The changing face of Laird Drive has prompted speculation about future locations of the Big Five Banks. The arrival of the Royal Bank and Bank of Montreal at the SmartCentre completed the “flock” effect on this street. Most notable as possible banks to move, according to the wisdom of our little parlour game, are the Bank of Nova Scotia, now housed in a small shop at the corner of Eglinton Ave E. and Laird and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce at Laird and MaRae Drive. Reasonable, although not necessarily correct, speculation would suggest one or both of these two might find their way into the new Leaside Village centre down at Laird and Esandar Dr. TD has already moved off the Eglinton-Laird intersection. TD renovated the 1951 historical building at Laird and Vanderhoof Avenue in 2010.  Scotiabank might well feel the need to move to larger quarters down the road where the new retail action is located. Incidentally, the old TD branch building sits quietly uninhabited and not for rent on the northwest corner of Eglinton and Laird.  Is someone waiting for redevelopment? (Just asking). As for the CIBC, its old branch, dating from the days when the banks built and owned their premises, is sitting in the way of re-making the corner of Laird and Wicksteed.  Maybe CIBC doesn’t care about that and maybe the City can’t afford the price.

Chile’s Supreme Court has ordered a newspaper to pay out more than $120,000 to 13 people who suffered burns when they attempted a recipe the paper had published for churros, a snack of deep-fried dough dusted in sugar (inset) that’s popular in Latin America. Days after the recipe was published in 2004, hospitals around the country began treating people for burns after the dough had shot out of their pots, showering them with hot oil. The high court found that the newspaper failed to properly test the recipe before publication. If readers followed the instructions, their churros had a good chance of exploding once the oil reached the suggested temperature, which was too high. “The explosions were so violent that in some cases the splashes hit the ceiling and covered the person who was cooking,” the ruling said. “Faithfully following the recipe published in the newspaper, this damage could not have been avoided.” The publisher of the newspaper, La Tercera, will pay damages ranging from $279 to $48,000, the latter to one woman whose burns were especially severe.

This City worker is suctioning out water after a rupture in the line overnight in Moore Park. The heaving of the earth when the first real cold hits has a tendency to break water mains. From cars and trucks to the solitary pedestrian, getting around our area this morning was one big Crunchfest.  The slushy snowfall followed by a sub-zero snap has left the streets and sidewalks like noisemakers. What to expect for today? The Weather Channel is predicting a cloudy day with sunny breaks and a high of minus seven. Brrr. .

April 12, 2012 will mark the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. What better way to mark this enormous disaster (more than 1,500 drowned) than by taking a cruise to the very spot where the Titanic lies rusting under the ocean. It’s time, as some might say. All the surviors are gone and in fact living memory of the event is pretty much dead as well. As the Independent newspaper in the UK says, it might sound like tempting fate, but Titatnic tourists are gung ho.
2000 have booked
More than 2,000 of them have decided to take the Titanaic memorial cruise. A British company has almost sold out two cruises for people to mark the anniversary. The tour will follow the route of the Titanic to where it struck an iceberg. The booming demand for Titanic-related travel has led to another travel company offering the chance to explore the wreckage of the ill-fated vessel in a Russian-built submarine next summer at a cost of $59,000 (£37,000) per person. Places for that voyage are already “very limited”.
Local context
For those wishing some local context to the Titanic disaster, it was in the early 20th century that the Northern Railway Company (now the CNR) built a line through the Don Valley. Expecting large profits from land development,  it began to assemble the land that would become The Town of Leaside. In 1912, it announced its plan to establish a sizeable residential community and engaged a town planner to prepare a detailed street and lot plan. 

Mel Gibson’s divorce to ex-wife and mother of his seven children, Robyn Denis Moore, was finalized on Friday, leaving the actor with quite a big hole in his pocket. Robyn will walk away with half of his $850 million fortune, a payoff that will make it one of the biggest in Hollywood history.Mel Gibson, who was married for 30 years, will also be required to hand over half of every future movie residual he brings home to his ex because the couple did not have a prenuptial agreement. In California, if there is no prenuptial agreement, spouses are legally entitled to half of everything earned during the marriage. Mel Gibson’s rumoured $850 million fortune includes $600 million from his movie, The Passion of the Christ, alone. Other assets include $100 million in real estate investments and $75 million for film and tv projects Mel Gibson,55, produced. New Parent

Locals near Sandringham Castle say they’ve never seen spectators lined up as they were this Yuletide as the royal family went to church. “People are obviously coming to see Kate Middleton,” said one woman who recalled that even Diana didn’t attract the numbers present at today’s service.  The full family except for the Duke of Edinburgh was at church. He is recovering from a coronary stent procedure. The Duke has never missed a Christmas at Sandringham before. A spokesman for Buckingham Palace said Kate was wearing a hat by Jane Corbett. Her coat was created by an independent British dressmaker, he added, but declined to reveal the designer’s identity. “The Duchess is keen to use independent British dressmakers, whose skills and craftsmanship she admires,” he said. Corbett, who is based in Hungerford, Berkshire, describes herself as a “couture milliner and artist” on her website. She has been creating bespoke hats for more than 15 years and was trained by Rose Cory, the late Queen Mother’s milliner. Corbett designed the pale blue hat that mother Carole Middleton wore to Kate’s wedding in April.