The eye-catching events shown here take us from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Sydney, Australia. The balloon event is always a crowd pleaser and the weather was surely never better than this weekend. It is the 42 annual balloon fiesta. In Australia, it is the 100th anniversary of the Australian Navy. The country has put on what it calls one of the most ambitious firework displays ever..
Malaysia pledges $36 billion petro-investment
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| Najib Razak and Stephen Harper |
National oil giant Petronas will invest $36 billion to set up a liquefied natural gas plant in Canada, Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced Sunday as he stood with Prime Minister Harper at a news conference. This will make Malaysia the largest foreign direct investor in Canada, Najib told reporters after receiving a courtesy call at his office in Putrajaya from Harper. “Malaysia is confident in the policies of the Canadian government and sees a wealth of opportunities in opening up the country’s energy industry to new markets,” said Najib. “There is a 30-year timeline for the CAD$36 billion investment and Petronas is very positive about taking this decision. We have a high level of confidence about Canada. “Malaysia strongly believes that this decision will not only be supported by the present Canadian government but future ones as well,” he added. Najib said Canadian companies in Malaysia also shared the same confidence about doing business here as well as about government policies. Echoing Najib, Harper said feedback he received from Canadian companies in Malaysia, such as Scotiabank and Manulife Financial Corporation, was very positive.
Cops have good leads in cat beheadings case
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Police in York Region are pleased with the more than 250 calls made to them related to the discovery of six cat heads in east-end Stouffville. “A big thank you to the community,” said PC Laura Nicolle. “There are some good, good leads investigators are working on.” York Region
Sarah’s 6th Annual Food Drive delivers the goods
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There was a great send off yesterday for the hampers of food collected through Sarah’s Food Drive. It happened at Tremblett’s Valu Mart, a store which has been a consistent supporter of the charitable effort, now in its sixth year. The 2013 drive has a new goal — it wants to gather 24,000 pounds of food by October 9 (that’s next Wednesday). Last year it collected 21,000 pounds. This year, the food drive has expanded to include six local primary schools. Long-time supporter Rob Tremblett was present with Sarah, 11, and seven-year-old sister Claire and friends, as hampers were packed up and loaded onto the Daily Breads delivery truck. Kraft Canada also handed in a $10,000 cheque to Daily Bread. Truly an impressive and moving example of the important good work of all these people. All previous posts
Canadians out of jail but still stuck in Cairo
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John Greyson and Tarek Loubandi were released on Sunday after seven weeks in custody following their arrest amid clashes in Cairo North Cairo Prosecution made the statement after Greyson and Loubandi were released on Sunday morning. They apparently tried to fly out to Germany later Sunday but were turned back because their names are on a police list. They are now said to be safe under Cananadian consular supervision. The men were arrested on August 16, 2013 amid clashes between security forces and supporters of former president Mohamed Morsi while passing through Egypt on their way to the Gaza Strip. There was an international petition and an official Canadian campaign for their release. Both men underwent a hunger strike for two weeks to demand their release. In a joint letter posted on a website created by supporters, Greyson and Loudandi said they were “slapped, beaten, ridiculed” by police after their arrest and accused of being “foreign mercenaries.” Ahram
Parents upset as Winnipeg school kills Halloween
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| Great Cody teachers in 2011 |
A report from Winnipeg says the Hastings School, part of the Louis Riel School Division, will cancel Halloween this year. It will also cancel the school’s annual winter concert and replace it with an evening of African drumming. Parents are quite upset about this. But the school board says it doesn’t get involved and has directed parents to the school. It isn’t clear from the news reports whether this school is under the control of the Winnipeg Board of Education. For our part, The South Bayview Bulldog cannot wait for the annual Halloween march by the Cody kids along Bayview Avenue. We like it so much we remembered a picture from 2011, inset.
Skate Exchange has a new supply of skates
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Mac at Millwood Shoe and Skate Exchange 706 Millwood Rd. has a new supply of skates just in. He tells us there are a pile of boxes. Better have a look.
“Big event” at Sarah’s Food Drive on Bayview
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We’re hearing there will be a “big event” in connection with Sarah’s Food Drive at Tremblett’s Valu mart on Bayview at 3 p.m. If you’re up there, take a look.
Proud day as Tykes Christen Leaside’s new rink
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It’s a proud day in all of South Bayview and Toronto as the new ice pad at the Leaside Arena is officially opened. Board of Management Chair Ray White (seen top left with l-r former Chair Brooke Biscoe, John Parker (Toronto Ward 26) John Carmichael (MPP Don Valley West) and Premier Kathleen Wynne) declared the rink open. In the centre row of pictures we see the first skaters permitted on the new ice and the first hockey game played on it — a Tyke event which was very enjoyable. Lower row are the directors of the arena, Cheryl, who was in charge of guarding the cake (and who had her hands full) and the busy new parking lot. Overflow cars were permitted into the Self-Storage lot across Millwood Rd. Skating and celebratory events will go on all day. Tomorrow (Sunday, October 6, 2013) another attraction will be the Junior Wildcats vs the Mississauga Chiefs at 3.30, Organizers today appealed for all those who use the rink and love the game to consider making a donation to the on-going cost of finishing up and running the arena. A donation desk will be permanently installed at the rink for those who are interested in picking up a donation card. It does cost money and any amount is both welcome and appreciated. There was a large barbecue outside at noon hour thanks to Valumart, the Fox and Fiddle, Neal Brothers Foods and many willing volunteers.
Nuit Blanche gets plugged in at 6.51 Saturday
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Younger than the new century, the Scotiabank Nuit Blanche contemporary art event may seem to have come out of nowhere but it hasn’t. This is its sixth year in our town. Nuit Blanche is Toronto’s annual all-night celebration of contemporary art, produced by the City of Toronto in collaboration with Toronto’s arts community. Since 2006, the event has featured more than 850 official art installations, created by nearly 3,500 artists and has generated more than $138 million in economic impact for Toronto With the public-spirited sponsorship of the Bank of Nova Scotia this all-night lighting up of visual and constructed art is a genuinely electrifying civic happening. (Sorry, couldn’t help how that came out). So when your son or daughter (or maybe you too) leave the house Saturday night to meet the archly chosen start time of 6.51 p.m. you will be in good company. Scotiabank and the City of Toronto website linked below appears to be an excellent planning tool. Few Nuit Blanche goers will want to miss the enormous Forever Bicycles structure created by the celebrated artist Ai Weiwei. It’s in Nathan Phillips Square. There have been a few changes. The Eaton Centre has said it will no longer stay open all night because it just took too much of a vandalism hit last year. So this year, a focus of much all night activity will be the south end of Queen’s Park. Police figure it will be safer for everyone and much easier to patrol. Nuit Blanche website Also here.Open House at new arena tomorrow 10 til 2
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This Saturday October 5, 2013 from 10 a.m. til 2 p.m. there will be an Open House, Ceremony and Public Skate at the new Bert F.Grant ice pad at the Leaside Arena.
Countdown lights unsafe? Not so, say other cities
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The idea that pedestrian countdown signals at Toronto’s intersections actually increase accidents is, to say the least, counter intuitive. The story is being widely aired this day (Friday, October 4, 2013) but reading down in the National Post report makes one wonder why other cities don’t seem to have this result. Both smaller and similar sized cities — Calgary and San Francisco — say pedestrian counters have increased safety at intersections. The Toronto study is fairly rudimentary, done by Dr. Andrew Howard of the Hopsital for Sick Children and others. It concluded that the signals at almost 2,000 Toronto intersections were linked to a 26% increase in the rate of collisions. The rate of serious or fatal pedestrian-automobile crashes jumped even more — by 50%, they reported in the journal Injury Prevention. The numbers are no doubt correct as far as they go but the lack of analysis of accidents in the context of the counters leaves big questions. Is it motorists jumping the light or pedestrians trying to run across the street with one or two seconds left on the counter? Or something else? In San Francisco the traffic light wonks speculated that maybe it was because Toronto lights permit the yellow signal to light up before the countdown is finished. But hang on, that certainly isn’t the case at Bayview Ave and Moore ave. At that local intersection the countdown ends at “0” before the yellow light flashes on. The startling contradiction between other cities and Toronto hangs there like its own flashing yellow light. There are so many question: Do all intersections show similar results? Are the counter programs exactly the same? Looks like we need a Canada-wide, or North American wide study, before we start messing around with these counters.