Philip Alves

A 38-year-old Vaughanian is the first to be caught by York police under a strict new law barring smoking in a vehicle with children. At about 4 p.m. on June 8, an officer spotted a woman smoking a cigarette as she drove, police say. In the car with her were three kids under 12 years old.

Progressive Conservative leadership hopeful Frank Klees sees too much red at Queen’s Park and says it’s time to do something about it. During a brief editorial board meeting in the Vaughan Today newsroom Monday, the Newmarket-Aurora MPP discussed provincial issues and his leadership bid.

Market Lane to host nearby food growers, vendors on June 20 Something fresh is about to sprout at Woodbridge’s Market Lane. On June 20, Ontario farmers from the Kettleby, Innerkip and Brampton areas will setup shop alongside fair-trade coffee and organic chocolate vendors, among others, at the first Woodbridge farmers’ market. The weekly market, set [...]

Mayor should pay thousands to city, auditors suggest Embattled Mayor Linda Jackson breached city spending policies and should be on the hook for thousands of dollars in misspent funds, say the authors of a $40,000-audit report delving into her 2007 office expenses. In a supplemental report by accounting firm Ernst & Young presented to the [...]

Vaughan’s city councillors are seeking outside legal advice on what to do with a damaging compliance audit into the 2006 campaign books of a municipal candidate. It’s become a familiar refrain at city hall: Similar campaign audits of Mayor Linda Jackson and Councillor Bernie DiVona each prompted council to seek both independent legal advice and ultimately charges. The difference this time is the target of the audit: former mayor Michael DiBiase.

Leanne Prendergast was teased and bullied at school. So was her older sister, Laurece. “I didn’t want to go to school,” says Leanne, a grade 9 student at Woodbridge College. “I wanted to stay at home. I didn’t want to see anyone. I didn’t want to get made fun of anymore. I felt like kind of hiding.”

But bylaw enforced on a complaint basis only Frances Stern sounds as if she’s on the verge of pulling her hair out in frustration. The owner of 2 Hot Blondes Hair Salon in Thornhill says she’s being picked on in an unfair fight over signs. “Why single me out?” she asks rhetorically from a couch [...]

Councillor Bernie DiVona’s political fate is now in the hands of the city’s independent prosecutor. At a special meeting Tuesday, DiVona’s colleagues heard advice from Timothy Wilkin that DiVona should be charged for apparent contraventions of the Municipal Elections Act uncovered in an audit of his 2006 campaign books. Council agreed to retain Wilkin to pursue charges against DiVona.

The tally so far: nearly three-quarters of a million a dollars. That’s how much the city has paid, as of March 31, for audits of the 2006 campaign books of four Vaughan political heavyweights and related legal fees.

“Good morning,” Anne Vandrie says to someone who’s just walked into Pennywise Thrift Shop on a Monday morning. “Customers are coming in,” she says before turning her attention back to the visitor. “Good morning. Wonderful. Thank you very much.”

The proposed Yonge subway extension cleared a major hurdle this week. The project’s completed environmental assessment was filed with the province’s Environment Ministry Monday after being approved last month by Environment Minister John Gerretsen.

Vaughan’s city councillors are looking for outside legal advice on what to do with a damaging audit into the 2006 campaign books of one of their own. Councillor Bernie DiVona, who resigned his post as budget committee chair last month after the audit was released, may find himself in the same boat as Mayor Linda Jackson.