Syrian refugees met by PM Trudeau as they arrive in Toronto: Top Stories

Syrian refugees arriving in Toronto Thursday were welcomed by the Prime Minister. And, did you know that ending a text with a period makes you seem like jerk? That's what a new study says. These are two of our top stories worth your time this morning.

Local

Funeral held for Evan Leversage, boy who made Christmas come early

A funeral was held Thursday for Evan Leversage, a southern Ontario boy whose wish to see another Christmas prompted his community to stage an early Santa Claus parade.

Seven-year-old Evan died at a Brantford, Ont., hospice on Sunday in the arms of his mother — Nicole Wellwood. Evan was from St. George, a small community north of Brantford and suffered from an inoperable brain tumour.

Cocaine stolen from storage unit sparks police search for 2 men and a do

Halton police are hoping the public can help them track down two men who they say broke into a storage unit to steal cocaine last fall.

According to police, the incident happened in October of 2014, when two men equipped with a drug-sniffing dog, a lock pick set, and a digital camera with an expandable lens broke into a storage unit in Burlington.

Elsewhere

Syrian refugees greeted by PM as they arrive on government aircraft in Toronto

The first large group of Syrian refugees coming to Canada by government aircraft arrived in Toronto late Thursday night, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on hand to welcome them at a temporary processing centre at Pearson International Airport.

Trudeau was joined by the ministers of immigration, health and defence, as well as Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, local mayors and opposition immigration critics.

Ending a text message with a period makes you seem like a jerk, study shows

The world of text-based messaging is no place for proper punctuation, according to a newly released American study — unless, of course, you want to be seen as a jerk.

Researchers from the department of psychology at New York's Binghamton University recently conducted a series of experiments with undergraduate students to explore the role of the period in text messages.

Participants were asked to read 16 different conversations in the form of either texts or handwritten notes. Every exchange included an invitation question (e.g., "Dave gave me his extra tickets. Wanna come?) and an affirmative, one-word response (Sure, Yup, OK, etc.).

And one more thing

From Johnny Cash to Mariah Carey to Phil Spector: the 20 best Christmas albums of all time

Christmas music is one of the many signifiers of the holiday season and whether you're a fan or not, these classics are ubiquitous come December (or as early as late October if you're a particularly keen shopping mall).

While there is an abundance of Christmas music to choose from nowadays, there are a number of reliable holiday albums that are guaranteed to put us in a cheerful, jolly mood. Click or tap on the link above to see the 20 best Christmas albums ever released, from traditional carols to rockin' new renditions.