Tehran is a long way from Toronto but it’s still close enough to feel the chill of the blood-thirsty judicial system in that Islamic state. They are said to be so busy perfecting the human race over there that they have executed a total of 40 people since the beginning of 2014, with at least 33 executions carried out in the past week alone. The report comes from Amnesty International. Many of these were people accused of using drugs. Sometimes the death penalty in Iran takes place in public with the condemned person being yanked up by a crane.
Cash up front for cab may target night club crowd
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City of Toronto staff have laboured long and produced a body of recommendations to improve taxi service. The proposals seems to come in two parts — those effecting cab users and those that will impact drivers and big taxi companies Staff is suggesting that cab users be prepared to pay as much as $25 up front for a ride and that cabbies be authorized to demand a clean up charge if a passenger fouls the car with vomit or in some other way (too much information). It seems likely these rules are going to apply to fares picked up outside night clubs on Friday. Either way, it might be hard to identify and collect from someone who is sick in a cab. The second bundle of proposals deals with the time-honoured issue of taxi haves and have-nots. It’s a bit murky. The Globe and Mail makes a stab at explaining it here.
Sharon. Lois and Bram honour is approved
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The playground in Toronto’s June Rowlands Park at Davisvile Ave. and Mt. Pleasant Rd. will be named after iconic Canadian children’s entertainers Sharon, Lois and Bram. The Toronto and East York Community Council approved a proposal from Josh Matlow (Ward 22) yesterday (Wednesday, January 15, 2014). There will be an unveiling ceremony in the Spring. Previous posts
Amaya co-founder starts Pukka on St. Clair W
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Some may recall the Indian food entrepreneur who helped establish the South Bayview dining room. Amy Pataki
Canada to U.S: Cancel Keystone if you dare
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The foreign minister, Mr. Baird, has made a plain-spoken speech in Washington telling the U.S. to build the Keystone XL pipeline or officially say no to the project. It is a clever manoeuvre by Canada to attempt to call what many think is a bluff on the part of Barack Obama. John Baird told the U.S. Chamber of Commerce: “The time for Keystone is now. I’ll go further — the time for a decision on Keystone is now, even if it’s not the right one.” Obama need not and probably will not respond to the dare – but that’s what it is. Canada is saying “Cancel it if you dare.” World conditions and public opinion seem to form an unstoppable force for the construction of the pipeline, certainly for those who believe in it.
Verdi on Bayview joins Winterlicious festival
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A happy winter consolation is the prix-fixe lunch and dinner promotion known as Winterlicious. It’s underway with participating restaurants across town taking reservations today (Thursday, January 16, 2014) for this affordable way of dining out. City-wide, more than 200 restaurants are participating and on South Bayview Verdi, at 1566 Bayview Ave. will participate for the first time. The excellent interactive map shows Verdi will offer lunch for $15 and dinner for $25. Others in South Bayivew who are part of the Winterlicious program are Kamasutra at 1522 Bayview and Amaya at 1701 Bayview. On Mt Pleasant the handy map shows Cafe Pleiade at 557 and Celestini at 623. The Granite Brewery at 245 Eglinton Ave. E. is also in. Let us know if we have overlooked anybody. The three-course prix-fixe lunch menus are priced at $15, $20 and $25, while the dinner menus are priced at $25, $35 and $45. Note: the map may take about 15 seconds to load but it’s worth waiting for.
Some fear this is the end of Sears in Canada
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Sears Canada is cutting 1,600 jobs in Canada this year including the closing of its call centre in Belleville which currently employs 527 people. An agreement has been signed with IBM to outsource internal work which will eliminate another 1,345 jobs. Anyone wondering about that shocking figure of 39,000 lost jobs in Ontario can begin to see evidence of it here. The economy has not recovered and the retail malaise is seen in the Best Buy figures. That company said today that intense competition and weak traffic in December led to disappointing results. Some analysts wonder what’s left for Sears as their outlets dwindle and contact with consumers seems more and more tenuous.
Here comes the Summer of ’14 on Eglinton East
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The summer of ’14 is likely to be a turning point in how residents feel about the length of Eglinton Ave E from Brentcliffe over to Mt. Pleasant. Metrolinx, the Ontario government agency charged with planning and building the Crosstown LRT, says preliminary construction such as the relocation of utilities and the building of so-called “headwall” supports. Work will also proceed to create access points for the introduction of those enormous boring machines that will create the track tunnels east to Yonge.
Many would trade places with Jeffrey Boucher
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The women who are waiting for Jeff Boucher to come home seem as decent and good as any man might wish. Boucher’s wife, Kirsten, says of him that he is a good husband and good father. She knows that her husband’s age, 52, represents a kind of statistical red flag in the life of many males. And she is able to understand. His daughter Bettina, 17, seems like a dutiful child who is deeply concerned for her dad. And his mother Mary has spoken compassionately about her son and her hope that he has just chosen to seek a little distance from everyday life. And there seems nothing seriously awry. This tall, fine-looking and athletic man would seem to have everything. Many would trade places with him in a flash. But the workings of the middle age mind and inevitable mortality can invade the most secure corners of paradise. There was money ($3,500) found in his filing cabinet at school but there is no reason to think there was the slightest impropriety. It was collected for a student ski trip yet to come and that bond of trust with the kids is fully in place. Indeed it is the perception of such an apparently satisfying life that makes the story of Jeffrey Boucher’a disappearance so painful. CBCMark and Virginia Wells profiled in Town Crier
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The Town Crier online contains a profile of a Lawrence Park couple, Mark and Virginia Wells, who live a refined life as reported by Brian Baker. They are both accomplished violinists and proprietors of the landmark Briton House Retirement Centre on Mt. Pleasant Road at Soudan Ave. They live in the beautiful neighborhood south of Blythwood Rd. where, Mr Baker reports, they are socially much in demand. Brian Baker MyTown Crier
Premier Wynne to Mayor Ford: DROP DEAD!
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And if it wasn’t Drop Dead, it was something very close to it. Most Torontonians will yawn at the prospect that the Premier meeting with anyone in particular is going to change their lives much. Where does anyone think the tax revenue in Ontario comes from? You will pay, pay pay for the floods and ice storms of 2013. Best laugh of the day: The Premier allowing as how her job is to meet with people who can get things done. That’s her job, she said. Last week her job was to see that government helped people (with food cards). Whatever. She won’t meet with Mr. Ford. She may have guessed the wacky bozo will upset her day. Fair enough. Toronto Sun
Nordstrom will take Sear’s premier spot at TEC
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It’s been announced that Nortstrom Inc will take the large north-end premises now being vacated by Sears at the Toronto Eaton Centre. This store was the original home of Eaton’s from the time TEC was built to the company’s bankruptcy in the late 1990s. Construction will begin on the new three-floor Nordstrom store in March. Seattle-based Nordstrom had already acquired several department store spaces vacated by Sears. Cadillac Fairview manages the Toronto Eaton Centre as well as prominent malls in Vancouver, Calgary and Ottawa that will have Nordstrom stores. This announcement was perhaps the most poorly-held secret in retailing since Sears said it was leaving downtown Toronto earlier this year. Many concluded then that the deal had already been done. “Our properties were the first to welcome Nordstrom to Canada, and we’re thrilled to continue our partnership with Nordstrom,” said John Sullivan, Cadillac Fairview’s president and chief executive.