Blue Jays' silenced in ALCS Game 1 loss to Cleveland

Corey Kluber and two other Indians pitchers combined on a shutout and Francisco Lindor's two-run homer lifted Cleveland to a 2-0 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series.

Jumping on an 0-2 delivery from Marco Estrada, Lindor broke the pitching deadlock in the bottom of the sixth with a shot 412 feet to right-centre field after Jason Kipnis walked before a sellout crowd of 37,727 at Progressive Field.

• BOXSCORE: Toronto-Cleveland

It was the Jays' first loss in five games this post-season. Cleveland extended its playoff win streak to four.

Estrada (1-1) had cruised through the early innings, facing minimal resistance, and recovered after the home run in a 101-pitch, six-hit outing. He deserved better in posting the first complete game of his career and the first by a Jay this season.

Cleveland ace Corey Kluber (2-0), meanwhile, had to dig himself out of one early one hole after another before finding his groove. Andrew Miller came in with one out in the seventh and struck out five of the six hitters he faced.

Closer Cody Allen pitched a 1-2-3 ninth, earning his third save.

Toronto, which outhit Cleveland 7-6, lost second baseman Devon Travis in the fifth. The second baseman, who had been nursing a sore knee, limped off after a play in which he covered first and was replaced by Ryan Goins.

The Model S is the Best Selling Luxury Sedan

Third-quarter sales of the Tesla Motors Model S electric sedan surged 59 percent from last year to 9,156 units, the company confirmed to Autoblogtoday. The sales are about five percent more than our previous third-quarter estimate, since that was a guess based on Tesla's disclosure of its global quarterly sales. Bloomberg News, which first reported the US sales figures, said the Model S was the country's best-selling luxury sedan in the third quarter, and by a wide margin. Tesla also sold 5,428 Model X vehicles during the quarter, Tesla confirmed.

The Model S sales were almost double the sales figures for the No. 2 US luxury sedan, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, and more than double the sales of the BMW 7-Series. No other model moved more than 2,000 units during the quarter. In all, the Model S accounted for almost a third of the country's third-quarter large luxury sedan market, which also includes models from Audi, Lexus, Porsche, Jaguar, and Maserati.

Our prior estimates, which assumed that 55 percent of Tesla's global Model S sales are in North America, had Tesla selling 8,691 Model S vehicles during the third quarter. Either way, the Model S continues to be a category-defining vehicle.

The better-than-previously-reported news marks a bit of positive direction for a company dogged by investor concerns that it's burning through too much cash, especially as it prepares to complete its acquisition of solar-energy service provider SolarCity. CNBC recently cited an analyst note from Oppenheimer's Colin Rusch that estimated that Tesla may need toraise as much as $12.5 billion by the end of 2018 in order to stay financially solvent. Tesla chief Elon Musk refuted any notion that the company would need to raise additional cash by the end of the year in a Tweet last week.

North Dakota Oil Production Hits two years low

Rail shipments of petroleum from Midwestern oil fields to East Coast refineries have plummeted as North Dakota’s oil production has fallen to a two-year low.

Production dropped below 1 million barrels per day for the first time in more than two years, officials said Thursday — yet another reminder that the drilling boom is over in the country's No. 2 oil state due to the slump in world oil prices.

The state produced an average of 981,039 barrels of oil daily in August, down from 1.029 million in July, the state Department of Mineral Resources said. Oil production numbers typically lag at least two months.

Those numbers are reflected in the crude shipment data collected by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, which show rail shipments from the Midwestern region were down 49 percent from the previous year in July.

Shipments from the Midwest to the East Coast — which represent more than half of the region’s production and move over rail lines crossing Minnesota and Wisconsin — were down by similar numbers.

The 5.4 million barrels that traveled to East Coast refineries in July was even 15 percent lower than in July 2013 when production was on the rise. That works out to fewer than three trains per day, about half the number that railroads reported to state officials in 2014.

East Coast shipments peaked in November 2014 at 13.8 million barrels, according to the EIA.

Exponential Senior Host Growth with Airbnb

When Ruth Donsky’s grown children moved out of her Toronto home, she looked at their empty bedrooms and spied an opportunity.

“I thought, I’m a little old lady with a house and a garden and two kids’ bedrooms with no one in them,” says Ms. Donsky, 68. “I should be renting them out.”

And that’s what she did, signing up as a host with the home-sharing platform Airbnb to bring in some much needed income to supplement her retirement savings.

“It’s not a lot – this is the first year I’ve made more than $1,000 – but I think it’s a wonderful thing to do in retirement. You get to work from home,” says Ms. Donsky, a former independent school teacher who retired three years ago without a company pension.

The popularity is growing on both ends. Hosts aged 60 and older are Airbnb’s fastest-growing demographic. Senior women make up nearly two-thirds of all senior hosts. They also get the highest ratings from guests.She rents out rooms for $68 to $90 a night, depending on the season, in her semi-detached residence near Lawrence Avenue and Yonge Street. It’s not a downtown location, and in her first couple of years she had very few guests. But this past summer she had more in one month than all the previous years combined.

“Seniors are signing on as hosts at a faster rate than the rest of the population,” says Aaron Zifkin, Airbnb’s Canada country manager. According to surveys done for the company, Airbnb hosts in Canada make an average annual revenue of $6,500.

Citing a 2015 company report, Mr. Zifkin also notes that while hosts from the general population are growing at a rate of 85 per cent, year over year, among seniors, however, hosts are growing at a rate of 100 per cent.

“There are more than 5,600 of them alone in Canada and we have another million-plus [senior hosts] worldwide,” says Mr. Zifkin, adding that the reasons are pretty simple.

“Seniors come to Airbnb to earn a bit of money to pay for extra expenses. But it’s not just the increased earnings. It’s the whole component of social inclusion that comes with being an Airbnb host.

“This is a generation that grew up in an era where travel was about meeting people. It wasn’t about scoring the perfect selfie.”

An older demographic represents a departure from the company’s origins in 2008 as a makeshift bed and breakfast run by a couple of hard-up millennials. Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia were roommates who supplemented their San Francisco rent by letting out three air mattresses squeezed into their communal living room.

The concept has since taken off. Airbnb today is a $25-billion company and growing – with more than one-million current listings in 34,000 cities and 190 countries around the world, Mr. Zifkin says.

It is free to post a listing, but Airbnb charges guests a booking fee and charges hosts a service fee ranging from 3 to 6 per cent depending on the length of stay.

“A three-day stay comes to around $12, every time it’s different,” says Colin Gillies, a 62-year-old Airbnb host in Toronto at Dovercourt Road and College Avenue.

Mr. Gillies first signed onto Airbnb as a host in 2013. Trained as a graphic designer, he ran his own business. His wife is retired. When forced to shutter his business for health reasons, Mr. Gillies looked for a way to earn extra money.

“It’s been a lifesaver,” remarks Mr. Gillies. “I wasn’t going to perish. I had some savings. But Airbnb gave me the opportunity to have a little fun in my life and meet people. So it was a little selfish.”

Adding a kitchenette to a third storey once occupied by his children, he rents the whole floor for $125 a night, earning more yearly than the average host.

“I think a lot of retirees might not have set aside enough to get by on and so the extra income brought in as an Airbnb host bumps up their savings,” Mr. Gillies says. “But it’s also a way to meet people. I think many older people are starved for company and conversation.”

Meeting others is also why Michele Hall of Vancouver first signed on as an Airbnb host three years ago.

“I love the camaraderie,” says the 66-year-old retiree, an empty nester who rents out her grown daughter’s former bedroom for $59 a night in the East Village. “I really don’t like being on my own.”

Becoming an Airbnb host has meant she no longer lacks for company.

Recently, Ms. Hall travelled with guests who had stayed in her home for two months. “They were more like roommates,” she says. “We ended up becoming friends.”

Ms. Hall won’t disclose how much she earns as an Airbnb host but says it’s below the national average. As she travels so much she can host for only limited periods.

She lives mostly on her government pensions. “I am barely scraping by. But Airbnb has allowed me to live comfortably.”

The seniors paint a rosy picture and that’s because, for the most part, their experience with Airbnb has been positive. They aren’t out to become real-estate moguls; they just want to use their most important asset, their homes, to generate extra income.

“I have had only one bad experience, and it was with a guest, a young man, who celebrated a job promotion by getting drunk,” Ms. Donsky says. “He came back to the house late at night and slammed doors. I was furious. The next day I called Airbnb and asked, ‘How do I get him out?’ They had my back all the way.”

Ms. Donsky tells the story to counter what she calls “all the negative press” generated by critics who say Airbnb’s unprecedented growth is turning neighbourhoods into high-traffic areas, reducing access to affordable housing, and costing the hotel industry not just revenue but also jobs.

But retirees who rent out a few spare rooms in their home aren’t the problem.

“If it helps seniors to supplement their income and they don’t remove units that could be rented out in the existing housing market, I think it’s a great opportunity for them to share their homes if they are present,” says Thorben Wieditz, spokesman for Fairbnb.ca, a national coalition of tenant associations, housing activists, the regulated hotel and bed and breakfast industry, rate payers associations and condo owners.

“In general we would support any type of home sharing as long as it doesn’t remove existing units from the available housing stock. … Research has shown that most problems we are concerned with originate with an absentee landlord renting out an entire property,” Mr. Wieditz says.

Ms. Donsky says that Airbnb invites tourists to live like locals and share in the values of their hosts. Those who might not fit in can easily be kept at bay, Mr. Gillies adds.

“The premise of the sharing economy is building what is called social capital which basically means even though people don’t know you, others have experienced you and they leave comments behind for others to read,” he says.

Peel Creepy Clown Caught

Peel cops resolved a terrifying clown threat without incident this week. 

According to Peel Regional Police, students at Lisgar Middle School in Mississauga were threatened on Tuesday.

"The culprit used the ‘Killer Clown’ theme as seen on various social media outlets," police said Thursday.

"Peel Regional Police take all threats seriously and on (Thursday) identified an 11 year-old male, a student at Lisgar Middle School as being responsible for the incident. During the investigation Peel Regional Police worked alongside the Peel District School Board to ensure the safety of all individuals that attend the school."

Police stressed "that the safety of all students in the Region of Peel is paramount.

"Parents are reminded to be proactive and speak with your children regarding the effects of pranks and to continue to contact police if a threat to a student’s safety is made," police said. "Threatening to harm another person is a serious offence included in the Criminal Code of Canada; as such Criminal Charges can be laid if warranted."

Airbnb offers Apartment Landlords Incentives

Home-rental giant Airbnb Inc. is trying to charm apartment landlords with a program that gives them some extra revenue if they allow tenants to rent their units out on the site.

Airbnb last month announced an offering that allows apartment owners to take a cut of the revenue from Airbnb guests in their buildings. The program has the potential to add millions of apartment units to Airbnb’s inventory of short-term rental properties.

So far, though, the program has few takers, as landlords remain wary of lawsuits, regulatory hassles and ticked-off neighbors.

“I don’t see it gaining much traction,” said Margette Hepfner, senior vice president for client services for Lincoln Property Co., which manages or owns 175,000 units across the country.

Ms. Hepfner said Airbnb has tried to respond to many of her biggest concerns, but added that “There’s just inherent risk in allowing unknown guests to come onto your property.”

But appealing directly to apartment landlords is essential for Airbnb’s future growth. That is because big chunks of the housing stock in the most popular destination cities are in the form of apartments, and standard apartment leases forbid tenants from subletting without the landlord’s permission. That limits the pool of participants in the places travelers most want to go.Airbnb, formed in 2008, has found success helping travelers find short-term quarters in private homes. Its number of annual guests has soared to 100 million this year from 21,000 in 2009, according to the company. After its last fundraising round, the closely held company was worth $30 billion.

The company has made an effort to ease landlords’ initial anxieties about the program, offering insurance and providing them with information about which tenants are renting units out on the site to aid with enforcement. It said landlords would only be allowed to participate in markets where Airbnb is allowed under local laws.

Three of the country’s largest landlords, AvalonBay Communities Inc., Essex Property Trust and Camden Property Trust, said they decided not to participate. They declined to give a reason.So far Airbnb has had little success winning over big landlords. Buildings containing only about 1,000 units have enrolled in the program, a sliver of the 26.5 million mid-rise or high-rise apartment units nationwide. Airbnb declined to provide the names of any landlords participating in the program.

“In private conversations there is a huge interest in how to do this better than it was done before. Those same executives aren’t interested in bearing the scrutiny,” said Jaja Jackson, Airbnb’s head of landlord partnerships.

Apartment giant Equity Residential, which owns 80,000 units mainly in coastal cities such as New York and San Francisco, confirmed it is piloting the program in one of its buildings, Vista 99, in San Jose, Calif., which the website describes as a “resort-style community.”

But many building owners are concerned that cooperating with Airbnb would open them up to lawsuits, tangles with municipal regulators and hassles with other residents who don’t want transients in their buildings. Reports of wild parties and property damage at some Airbnb properties have stoked concern.

New York state lawmakers in June passed legislation now awaiting the governor’s signature that would slap a $7,500 fine on users who advertise illegal short-term rentals on Airbnb. The state outlaws the rental of any home for fewer than 30 days.

Under Airbnb’s new plan, called the Friendly Buildings Program, if landlords allow tenants to lease units on Airbnb, they have an opportunity to take a cut of the nightly revenue at a suggested rate of 5% to 15%.

But for a one-night, $200 stay that means the landlord would make $30 or less, an amount that many landlords say doesn’t justify the hassle.

A September survey by the National Multifamily Housing Council found that 42% of apartment owners weren’t interested in a partnership program with a short-term rental company such as Airbnb. One-third said they were open to a partnership program and the remainder said they didn’t know.

The respondents cited safety issues as their top concern, followed by liability and insurance and quality-of-life concerns. About 40% of landlords said they had taken action against a tenant who used Airbnb, including a warning letter or lease termination.

Mr. Jackson said he has talked to roughly 1,000 apartment landlords since he started his campaign in February 2015.

Cortland Partners, which owns 36,000 apartment units primarily in the Southeast, in a recent survey found that nearly 40% of residents would be significantly less likely to renew their leases if the company allowed tenants to rent out units on Airbnb.

“You could have folks who would normally not pass the background check who could present a danger to children or other residents and you wouldn’t know who they were,” said Melanie French, executive vice president at Cortland Partners.

Analysts said landlords run a risk by not participating in Airbnb’s new program given the threat the company poses to the status quo.

“It’s a behavior that their tenants are going to engage in regardless of what stance the landlord takes,” said Dave Bragg, an analyst at Green Street Advisors. “It could take a while but I think it will prove to be very good for both Airbnb and apartment operators.”

Airbnb isn't hurting the Hotel Industry

Ever since Airbnb came on the scene, the hotel industry has been worried the home-sharing company could hurt the hospitality and real estate industries. 

It turns out that at least some of those concerns might be unfounded. 

Data research firm STR took a look at Airbnb data alongside hotel data in 13 US and international markets. STR compared Airbnb to the biggest hotel chains in the world, like Marriott and Starwood (which recently merged), Hilton, Intercontinental Hotels Group, and more.

The data found that Airbnb has more than double the number of listings worldwide than Marriott/Starwood and Hilton combined, but it's not actually replacing hotels.  

Comparing Airbnb and hotels in the first place is "apples to oranges," as STR senior research analyst Jessica Haywood notes in her breakdown of the data. Travelers who choose to stay in an Airbnb versus a hotel are often looking for an entirely different type of experience. They want to interact with hosts, want to be immersed in the local culture, or simply can't afford to stay in a hotel, so will only travel if they have free or very cheap accommodations. 

Beyond that, Airbnb offers accommodations that hotels don't, like shared spaces or more whimsical places like tree houses and tents. Haywood notes that those kinds of atypical lodgings may have skewed her findings. 

Still, hotels crushed Airbnb in terms of occupancy in every market measured in the study. 

Hotel occupancy was still significantly higher in major markets like Los Angeles and San Francisco — Airbnb's home town — and the gap was even larger in international cities like Mexico City and London. Haywood estimates that in US cities, Airbnb is picking up the slack when hotels are full. Hotels also saw higher growth than Airbnb in nearly every US city. 

While Airbnb may certainly be stealing a small portion of hotel guests, that portion isn't nearly enough to unseat traditional lodgings. And while the hotel industry has other qualms with Airbnb — many believe Airbnb is contributing to gentrification and impacting housing costs — there's no reason to think Airbnb will put hotels out of business anytime soon.

Don't Drive on an Empty Fuel Tank

Some drivers see their car’s fuel gauge as a nagging parent; it lights up urging you to refuel like your mom or dad would remind you to clean your room. But don’t ignore your car’s insistence on refueling, because you can damage your car by running it on empty.

We’ve all been in the situation where you’re driving along, possibly singing a song, when suddenly *DING* a low fuel warning light pops up and ruins all your fun because you have to take a pit stop or detour and get gas. You’re either the type of driver that gets really nervous or you’re the complete opposite, relaxed because “empty” is just a guideline or friendly suggestion.

Here’s what you should know, regardless of which type of driver you are. The warning light indicates that the fuel has reached the reserve level, which is about 10 to 15 percent of your tank’s total capacity. You can use that reference along with your car’s average fuel economy to calculate your remaining range, but it’s a good idea to not risk running the car until it’s dry.

While standing on the side of the road with your empty car waiting for a tow truck or walking to the nearest gas station and returning with a jerry can is embarrassing enough, there’s another serious concern that could impact your wallet. And it will be way more expensive than a tank of gas.

In your fuel tank, there is a contraption called a fuel pump, which sends the fuel from the tank to the engine. The fuel pump relies on the gasoline in the tank to keep it cool and lubricated. Running the car with a low tank means that the pump isn’t staying as lubricated as it should and is at risk of overheating. The obvious downside to this is premature failure of the pump.

That’s a pretty expensive repair. Failing fuel pumps will lead to poor performance, particularly with a car not accelerating smoothly or starting at all.

Your fuel pump also has a fuel filter, which can quickly get dirty if you drive with a low tank. Since any sediment or dirt sinks to the bottom of the tank, the fuel filter could end up getting blocked or could take in dirty fuel, which also has costly consequences.

Ignoring your car’s low fuel warning is generally a bad idea, and running your car on empty can cause serious and costly problems to your car’s fuel system. Keep that in mind the next time your car nags you to visit the gas station.

Samsung Note 7 Fiasco

The fiasco of Samsung’s fire-prone Galaxy Note 7 smartphones — and its stumbling response to the problem — has left consumers from Shanghai to New York reconsidering how they feel about the South Korean tech giant and its products.

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. said this week that it would stop making the Note 7 for good, after first recalling some devices and then recalling their replacements, too. Now, like the makers of Tylenol, Ford Pintos and other products that faced crises in the past, it must try to restore its relationship with customers as it repairs damage to its brand.

Samsung shares plunged as much as 8 per cent in Seoul, their biggest one-day drop since the 2008 financial crisis, after the company apologized for halting sales of the Note 7.

“I’m in a state of ‘I don’t know,’” said Pamela Gill, a 51-year-old who works at Pratt Institute, a college in New York City, and likes her replacement Note 7.

“You’re thinking, ‘Do I have to turn it in? Is it going to blow up?’” she said.

Samsung, South Korea’s biggest company by far, announced a global recall of the devices last month. It said a subtle manufacturing error in the batteries made the phones prone to catch fire. It offered to replace the devices.

But South Korea’s safety agency says a new, still unidentified problem with the replacement devices makes them also likely to overheat.

Some consumers blame Samsung for not dealing decisively with the issue. Hahm Young-kyu, a 43-year-old South Korean office worker in Seoul whose wife is still using the Note 7, exclaims in frustration that the manufacturer tried to “cover up” the Note 7’s failings.

Samsung’s initial recall had a rocky start. After the first reports of overheating devices, it offered replacements, but not refunds. It waited a week before advising consumers to stop using the affected devices. And critics complained that some retailers didn’t have up-to-date information until Samsung made a co-ordinated announcement with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

“Ultimately they did the right thing, which was to announce a full recall,” said Jan Dawson, a tech-industry analyst with Jackdaw Research. But when the replacement devices ran into trouble too, he added: “That all goes out the window. Samsung’s claims about fixing the problem are no longer reliable.

“Now they’ve got to demonstrate why potential buyers shouldn’t worry about future Samsung devices,” Mr. Dawson said.

As one of the world’s largest tech conglomerates, Samsung can afford to discontinue the Note 7, which was not its biggest-selling phone. While the cost of recalling devices and halting production will be enormous, it makes far more than that every quarter on sales of components for smartphones and computers.

But analysts say the new, unexplained Note 7 problems will still inevitably hurt.

On Wednesday, the company slashed its forecast for third-quarter profit to 5.2 trillion won ($6.1-billion Canadian), down from the 7.8 trillion won estimate it released on Friday. If Samsung’s full financial results due later this month are in line with that forecast, Samsung will log its lowest quarterly profit in two years.

“A company’s brand is their promise to consumers,” said John Jacobs, an expert on reputation and crisis communications at Georgetown University. “If you break that promise, you lose the customers, you lose their loyalty.”

Initially, the Note 7 got glowing reviews for its size, features and big battery capacity. Now the company is struggling to figure out what exactly is wrong.

“They have to comprehensively check everything from the very basics, outside the battery and inside the phone,” said Park Chul-wan, a former director of the next generation battery research centre at the state-owned Korea Electronics Technology Institute.

Mr. Park has long argued that the Note 7’s problems appeared to be more than a simple battery defect. “This is a truly difficult problem. It was Samsung’s mistake to have underestimated it,” he said.

South Korean safety regulators say they are examining components other than the batteries to try to puzzle out why even the replacement phones Samsung, made using different batteries, are so fire-prone.

“The improved product does not have the same defect. That’s why we think there is a new defect,” said Oh Yu-cheon, a senior official at the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards.

Samsung needs to win back consumers’ trust by the time it launches its next high-end phone, the Galaxy S8, likely early next year, Mr. Dawson said. “They have that time to come up with a convincing story and a set of actions that will reassure customers that when they buy an S8, it’s going to be safe.”

Kim Young Woo, a tech analyst at SK Securities, believes Samsung could accelerate the launch of the S8 to make up for abandoning the Note 7, but it cannot afford to start from scratch, and it has to find the cause of the overheating.

The Note 7 has cutting-edge features such as an electronic stylus and an iris-scanning security feature seemingly suited for a James Bond movie. “Samsung’s best, latest technologies are all in the Note 7,” Mr. Park said. “If it releases the next phone, it has to use the technologies in the Note 7.”

UBER confident that British Columbia will allow ride sharing in the Province

A senior adviser to Uber says he’s confident the B.C. government will allow the ride-sharing service to operate in the province – which is why the company hasn’t pushed its way in, as it has done in other jurisdictions.

Uber has launched in cities across Canada, often against the wishes of local governments, but has yet to enter British Columbia on a large scale.

Instead, despite briefly operating a limousine service in Vancouver in 2012, the company has heeded warnings to stay away as the province examines possible regulations.

“We’re confident that there will be a solution here in partnership with the government that embraces ride sharing – we remain committed to that,” said David Plouffe, a former campaign manager and special adviser to U.S. President Barack Obama who is now chief policy adviser at Uber.

“Our preference is that the government comes up with a solution that embraces ride sharing, and we’re confident that they will. This isn’t a problem for governments to solve. It’s an opportunity to be seized.”

But he said “the clock is ticking” on the issue given that about 200,000 British Columbians have downloaded the Uber app, signifying interest in the service.

Mr. Plouffe is to meet Wednesday with Premier Christy Clark, her office said, but he declined comment on what he would say to the Premier.

He said he was hoping for some policy decisions from the government before the Christmas holidays.

But TransLink Minister Peter Fassbender, who has a key role in the government’s review of ride sharing in advance of any possible legislation, appeared to rule that out Tuesday.

At best, he said, the government might disclose a position on ride sharing by the end of the year after consultation with stakeholders.

“It will be in a form and with sufficient clarity that everyone will know what potential changes could be made,” Mr. Fassbender said.

“It will be clear where government intends to go.”

Uber has been pressuring the province to act, issuing an open letter calling for government action, holding information sessions for prospective drivers and inviting potential customers to sign petitions and voice their support on social media.

Mr. Fassbender said the government won’t be rushed by the company’s campaign.

“They are very aggressive and very committed,” he said.

“They have done a lot of things, run a lot of ads, tried every tool they could to try and force us to move faster than we were prepared to move. We resisted that pressure.”

The government issued a report last month summing up consultations with stakeholders.

Mr. Fassbender said the intent is to honour the existing taxi industry, level the playing field between that industry and ride-sharing companies and protect the public interest.

Mr. Plouffe rejected the suggestion that Uber is overly zealous.

“I don’t think we’re pushy here. Whether it’s Toronto, Ottawa, Edmonton or almost all of India, South America, people are enjoying ride sharing now. I think the urgency is there,” he said.

“This debate has largely been settled in most parts of the world, including most parts of Canada.”

He said Vancouver is the largest city on the continent without ride sharing.

He declined to say exactly how Uber would move into B.C. if given a green light, saying he did not want to give away business secrets.

However, he said it was clear where the demand is – both as a transit option and as a source of income for drivers.

“The outlying cities and towns are really an important part of the discussion because those folks have fewer transportation options to come into the city of Vancouver.”

‘Creepy clown’ pranksters charged after leaving 4-year-old daughter home alone

A Wisconsin couple is facing child neglect charges after allegedly leaving their four-year-old child at home alone while they went out dressed as clowns to prank people.

Dash cam video released by Menasha Police Department recorded officers responding to reports of clowns chasing vehicles around 4 a.m. Friday, where two men wearing clown masks were seen standing on a sidewalk.

A 20-year-old and 29-year-old were questioned. A 26-year-old woman, who reportedly had been driving the two men around, was also located in a parking lot nearby. 

An investigation led police to charge the 29-year-old man and the woman after learning their young daughter had been left at home for several hours.

Court records show the Department of Human Services removed the child from the couple’s home.

The woman is being held in jail on a probation hold.

The 20-year-old man has not been charged.

There have been an increasing number of reported clown sightings across the U.S. and Canada, and now the phenomenon has carried over into Britain.

Police say dressing as a clown is not illegal, but using threatening weapons during a prank can result in criminal charges.

Hilary Sympathizes with Banks Behind Closed Doors

EXCERPTS OF HILLARY CLINTON’S previously secret speeches to big banks and trade groups in 2013 and 2014 show her exalting the work of her hosts, hardly a surprise when these groups paid her up to $225,000 an hour to chat them up.

Far from chiding Goldman Sachs for obstructing Democratic proposals for financial reform, Clinton appeared to sympathize with the giant investment bank. At a Goldman Sachs Alternative Investments Symposium in October 2013, Clinton almost apologized for the Dodd-Frank reform bill, explaining that it had to pass “for political reasons,” because “if you were an elected member of Congress and people in your constituency were losing jobs and shutting businesses and everybody in the press is saying it’s all the fault of Wall Street, you can’t sit idly by and do nothing.”

Clinton added, “And I think the jury is still out on that because it was very difficult to sort of sort through it all.”

Clinton praised Deutsche Bank in a 2014 speech for “the work that the Bank has done in New York City on affordable housing.”

While Deutsche Bank has given to anti-homelessness campaigns in the past, it was also cited in a New York State Senate report in January for refusing to maintain foreclosed properties in New York City neighborhoods and costing those communities millions in unpaid fines. Deutsche is also about to face a multi-billion-dollar penalty from the Justice Department for defrauding investors with low-quality mortgage securities, leading to the housing meltdown.

Those excerpts were among many listed in an 80-page document prepared by the Clinton campaign, listing potentially damaging quotes from the Democratic nominee’s paid but at that point still secret speeches. The report landed in campaign chairman John Podesta’s email, which was hacked, and then posted by WikiLeaks last week.

In a November 2013 speech to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), Clinton pronounced herself proud to work with the trade group as a U.S. senator to “look for ways to help families facing foreclosure with concrete steps.”

NAR represents real estate agents, who had no authority to assist distressed homeowners. An April 2007 document lists NAR’s priorities in foreclosure mitigation, and they were able to get an amendment exempting mortgage debt forgiveness from being treated as earned income. But the rest amount to “urging” and “supporting” efforts to help homeowners that never happened.

Clinton has historically been far less critical of the revolving door between Wall Street and Washington than many other Democrats, and as secretary of state allowed two of her top aides — Tom Nides and Robert Hormats — to receive big payouts from their big-bank employers before entering public service.

“Thank you for lending me Tom Nides for the past two years,” Clinton said to a crowd at Morgan Stanley on April 18, 2013. As The Intercept reported in July 2015, Nides moved from chief operating officer at Morgan Stanley into Clinton’s State Department, and when Clinton left Foggy Bottom, Nides went right back to Morgan Stanley as a vice chairman.

Clinton joked about the “culture shock” for Nides, working a government job. “You should have seen his face when he learned there were no stock options at the State Department. But he soon not only settled in very nicely, he became positively enthusiastic when I told him we did have our own plane.” Clinton also gushed about Hormats, who joined her at State after a career at Goldman Sachs, in a 2014 speech at JPMorgan Chase.

In excerpts that got some attention last week, Clinton told bankers that financial reform “really has to come from the industry itself,” that “the people that know the industry better than anybody are the people who work in the industry,” and that blaming banks for the crisis was “an oversimplification.”

Her former Democratic presidential rival, Bernie Sanders responded in a statement, “Whatever Secretary Clinton may or may not have said behind closed doors on Wall Street, I am determined to implement the agenda of the Democratic Party platform which was agreed upon by her campaign,” and which “calls for breaking up the largest financial institutions in this country, re-establishing Glass-Steagall and prosecuting those many Wall Street CEOs who engaged in illegal behavior.”

The excerpts reveal that Clinton, when speaking to the financial industry, adopted their mindset and privileged their arguments. The question that arises is whether members of a possible Clinton administration will reflect this worldview, or whether the long primary with Sanders has made that untenable. Some aggressive advocates for progressive appointments believe the latter.

“At State and on the speaking circuit, Clinton was in an environment that encouraged her to view Wall Street bankers as fonts of economic wisdom,” said Jeff Hauser, Director of the Revolving Door Project. “But after 15 months running against a progressive populist like Sanders, Clinton knows that government conducted a by rotating stream of bankers is politically unacceptable.”

After Hurricane Matthew, Floodwaters Rise To Record Levels In North Carolina

When Hurricane Matthew lost strength and headed out to sea over the weekend, the storm took its high winds and driving rains with it.

But it left behind water — from the record rains that fell during its trip up the southeastern U.S. coast. And particularly in North Carolina, the long-gone storm has continued to threaten lives as floodwaters rise, sometimes to record levels, flowing over the banks of rivers and threatening dams.

More than half of those deaths occurred in North Carolina, where rescue operations are still underway.The hurricane killed hundreds of people in Haiti and elsewhere in the Caribbean, and more than two-dozen people in the U.S. have died as a result of the storm, The Associated Press reports.

Early forecasts had predicted that Hurricane Matthew would turn out to sea before causing much damage in North Carolina. But the storm stayed along the U.S. coast for longer than expected, making landfall in South Carolina and bringing torrential rains to both the Carolinas.

A "serious inland flooding event" began immediately, according to the National Hurricane Center, and the consequences are still unfolding as the rainwater flows downriver.

On Monday, volunteers, U.S. marshals and water-rescue crews used helicopters, boats and massive trucks to save people stranded in Lumberton, N.C., after the Lumber River burst its banks, the AP says.

Sean Rayford/Getty Images

"The rescue teams were expected to be back at work across eastern North Carolina on Tuesday as the deluge rolled downstream toward the Atlantic Ocean," the wire service writes. "At least three rivers were forecast to reach record levels, some not cresting until Friday."

On Monday night, President Obama signed a disaster declaration to make federal funds available to help North Carolina cope with the flooding, the AP says.

Jay Price of member station WUNC got a close look at the floods in Lumberton on Monday. He told NPR that he has seen places where the floodwaters were topping the roofs of cars. "You're dealing with just massive amounts of water," he said.

"The weather's great — picture perfect, in fact," he said. "It's kind of startling."In what he called an "ironic juxtaposition," the sun came out and it was bright and clear in the storm-stricken towns.

The crisis is far from over. In some cases, the floodwaters aren't expected to crest until Friday.

"Nobody quite knows how bad it's going to be in some of these communities, but they know it's going to be at or close to record levels," Price says.

A building is inundated with floodwaters in Lumberton on Monday. Record floodwaters were rising in some areas of North Carolina.

Sean Rayford/Getty Images

He notes that Matthew brought "huge amounts" of rain, topping 15 inches in some areas. And that rain fell on already saturated ground.

"The water just has nowhere to go," he said. "When I drove in, I was for miles and miles nowhere near any river.

Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of customers across the South still didn't have electricity. The lights went out for millions of people and businesses after Matthew arrived on the coast. In some cases, it will take weeks to get the power back on, utilities say."It's just rising everywhere," Price said.