After just seven days on the market, a single bathroom, three bedroom semi at 369 Belsize Dr. has sold for $807,000. The asking price was $769,000 with a previous selling price of $514,000 in 2010. It is about 900 sq. ft. in size on a 24 by 125-ft. lot. It has no garage on a mutual drive with one parking space.
Billion dollar “BLT” a Queen’s Park stomach ache
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The Progressive Conservatives at Queen’s Park say they have obtained a confidential 11-page document that describes how the Liberals are going to dazzle the public over the coming month with billions of dollars in proposed spending. According to the PCs, those involved in the budget rollout tease are known as the BLT — Budget Leaking Team. In the Legislature, the Premier deflected questions from PC leader Hudak about this information. Toronto Star
No marijuana for casual users says clinic doctor
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Dr. Danial Schecter of the soon-to-be-open-for business Cannabinoid Medical Clinic at Yonge and Eglinton is sounding pretty tough on just who will get access to his services. The clinic is set to open Wednesday, July 2, 2014 at a local address as yet unpublished. In an article posted in Leaf Science magazine Dr. Schecter says his clinic won’t be handing out prescriptions to just anyone. “We won’t be seeing the 18- or 25-year-old who walks in and says, ‘Hey Doc, I’ve got a really bad back, and I think cannabis helps me. Can I have a prescription?’” says Dr. Schecter. “I’m not seeing those guys. I’m seeing the patients who have a true medical diagnosis.” Smart.
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| Dr. Daniel Schecter |
Earlier post: A medical cannabis clinic will be opened at Yonge St. and Eglinton Ave. in May. It will be known as the Cannabinoid Medical Clinic. The owner and operator will be Dr. Danial Schecter, a Georgian Bay area family physician whose online record of experience lists a residency at Mount Sinai Hospital. Dr. Schecter is the owner of the Georgian Bay House Calls practice and is shown as a hospitalist at Royal Victoria Hospital in Barrie. The medical marijuana clinic is thought of by some physicians as “medicine by the court system.” Dr. Louis Hugo Francescutti, president of the Canadian Medical Association (CMA), told the Toronto Star’s Isabel Teotonio that few doctors are comfortable prescribing cannabis because the medicinal benefits aren’t proven. He said the courts decided on marijuana’s therapeutic role but it hasn’t gone through the same rigorous testing that’s customary with other medications. The CMA chief said that while the opening of pot clinics was bound to happen, he believes there will be consequences. Dr Francescutti told reporter Teotonio: “There’s going to be more than one physician who’s going to get disciplined over this.” For his part, Dr. Schecter is expecting a successful practice. Under new medical marijuana regulations, which take full effect April 1, medical marijuana patients must be prescribed cannabis by a doctor or nurse practitioner, and buy their maryjane from a licensed commercial grower.
The refined and just-fine rubbish of Moore Ave.
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We are not saying Moore Ave is rubbish. Not any part of it, especially not the elegant approach to Bennington Heights and Moore Park. Moore Ave. is fine and so is its garbage now that workmen have installed some of those flossy Astral litter bins beside the TTC stops. Here we see two stalwart guys hefting the bin into place at the Orchard Green stop. Let’s hope the funny foot-pedal doesn’t snap off next winter. Along the bottom of the image some examples we noticed at this location of things which from now on will, we trust, go into the bin. The sophisticated taste of Bennington Heights commuters ranges from the nutritional drink known as Ensure, a can of Dole “cocktail de jus”, a green-glass bottle of super refined Peroni Nastro Azzurra (we think that’s water) and the always fine-by-us Tim Horton’s coffee. Where they bought the Timmy’s to leave it here is a good question. Astral by the way is now owned by Bell Media. Wynne no-show as laptop scandal boils #ONpoli
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Voters will soon have a chance to act on how they feel about the gas plant scandal, it seems Monday’s explosive morning at the Legislature has probably taken events beyond recall. The Premier was not present to answer questions about the “hard-drive erasures” scandal by which a Liberal aide’s boyfriend was paid $154,000 to eliminate all digital evidence related to the gas plant cancellation. It took him barely two months There is a whiff of a suggestion that the man, Peter Faist, was actually on contract to the government until very recent days. The NDP marched out of the chamber to protest Ms. Wynne’s absence. PC leader Hudak insisted that the Premier was either complicit or willfully negligent in the lap top cleansings. This is so, he insisted, because she was “de facto premier” when the plan was hatched and that the computer work actually went ahead after her swearing in. Health Minister Deb Matthews conducted a spirited defense of the premier’s absence saying she had many events to attend. Reporter did not seem to buy that. She said the Conservatives were guilty of “dirty politics”. Names named.
Traffic circles to control “barely there” traffic
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The estimable “Fixer” at the Toronto Star has ventured into those rarified parts of town where traffic circles decorate residential intersections. Residents of the Broadway Ave. area west of Bayview know them well as do those on Governor’s Road below Bennington Heights. The circle inset is at Governor’s and Nesbitt Drive. It is fun to see drivers try to figure out what to do. Many who want to turn left just ignore the circle. A common reality at these neighborhood circles is the scarceness of traffic needed to justify cluttering up the intersection with “traffic control” suitable for highways. The Fixer, Jack Lakey, reports on the decision of residents further north to ask for stop signs so everybody is kept safe. Jack Lakey
China calls for calm as Koreas trade barrages
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Toronto Bike Share is the new Bixi Bike
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Toronto Bike Share is the new name for what”s left of the bankrupt Bixi Bike operation in this city. Toronto Bike Share will run by a U.S. firm, Alta Bicycle Share, an Oregon company which has had success operating the Bike Share concept in a number of U.S. cities. The Toronto Parking Authority will announce the changes Monday (March 21, 2014). Everything takes effect Tuesday, the same day TPA takes over as the new operator. It will a test to see if Bike share can make a go of it in Toronto’s difficult weather. A new pricing scheme is designed to encourage riders to commit for longer period. Twenty-four-hour passes increase from $5 to $7 and 72-hour passes from $12 to $15. However monthly memberships will drop more than half from $41 to $18 and annual memberships will decrease from $97 to $90. TPA is said to be still looking for a sponsor to help offset the costs, which might change the name again.CP train safety through South Bayview
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| At Carstowe Rd footbridge |
The Toronto Star has run an editorial raising concern that residents of central Toronto (South Bayview too) don’t have enough information about hazardous goods carried on the CP rail line under the shoreline of the prehistoric Lake Iroquois. This earth feature is noticeable where the main line rolls along under the homes on Leacrest Road and the Crestview apartments. It crosses the Bayview extension and, under a steep embankment, divides Rosedale and Moore Park. The trains find their way past the new residential district surrounding the old CP station at Summerhill and Yonge, and go on out along Dupont to the Junction. The Star’s contention is that the decision to keep the nature of these cargoes semi-secret is not good enough. The railways actually share information with municipalities and emergency services so that they may be better able to respond if there is a crisis. Why not share this information with everyone? You may guess, as the Star states, that authorities are concerned that dangerous people might use timetables and other particulars to blow up or derail trains. The newspaper contends however that more information could be shared after the fact so that residents know what is really happening in close proximity to their homes.
McGuinty staffer paid $154,000 for 60 days work
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Laura Miller, the former premier’s deputy chief of staff, was paid $154,000 for less than two months work in 2013, reporter David Reevely has written. It was Ms. Miller’s boyfriend and life partner Peter Faist who erased the hard drives of computers in the premier’s office. Ottawa Citizen
Teen wounded in Flemingdon Park early today
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Police say a young man was shot in Flemingdon Park early today (Sunday. March 30, 2014) The victim was thought to be about 19 years old. It happened about 1 a.m. on Vendome Place near Don Mills Rd. and Eglinton Ave. E.. The injury, a wound to a leg, was not serious.
Love of Earth Hour a many-splendored thing
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It’s supposed to be about the conservation of energy, but prophylactic maker Durex was recommending tonight that Canadians use Earth Hour to burn up some calories in bed. The saucy campaign was named #TurnOffToTurnOn and generated lots of interest on Twitter. The above video is quite charming. For those otherwise occupied, it was a choice of whether to go dark, and if so, just how completely. Many find it difficult to turn off the television and computer. But a lot of homes had the lights out. Former mayor David Miller, head of the Canadian Chapter of the World Wildlife Fund, called Earth Hour an opportunity for everyone to ponder climate change solutions. WWF created Earth Hour. Cynics abounded of course. There was a trace of such in Steve Paikin’s tweet asking “Fire places are allowed during Earth Hour, aren’t they?” Toronto Hydro announced after the 8.30 to 9.30 event that the power draw decreased by only six percent, however. The highest decrease in usage during Earth Hour was in 2009, Earth Hour’s second year.