The sale of existing homes in the Toronto area rose 30 percent last month from a year earlier to 7,411 units, the Toronto Real Estate Board reported today. Vancouver existing home sales rose 64 percent, that city’s real estate board said yesterday. Toronto and Vancouver are the two largest markets by the value of transactions this year. Housing-market data are showing few signs of a hard landing after warnings from economists and policy makers that a bubble may have been forming. Buyers have been returning to the market after tighter mortgage rules imposed last year kept some households from purchasing new homes. Bloomberg
Balcony drama at Moore and Bayview Aves.
by •
There was considerable drama at the corner of Moore Ave. and Bayview Ave Wednesday night as a man had climbed onto a ledge outside the balcony railing on the sixth floor of the building on the southwest corner. This all occurred beginning sometime around 9 p.m. and as witnesses report continued on for more than two hours. It had a peaceful resolution however by all indications. Traffic on Moore and Bayview was stopped for quite a period of time. Photo: rudy.ca
Yonge watermain job brings 6-months of closures
by •
Yonge St. north of the 401 will be a place to avoid for the next six months. Work to replace the watermain will cause closures and narrowing of the street from now until next May (2014). The zone is roughly between Sheppard Ave. and Finch Ave. and it starts tomorrow (Friday, October 4, 2013). The City says crews will be working daily from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Work at intersections with traffic signals and on most water service connections will be done between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. If you travel up there, check the City’s website.
Compliments Super 8 Beef Burgers recalled
by •
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is flagging Compliments brand Super 8 Beef Burgers for E. coli contamination. The burgers were distributed in Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador and might have been found in Sobeys banner stores. CTV
Rogers commercial produced on Bessborough
by •
There were many welcome visitors (one is seen here) picking their way over the cabled sidewalks of Bessborough Drive today in the vicinity of No. 146. It appears that Rogers Communications is making a commercial here. Like so many businesses seeking to hit the right note with consumers, they chose to make it in this favoured upper middle class corner of town. The address is owned by Patrick Rocca who called this one in to the South Bayview Bulldog offering it as a “slow news day” possibility. But we have few slow days here at the Bulldog. What that means is that most things are grist for our mill. Now, as for all those trucks and vans, they are with the street for another day as the production is expected to wrap up Thursday night. The producer must be skilled at horseshoes because Thursday is looking like another fine and mostly clear day with a high of 20 degrees in the afternoon. Irish vote Friday on future of their Senate
by •
It has sneaked up on most of Canada, but there will be a referendum this Friday in the Republic of Ireland on whether to abolish the country’s upper house, the body known as the Seanad, We know it here as the Senate. There is great discontent and dislike of the political class in Ireland following the thumping recession of recent years. There is no sympathy for the largely undemocratic Seanad and it may well be a casualty of bad times. Abolition would save an estimated $50 million in Canadian funds. As in Ottawa, those who feel the Irish Seanad is unnecessary and wasteful point to the exemplary places that have thrown out their upper chambers and are doing just fine, thank you. They would be Denmark, Sweden and New Zealand. It will be one to watch for on Friday.
Alert in Leslieville as man snaps pictures of kids
by •
A man seen taking pictures of a children in Leslieville is the cause of a general alert in the neighborhood tonight. Toronto police are alerting the public because of the reports. They say he packed up his camera and fled when bystanders noticed he was snapping photos of kids near Queen Street East and Jones Avenue on Tuesday at about 5:10 p.m. The man is white and five-foot-11 to six-foot-one with a medium build. He was wearing beige pants and a green shirt, and he was carrying a brown shoulder bag. In response to the incident, police are reminding parents to be mindful of their surroundings.
Somali-Canadian be-heads four sons in Somalia
by •
There has been an appalling crime against children committed by a man who is said to be a naturalized Canadian. It happened in Somalia where former Calgary taxi driver Omar Hassan has be-headed his four sons aged 11, 9, 7 and 6. This happened Monday. Sources in Calgary told the Canadian Press that Hassan had returned to Somalia a few weeks go for reasons unknown. Allvoices
Author Tom Clancy dead in Baltimore at age 66
by •
Tom Clancy, whose complex, adrenaline-fueled military novels made him one of the world’s best-selling and best-known authors, died on Tuesday in a hospital in Baltimore. He was 66. New York Times
Keep eye out for bike stolen off Sutherland Drive
by •
Pam Haines is asking everyone to be on the lookout for her TREK bike that was stolen out of her garage on Sutherland Drive sometime between September 19 and 23, 2013. It’s a women specific bike (SKYE SL DISC) and had a black rack on it (that may or may not have been removed by now). Pam is asking that you spread the word and try to get this valuable bicycle returned. You can contact the South Bayview Bulldog at news@bayview-news.com
CIBC branch on South Bayview adds an ATM
by •
The CIBC on South Bayview between Dollarama and Benjamin Moore Paint is closed today for renovations that are said to include another ATM
New Leaside rink to open Sunday, October 5, 2013
by •
Global News background on the new arena. Global News Part of the events of this Sunday will be the game between the Wildcats and Mississauga Chiefs. That goes at 3.30 p.m. Wildcats