Toronto 58th Scouts has received a final load of 100 Christmas trees for sale online and at the parking lot of the Church of the Transfiguration at 111 Manor Rd. Many will prefer contactless purchase and pickup at the lot  The lot is staffed Thursday and Friday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Toronto Police say many break-ins are occurring in both 53 Division and adjacent 13 Divison to the west because of unlocked doors. Remarkably, some of these break-ins occurred when residents were home and at night. Homeowners were only aware of a problem when they got up in the morning. No one was hurt in any of the burglaries but property including purses, wallets and clothing were taken. Residents are asked to remain vigilant and make sure their doors are locked. The two divisions are seen in the map below. They stretch from Dufferin St across Midtown and into South Bayview neighborhoods like Davisville Village, Moore Park and Leaside.

Burglaries are taking place in 13 and 53 Divisions

Why is this door unlocked?

Explosion at tent fire at Lamport Stadium/Meg Kerr

A man was burned in a fire and explosion as flames ripped through three tents at a homeless encampment on Fraser Ave. at Lamport Stadium on King St West. The call came in about 5.30 p.m. Tuesday and as passerby Meg Kerr filmed the blaze on her phone, a loud explosion caused her gasp (see tweet below). Screaming and shouting can be heard from the camp. CP24 said it was told by cops that “people were reportedly throwing propane tanks into the fire.” Just what the motivation for that might be is not stated. Steven Stinson was also filming as the fire service arrived.

Mid-week vaccination news includes good results from the Oxford University vaccine. But apparently, the on-going trials need additional older subjects to fully meet test targets. In Ontario, the government will issue proof-of-vaccination cards to those who have been vaccinated. Fretful anti-vaxers, or those who simply oppose an injection in principle, will have to make their way without such proof. Checks are likely before anyone can board a plane, enter a building or meeting.

Heath St. at Welland Ave

Wednesday’s snowfall has coincided with garbage and leaf bag pickup in Moore Park and Rosedale. An early casualty was this car on Heath St. at Welland Ave. Below, an 88 Leaside bus was having trouble staying on the road at the same corner.

Into the bus stop

Hoping for 5º Celius high to melt a lot of it

The Weather Network is calling for that hoped-for “high-five” degrees. The snow is predicted to taper off during the morning with sunny breaks in the afternoon.

The C-19 pandemic seems well on its way to turning the TTC into a white elephant. It’s a stark assessment but use of the subway, bus and streetcar service has fallen 80 percent over the summer. If, as some think, the public aversion to transit continues, will such things as the Eglinton LRT be just an enormous white elephant? City News

Food price jump is predicted by university

The professors at the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia are predicting an increase of $695 in the cost of groceries for an average Canadian family. Have they got this right? You can read the report here.

Don Valley owl plays peekaboo

Steven J. Shpak Jr. has posted this charming photo taken in the Don Valley. FB

Evidence at the trial of Yonge St. van killer Alek Minassian has again heard evidence from a defense psychiatrist that is it possible for someone to understand the meaning of right and wrong intellectually, but not understand it morally. The key word would seem to be understand. What do we think it means?

The first people to be vaccinated in Ontario against the coronavirus will be residents and staff of retirement and long-term care homes, health care workers and adults in remote indigenous communities. The priority list was published Monday by the government. Release

It’s been a $240 billion roller coaster ride since the federal government began spending big time to soften the economic destruction wreaked by C-19. Call it the Big Spend. Is anybody worried about creating enough debt to last to the year 2100? Then, the prime minister saying that the first shipments of vaccine might arrive in Canada next week. Here’s hoping. Below, the Toronto Sun is soliciting opinion on Toronto’s new vacancy tax on empty homes. Lastly, here’s the man who is the new voice of Bugs Bunny. It’s an unbelievably happy twist of fate for Scarborough’s Eric Bauza.

David Crombine, the man who won the affection of Toronto voters in the 70s, has resigned from the Ontario Green Belt Council over the government’s changes to how the lands will be administered. Half of the council has resigned with him. Crombie was mayor from 1972 to 1978 and won the widely used title as the City’s “Tiny Perfect Mayor.”

80 households part of UrbanHensTO program

A program inspired by Leaside brothers Andrew and Matthew Patel to keep chickens in City backyards has been renewed for another year by the planning department. The CBC reports Monday that the first year of the pilot, which ends in March, has been extended for another year. More than 230 hens in 80 households have been registered for the program. UrbanHensTO is legal in specified areas, but not Ward 15, where Leaside is located. At present it spans four former City of Toronto wards, based on boundaries set before the province chopped the number of wards in 2018, meaning the program currently applies to some parts of Wards 2, 3, 4, 8, 12, 14, and 19.

First test drive of 2021 Bronco blast from past

And the first test drives of the new Ford Bronco SUV have taken place. The Bronco was an SUV almost before the term was used. When it was discontinued in 1996 it had only two doors but the 2021 Bronco has four.