rally and earn the sixth spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs.In the first round of the playoffs, Rangers were trailing the Washington Capitals 3-2 and appeared to be ready to say goodbye to the season. But Henrik Lundqvist responded with back-to-back shutouts as the Rangers survived and advanced.It's too early to say the Rangers will do the same thing to the Boston Bruins after Brian Boyle scored the tying goal on a power play in the third period and Chris Kreider deflected home the winner on a sensational pass from Rick Nash, but they have taken the first step toward a remarkable comeback.Perhaps the Rangers have the right opponent for building a remarkable turnaround. The Boston Bruins led the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1 before the Bruins let them tie the first-round series and send it to a seventh game. The Bruins were on their way toward losing that until they made a miracle comeback of their own in the seventh game.However, the Bruins have blown bigger leads than that. They endured one of the worst nightmares in hockey history in 2010 when they lost a 3-0 series lead to the Philadelphia Flyers by losing four straight.The Flyers became the third team in NHL history to overcome an 0-3 deficit. The others were the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs and the 1975 New York Islanders.Veteran hockey writer and Hall of Famer Stan Fischler believes that the Rangers have the Bruins on the run. What did I tell you -- a fourth-liner did the trick. #Rangers have #Bruins where they want them -- in Panics-vlle. #Rask won't be the same.— Stan Fischler (@StanFischler) May 24, 2013 When the Flyers made their comeback against the Bruins, their first victory came in overtime at home, just the way the Rangers did Thursday night.The Rangers certainly hope the Bruins cooperate and give them Games 5 and 6, but the Bruins have proven quite a bit since then. In addition to stopping the Maple Leafs in their tracks in the first round, the Bruins bounced back from their 2010 disaster by winning the Stanley Cup in 2011.Rask knew that his fall allowed the Rangers to score the first goal. It happened when the edge of his skate got stuck in the ice. Tuukka said he took step to the side & felt like his skate dug into a skate mark or something.."then lost my balance and rest is history"^CS— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) May 24, 2013 The Bruins still held a 2-1 edge going into the third, but a giveaway by Zdeno Chara allowed Derick Stepan to score the tying goal early in the third period.The Bruins responded and took a 3-2 lead when Tyler Seguin scored at the 8:06 mark of the third period just as a Boston power play ended.However, when the Bruins were called for too many men on the ice—the franchise's signature nightmare penalty call—Boyle was able to score the tying goal.If you think a power-play goal is unusual for Boyle, you're right. It was his first goal with a man advantage since 2011.On the surface, the Rangers still have much work to do. They are down 3-1 with the fifth game in Boston on Saturday.B

The Orioles brought up twenty-two year old Kevin Gausman, who was the 4th overall pick out of LSU in last years First-Year Player Draft, Tuesday to make his major league debut in Toronto. Gausman pitched five innings gave up seven hits, four earned runs, two walks and struck out five batters tonight but still earned the loss in his first start in the majors. With no help from the bullpen the Orioles got wacked by the Blue Jays 12-6 on the same night as Orioles skipper Buck Showalter’s 57th birthday. This season Kevin Gausman has not thrown more than 80 pitches in a game coming into this matchup. Leading 3-2 going into the bottom of the 5th inning Gausman was just nearing his pitch count limit when he gave up the go-ahead two-run homer to Jays catcher J.P. Arencibia. The Orioles bullpen tonight, combind of three pitchers, threw a total of 78 pitches and less than 49 percent of them were strikes. They gave up eight runs (six of them earned) in just three innings while Kevin Gausman’s 89 pitches were 65 percent strikes in five innings and only leading to four runs. Unfortunately one of the times the Orioles relievers found the strike zone is when reliever Pedro Strop gave up a grand slam to Toronto’s Edwin Encarnacion who this season when facing the O’s has three homers and eight RBI’s. Some highlights from the O’s tonight were third baseman Manny Machado going 3 for 4 with three doubles and two RBI’s making him the leader in doubles in the whole league. Orioles Nick Markakis, Adam Jones, and Chris Davis also added solo home runs in this game, Markakis extended his hit streak to eight games with that homer. Davis’ home run was his thirteenth career homer against Toronto and he has now hit six home runs in his last thirteen games. Blue Jays starter Brandon Morrow earned the win pitching seven innings giving up ten hits, six earned runs, one walk and five strikeouts, but he gave up three homers which he displayed being upset about by throwing a tantrum in the duggout after he came out of the game. The second game of this three game series will be played tomorrow 7:07 pm at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. Probables for this game will be Chris Tillman (BAL 3-2 3.52 ERA) vs. Sean Nolin (TOR 0-0 0.00 ERA), Nolin will be making his major league debut for the Blue Jays.

NEW YORK – When Rangers coach John Tortorella scratched former Conn Smythe Trophy winner Brad Richards for Game 4, the buzz surrounding the announcement drew more attention than Tortorella’s 19-second press conference at the morning skate. That, and defenseman Roman Hamrlik replacing the injured Anton Stralman left the Blueshirts in a vulnerable position. The Bruins had the Rangers on the ropes and eyed their second Eastern Conference Finals appearance in three seasons. But, despite a solid start, they could not complete the sweep. A series of blunders cost the Black and Gold in their 4-3 overtime loss to the Blueshirts in Game 4 Thursday night at Madison Square Garden. More importantly, it gave the Rangers new life. “We made mistakes and they capitalized on their chances,” a dejected Zdeno Chara said afterwards. “We have to eliminate those and get ready for the next one.” It all started when the B’s led 2-0 and had momentum on their side thanks to second period goals by Nathan Horton and Torey Krug on the power play. But a costly play by Tuukka Rask shortly after Krug’s tally at 7:41 gave the Rangers new life. With a weak backhander by Carl Hagelin, Rask fell down and could not recover as the puck trickled past him to give the MSG crowd something to cheer about. The trickle down effect continued in the third as Derek Stepan took advantage of turnover by Chara – behind Rask – and tied things up at 2-2 just 1:15 into the final stanza. Then, with a 3-2 lead thanks to Tyler Seguin’s first of the playoffs, the Bruins were called for a bench minor for too many men, which led to Brian Boyle’s tying goal with 10 minutes left in regulation. Finally, in overtime, Dougie Hamilton was unable to stop Chris Kreider’s tip-in at 7:03 of the extra session. “We gave them a couple of gifts and at the end of the day, that’s what cost us,” Rask said. “It’s a game of mistakes. A team makes mistakes and a player makes mistakes. We just have to learn from it and move forward. The mistakes we had doesn’t make us a bad hockey team. What happens, happens, and we have to shake it off and move on.” Moving on is exactly what the Bruins need to do. But Thursday’s loss is another cause for concern. Having already been through a similar situation in the first round against the Toronto Maple Leafs, the B’s need to regain that killer instinct and finish the series. They will get another chance to do that in Game 5 on Saturday as the series shifts back to the TD Garden. “That’s one you want to take,” said Seguin, who also took responsibility for the too many men penalty. “We had the opportunity to win [tonight] and we thought we had played well on the road, especially last game [Game 3]. It would have been nice to get out of here with a win, but again, we’re going to go on to our home ice and play a better game. “It’s a fresh new start here. It doesn’t matter what happened in this series. We have to be better.” The post Blunders cost Bruins in overtime loss to Rangers appeared first on Bruins Daily.

MOUNT VERNON, WASH. — An Interstate 5 bridge over a river north of Seattle collapsed Thursday evening, dumping vehicles and people into the water, the Washington State Patrol said.The four-lane bridge over the Skagit River collapsed about 7 p.m., Trooper Mark Francis said. There was no immediate estimate of how many people were in the water or whether there were any injuries or deaths, he said.It also was not known what caused the collapse of the bridge about 60 miles north of Seattle in Skagit County, which stretches from the North Cascades National Park to a cluster of islands off the Washington coast.Xavier Grospe, 62, who lives near the river, said he could see three cars with what appeared to be one person per vehicle. The vehicles were sitting still in the water, partially submerged and partly above the waterline, and the apparent drivers were sitting either on top of the vehicles or on the edge of open windows.“It doesn’t look like anybody’s in danger right now,” Grospe said.Helicopter footage aired by KOMO-TV in Seattle showed several rescue boats at the bridge collapse scene with several ambulances waiting on the shore. One rescue boat left the scene with one person strapped into a stretcher.A damaged red car and a damaged pickup truck were visible in the water, which appeared so shallow it barely reached the top of the car’s hood.Crowds of people lined the river to watch the scene unfold.Gov. Jay Inslee’s office said he was on his way to the scene to assess the situation.The bridge is not considered structurally deficient but is listed as being “functionally obsolete”—a category meaning that their design is outdated, such as having narrow shoulders are low clearance underneath, according to a database compiled by the Federal Highway Administration.The bridge was built in 1955 and has a sufficiency rating of 57.4 out of 100, according to federal records. That is well below the statewide average rating of 80, according to an Associated Press analysis of federal data, but 759 bridges in the state have a lower sufficiency score.Democratic Rep. Judy Clibborn, who leads the transportation committee in the state House, said the bridge wasn’t one that has been a focus for lawmakers.“It isn’t anything that was on our radar screen as being an issue,” Clibborn said. “It is shocking that I-5 would have something happen like this.”According to a 2012 Skagit County Public Works Department, 42 of the county’s 108 bridges that are 50 years or older. The document says eight of the bridges are more than 70 years old and two are over 80.Washington state was given a C in the American Society of Civil Engineers’ 2013 infrastructure report card and a C- when it came to the state’s bridges. The group said more than a quarter of Washington’s 7,840 bridges are considered structurally deficient of functionally obsolete.Baker reported from Olympia, Wash.

POT TV - Canada's largest marijuana trade show, The 4th-Annual Treating Yourself Expo, starts tomorrow at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Watch Pot TV all weekend for a LIVE broadcast on-location from the expo floor. Watch LIVE on Pot TV - ALL WEEKEND - Starting Friday, May 24 at 11AM Hundreds of pot-related vendors, activist groups, media organizations, glass dealers, and seed companies will gather to provide information and products to Canadians in a professional atmosphere at one of the largest convention centres in the country. Screen Shot 2013-05-23 at 7.17.16 PM.png read more