Heartwarming

A Hamilton husband arranged more than 2,000 lights on a 12‑metre spruce outside his retirement unit, and in Oakville a mother and her son are opening BU Café and Market, a business that plans to employ people with disabilities.

Deal activity in the auto aftermarket is picking up ahead of 2026 as investors and operators signal renewed readiness to transact; industry leaders cite fragmentation, available capital and stable repair demand as supporting factors.

Minjae Cho, known online as Magnetic MJ, greets strangers on the TTC, records brief interactions with Meta glasses and has more than 200,000 followers; officials and mental-health experts say small acts of kindness can matter amid widening loneliness in Toronto.

This roundup notes municipal buses now cost about $970,000 each and a report finds homelessness in Northern Ontario has risen 117% since 2021.

Gudrun Schultz, a member of Madonna House, describes how ordinary relationships and small acts of intentional love opened and transformed her heart after years of inner struggle.

Carolyn Deer organized four community fashion shows that relied on volunteers, donated clothing and local stylists, with help from a group she calls the Moose and her brother Georgie as emcee. At one show, participant Danny Norton, who has since died, became a popular runway presence and later thanked Deer, saying he had never felt so good.

Lionel began wearing all black in the early 1980s to simplify daily clothing choices and later adopted cowboy hats; he and Carolyn recall playing in and running a local dart league where he matched shirt colours to his feathered dart flights.

The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation says a resident of the United Counties of Prescott and Russell holds a $55 million Lotto Max ticket, the first jackpot of 2026. An Ajax ticket also won a $100,000 Encore prize.

Aurora's STEM Minds received the Town of Aurora's 2025 Green Award for integrating environmental education into its STEM programs and promoting agri‑tech and eco-friendly practices.

The Town of Aurora has published a revised 2026 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion calendar, its third edition, to highlight faith, cultural and awareness dates across the community; resident feedback helped add observances such as Ashura and Disability Employment Awareness Month.