The sides are being drawn up on the question of a casino for Toronto. Meetings of Toronto and East York Community Council and Scarboro Community Council on Tuesday revealed quite different sentiment. As reported in Inside-Toronto, Scarboro councillors with one exception voted to consider the possibility of a casino. The suggestion is that it is one way for the City to make money to build a subway to its eastern reaches. Toronto and East York councillors however voted to ask the chief planner to report within six months on “any necessary actions” which may be needed to prevent a casino. Casinos are already illegal in Toronto. Toronto and East York as defined by the Council’s jurisdiction includes Leaside and all of that happy precinct we call South Bayviewland. .
Town Crier is finalist at local papers awards
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The Town Crier newspaper and associated publications elsewhere are carrying stories online that they have been named finalists for seven awards in the Better Newspaper Competition Awards by the Ontario Community Newspapers Association. Take a look.
Baby brigade grabs good weather
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Daycare workers guide their young wards down the broad sidewalks of South Bayview Wednesday morning. It’s always a pleasant sight. The sun burst through just as this picture was taken. It seems there is a chance this afternoon that we will get some more of that. The Weather Channel forecasts “variable cloudiness”. That means it won’t be cloudy.all the time and thus our chance to see the sun. The temperature is forecast to rise to 4C this afternoon .
Pekingese wins Westminster Best of Show
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A 4-year-old Pekingese named Malachy has won Best of Show at the 136 Annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York. Malachy was said to be the crowd favorite. Handler David Fitzpatrick said the little dog would now retire to the life of a house pet, saying “he won’t be doing commercials, he’s been working hard enough for the past two years.”
Hope you got through Valentine’s okay
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Hope you got through Valentine’s Day okay. Love is wonderful and if you stuck with Love then you were fine. On the other hand, if you dipped into the Valentine’s Day information your sincere affection was reduced to silliness. For example, news that your “Valentine’s kiss” might be full of toxic lead and finish your love-making days forever is silly. Hope you missed that one. Or, if you were troubled by whether men really cared about getting a Valentine’s gift — they don’t. Of course they don’t. It’s their job to give. Both desperate and silly is this news story headlined: Obama spends Valentine’s with future Chinese leader. Why do they write this stuff? Did the two of them cuddle? Exchange candies? Silly.
Etobicoke wants free vote in Legislature
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Etobicoke Community Council has voted 11 to 8 to ask Premier McGuinty to stage a free vote in the Legislature on whether Toronto should have subways or LRTs. It’s a remarkable request which seems to have little chance of happening. “The recent decision by Council to move ahead with above-ground light rail transit initiatives poses a number of concerns,” the letter says. It was tabled at community council this morning by Councillor Cesar Palacio.
Resident confronts B&E thief on Hillhurst
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TPS report: A resident of Hillhurst Boulevard reports that between 2000 hours and 2025 hours on February 7, 2012, entry was gained into the premises by a rear door. The resident encountered the male suspect in the bedroom of the residence rummaging through jewellery boxes. The suspect then fled the scene in an unknown direction. Removed was a quantity of cash and jewellery. No injuries were sustained by the victim. Police are requesting the assistance of the public in identifying the following described person in connection with this offence. Description of Suspect: Male, 5’10” to 6’, 200 to 229 pounds, stocky build.
Greece approves austerity bill as Athens burns
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At least ten buildings have been turned into infernos in Athens near the Greek Parliament. Inside, Greek lawmakers finally voted to implement austerity measures designed to avoid national bankruptcy. A three-storey corner building believed to be a home appliances store was severely damaged by fire. Among other buildings damaged were a cinema, a bank, a mobile phone dealership, a glassware shop and a Starbucks coffee shop, the Associated Press says citing the fire department. State television reported the violence spread to the tourist islands of Corfu and Crete, the northern city of Thessaloniki and towns in central Greece. Police said 150 shops were looted in the capital and 34 buildings set ablaze. Altogether 199 of the 300 lawmakers backed the bill, but 43 deputies from the two parties in the government of Prime Minister Lucas Papademos, the socialists and conservatives, rebelled by voting against. They were immediately expelled by their parties. YouTube.Chilewich mats are in at Homefront Eglinton
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There’s a new shipment of Chiliwich brand doors mats just in at Homefront, 371 Eglinton West (just west of Avenue Road, across the street from the Elinton Grand). These superior indoor-outdoor polypropylene mats have sold out several times at Homefront. The Chlewich mats come in three sizes: 18 X 28, 2ft X 3ft and 3 ft. X 5 ft. Most of the patterns are available and they at the Eglinton store only — Trish Stuebing
Pondering an adult only casino at Ontario Place
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Those who watch these things, like Connie Woodcock of the Toronto Sun, say the appeal of a casino in Toronto will be just too great for the cash-strapped Ontario government to resist. In a column today Woodcock says that “two perfect casino sites” are Woodbine Racetrack and Ontario Place.” As we know there is already slot machine gambling at Woodbine and Ontario Place has just been shut down for five years to figure what to do with it. Woodcock asks with some anguish, it seems, whether we’re ready for an adults-only entertainment centre at Ontario Place. But many will say the worst effect of all-out gambling is the incentive that it will give the government to spend even more crazily. It’s a frequent theme here that a stable economy and prosperity lie in better management of our money. Or, we could be like Greece. Connie Woodcock’s column linked off the headline above.
Tim Hudak re-elected as PC leader
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Tim Hudak has won a 78.7 per cent mandate from the PC Party of Ontario to keep his job as leader. Hudak was re-affirmed in his home riding of Niagara West-Glanbrook tonight. Some 1600 members voted. Hudak had faced criticism for the party’s sputtering campaign in last Fall’s election. It was an election that the PCs had seemed set to win.. Now Mr. Hudak has been given a chance to do better in the next general election.
Some people call this a “dusting of snow”
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Winter is making a comeback in parts of Ontario this weekend, courtesy of a low pressure system. A drastic drop in temperatures is forecast as a cold front swings through. In some cases, lows into the minus teens are forecast, feeling even colder with the wind chill. The city of Toronto has issued an extreme cold weather alert to help get homeless people into shelters. In northern sections of the province, snow began falling Friday morning. Parts of southern Ontario are expected to get a dusting as well.”We’ll see snow in southern Ontario start to accumulate through the overnight hours,” says Rob Davis, a meteorologist at The Weather Network. “The centre of the low will be over southwestern Ontario, so we could see higher amounts in places like Windsor, London, Kitchener-Waterloo and Hamilton.”Up to 15 cm of snow could fall in those areas through Saturday. Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area are expected to receive 3-5 cm of snow, while the Hamilton and Niagara regions will see 5-10 cm. Still, snow isn’t the only concern.”As the cold front passes, we’re anticipating a flash freeze overnight,” explains Davis. “That could make for some icy driving conditions.” Weather Channel