South Bayview Bulldog Admin

Baseball legend Howie Bernie honoured

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Friends and admirers of Leaside’s Howie Bernie will gather Monday, July 9 at Howard Talbot Park to honour the legendary local baseball figure Howie Bernie. The linked Toronto Sun story is very enjoyable and has a nice picture of Howie as he approaches his 75th birthday. He looks pretty good. Above, a picture of the Richardsons Junior Team from 1962 with Howie at the left rear recalls but one episode in Birnie’s career. In one of a number of face-offs with the team from Christie Pits, Birnie had his pitchers in and out like a revolving door, tailoring them to the Pits batters. It was a bravura performance and the Richardson’s won.  As the Sun says, he is a hero of the sandlot community and will be honoured by a legion ex-Leaside players, umpires he worked with, Baseball Ontario executives, pals, transplanted Leaside grads and even coaches he ejected. The party begins Monday, July 9 at 7 p.m. Toronto Sun.

Ben Mulroney to host U.S. weekend show

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Ben Mulroney is making the leap to the U.S. television market with a weekend gig at ABC’s Good Morning America. Mulroney will maintain his regular weekday assignment with CTV as he fills in for GMA weekend anchor Dan Harris. It begins this weekend, by the way. Since launching his TV career as an entertainment reporter on Canada AM in 2001, Mulroney has established himself as a competent and error free on-air anchor. The GMA announcement follows Mulroney’s two recent stints as co-host of the popular syndicated morning talk show Live! with Kelly Ripa. Mulroney was born in  Montreal and raised in Ottawa, the son of former prime minister Brian Mulroney.Globe and Mail.

McDonald’s shows new dress for Olympics

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McDonald’s has unveiled new outfits for all of its British workers, which Wayne Hemmingway, the designer, said were inspired by Mad Men and the mod movement.

Magical Garden Tour this Saturday

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A reminder from the pages of Inside.Toronto.com that the Leaside Garden Society Magical Tour of Gardens is scheduled for this weekend.  The self-guided tour of nine hardens goes Saturday between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. Tour passports, which include garden addresses and a map, are $10 each are available at Gentry Clothiers in the Sunnybrook Plaza, Royal LePage, 1391 Bayview Avenue, Stars, 900 Millwood Road, Urban Nature Store,- 939 Eglinton Ave East at Brentcliffe and Write impressions-,1515 Bayview Avenue.

Stop the heritage site bush-whacking

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The process of designating private homes as heritage sites is deeply unfair. Arbitrarily, on the advice of people who have no accountability to the public, homes have  tens of thousand of dollars instantly wiped off their value. The homeowner becomes an instant curator of a civic museum whether he likes it or not. It’s a process that should be stopped immediately and replaced with something fair. Everyone understands the desire to keep important parts of our bricks and mortar history. Public buildings and places where historic events have occurred are likely spots for such protection. In these cases, private citizens are well warned about the state of things. But frequently a homeowner wakes up to find that someone has discovered an esoteric structural feature that he thinks makes the home a heritage site. Nonsense. If these kinds of criteria are going to be applied to privates homes, let the City buy them at market value. It’s time to stop bush-whacking unsuspecting property owners in the name of history.  

Little Italy gun victim had long police record

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The Globe and Mail is reporting that the man gunned down on the patio of a Little Italy café  had a lengthy criminal record. He is identified as John Raposo, 35, and was known locally at Little Johnny.  Globe and Mail. 

5,000 ducks parade down street in China

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The old ways sometimes run smack into the new in China. This parade of 5,000 ducks was organized by a farmer who has no idea what kind of a traffic jam he would cause. He was herding the birds to a pond for a drink. Reports say the City if Taizou was temporarily brought to standstill.

Millwood, Sutherland break-ins are similar

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Police have not drawn the connection but its easy to suspect that the break-in on Millwood Road over the weekend might be related to the one on  Sutherland. We posted on the latter yesterday. The Millwood incident  occurred sometime over the weekend, between 2030 hours, June 15, 2012 and 1630 hours, June 17, 2012, and entry was gained into the premises by forcing a door. That ‘s the same technique used on Sutherland. In this case also jewellery was taken.

Bennington bungalow will be replaced

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This ravine side bungalow on Heath Street East just east of Lumley Ave is now just a memory. The vacant lot shown above will be the location of a much larger home in this desirable and secluded part of Bennington Heights. 

Modella now open on South Bayview

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Modella Ladies Wear has opened at 1579 South Bayview in what must be one of the most efficient set ups in recent times. The owner, Tovi Mimran, took possession on May 30, 2012. This means he renovated and stocked the shop in merely 18 days. A posted earlier, Modella is a small chain which is best known to the west of Toronto in places like Dundas and Oakville. Lambert Moo’s Chair on Bayview, right next door, is also sporting a smart new sign.  

Break-in on Sutherland Drive Saturday night

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Lessons can be drawn from local break-ins to help avoid similar criminal activity. Saturday night someone entered a home on Sutherland Drive between 2010 hours on June 16, 2012 and 2330 hours on June 16, 2012. That’s a period of about three hours in the evening, when there are normally people around.  In this case the thief or thieves forced a door to get in. It’s a good reason to have your locks and metal plates protecting the jams checked. Police report that jewellery, a computer, iPod Touch and cash were taken.

ServiceOntario to be sold, moved online

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It’s coming out tonight that the Ontario government plans to privatize the agency known as ServiceOntario.  ServiceOntartio is a relatively new concept in Ontario, replacing direct contact between taxpayers and the government agencies that issue licenses, permits and the like. Now, according to ministers, the province’s cash strapped state requires it to sell the ServiceOntario interface and have a private operator put it online. What this means for those dingy ServiceOntario shops, like the one at 854 Eglinton Ave. E. — well, who knows. Maybe they will disappear. The government estimates that it costs about five times as much for you to wait in line and deal with a clerk at the ServiceOntario shop than to fight your way through the online process. Globe and Mail.