John Best

Recently retired Hamilton Spectator theatre critic Gary Smith has moved from the reviewer's chair to the director's chair as he tackles the staging of the Harold Pinter classic Old Times. Old Times is listed as one of Pinter's “memory plays” that explore complex ambiguities, elegiac mysteries, comic vagaries, and other “quicksand-like” characteristics of memory. It's about old friends dredging up their respective versions of the past…sort of.

Sharp-eyed neighbours thought there was something fishy about a car parked on their street after 3 am Sunday, so they called Hamilton Police. Officers arrived a short time later and located a grey Honda parked on Elodia Court on the west mountain with its lights off. The vehicle was confirmed to be a stolen auto on file with Peel Regional Police. As officers attempted to investigate, the driver rammed a police cruiser and attempted to flee. The vehicle continued along Elodia Court and struck a second police cruiser, rendering both cruisers inoperable. The driver jumped out of the vehicle and fled on foot. Officers pursued him and arrested him a short distance away. He continued to resist police after being taken into custody and refused to identify himself.

Detectives with the Niagara Regional Police Service have arrested two more suspects in in a home invasion robbery that occurred on March 13, in St. Catharines.

Following a drug investigation that began earlier this spring Niagara Police identified a suspect. Monday, police obtained a search warrant for the residence of 42-yer-old Ryan Wilson in the McAlpine Avenue South and Hagar Street area of Welland.

Hamilton Police are back at Elodia Court in West Hamilton investigating a late night shooting at a residence. This is the second firearm-related incident in the area in the last four days. On Sunday, at approximately 3:16 a.m., Hamilton Police responded to the area of Elodia Court after a witness reported a suspicious vehicle stopped in the neighbourhood. Officers arrived a short time later and located a grey Honda parked on Elodia Court with its lights off. Following a brief pursuit, the suspect was arrested and officers seized a loaded Glock handgun.

Canadaland Inc. operator of a number of podcasts and its founder Jesse Brown will pay a total of $885,000 in damages and costs to Theresa Kielburger, an 82-year-old retired Toronto schoolteacher and the mother of WE Charity co-founders Marc Kielburger and Craig Kielburger, to settle her defamation lawsuit.

Hamilton Police are searching for a suspect following a stabbing incident that occurred in the area of Broadway Avenue and Ward Avenue in the Ainslie East neighbourhood. Wednesday at approximately 1:00 a.m., Hamilton Police responded to reports of a stabbing in the area. Upon arrival, officers located a 29-year-old male suffering from multiple stab wounds. The victim was transported to a local hospital in life-threatening condition.

GO Transit is increasing train availability to accommodate FIFA traffic in and out of Toronto. As well it is introducing other changes to smooth traffic flow around Exhibition Station where the matches are held.

It's hard to imagine that the people who are entrusted with out care are increasingly subject to violence but it's a fact. To combat the phenomenon, St. Joe's has launched a provocative public awareness campaign drawing attention to increasing violence against healthcare workers. This week, hospital leaders and elected officials came together to open a new exhibit inspired by disturbing real-life stories of workplace violence at St. Joe's.

A somber motorcade Thursday organized by Toronto Police conveyed the body of 43-year-old Const. Marc Pinizzotto, from Sunnybrook Hospital to the coroners office, following a fatal shootout in North York. The province's Special Investigations Unit says Pinizotto, a member of TPS Emergency Task Force, was part of a raid on a building on Martha Eaton Way to execute several search warrants in connection with shootings in the city including one at the US Consulate on University Avenue in March.