The TTC budget committee has approved the idea of starting Sunday subway service at 8 a.m. instead of 9 a.m. The move is expected to cost $1 million and must be approved by the whole board. The committee also approved a freeze to the cost of Metropass. It is also considering an increase to cash fares. Cash fare is now at $3 and may be set at $3.25.

The bright new San Francesco Italian Sandwich bar opens for business on Laird Drive in the Husky station near Millwood Rd tomorrow morning (Tuesday, November 10, 2015). It is both a take-out and sit down place. This incarnation of the time-honoured Toronto name has ambitions to establish a chain across the GTA, according to the owners. The brand has been around since the 1950s, it is said. The food is freshly made and includes a variety of Italian sandwiches as well as pizza and panzarotti. Those new garage doors are located just where cars used to enter the repair shop. They will still open in the warm weather where a small patio will inch onto the driveway and,  if the plan goes through, a beer may be had as well.

Benjamin Tal, the Deputy Chief Economist of the CIBC, has issued a rebuttal to a warning the Economic Co-operation and Development. The OECD says markets in Toronto and Vancouver are at risk of a sharp fall in prices. It says that in Ontario, and especially Toronto, economic activity has been relatively buoyant and demand by foreigners has been boosted by the falling Canadian dollar. It adds however that newly completed but unoccupied housing units have soared in Toronto, increasing the risk of a sharp market correction, according to the report.

BENJAMIN TAL

The reaction of Mr. Tal is that the situation is not as crazy as it may seem. He says over-building is not a real issue in Canada. More than that, there are only four developers out of about 150 with unsold inventory and two of them have so much cash in the bank it hardly matters — i.e no financing. Interesting

The Education Minister, Liz Sandals, has announced new funding of $498 million for the construction of new schools in Ontario, including a replacement for Davisvile Public Schools at Yonge and Davisville. This move was telegraphed over the weekend by Josh Matlow (Ward 22) in his newsletter to constituents. Midtown neighborhoods are pushing more than a century in part of the City west of Bayview Ave. Hodgson Senior Public School, now a hundred years old, has had some repairs but it appears to be barely keeping ahead of the decay.  CBC CP24

Russia should be banned from athletics competition, a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) commission report has recommended. Wada’s independent commission examined allegations of doping, cover-ups, and extortion in Russian athletics, which also implicated the IAAF, the sport’s world governing body. It also wants five athletes and five coaches to get lifetime doping bans. In addition, it states the London 2012 Olympics were “sabotaged” by the “widespread inaction” against Russian athletes with suspicious doping profiles by the IAAF and the Russian athletics federation. Commission leader Dick Pound said Russia seemed to have been running a “state-supported” doping programme and also gave his backing to IAAF president Lord Coe, saying he was the right man to lead the governing body.

Reid Humphrey has been named Leaside’s 2015 Athlete of the Year. Reid is a student at Upper Canada College and AA player with the Leaside Hockey Association (LHA) in the Greater Toronto Hockey League. He has been a leading scorer in the LHA for each of the past two seasons. Reid was named team MVP in 2014-15 and plays varsity hockey for Upper Canada College. He also plays baseball, soccer, basketball and volunteers with the LHA. The 2015 induction ceremony will be held on Friday November 20, at Leaside Memorial Gardens Arena. Tickets are available here, from any of Leaside’s sports associations or at the arena.

A team from Northern Secondary School has won the gold medal in the midget girls category at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations Cross Country races at Duntroon near Collingwood on Saturday. Northern is classified as a AAA school by the OSFAA.

The Duchess of Cambridge was a fitting symbol of the monarchy at the  tribute to British veterans and fallen troops Sunday at the Cenotaph on Whitehall in London. The 33-year-old Duchess wore a black double-breasted patchwork felt and velvet coat by Alexander McQueen, paired with a black felt hat with a butterfly and a small mesh birdcage veil. The Royals

This report from Kirk Williams of the CBC is a study in human affection for dogs and an insight into the over-population of canines in California. Worth watching.

Leaside Wildcats lost a 2-1 game to the Whitby Wolves at Iroquois arena in Whitby Sunday afternoon. The Wildcats lead 1-0 until the third period when the Wolves scored two. Boxscore Further to the Wildcats win against Etobicoke Saturday night at home, Bulldog reader Anthony Reagan writes to note that they completed this task without the help of star forward Cynthia Cavanagh who was away playing for Team Ontario Blue in the National Under 18 Championships in B.C.  Ontario Blue won the bronze by defeating B.C. 4-3. No doubt the Wildcats will be glad to see Cynthia back in the lineup..