It’s tough when you get stuck in an elevator and people doubt what you say.  But that’s the case today (Thursday, January 22, 2014) with Mayor Rob Ford. His reputation of being not exactly right about what he says has caused reporters to question his excuse for being late to a speaking engagement today. The mayor was stuck in a freight elevator for 45 minutes, making him an hour late for a speech he was scheduled to give to the Economic Club of Canada. Finally, the mayor was freed from the elevator and made his speech. He reiterated his well known position that he has saved the city money and that the removal of his powers by City Council has permitted that body to slip back into its old ways of  “tax and spend”.  

The ups and downs of 19-year-old talented kids have met on the fringes in the case of Justin Bieber and Montreal tennis prodigy Eugenie (Genie) Bouchard. Bieber faces charges of drag racing, drunk driving and a peaceable form of resisting arrest in Florida. Bouchard is a stunning young woman from Westmount who these days must have to beat off admirers with a stick. Her performance at the Austrlaian Open this week has marked her as “the future of women’s tennis” according to the commentators. In addition to reviewing her loss to the much more experienced Li Na, Bouchard may also be reconsidering her tentative suggestion that she would like to date Bieber.  In fairness, it happened before Bieber’s drunk driving blunder and after Eugenie was ambushed by an Australian reporter (video). Her reply was a tentative. “Justin Beiber?”  when asked who she would like to date.  Bieber, the now soused and out-of-control kid from Stratford, Ontario tweeted  a “good luck” to Bouchard.  A mischievous scribbler on Twitter named Manure Gurl has tickled readers with this:  “Speeding to meet Eugenie Bouchard?  I guess the little turd from Stratford missed the Paul Walker lesson on drag racing.” Bravo Manure Gurl. May you wisely advise the highly in-demand Genie Bouchard. It’s a parent’s prayer.  

It’s was a disappointing night but a big one nonetheless for Canada’s tennis sweetheart 19-year-old Eugenie Bouchard. Even as she lost to China’s Li Na commentators were calling the 19-year-old Bouchard “the future of women’s tennis.” The victory saw Li Na take sets 6-2 and 6-4. The drama featured the extraordinary skill and determination that brought Genie to the Australian Open. It is the first time a Canadian has battled to a centre court duel since Carling Bassett did so in 1984. But there is also an infatuation with Genie Bouchard on Twitter as Canadian young men expressed their appreciation of the athletic Montrealer.   Twitter   CBC

A fire has ripped through a 150 year-old building at 84 Yorkville Ave. It has been declared a three-alarm emergency following a report by the security company that summoned firefighters about 8.30 a.m. There is much heroic coverage on CP24.  There is a bizarre late in a tweet from TFD that police have arrested a man for attacking a firefighter..It is not known if there is any historic value to the old building, which would seem to have been damaged beyond repair. It will have been part of the original Yorkville Village before amalgamation and perhaps a haunt for the alternative lifestyle people who lived and patronized Yorkville during the 1960s. 

Kelvingrove Apartments

Half a year has passed since the eviction of some 90 tenants at the heritage rental apartments on Bayview Ave. in Leaside. The modest structures known as the Kelvingrove and Glen-Leven apartments are now vacant, except for certain newer units more recently built over the garages on the spacious property. What’s being done to these small housekeeping apartments which were so prized and loved by those who were thrown out? The answer is not very much. Looking through windows and door glass of the apartments reveals quite limited types of work. Typically, the openings between the tiny kitchens and the sitting area of the apartments have been widened, as seen in the inset pictures. Workmen say that “everything” is going to be done over but by most ways of assessing this, the improvements would appear to be superficial.  We see things like kitchen and bathroom fixtures. That will certainly make things nicer in the units but it does not appear that they are going to be merged to make larger and more richly-rentable places.
Owned by Manitoba Pension Fund
The ultimate owner of the Kelvingrove and Glen-Leven Apartments is the Civil Service Superannuation Board of Manitoba.(CSSBM).  It is a pension fund for Manitoba teachers and others. A number of holding companies exist to cloud the ownership and the most commonly named of these is ADMNS Kelvingrove. Decisions about the future of the apartments, including the evictions, are made by the nine-member investment committee of the CSSBM. The Internet information provided by the NDP government reveals the  committee is chaired by Peter G. Munro and includes the Manitoba Deputy Minister of Finance, John Clarkson. The Kelvingrove, Glen-Leven and related properties were the subject of a bitter battle between the owner and the Leaside Property Owners Association in the years following 2010. The LOPA said the buildings were historic and part of the community’s heritage. It won that battle. While it saved the buildings, it could not save the homes of the Leasiders who lived there. The simple red brick buildings between 1351 and 1365 Bayview on the east side were built by Howard Talbot, who served as Mayor of Leaside from 1938 to 1947.