Month: March 2018

Do you know him?

GoodLife itness case

Card cards used

Police have released photos of a man wanted in connection with ongoing thefts from GoodLife Fitness Centres in Etobicoke. One occurred on January 23 at approximately 5 p.m. when a customer left his belongings in a locker in the change room at 3280 Bloor Street West. His credit cards were stolen and used. On February 4 about 4 p.m. a man left his belongings in a locker in the change room at 185 The West Mall  He returned to find the lock cut and his wallet and car keys stolen

An Ontario Superior Court judge has rapped the Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton for closing the foster home of a couple who did not wish to lie to their wards. The court said the CAS violated the Charter freedoms of conscience, religion and expression of Derek and Frances Baars by ordering them to tell two young girls in their care that the Easter bunny was real and by closing the Baars’ foster home when they refused to lie. The Court said the Baars had constantly promoted the children’s well-being and “were clearly operating with the children’s best interests in mind.”   The Court asked “is it more important to have the Easter Bunny or permanency?” It said the CAS had chosen the Easter Bunny.

Michael Leonard at State of the Art Gallery

Notice of request to change name

Therapy pups at Leaside High (Twitter / @MsRRoach)

She’s everywhere

Lost dolly seen as water receded in 2017

Michael Leonard, owner and founder of State of the Art Gallery at 1541 Bayview Ave., opened his business in 1999. His friendly and informed advice has created a large following of clients. Here he is with a painting by one of his favorite artists, Yvon Breton.  More of Breton’s work and others can be seen here. To the right, Wednesday morning brings news of a formal request to change the name of the square in front of the East York Civic Centre after Michael Prue, the last mayor of the Borough of East York. Not to be critical but David Johnson was mayor for a lot longer. At centre right, the distinguished presence of former chief planner Jennifer Keesmaat just about everywhere will raise curiosity about her intentions for the municipal general election. The merchants and residents along Mt. Pleasant Rd. will want to note her tweets Wednesday that the street needs bike lanes from St. Clair to Lawrence. Uh-huh. South Bayview take note too. At lower left, Leaside High School vice principal Rebecca Roach tweeted this lovely picture of therapy pups at a meeting of the school’s Health and Wellness Committee. Lastly, down in the corner, a child is no doubt mourning the loss of this dolly floating in murky Lake Leaside off Laird Drive. Sorry darlin. So near and yet so far.

Leaside Jr Wildcats will face off against the Cambridge Rivulettes in a best-of-five quarter-final series on the road to the championship of the Women’s Provincial Hockey League. Games two and five are Sunday and Wednesday next week at the Leaside arena. The puck drops at 12.40 p.m. Sunday, March 11 in the midst of the Wildcats Association March Madness Tournament. Leasiders are encouraged to come out and support the Juniors. Sadly, the community which prides itself on its spirit has among the lowest attendance in the 20 team league at home games.

Thrown into sea 132 years ago

Hidden so Canada can’t get it back

Alberta beef looks tempting

The world’s oldest known message in a bottle has been found half-buried at a West Australian beach nearly 132 years after it was tossed overboard in the Indian Ocean, 950km from the coast. Hear how it was found. Then, Sergai Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, remain critically ill in hospital in Salisbury, Wiltshire. The foreign secretary has said he was not pointing fingers at this stage, but described Russia as “a malign and disruptive force”. Next, the heartbreaking story of how your money (merely $41 million of it) was used to help a corrupt family in India buy a Bombardier jet and then hide it as the government tried to get it back. The country is in the best of hands. But on a happier, juicier note, take at look at two ladies from CBC Calgary cook and eat from some striploin steak. Yum.

Two new tenants are preparing to open in the lower level of the office and retail building at 1560 Bayview Ave at the corner of Belsize Drive. They are 9 Round 30 Minute Kickbox Fitness and Grillies. Grillies has a location at 2632 Danforth Ave. It appears to be a lunch and dinner restaurant with a broad menu that is heavily meat-based. The breakfast element, if any, is unclear.

There are no more undefeated teams in Pool B at the Tim Hortons Brier after Northern Ontario and Manitoba were defeated in Tuesday’s morning draw. Manitoba skip Reid Carruthers suffered his first loss at the 2018 Canadian men’s curling championship 10-5 to Leaside Curling Club’s John Epping. Epping’s rink used a huge five-point ninth end to move into a tie for first in the pool at 4-1 with Winnipeg’s Carruthers and Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie. TSN

Ora from St. Lucia (Facebook / @Helpaws)

39th March Madness

Lagonda on Bayview Ave. (Twitter / @mungo2434)

Bayview complaint

Would a drone do the job? (John S. / Leaside Community Facebook Group)

Playground re-make this August

Becky Allen White is posting on Leaside Community about the fate of Ora, a puppy she reports was rescued by Helpaws in St. Lucia. Ora is flying in on WestJet, it is said, if anyone is interested in giving her a home. You can read the post here. Then at the right, the Wildcats March Madness Tourney is this weekend. Never in the history of hockey have more girls carried heavy bags and loved it. Then a photo posted March 3 by Gordon Baird of an Aston Martin Lagonda on Bayview Ave. beside the Bagel House. It is a 1976 fantasy. Note the guy taking a picture of the wheel lol. Then a reminder of the Pizza Pizza freebie which can only be collected until the end of the following business day, if the Raptors score over 100 points and win at any home game, you can redeem your ticket for a free slice of cheese or pepperoni pizza. Whew! Read about a Bayview Ave. complaint here. Lower right, Jillian Walsh has messaged The Bulldog that work on the re-make of the playground at Trace Manes Park is scheduled to begin in August. As we know, this little space was a favorite of her late daughter Georgia. Finally at the bottom, John S. took this picture of the nightly helicopter visits over Mallory Crescent. CTV go home. Others say that a drone would do it more quietly and with better quality. But be careful how high it flies. Probably can’t do a man-in-the-sky live hit from a drone either.

Ontario will enact a law that requires employers with 250 or more employees to reveal a salary rate or range in all ads for a position. It will also prohibit an employer asking about an applicant’s previous salary and prohibit reprisals for any employee who tells another how much he/she is making. The Premier, Ms Wynne, provided this outline at a Women’s Empowerment Summit at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto. The general election is in June.

HOME SALES DOWN AND PRICES TOO

The Toronto Real Estate Board says year-over-year sales in February of homes has fallen 35 percent and that prices have declined 12 percent. It reported 5,175 residential transactions through MLS last month. That’s a drop of 34.9 per cent compared to the record 7,955 sales reported in February 2017. The number of new listings entered into TREB’s MLS system in February totalled 10,520, a 7.3 per cent increase compared to the 9,801 new listings entered during the same month last year.

YUM YUM, CRICKET POWDER

No doubt South Bayview is yearning for some nice cricket flour pastries or a cricket protein spicy omelet made from good old Ontario crickets. Yum, yum. Anyway, Loblaws has decided to test the market for insect powder, sometimes (incorrectly) called cricket flour. Maybe they’ll put it with the Tide or Fantastik.

The events on Locke St in Hamilton over the weekend are being portrayed as the surfacing of a sinister “black bloc” creature from another world. Not so much. More like kids smashing things in a juvenile rage against their benighted state. Anarchism is, and always has been, a transparent excuse for violent envy. See a guy eking out a living, wreck his place because it isn’t yours. As events subsequent to G20 riots have shown, the police are well able to hunt down the people who broke store windows behind their black masks Saturday. After smashing a handful of storefront windows with rocks, lighting fireworks and setting off smoke bombs, they fled — some on foot and others by vehicle — from Locke Street South Saturday night, ditching their clothing after the unprecedented attack.

There’s genuine concern about the proliferation of digital techniques that permit almost anyone to create fake videos that look absolutely real. Next to that, some scary stuff that is really fun as Canada wins top prize at the Fatansporto horror film festival in Portugal. Zombies in Quebec. Below that, warm temperatures are causing concern among maple syrup farmers as reported by City News. And finally, have a look at a side of life in China called “get out of town.” Dissidents physically forced go on vacation so they won’t spoil the perfect, perfect opening of the Chinese parliament. Will there be any tough questions from the Opposition? Or will they be out of town?

Blowout for Team Epping against Nunavut

Christina Bothwell of ModaLife Studio

l to r Music Director Sharon Beckstead, Rev Evan Smith and Supply Minister Rev. Warren McDougall

Leaside Presbyterian Book Sale

March Madness this weekend

The South Bayview summary begins in Regina, of all places, where Leaside’s John Epping and his team blew away Nunavut in Monday play at the Tim Hortons Brier. Tomorrow will see a more challenging game as Team Ontario faces Team Manitoba. To the right, say hello to hometown friend Christina Bothwell, owner of the Modalife Studio at 899 Millwood Rd. She has North Toronto’s only Yogalates Power Fusion Classes. 647-349-6080. Lower left, we see Rev. Evan Smith (centre) guest speaker Sunday at Leaside United Church. Rev Smith is minister at Toronto Urban Native Ministry. She serves the Indigenous community with Traditional Spirituality and Christianity. To the right, a couple of reminders. Leaside Presbyterian will have its book sale March 24. But sooner than that March Madness, the largest girls hockey tournament in the world rolls into Leaside Friday. Get ready.