Month: February 2017

Don Valley West PCs meet for Sunday morning social

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Meeting at Cork’s over Longo’s

A social meeting of the Don Valley West Progressive Conservative Association attracted an estimated 75 people Sunday morning at Cork’s restaurant over Longo’s in the Leaside Village shopping centre. The declared candidates for the nomination are Dean Baxendale, Jon Kieran and Jeff Silverstein. All three spoke briefly about their ability to defeat the incumbent Liberal, Premier Kathleen Wynne. She has held the riding since 2003. There were no questions taken by a decision of the association. The nomination meeting has not yet been scheduled.  Ontario Liberals poised to fall to third party status in next election: Poll

Dean Baxendale
Jeff Silverstein
Jon Kieran

One gravely hurt in nasty rear-ender at Eglinton, Danforth

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A nasty rear-end collision has sent a person to hospital with critical injuries and left two others recovering Sunday. It happened at Eglinton Ave.East near Danforth Road just after 3 a.m. Someone wasn’t paying attention

Black History Awards for first responders at BME Church

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Many dignitaries will gather Sunday at 6 p.m. at Christ Church of the British Methodist Episcopal Church at 1828 Eglinton West (at Dufferin) to honour men and women who serve the country and community. The event is held by BME Christ Church in conjunction with the Toronto Police 13th Division presents their 17th Annual Black History Month Community Awards Celebration. These awards are specifically designed to recognize Police Officers, Fire Fighters, members of Emergency Medical Services, members of the National Defence, Correction Officers, members of School Boards and Community members for ‘Heroism’ or a ‘Job Well Done’. The keynote speaker will be Wendell Nii Laryea Adjetey who is a doctoral candidate in the Departments of History and African-American Studies at Yale University, where he holds numerous awards and prizes, including the Falk Foundation, Felix G. Evangelist, and Douglass R. Bomeisler Fellowships.  Special invited guests include Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders, Arthur Downes and many more.

Man shot dead in parking lot at 71 Thorncliffe Park Dr.

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Shot by Zia Zarawar
Rear of 71 Thorncliffe Park
Thorncliffe Park Dr. closed both ways

Toronto police named Shoaib Asakzai, 25, as the man shot dead Saturday about suppertime in the parking lot behind the apartment building at 71 Thorncliffe Park Dr. It is between Thorncliffe Park and the road down to the Lower.Recreation Trail. The ground picture above was tweeted by Zia Zarawar, of the Toronto Observer. It may show the scene. The man, in his 20s, was hit several times say police.

Saving UK’s red squirrels by sterilizing dominant greys

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Grey Squirrel from NA
Nutella contraceptive?
Retreat of the Red Squrrel

 

Prince Charles has backed a government plan to save the native red squirrel by sterilizing grey squirrels with contraceptive bait laced with Nutella. The process will involve baited boxes in trees that have a weight-operated hinge flap. Smaller creatures will be too light to open it.

Former Celestin to become Birch Bistro under new owner

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Birch Bistro
Laurie’s note

The well-known former bank building at Mt.Pleasant and Manor Rds. has a new tenant. The large premises will open soon as the Birch Bistro. Not too many details are known but the operator, Laurie, has posted her friendly hello on the door. This location was for many years Celestin and was purchased by the Bailey Brothers, Ivan and James, in 2009. They changed the name to Bar Mar in April in keeping with their Peruvian ancestry but  in December announced they would close the restaurant. The little shop that adjoins it on Mt. Pleasant was a butcher and it is understood that Laurie intends to operate a cheese shop in this space. Hope so.

 

Retail soundings in department, grocery and dollar stores

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East York Town Cenbtre

The retail revolution goes on with department store J.C. Penney in the US saying this weekend it will close 130 to 140 stores. That’s said to be nearly 15 percent of its total. Macy’s and Sears are also faltering with the future unknown. Walmart’s boundless ambitions have been dampened by a chaotic in-store atmosphere some shoppers complain about. There is certainly no hurry to build the Walmart in the Wicksteed Ave. extension of the SmartCentre. The site has been still for more than a year. Walmart has recently begun a grocery home-delivery service in Toronto.

FOOD RETAIL

For its part, Loblaws seems to have no interest in following Walmart or global merchant Amazon into home delivery of food. Loblaws CEO Galen Weston likes what he sees so far in the so-called click and collect side of grocery sales. You choose items online and then come and  get them. You can do that at the Redway Road store. Click and collect is less costly than home delivery, vital in the low-margin world of food retail. The most buoyant retail scene is the dollar-store phenomenon. It shows no sign of slowing. Dollarama is being joined on the streets and in the shopping malls of Canada by such contenders as Giant Tiger (in Ontario and Quebec) the Great Canadian Dollar Store in Atlantic Canada and the Japanese entry Ichiban, now open in the East York Town Centre.