Many fans are singing a sad, bluesy kind of song with the closing of the Highway 61 restaurant and bar at 1620 Bayview Ave. next to The Trend Shoppe women’s wear. Highway 61 vacated a couple of weeks ago and the premises is being renovated to house a Chinese food restaurant, we’re told.  Highway 61 had what many say was a pretty good clientele for its regular presentation of Blues music, all reminiscent of that heard along U.S. Route 61 which originates in New Orleans.

The 2012 Olympic opening ceremonies are underway in London and the television show has been highly entertaining. It continues at this hour (5.12 p.m. EDT). British notables from all walks of life have been recruited to play their part — one recorded skit involved her Majesty heading off in a chopper with James Bond (or Daniel Wroughton Craig, if you prefer). They make a fictitious arrival at the Olympic site by parachuting out of the helicopter (inset).  Famous authors, musicians and comedians are all finding their way into the extravaganza.  Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean) was drafted into the London Symphony Orchestra for a magic blend of laughs and artistry. National Post running blog

Ford Motor Company is going to start making its iconic F-150 truck out of aluminum to lose some 700 pounds of weight. It’s about mileage and increasingly tough efficiency standards. The niggling concern for buyers is  the question of whether the aluminum truck will be as strong as the steel F-150s. It’s a big gamble because the F-150 is one of Ford’s biggest sellers and a profitable one too. Along with the aluminum makeover, the new F-150 also is getting a more muscular look, according to one Ford designer.

The health minister, Deb Matthews, is hurrying this morning to reassure those who hold the old red and white Ontario health cards. She says the cards are good and that they can still be used and that legitimate residents who still have the cards will not be denied medical care. Period. The semi-crisis in public understanding flows from an announcement yesterday that suggested the cards were about to be eliminated in a relatively brief phase-out period in which a user would get three notices. After that, no health care. Today however the minister says that while the government wants people to move to the photo ID card, the old ones will still be honoured   The new cards came into use in 1995. There is an impression among some that only seniors still have the red and white cards. But kids who were born in, say, 1985, who got their cards when they were five or six, frequently still have them. Those people are now in their 20s and 30s. There are more than three million of the old red and white plastic pieces still out there.  Only clearly fraudulent cards will be arbitrarily cancelled.

The seemingly tireless work of Sue Byford, and the deep archives of her family’s business, keeps turning up wonderful old copies of the Town Cirer. The most recent one is from February 26, 1985 and carries a mother lode of fascinating local news. One familiar face that shines out of its pages is that of the late Art Cole, a Leaside resident whose career in  journalism lasted many decades. In the early 60s, he was City Editor of the Toronto Telegram.  He later served at the United Nations for the Tely and then went on to a career as an entertainment columnist for CFRB radio and local publications like the Town Crier. Check it out.  Town Crier pdf.