Roy Halladay in home opener 2006
Picture from Toronto Blue Jays

Apr. 5 - How about them Jays? Great home opener winning 6-3 against the Twins. And that Halladay? He tossed a mere 88 pitches allowing only 5 hits in 7-2/3 innings.

He made everyone sit up and take notice when, on the last day of the season in back in 1998, he nearly tossed a no-hitter only for the Tigers get one off him in the 9th inning (I think that is when he became known as "Doc" Halladay.) His season ended prematurely last year with a broken leg from a line drive shortly before the All-Star break and his much anticipated return last night did not disappoint more than 50,000 fans who attended the game.

And it looks like we have a closer. B.J. Ryan picked up his first save last night.

Of course the temperatures dropped last night in honour of the opener. (It's tradition!)

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Apr. 3 - Terorism has been ruled out as a motive in yesterday's incident at a downtown Tim Horton's (Deadly Tim's blast) and, although there's a degree in comfort in that conclusion, I find the bizarre nature of the incident is even more disturbing.

The official word is that it was a fire, not an explosion. The deceased, who has not yet been identified, allegedly entered the coffee shop with a container of gasoline and took it with him to the men's washroom in the back.

The police have secured what they believe to be the car of the deceased which was found parked nearby, but other than that are releasing little information on the case. The question now is whether it was a bungled arson attempt or a suicide. Self-immolation as one's death of choice is horrific.

I try to keep track of terror attacks so of course such would be my first guess but I'm surprised that so many non-political, non-news-junkie people drew that as a conclusion. I guess that, try as we might, the terror threat really isn't that removed from our consciousness.

I confess: I double-checked my flashlight before I went to work last night to make sure it had a strong beam and wore sturdy shoes just in case.

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Apr. 2 - 13:36 - This just in: Reports say one person dead in explosion in downtown Toronto Sunday at a Tim Horton's Donut Shop in Yorkville near Bloor and Yonge.

Live coverage says they still don't know what happened and unconfirmed reports say that the explosion happened in the washroom.

I'm trying not to speculate - and failing - because my mind inevitably flashes to one possible scenario.

14:39 - A police spokesman just confirmed the explosion happened somewhere near the back of the shop.

15:04 - The victim was male, and there was some sign of burns on the body.

15:34 - CP 24 just reported a witness who claims a man walked into the restroom wearing explosives. It's a beautiful day so no one is wearing winter coats (most of us are tempting the fates by wearing no coats) but even so I'd put a caution on the explosives theory just yet.

But, since it's been broached, my first thought was that someone was adjusting his explosives before boarding the subway. But I have a pretty active imagination.

15:45 - CNews seems to be updating its reports fairly regularly and they repeat the unconfirmed report from radio station AM-640 that someone wearing explosives entered the washroom shortly before the blast. That is downright bizarre; I should think an intentional bomber would at minimum attempt to conceal the explosives and pick a more populated area than a washroom or the back of a coffee shop.

It is possible that nerves are a bit jittery after the arrests of several terror suspects recently in the Toronto area and some recognize that there could be an attack for both revenge purposes and to serve as a deterrent to further arrests, or even in response to the recent offensive in Afghanistan which involves Canadian troops.

Both CBC Newsworld and CTV Newsnet are only reporting official police and fire department statements and, for Toronto area people, CP 24 has the best live coverage thus far, but it's unlikely any new information will be released soon.

16:47 - It has been confirmed that the dead man was not an employee.

I'm lazily just copying the portion of a post in progress which has news links to recent arrests (remember that an arrest is not the same as a conviction, okay?)

Truth is, I've lost track of the the growing number of Canadian terrorists that have been arrested, killed abroad, or for whom arrest warrants have been issued and far too many of which lived in the Toronto area. (Updates on Mustafa, or Murtaza, here and here.)

And then there's everyone's favourite terrorist family, the Khadr's. Omar Khadr, dubbed the "Toronto Teen" by the Star, is scheduled to face another hearing at Guantanamo and his brother Abdullah has been accused by the U.S. of supplying al-Qaida with weapons and explosives.

I'm going out because (a) it's a beautiful day and (b) the speculation and suspense is killing me. I may counsel patience but find it hard to follow my own advice.

Newsbeat1 is staying on top of this and will likely catch new developments as soon as they break.

Apr. 3 - Police have ruled out terrorism. Update here.

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