City Council’s vote to retain unionized office cleaners making $22 an hour helps set the stage for a final showdown over how your money is spent. It will happen at the 2014 municipal election. Council voted 12 to 29 yesterday to reject Mayor’s Ford’s proposal to contract out office cleaning. There are, apparently, millions of dollars at issue. A short-term contract with private cleaners has shown that the police service saved 47% over the previous cost of cleaning one station. The linked story describes the extensive planning by those in favour of union agreements to defeat the economizers. Remarkably, the meeting features one councillor, Aana Bailoa, weeping with nostalgia about her days as an immigrant cleaner at City Hall. Evidently it swayed many councillors.
Expect heavy traffic on Bayview this weekend
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City officials are advising motorists to use Bayview Ave and other north south routes this weekend as the Don Valley Parkway is closed for its usual maintenance. And as usual this will make driving locally slower on Bayview and elsewhere in South Bayview as traffic leaks off onto east-west streets. CityTV
Fashion Television cancelled after 27 years
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After 27 years on air, Bell Media has confirmed that production has been suspended on Fashion Television. Host Jeanne Beker tweeted the news today: “So surreal. This dream is over: After 27 glorious years, FT production ceased today. So sad to see some of my closest colleagues move on.” The weekly half-hour series roved the globe to collect a mix of news and feature pieces touching on the worlds of fashion, photography, architecture and design. Through the show, Beker has interviewed virtually every top designer over the years including Stella McCartney, Marc Jacobs, Tommy Hilfiger and the late Alexander McQueen. Bell Media has confirmed that Beker is staying on with the company, something the fashion pioneer seems very excited about. “Looking forward to working with Bellmedia + evolving the FT brand,” she tweeted. “Bell Media remains committed to the fashion genre and will continue to grow FashionTelevisionChannel to deliver a broader appeal for viewers, advertisers, and distributors,” Scott Henderson, vice president of communications at Bell Media, said in a statement.How Toronto stokes ill will among citizens
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The city’s “gotcha” parking enforcement has long generated mistrust and contempt from its citizens. The ticketing process is born out of the sheer desperation of a government that spends and will not economize. If income or sales taxes were applied in the same unreasonable, unpredictable way, there would be a revolt. Today on South Bayview, the inevitable abuse of the authority to tax played out again. A shopper, nearly in tears, ran to her car as the enforcement officer slapped a ticket on it. She was five minutes late. Well, you may say, the law is the law. In fact, there is no other tax legislation that requires a citizen to guess whether he is going to be taxed because he misjudged the time of day. Or because he was routinely delayed a couple of minutes. And if parking enforcement were done merely to police the availability of parking, enforcement officers would behave reasonably. There was, for example, abundant parking on Bayview Ave. as the ticket man taxed that shopper $30. In Toronto, parking fines have nothing to do with parking. It’s a disgrace that the City pretends to be keeping order when it is really out to fleece as many drivers as it can.
Peugot colour coding an April Fool’s joke
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Silly us. Missed the one from Peugot that it sneakily put out a few days ago. An observer who saw the “Car that changes colour” gambit from the French auto maker said that if he hadn’t seen it on April 1st it would have been easily believable that Peugeot had actually developed this car. This is the thing about technology now. You’re prepared to believe almost anything. Cars are a good source of material for these tricks. Remember the Volt convertible last year? Our thanks to the reader who told us about the colour prank.
Burglars cut phone line at Bayview-York Mills
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As many as five would-be burglars with their faces covered cut the phone lines into the home of home security boss Joel Matlin in February. The 4 am. break in was foiled but only, it seems, because Matlin’s stepson was at home and shouted at the burglars through a door as they were trying to break it down. Matlin is the owner of the well promoted home alarm company AlarmForce Industries Inc. The story of this remarkably aggressive break in is told in the Toronto Star today. Matlin was in Florida at the time but was able to monitor some of the events at his Bayview Ave and York Mills Road home by cell phone signals. Police have since arrested several men. Toronto Star.
Big Box Blues abruptly take out Best Buy CEO
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Call it the Big Box Blues, a nasty combination of lowered consumer spending, high rents and aggressive online competition. The blues hit Best Buy’s president today as he resigned abruptly as boss of the huge electronics retailer. Best Buy head office announced that Chief Executive Brian Dunn (left) resigned as part of a top to bottom re-alignment of the firm. The company faces stiff competition from discounters and online retailers. It’s missed sales expectations for several quarters in a row. Best Buy said director Mike Mikan (right) will serve as interim CEO while it looks for a permanent replacement for Dunn.
Air Canada captain rapped for safety comment
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Cathy Anagnostopoulos succumbs to leukemia
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The valiant battle of Leaside’s Cathy Anagnostopoulos has come to en end. Ms. Anagnostopoulo died Saturday some 14 months after she was diagnosed with the aggressive form of the blood disease known as acute myeloid leukemia. All of the area had followed Cathy’s story and many had worked to find a stem cell donor for her. Although a match was found, it was too late. The story is told in the Star by Josh Rubin. Here. All posts from The South Bayview Bulldog
Bricks fall at 133 Randolph Rd site
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It’s surprising it doesn’t happen more often in busy, re-constructing Leaside. But yesterday the north wall of a bungalow at 133 Randolph Rd collapsed inward all by itself during a day off for workers. The wall had been left standing obviously without support as is often the case in such re-builds. No one was hurt and firefighters say the well-fenced site is safe.
Mt. Pleasant Jeweller Linda Penwarden profile
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Jeweller Linda Penwarden, and her shop at 631 Mt Pleasant Rd., has been profiled by Post Media News and the article may be read here linked from the Ottawa Citizen. Ms Penwarden is apparently an example of hard work and persistence being rewarded with a successful practice in jewellery making. As reported by David Kates, she has worked in the jewellery business for nearly two decades. He says she has learned the valuable lesson of doing your homework. For sure.Why Wendy’s pigtails are standing on end
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Wendy’s President and CEO Emil Brolick earned total compensation valued at $4.6 million in 2011 after taking the helm of the hamburger chain in September, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Friday. Wendy’s outgoing CEO Roland Smith, who retired rather than relocate to Ohio from Atlanta after Wendy’s sold most of Arby’s, took home about $16.5 million in total compensation last year, including $11.4 million in severance pay. That pay package was up more than three-fold from the $4.9 million in total compensation that Smith earned in 2010. Brolick’s 2011 compensation included $338,462 in base salary for time served in the role; his base salary for the full year is $1.1 million. Brolick also received a $500,000 signing bonus, $3.2 million in stock and option awards and $533,000 in non-equity incentive plan compensation. Brolick, a former chief operating officer at Yum Brands, joined Wendy’s on Sept. 12. Fox