South Bayview Bulldog Admin

ABCs of the 97 Yonge bus service not for kids

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The familiar 97 bus which used to take passengers all the way up Yonge Street from downtown to Steeles Ave has been turned into a kind of alphabet soup by the TTC. They say it is for a good cause. There is serious construction on north Yonge. The changes are intended to make things run smoother. But it means the 97 bus no longer turns into St. Clair Station.  Last Monday the TTC split the 97 into two separate north and south services. Buses on the northern section now operate from Steeles Avenue to Lawrence Station via Yonge Street, on a 97C (Steeles-Lawrence Station) branch. On the southern section, seven day a week service is now operated on the 97A (Davisville Station-York Mills Station via Yonge Blvd) branch. Monday-Friday peak period service will be operated on the 97B (Queens Quay-York Mills Station) branch. Service between Davisville Station and St Clair Station, which previously operated in the midday from Monday to Friday has been removed. Service levels will change slightly. An apple for the teacher please. TTC map. 
Escalators at York Mills Station  
Still on Yonge Street, Jaye Robinson (Ward 25) is passing on a TTC note that both escalators at York Mills subway station are out of service until the Fall for renovation. Oh joy!  The old trundlers have passed their 25-year life and need an overhaul.

Toronto Zoo has happy lowland gorilla event

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Ngozi with her newborn
Happy times at the Toronto Zoo a Ngozi, a western lowland gorilla, has given  birth to a baby overnight Thursday. Mom and baby are both healthy and are doing well. The father of this newborn, whose gender has not been determined, is Charles. The zoo says this is Ngozi’s second birth; her son Nassir was born in September 2009. Ngozi arrived at the Toronto Zoo from the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle in 2008, specifically to breed with Charles. Their newest baby is the 10th of this endangered species to be sired by Charles and born at the Toronto Zoo. “There has been a decline in wild populations of gorillas worldwide because of hunting, disease and habitat loss, according to the zoo’s curator of mammals. The zoo said western lowland gorillas are found in the rain forests of Angola, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. An adult male can weigh 200 kg and adult females about 100 kg. Females mature at about eight years old, but typically don’t breed until they’re 10. They usually give birth to a single baby, after an average gestation period of 265 days. With the new unnamed baby’s arrival, the zoo is home to seven gorillas: three adults and four youngsters.

“Toronto Eaton Centre” reinforces its name

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Further to our post about the Eaton Centre’s new billboard campaign to capture the Twitter generation comes the release of a statement and video (right) which seeks to reinforce the name of the mall. After all, in the demise of Eaton’s, and Sears short-lived successor of the same name, the image of the Eaton Centre has become a little fudged. Now Owners Cadillac Fairview are out to make you remember (and like) Toronto Eaton Centre. The Toronto is an addition to the name so proudly broadcast in the halcyon days of the shopping mecca (left)    

Target Corp. insists no Canadian card data stolen

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Target Corporation revealed today that many more people in the U.S. have been victimized by the electronic theft of data from its credit card sales system. But Target maintains that no Canadian customers were involved in this theft because its Canadian arm uses a separate credit car acquirer.  CTV

Perils of the season as woman knocked down

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A woman lies on the cold and frozen surface of Macpherson Ave. near Yonge Street Wednesday after she was bumped by a car while walking on the road. It appears she was on the road because the sidewalk was too icy. It is a peril of the season and despite warming temperatures conditions are still tricky. She was taken to hospital by ambulance to be checked out. Much of Ontario will climb out of the deep freeze this weekend, with some places forecast to see daytime highs above 5°C. “A deepening low pressure system will approach southern Ontario this evening and move north of the regions Saturday,” said Environment Canada in a special weather statement early Friday. “Several weather typeswill occur before rain spreads across the region.” Light snow picked up across southern Ontario early Friday, resulting in slick and slow conditions for the morning commute.  Photo: Yonge and Roxborough News correspondent William

Canada loses estimated 45,900 jobs in December

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Canada lost an astonishing 45,900 jobs in December and the unemployment rate rose to 7.2 percent from 6.9 percent. It is a statement not just about the economy — and what’s going on — but about the hopeless capacity of economists to estimate anything. It is said the country created 14,200 jobs. This is about the number that was expected. On the facts, it means the people charged with calculating such things missed the loss of nearly 32,000 jobs. The process in its present form seems worthless.  Reuters

Clinic chose citrus theme for window contest

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Uptown Chiropractic was doing its bit for the Mount Pleasant Village BIA Window Wanderland Contest. As the genial Dr. Dawn Azzopardi recalls, the practice has an orange theme in its colour scheme. With the aggregation of  lights  and some Sunkist offerings from the local grocery, the Uptown gang came up with “Orange You Glad It’s Christmas?”  It was a worthy contender and earned its second place ranking among the winners. That name is good for half the points all by itself. Other winners shown here are Vegan food shop Bello Bio (first) with a lovely table setting and The Little Dollhouse (third) for its creation of a charming winter scene. Bello Bio is located at 511 Mt. Pleasant Rd., Uptown Chiropractic at 645 Mount Pleasant and The Little Dollhouse at 612 Mt Pleasant Rd.  All windows. Photos Mt Pleasant BIA  

York U online student “can’t meet with women”

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Laugh, scream or cry. Maybe all three as a religious student at York University gets the school to permit him to somehow carry on his instruction without being in contact with women because of his beliefs.  From the story written by James Bradshaw it is clear the university is utterly conflicted by this unnatural request. We say unnatural but there are probably better words to describe it. The pertinent technical point here is that the person in question enrolled for an online course never thinking, presumably, that he would have to attend a meeting with other online classmates. We foolish Canadians might call it teamwork. In future, it may be possible for the university to skirt such requests by making it clear that there will be some mixed company required as part of the course.  James Bradshaw 

Jersey betrayal of trust a lesson to all in politics

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Click to enlarge
It is among the most naked betrayals of trust seen in modern politics. The organized campaign by those working for New Jersey Governor Chris Christie to shut down traffic lanes on the George Washington Bridge to punish a mayor who did not endorse Christie. The appalling emails are here. Click to enlarge and read. One of the conspirators confesses to feeling badly for the kids stranded in traffic on their way to school. The callous response from another perpetrator of this scheme says they are just the kids of our opponents. Christie ventured on Thursday into the town at the heart of a political scandal, offering a personal apology to the bustling, upscale community at the foot of the George Washington Bridge. Christie made the 70-mile (112 km) trip to Fort Lee from the capital of Trenton, where earlier in the day he held a news conference announcing the dismissal of a top aide, who critics say helped orchestrate massive traffic jams at the busy commuter bridge to exact political revenge against the town’s mayor.

Heritage consultant comments on Bulldog story

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Christopher Borgal of GBCA architects has kindly written to clarify some elements of our post earlier this week that the Coca Cola bottling plant at 46 Overlea Blvd. was being demolished. Mr. Borgal says his firm was retained to offer an opinion on the heritage status of  the 1965 office building at 42 Overlea. His mail says: “A Heritage Impact Assessment was prepared by GBCA for the office building at 42 Overlea and, while we noted that there are some interesting attributes to the structure, on balance the major benefits to the community — which will be a political decision — may reside in the proposed redevelopment of the site. The report also recommends incorporating the Yarwood sculpture that you feature in the article into a community space for all of Thorncliffe Park to enjoy and supports the retention of the granite wall that is featured at the front of the existing building. Please note, however, that the office building at 42 Overlea is not designated at the moment — it is currently on the City’s Inventory of Heritage Buildings but has not been deemed of sufficient interest to designate under the Ontario Heritage Act. In addition, there has been no application for demolition of the office building.” The South Bayview Bulldog is really pleased to have this general clarification and to be corrected in regard to  the office building status. It is always gratifying to receive first-hand information from professional people who have special knowledge of such situations. Our statement that there was “a request” to demolish the office building was a little loose perhaps because what we intended to say was that the building will be demolished if the Costco proposal is accepted and a permit issued. It would be very surprising indeed if anyone presumed to knock down the office building at this interim stage. Previous posts on the Coke site describe some of the points raised by Mr. Borgal. In particular the decision to save and locate the Yarwood sculpture in a place of honour in any new development. See especially post headlined “100,000 sq ft of green space at Overlea Costco.”

53 Div. show jewels, valuables for identification

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Costly studs, cross and watch
When police arrested two people during a shoplifting occurrence near Yonge and Broadway Ave. just before Christmas, they didn’t expect to be producing an exhibition of stolen jewellery in the New Year. But they are. The two were seen by security staff stealing a laptop from a shop earlier in the year. When they came back on December 13, 2013, they were recognized and nabbed by police. In the course of their investigation, police recovered items that include gold chains, bracelets, rings and watches. “We have about 15 pieces of mainly women’s jewelry,” Detective Chazz Stern said. “There is also a men’s bracelet and Rolex among the items.” Stern said. Members of the public can come in any time at 53 Division, 75 Eglinton Ave. W. to view photos of the recovered property. “There is a book at the front desk with pictures of the jewelry,” he said. 

Mugger opens car door to rob woman driver

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At ten to six in the evening last Tuesday a 45-year-old woman tells police she was parking her vehicle in the area of Markham Road and Eglinton Avenue East. A man — 19 to 24 years — approached and opened the driver’s side door. He attempted to remove the woman’s chain from around her neck There was a struggle in which the suspect punched the victim, pulled her out of the car and threw her to the ground. The suspect then removed the victim’s chain and purse and fled the scene in an unknown direction. No serious injuries were sustained by the victim. Police are requesting the assistance of the public in identifying the following described person in connection with this offence. Description of Suspect: Male, white, 19 to 24 years, 5’10”, 174 pounds, medium build.