In June 2013, drummer Harry left the band to pursue his post-secondary education. When one door closes another opens, for the group this led them to welcome Nick as the band’s new drummer.

Since the release of first their CD, Greatest Hits Where’ve You Been, in June 2013, Jammers Waffle House has won numerous competitions. They’ve played at Canada’s Wonderland, The Sound Academy, The Opera House, the Southside Shuffle and more.

In December of last year, the band won Best Band at Cawthra’s Battle of the Bands; this recognition awarded them a performance on the main stage line up for this year’s Paint the Town Red (PTTR) Canada Day celebration!

The Jammers Wafflehouse Band will be playing on the Main Stage in Memorial Park at 1:00 p.m. Come out and support them and other local talent at PTTR, Mississauga!

“Let’s Fall Down” from their new album Sandcastle in the Rain.

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Be sure to come by Port Credit’s Buskerfest to get a glimpse of what Billy Kidd can do. She will be performing throughout the festival on the Aug. 15-17 weekend.

Billy Kidd was born and raised in Edmonton where she trained extensively in a variety of dance forms with Dance Alberta. Billy can also play the piano, saxophone and violin. On top of all this, she’s been working as an actor since the age of 12 in theatre, film and television.

When she was 18, Billy got accepted to the University of Alberta for acting. However, throughout her academic years, magic was becoming a secret passion.

Currently, she stars in Discovery Channel’s new series Breaking Magic, where the show takes a worldwide tour with some of the most innovative magicians today. Breaking Magic transforms pure science into mind boggling tricks.

Her magical career started in 2006 when she flew to Japan working illusions and parlour shows alongside Sheldon Casavant for six months. She then flew to Key West, Florida where she honed her skills as a magician performing under the guidance of famous Gazzo. Since then she has been performing close up magic and stage shows all over the world from cruise ships, outdoor festivals, Hollywood’s Magic Castle and some of the most prestigious hotels in Dubai.

Here’s a snippet of Billy Kidd’s magical talents.

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Construction has been going on for six months to build a new station to facilitate express transportation between Union Station and Pearson Airport. The contract for the project is being overseen by Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario, and the UP Express Station and corresponding spur line are being constructed by AirLINX Transit Partners Inc.

Because the site of the Union Pearson Express Station is beside the airport’s Automated People Mover (APM); the APM (which is used both by airport passengers and Greater Toronto Airport Authority employees) was temporarily closed to accommodate construction. Alternative transportation arrangements were made. Now, use of the APM will be restored to the Greater Toronto Airports Authority.

The Union Pearson Express is slated to begin service in 2015, and currently construction is on track. It is part of Metrolinx’s plan called “The Big Move” and the goal is to have the UP Express operational in time for the Pan/Parapan American Games.

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They are emerging on every continent. The Turning Torso in Malmo Sweden, the Infinity Tower in Dubai, the Chicago spire in the United States, the “gherkin” in London, the “pickle” in Barcelona, and the final two towers in a five-tower condo complex called Absolute World in Mississauga—the more curvaceous of the two nicknamed ‘the Marilyn’, and together sometimes referred to as the Marilyns. These twisted sisters all have one thing in common: they are really powerful urban symbols. They are also very difficult to build!

Engineer/architect Santiago Calatrava spearheaded the recent rise of such expressive buildings. He was responsible for the Turning Torso in Sweden and the yet-to-be-built Chicago Spire. Calatrava is uniquely qualified to realize his bold visions. Where architect and engineer are usually engaged in a battle between expressive art and functional practice, Calatrava can resolve these impulses and achieve the most beautiful sculptural results. We can see his work locally at the BCE Galleria on Bay Street in Toronto, where a beautiful soaring atrium shows off his sculptural and technical ability.

Is this twisted motif a new phenomenon? While it is in the spotlight lately in architectural design, it has been done before. The Baroque period architect and sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini created an exquisite papal altar in Saint Peter’s Basilica in 1629. The supporting columns follow a sinuous form, evocative of snakes, supporting a gilded canopy framing the Pope’s high altar.

In the early 20th century Antonio Gaudi designed spiralling towers on his Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona. This was an architect who refused to be tamed by pen and paper, using instead sculptural clay modelling to achieve his visions. He had to train stone masons to abandon the rectilinear block form prevalent in the day.

The constant theme in these twisted sisters is a building that is nearly impossible to build, or even to draw with conventional pen and paper. Enter the computer.

Licorice for inspiration and computers for realization. Sam Crignano of Cityzen Development, the partner developer with Fernbrook Homes, said that every floor of the 56 storey Marilyn was different. Conventional buildings sometimes repeat 15 standard unit plans. Cityzen created a unique folder for all 428 units managed by computer. Each floor plate comprises an oval shape that turns a few degrees on each successive floor. While the oval skin turns, the interior columns and elevator core do not. When the oval of one floor extends out over the floor below, the supporting walls and columns get a little longer or wider, stepping out to support the floor above. As a result every floor is slightly different.

It is a clever technique that respects the traditional method of forming concrete, while allowing for a very expressive undulating form.

A sophisticated computer program was also used to visualize the form of the Marilyn under varying parameters. Yansong Ma, the design architect, tried various transformations, using 1 degree of rotation per floor, changing to 2 degrees per floor, and then introducing more extreme variations to understand the possible sculptural outcomes. He settled on a gentle set of mathematical offsets that produced an organic form  suggesting voluptuous human hips.

When this original Marilyn was selected through an international design competition, the uncertainty around her constructability caused the jurors to pick a more conventional design as a fall back position. Following months of structural analysis it was concluded that the design was indeed viable. According to Crignano, the costs associated with construction could be offset by a premium price which started at $450 per square foot of unit area. This compared to regional price points around $380 per square foot for similar condominiums. The gamble paid off with the first tower selling out in a month and giving the developer confidence to launch a second similar tower at 50 storeys also designed by Ma. Today there are only a few units left in that tower, selling for $550 per square foot. Everyone was a winner!

There were several variations on the twisted building submitted through the design competition. None were as elegant as the Ma submission. I served on the jury and we were all seduced by the siren’s call of his design and its promise of focal attention.

Since Calatrava designed and engineered his first Turning Torso building in 2001, the world has jumped onto that bandwagon as evidenced by the competition submissions. Poor copies of an original masterpiece do not qualify as new important architecture. If there is a problem with twisted architecture it is that it reads as too mathematical, harsh and structural. Calatrava’s buildings, as ground-breaking as they are, suffer a little from this problem. Ma has successfully transcended that feeling, creating an organic flowing form. That is the true legacy of his work and we in Mississauga are riding on its success internationally.

Tim Jones of Toronto Artscape speculated as early as 2007 that the Marilyn, which was only a design on paper at the time, would be noticed by the world. This past summer the New York Times ran a story about the Marilyn. When in Rome recently I mentioned to a local architect that I was from the Toronto area. He replied “oh, that is where that amazing Marilyn tower is located”. I proudly replied, “No, that is in Mississauga, my home town.” The Marilyn is on the minds of Americans and Europeans. The world is noticing!

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“The safety of our customers and transit operators is our first priority. This new dedicated bus corridor is for busses and authorized vehicles only,” said Geoff Marinoff, Director of Transit. “For safety reasons, pedestrians, cyclists and private vehicles are not permitted on it.”

Customers can travel on the transitway by taking MiExpress routes 107-Malton Express, route 109-Meadowvale Express and MiLocal route 21 which bypasses between the City Centre and Dixie Road.

To ensure safe travelling for all Mississauga Transitway customers and city residents are reminded of the following:

• Private vehicles are not permitted on the transitway;
• Pedestrian walking and running around is not permitted on the transitway;
• Cycling is not permitted on the transitway. Each station is equipped with bike racks so you can lock up your bike. All stairs have a bicycle roll up which allows customers to easily move their bike from ground to platform level. All MiWay busses have bike racks and can carry two bicycles;
• Walking across the transitway or between stations is not permitted;
• When travelling between the eastbound and westbound platforms, never step onto or cross the transitway; and
• Dedicated passenger pick-up and drop-off areas are available at all stations.

Real time savings will occur when the 18-km transitway and all 12 stations are open in 2017.

View station maps here.

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What is a Peel District School Board student worth? Left up to the Ministry of Education, less than you might expect. And certainly less than they and their families deserve.

By one key measure – how much each school board receives per student for operations – the Peel Board is the fourth-lowest funded board in Ontario.

In fact, for 2010-11, we receive $837 less per student than the provincial average. That’s right, $837 for each and every one of our students each year.

Years ago, school boards were raising a large portion of their revenue by local taxation and a number of urban boards were better funded than rural boards. A conservative government at the time, took control and centralized all public education funding. The government said it created the funding formula to “provide more equity of funding” for all public school boards. What has happened over the last 10 to 12 years, is Peel’s funding position has fallen behind virtually all other boards.

So, how does Peel compare to similar GTA boards?

• York Region District School Board receives $47 more
  per student than the Peel Board.
• Dufferin-Peel District Catholic School Board receives
  $133 more per student.
• Toronto District School Board receives a whopping
  $990 more per student—that’s about $140,000,000
  more than Peel students receive.

Let me be clear, under the current Liberal government Ontario’s education system has become much better funded and functional. We know how supportive this province is in terms of education funding and of public education. We’ve experienced this through their funding of smaller primary class sizes, career pathways supports for high school students like the Specialist High Skills Major program, and its provision of capital funding which has enabled us to grow alongside our new communities.

And while we are thankful for the province’s investment in public education and acknowledge that different school boards have different needs, we continue to ask the government to make difficult decisions and redistribute existing funding so that Peel students and their families receive their fair share.
Why has this happened? Why does a Toronto student receive almost $1,000 more than one in Peel? How has it affected us? And what can we do about it?

Funding formula short changes Peel With the Ministry of Education’s complex funding formula, student enrolment is one element but there are many other factors – number of schools, their distribution and physical condition, transportation, the unique demands of the student population (e.g. English as a Second Language, and special education), and more.
Some boards receive more than the average per student, some less. What’s troubling is the size of the gap and the flaws in the funding system.

For instance, boards with declining enrolment get special consideration to help cushion the impact. Fair enough. However, for boards with rising enrolment, the funding often doesn’t keep pace, especially when the Ministry of Education uses outdated data.
For years, the Ministry was funding us using census numbers that were a decade or more old. That works against Peel, which has grown by 33,000 students since 2001.

Our needs in many areas can grow rapidly. In serving special education students, we spend $16 million more than we receive. In fact, we have the lowest high needs funding in Ontario on a per student basis – $300 below the provincial average ($135 less per student than other GTA boards). So, we must re-direct money from other areas to cover those needs.
The Peel Board and our Trustees have continually tried to make our case with the government for fairer funding. We’ve succeeded in part. Consider one aspect of our funding, the Learning Opportunities Grant (LOG).
The LOG is critical because of the flexibility it offers school boards. Some funding is earmarked for specific uses, but the LOG can be directed to a variety of purposes.
Together with Peel School Council members, parents and faith leaders, we asked that the LOG be based on 2006 data, not on the previously used data, which goes back to 1996 and even 1991.

We had a breakthrough last spring, with the acknowledgement that there was a need to use more upto- date data to fund us based on the students we actually have in schools, not the ones in schools in 1996! And we thank our parents, faith leaders and School Councils for all their work to help us make this case.
By the government’s own calculations, when the more recent 2006 data was applied to the Learning Opportunities Grant, our Board qualifies for an additional $12 million a year. Unfortunately, the Province has decided to phase in the use of the new data over four
years, and so our students will not experience the $12 million a year they deserve until 2014.

Instead of $12 million in each of 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 (the $48 million that the government says our Board deserves), we’ll get $3 million in year one, $6 million in year two, $9 million in year three, and $12 million in year four. That’s $30 million, a shortfall of $18 million. And at no point do we catch up – after four years we remain behind. That’s not fair.
Imagine if the tax office told you that you deserve a refund of $12,000, but will get a cheque for $3,000 instead. You wouldn’t accept that. Neither should the Peel Board. Our students deserve more.

Changes could give Peel million$ more So, what is the Peel Board missing out on by not receiving the level of funding that we feel is appropriate? We have the full-time equivalent of about 143,000 students. If we received as much per student as the York Region District School Board; we would get an extra $6.6 million a year. And if the province gave us as much per student as the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District Catholic
School Board, which operates in the very same community, we would be in line for an additional $18.6 million!
To be sure, even with what we believe is underfunding, the Peel Board does an exemplary job of supporting student success. I’m proud of the quality of our staff, our innovative practices and the way we make every dollar count. In fact, a government audit of our operations found that few boards are as efficient as Peel, and that we engage in many best practices.

While our students receive the best possible education, we could do so much more with the added funding we feel we deserve.
Imagine if we could provide additional special education support. Or direct more funding into school budgets so parents could do less fundraising. Maybe expand the Reading Recovery Program. Perhaps add more Instructional Technology, or provide more support for High Social Risk Communities. We could make significant progress on these priorities and many more if the funding gap began to close.

We understand that the government has a difficult job. Balancing the funding needs of 72 school boards is a challenge, and we appreciate how much this government values public education.
We don’t expect or want the Province to simply throw more money at any board that asks for it. The education budget can’t just balloon. This isn’t a matter of increasing the size of the pie but of slicing it up differently.
Think about that gap between the Peel Board’s funding and the provincial average. In 2002, it was $459 per student. Today it’s $837, and if trends continue the gap could grow even larger.

To stop this erosion, The Peel Board is asking for three
things:
• One, provide the full $48 million that the government
admits we should receive under the Learning
Opportunities Grant as a result of their use of
more up-to-date census data
• Two, fund our Special Education needs based on current
Special Education students served
• Three, review the funding formula to ensure that it is
based on data that reflects the students we serve in our
classrooms today

What can you do as a concerned citizen?
Contact your Member of Provincial Parliament, the Minister of Education, or the Premier and demand action. Visit www.peelschools.org/studentworth.htm for more information.
When it comes to education funding, we’re not looking for the same share as the next board. This is about receiving the funding our students deserve – our fair share for Peel students.

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The Book Bandit, who hit five banks in Mississauga as part of a 31-bank cross-country spree, was one of those.

“This one was so frustrating, with coincidences and surprises that were so off the wall,” Dave Andrews, now Staff-Sgt. with Peel Regional Police says of the chase. “At one time we thought we were chasing three different people. We had a suspect who was perfect for the robberies. It was a classic whodunit. Even the motive for the robberies was different.”

On Thursday, July 3, 1997, a man walked into the Bank of Montreal, then located at the corner of Lakeshore Road and Hurontario Street, and opened a large day timer in front of a teller. Inside was a demand for cash in large denominations as well as the threat of a gun on the other side of the counter. The frightened teller quickly complied with the demand and the thief calmly walked from the branch with the cash-laden day timer under his arm.

Five days later, the same man hit the CIBC at Lakeshore and Clarkson Road in exactly the same way, and on August 27 he performed a similar robbery at the TD branch at Lakeshore and Stavebank Road. The signature tactic gave the thief the name “Book Bandit”.

Dave Andrews transferred into 12 Division’s robbery squad shortly after the third heist and joined Detective Braden Baron on the case. They did what detectives do whenever a serial robber pops up on their turf: given that the unknown suspect operates with a set pattern, they check with other forces for similar hold-ups.

They discovered that police in western Canada had been chasing their own “Bookworm Bandit”, who used a day-timer to pass hold-up notes in banks in Edmonton, Calgary and North Vancouver in May and June of 1997. RCMP had a surveillance photo of a suspect in the North Vancouver heist that bank staff in Missisauga said looked like the one who held them up. Peel detectives changed the name of their suspect – already similar – to match the one from out west and shared as much information as they had.

“Despite the number of banks hit, there wasn’t much evidence to go on at that time,” Andrews says.

On December 4, 1997, a new, more sinister suspect struck at the same TD on Lakeshore at Stavebank that the Book Bandit had hit three months earlier. A man calmly placed a box in front of a teller. Taped to it was a note declaring that it held a bomb and would detonate in one minute’s time unless he was given all the money from tellers’ drawers. It was a ruse, but detectives opened a file on the “Bomber Bandit.”

During their initial probe of the Bomber Bandit, detectives learned of two robberies that took place two hours apart in September: the Book Bandit hit a bank in Toronto and then the Bomber Bandit struck another in Whitby. Security camera pictures of both robberies were sent to Andrews and Baron.

“We were shocked to see it was the same guy,” Andrews says. “Bank robbers seldom change their modus operandi, but this guy used two different tactics on the same day.”

And so, the Book Bandit and Bomber Bandit investigations became one. At around the same time, the police learned of similar heists in Montreal. Total robberies attributed to the same suspect: 13.

Just over a month later, a new, more violent suspect hit the same TD branch at Lakeshore and Stavebank. One minute after opening, a robber burst in wearing a toque and a kerchief over his face and waving a handgun. He jumped the counter and began rifling tellers’ drawers. When he spotted the bank manager calling 911, he pointed the gun at him and fled with his haul.

Surveillance cameras didn’t give detectives much to go on. But a teller who dealt with the Bomber Bandit two months earlier did. When the bandit jumped the counter his kerchief fluttered up and uncovered his lower face. She was certain it was the same odd-looking man dubbed the Bomber Bandit. For the next nine months, the Bandit vanished completely. Then on November 16, 1998, he walked into a bank in Brampton carrying his day-timer.

The heist was caught on a tack-sharp digital image and detectives finally had a really picture of their suspect which they circulated to police forces across the country. It turned out he was also sought in a Regina robbery making him wanted for a total of 30 heists across the country in 18 months. Two days later, he’d add his last crime.

A tow truck driver in Belleville was parked outside a bank listening to his police radio scanners when the branch’s robbery was broadcast over the air, including the suspect’s description. The driver watched a man matching the description get into a car and drive off. He followed and radioed what he was doing and where he was to his dispatcher who relayed it to police.

A local cop caught up. Driving at high speed, the Bookworm fired what turned out to be a starter’s pistol out his window at his pursuer. He didn’t see an upcoming curve and skidded into a ditch. He was done.

It turned out that the Bookworm was a civil engineer who, seven years before the robberies, had undergone a series of gender-change operations and became Christine White. Her transgendered status made her unpopular with society of the time and she found herself unemployable as an engineer.

She told detectives that she hadn’t robbed for the money. She did it simply and purely to pay society back for her mistreatment as a transgendered person. Nothing more.

In 2002, Christine White pleaded guilty to all 31 robberies and received an eight-year prison sentence. She has since been paroled.

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Words by James Tonin

It’s no secret that regular exercise makes you more energetic, helps you lose weight and leads to restful, satisfying shut-eye at night. You also know that exercise reduces your risk for dangerous medical conditions like heart disease and diabetes, helps you maintain younger-looking skin and protects you from certain forms of cancer. Yet a growing body of scientific evidence suggests that its benefits may run even deeper than initially believed.

Studies that track the physiological and psychological processes triggered by exercise have yielded exciting results. According to recent research, regular exercise may also promote improved mental health while boosting your brain power—an intriguing possibility that numerous local advocates have put to the test, with  promising results.

How Exercise Benefits You Inside
To see where these hidden benefits of exercise come from, you need to understand what happens inside your body, from a biochemical standpoint. A large number of complex processes take place in your body during and after a workout, but two of these are particularly important.

First, your blood becomes oxygen-rich, and that oxygen gets delivered in large quantities to all your body’s organ systems. Since your skin is the largest organ in your body, it enjoys major benefits when you work out. Your blood’s boosted oxygen levels help your skin stay taut and well-toned. What’s more is that oxygen is one of the deadliest substances there is—if you’re a cancer cell. That’s the reason regular exercise reduces your risk for practically all common cancers.

Second, your brain releases a large dose of feel-good peptides called endorphins, along with a smattering of other neurotransmitters which regulate everything from your moods and emotions to cognitive functioning. The flood of peptides and neurotransmitters released when you work out has been proven to reduce depression and anxiety while boosting your focus and performance. According to Dr. Marino Battigelli, a child and adolescent psychiatrist with Mississauga’s Trillium Health Partners, exercise is crucial to your brain’s overall well-being. While he emphasizes that “exercise is not an instant cure for all life’s problems,” he does stress that it “keeps your brain functioning more efficiently than a sedentary lifestyle.”

The Neurological Benefits of Exercise
During and following exercise, your brain produces elevated levels of endorphins, norepinephrine, dopamine and serotonin. These chemicals help regulate mood and improve concentration. “Endorphins are hormones that block pain signals,” Dr. Battigelli explains. “[They] are noted to affect pleasure and satisfaction,” which helps explain why working out can give you a heightened sense of well-being.

Norepinephrine, dopamine and serotonin all offer ancillary benefits. According to Dr. Battigelli, “Norepinephrine helps with attention, arousal motivation and perception,” while dopamine “influences reward, movement and concentration. Ritalin, for example, which is used to treat ADHD, raises dopamine in areas of the brain that ‘calm’ the mind.”

Finally, serotonin is a well-known mood-booster and helps regulate impulsivity while reducing aggression and anger.

A 2011 study carried out by Dr. Charles Hillman and Dr. Arthur Kramer of the University of Illinois found a significant association between increased aerobic activity and improved academic achievement in a student control group. These findings complemented another 2011 study, conducted by Dr. Catherine Davis of Georgia Regents University, which concluded that regular exercise correlated with increased mathematical abilities and higher-level cognitive functioning.

Inspired by these and other studies, Belinda Bernardo, principal of Mississauga-based private school Star Academy, implemented a daily physical education regimen in the hopes that it would boost student academic performance. “Research findings actually motivated us to develop a program that was beneficial to students on both physical and cognitive levels,” Bernardo says. As part of Star Academy’s program, students engage in physical activity in the morning, with senior students getting exercise during the first morning period and junior students enjoying gym classes during the last morning period. According to Bernardo, the results have been very encouraging.

“Back in 2011, we evaluated the program over a two-week period in terms of cognitive and social/emotional effects,” says Bernardo. “We found a 14 percent increase in selective attention and processing speed, a 30 percent reduction in off-task behaviours in the classroom, and a 6 percent increase in self-esteem.” The program has remained in effect ever since, and Bernardo says that she has seen significant improvements in physical, cognitive, social and emotional development as a result.

Dan McGann, a social worker at Trillium Health Partners, has also noted a positive correlation between exercise and mental health in his line of work. “I started to run myself after a major depressive episode in 2002,” he says. “I started with a 5 K run and built up gradually to completing my first full marathon in 2006. I felt so good I decided to develop and launch a program to help teens struggling with similar issues.”

Launched in September of 2006, McGann’s program occurs twice a year, once in the fall and once in the spring. Over a 12-week period, participants take part in a “learn to run” program on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Motivational speakers and increasingly intense group workouts culminate with a community running event, after which McGann hosts a group graduation party to celebrate the achievements of the participants. “The group has been a tremendous success,” McGann says. “Teens and parents alike have reported improvement in mood and self-esteem, as well as improved sleep and school performance.” McGann’s program received the Quality of Life Award in June of 2012, a national honour that recognizes exceptional community improvement initiatives. Inspired by McGann’s success, hospitals and community health centres across the country have implemented similar running programs.

Imagine your doctor told you there was a drug-free way to enjoy better overall health and protect yourself against Canada’s leading causes of death all while looking younger, sleeping better, having more energy and enjoying stable moods and a sharper mind. You’d think it was a medical miracle. That’s the power of regular exercise, and it’s never too late to get up, get active and enjoy a better life.

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