Gone!

Demolition is going on daily at the corner of Laird Drive and Industrial Street to make way for the new Gyro Hyundai dealership. Among the changes is the happy disappearance of the ugly concrete block building that sat right on the corner (inset). It’s good to see it gone.  Same goes for all the tumbledown buildings that are making way for this new business. One reader complained that one of the two houses taken down last week had at one time been “the original jail” for Leaside. Whether this is true is not known by us but there seems to be  very little history or public information to justify keeping such a sad little building. 

Schoolchildren on an excursion just had to stop and watch the demolition underway at 419 Belsize Dr. The kids jumped up and down and cheered as each piece of the old structure fell. And teacher took a few pictures too. 

Atlanta based Teavana Holdings Inc will take control of Canada’s Teaopia Ltd. in a $26.9 million all-cash deal. That will deliver Teaopia’s 46 Canadian stores, many of them located in malls and shopping centres. How this development will affect the Teaopia location on Bayview Ave is not known. Teaopia is the leading loose leaf tea retailer in Canada and was the brainchild of entrepreneur David Bellisario. It was founded in 2005. At right, Teaopia sign goes up on South Bayview on Friday August 26, 2011 News release.

Dick Clark died today after suffering a massive heart attack. He was 82 years old. (video link). Clark’s youthful appearance, earned him the moniker of “America’s Oldest teenager.” Best known as the host of ‘American Bandstand,’ Clark also was a radio disk jockey, game-show host of ‘Pyramid’ and New Year’s eve fixture on his ‘New Year’s Rockin’ Eve’ show. He served as chairman and chief executive officer of Dick Clark Productions. Clark suffered a major stroke in late 2004 which impaired his speech, but he managed to return to his ‘New Year’s Rockin’ Eve’ show on December 31, 2005. He is survived by his wife, Kari Wigton, who he married in 1977. This was Clark’s third marriage. Clark had three children from his previous marriages

Children of the Rolph Road Elementary School Choir sang the Canadian and U.S. national anthems from centre field on Tuesday when the Blue Jays met the Tampa Bay Rays at Rogers Centre. The choir was in good voice and had the thrill of being projected off the Jumbotron. As reported by Bulldog reader Rudy, of the Leaside area website rudy.ca, the game itself was very satisfying. Adam Lind had a walk and three hits, including a two-run homer to pad the lead to 4-0, as well as making an unassisted double play. Tampa’s Evan Longoria helped the cause by making three errors. Jay won 7-3.

This artist’s rendering shows the known features of the Polish-built General Motors (Opel) convertible which is slated to go on the market in 2013. It’s been spotted in camouflage paint being tested in Sweden. That should make it good for Canadian weather, right?  Well, let’s hope so.  Both General Motors and Ford too have been firm in refusing to bring their European cabriolet models to Canada. We don’t get it. The head of the Opel works in Germany is quoted as saying his cabriolets have always added a halo to Opel which helps sell the whole line of cars. Makes sense. The new convertible is said to be a soft top. It’s intended to be a stand alone model, like the VW Eos. That means that the present hard top convertible (the Astra) from Opel may be discontinued. The new Opel is being built at the Gliwice plant in Poland about 147 kilometres northeast of Warsaw.

So, what does Rosie ODonnell have in common with the Toronto Star? Ms O’Donnell and the notoriously chippy Donald Trump battled it out in public over everything from politics to Trump’s hair. Trump didn’t like the slights delivered on air by the equally caustic Rosie. Now the Toronto Star has revealed Donald Trump refused to invite the Star to his big condo reception yesterday.  The Star, under the leadership of publisher John Cruickshank (right) has been sniping on matters medium and small from unhappy buyers of Trump condos to his flip-flop endorsement of Mitt Romney. Mr Trump collects public arguments — but then so does the Toronto Star. A spat made in Heaven. “Gee, is it something we said?”