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The closure of Eglinton Ave. E. between Brentcliffe Rd. and Leslie Street will take place in the middle of June, according to Metrolinx.  The work will go from 10 p.m to 6 a.m. seven days a week. The construction is designed to strengthen and smooth the surface of the street although it does not appear to be explained where this work fits into the construction of the LRT. The most obvious alternate route east to Scarborough will be O’Connor Drive. Metrolinx notice 

Media scandal: l to r Evan Solomon fired by the CBC because, says the Toronto Star’s Kevin Donovan, he took big commissions for art sold to famous people, like former Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney

Evan Solomon, a man talked of as a replacement to Peter Mansbridge, has been fired by the CBC for allegedly brokering big money art deals with people he dealt with in his job on television and radio. Using his influence this way to make money would be an apparent breach of the CBC’s code of ethics. Tonight, the CBC says it has severed its relationship (that means fired) with Solomon. Solomon was the Ottawa-based host of Power and Politics on television and The House on CBC radio. He was a dynamic and yet smooth host, a quick-witted on-air presence with a large national following. The Toronto Star’s Kevin Donovan reports having learned that Solomon had been brokering the sale of paintings and masks owned by a  Toronto-area art collector to rich and famous buyers. Solomon, in at least one case, took commissions in excess of $300,000 for several pieces of art and did not disclose to the buyer that he was being paid fees for introducing buyer and seller. Donovan told CP24 that former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney had purchased art through Mr. Solomon. The firing was announced this way: “I regret to inform you that CBC News has ended its relationship with Evan Solomon host of Power and Politics and The House,” said Jennifer McGuire, general manager and editor-in-chief of CBC News, in a memo to staff. “We will be making announcements about the interim hosting of these programs in the next few days.”

Global News

Education Minister Sandals says she has heard that Ontario elementary teachers will not complete report cards but instead will send home a letter with each student telling parents whether the child passed or failed. The education minister has this advice: Parents should get a meeting with their kid’s teacher and try to persuade him/her to reveal something about the true progress of the student in various areas. The union representing Ontario elementary school teachers has previously said that they will not provide comments for report cards as part of province-wide work to rule action. Now apparently it’s no cards at all.  Unlike a strike, a work-to-rule continues to pay teacher salaries. Ms. Sandals admits the worst. A pass or fail missive to mom and dad seems likely. Elementary school teachers across Ontario began job action on May 11. As part of the work-to-rule, the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario says that teachers are not participating in Ministry of Education meetings, workshops or meetings with principals. Teachers are also not administering standardized tests or booking field trips for the 2015-2016 school year.

Telus, the national communications giant, will close all 59 Blacks Photography stores in August, the firm announced today (Tuesday, June 9, 2015). This would include the location in the Sunnybrook Plaza. Telus said it has not been able to “realize profitable growth,” as Luiza Staniec, spokeswoman for the firm parent, put it.  The shutdown of the stores, most of them in Ontario, will leave 485 employees without jobs, and Telus will try to find them positions at its other outlets, such as Telus and Koodo stores, she said.

BELL SOURCE ELECTRONICS

The Telus move leaves Bell Canada as the last man standing in the phone-conglomerate electronics business. It’s large store in Sunnybrook Plaza and others elsewhere will have been tough competition for Telus. The relationship between the two firms has been close. Some analysts have speculated they could see a merger of Bell and Telus someday.  Telus tried to find a buyer for Blacks but wasn’t able to find a suitable suitor, she said. Telus bought Blacks in 2009 for $28-million, closed almost half the stores and invested in improving the outlets as the industry moved quickly to digital alternative Telus will report the financial consequences of shutting down Blacks in its next quarterly results release, expected in August.

Toronto’s Ella Ballentine

Toronto’s Ella Ballentine will play Anne Shirley when the timeless Canadian tale of Anne of Green Gables is re-made into a TV movie next year. The decision was announced last week by a production team created by YTV and headed by Kate McDonald Butler. Ms Butler is the granddaughter of the story’s author, Lucy Maud Montgomery. It has also been announced that Martin Sheen will play the role of Matthew Cuthbert. Ella Ballentine, who is now 13, has performed mostly in Toronto since 2010. The producers say the series will be shot not just in Prince Edward island where the story is set. Ms Ballentine showed a very early interest in performing and began to study classical ballet when she was just four. She would soon move onto other dance forms and then took vocal training. Her professional acting career began in 2010 playing Francis Perks in the Mirvish Productions’ The Railway Children, which was followed by a role that used her dancing talent when she performed in Jörgen’s The Nutcracker during its Toronto run. Ballentine then landed a lead role in Numbers at the Toronto Fringe Festival, for which she received a Best Performance in Live Theatre nomination for the 2013 Young Artist Award. More recently she played the Young Cosette/Young Eponine for Mirvish Production’s 25th anniversary version of Les Miserables at Toronto’s Princess of Wales theatre in 2013/2014. On screen she has appeared in leading and supporting roles on such high-profile projects as Atom Egoyan’s feature Queen of the Night which was released as The Captive. She also appeared in Jason Stone’s The Calling, as well as Mario Azzopardi’s video game and TV series, Time Tremor. Green Gables has a fabled history beyond its impact on Canadian children. It so charmed certain educators in Japan that the book was adopted for English instruction there, creating an enormous fan base of Japanese adults who now travel with their children to Prince Edward Island to visit the fictional home of Green Gables.

The Beer Store opened its re-built location in the Metro grocery complex at Bayview and Roehampton Aves. on Monday (June 8, 2015). A note to customers that the store closes at 8 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  A number of buyers were surprised by this closing hour.