As it does every year, the City of Toronto is encouraging and helping residents and business people to clean up the awful stuff found under winter’s snow. There is lots to do wherever you look although the left over ice and snow still keeps us at bay. But the time is coming. Toronto Community Clean-up Days are set this year for Saturday April 18 and Sunday April 19, 2015. The process is easy. Just pick your turf for cleaning. Hey, it cold be South Bayview on the west side between Millwood and Manor Rds. (it’s no worse than any other place but it makes the point) Get your gang of public-spirited volunteers together and register with the City.This makes it easy for workers to come and take away your blue-bagged refuse. Here’s the City’s site on how to do it. Community Clean-up days.  How about everyone who observes Earth Hour taking an hour or two to tackle this aspect of our environment?

There are many excellent events for adults and children at Leaside Public Library as Spring begins. Check the library website. One of the most interesting is a swap or exchange centre  where people can exchange items in good condition for others which  may suit their needs better.  It is set for Saturday, April 18, 2015 from noon to 3 p.m. at the library on McRae Drive. How does it work?

1. Items limited to small accessories, i.e. wallet, small purse, coin purse, belt, scarf, hair accessories, sunglasses, bow tie,ring, necklace, bracelet, brooch, earrings, chain, pendant, charms,cuff links, tie tack, tie pin, wristwatch,jewelry. Please NO big hand bags or big purses, NO clothes.
2. Trade for the same number or less of items you bring in. i.e., if you bring in 5 item, you can walk away with 5 or less. regardless of purchased values, only number counts.
3. You will receive a ticket at the door confirming your donation, and the ticket will be your shopping money, which you pay back at the door when you leave.
4. Donations need to be in nice conditions and clean
5. Once your donation is put in swap, they are no longer yours. All leftovers will be donated to Goodwill after the Swap finishes.
6. If two or more people interested in same item, rock/scissor/paper rules.
   Drop in, no registration required.

CTV News tonight is reporting that Highway 407, the privately held and operated bypass north of Toronto, is frequently charging tractor trailer operators twice for the same trip across the roadway. This occurs because 407 detectors are counting the truck once by the sensor in the windshield and a second time by photographing  its rear license plate. It isn’t clear why this happens but Highway 407 has acknowledged it privately to truckers. Such trucking firms say they have to carefully go through all charges to separate out the second billing. It amounts to tens of thousands of dollars a month. One company was sworn to secrecy about the problem when it received a rebate. Another firm has been notified by the Transportation Department that its plates will be de-registered with the government if it doesn’t pays its bills, legal or otherwise. More

Reporters were allowed to get close to the AC624 wreck today and it was ugly. It is clear everyone on board was very lucky to get out alive. The plane came out of cloud much lower to the ground than planned and hit an antenna, losing wheels and an engine.

Torstar News Service has the frankly juicy story of three people, formerly-wedded couple, Sarah Purslove and husband Robert Oesterlund — and Toronto interior designer (above with Oesterlund). Ms.Purslove is suing Oesterlund for part of or possession of the penthouse and many other aspects their life together. Metro 

21 Evergreen Gardens in Bennington Heights will house two homes

The drawn out re-development of the 95 by 95 foot lot at 21 Evergreen Gardens in Bennington Heights is moving ahead with two large square homes under way by builder Howard Tencer. He has built other such homes in Bennington. The exceptional little street sits in two parts, east and west of Orchard Green. Number 21 is on the east leg of the street heading to Bayview Heights Drive. The home on the east side of the lot will overlook Evergreen Gardens Park. Very nice.

Each morning the firefighters at Station 321 on McRae Drive near Sutherland check out both the ladder and pumper trucks for such things as brake and washer fluids and functioning horn and siren. “We don’t check the siren too early or very long,” firefighter Chris Etzell laughed. We see Chris here with his head under the cab of the ladder trick.

Carolyn Jarvis

South Bayview’s Carolyn Jarvis is a seasoned reporter and anchor for Global News. Most people might say she has already seen enough excitement for one lifetime.  But as Chief Correspondent for Global’s public affair program 16×9, (seen Saturdays at 7 p.m.) the 34-year-old Carolyn knows the phone could ring at any time directing her to cover a story in some distant corner of the world. Maybe that’s why she values her home turf, the  “warm and friendly” shops and businesses of South Bayview. She knows it well. Among frequent stops is the handy and well-stocked Valu mart at Bayview and Davisville. A typical day stolen from the office will see Carolyn in and out of Bestway Cleaners, Write Impressions, de la mer, Kim’s Nail Salon and Alex Cheese, to name a few. A favourite shopping spot for Carolyn is Your Clothes Friend. “I just can’t say enough about the service,” she said, recounting special favours and smart retail relations on the part of owner Wendy Goldman. Ten years into a career reporting for Global News, Carolyn Jarvis is at the top of her game professionally. Like all successful television personalities she has worked hard to achieve her success and finds the hard work just keeps on coming. With it all, Carolyn is at home on Merton Street with her partner Bill Vlaad and his two children, boys aged 8 and 10. Like all kids they find the allure of Hollywood Gelato irresistible, she finds. A stop at Alex Cheese to pick out a favourite or two is also sometimes on the trip up to Manor Road and back. Carolyn’s time at home in South Bayview often includes a meal at Riz. Mr. Vlaad’s firm, Vlaad and Company, specializes in the recruitment of personnel in the investment banking industry. Add to Carolyn’s accomplishments a Bachelor of Music in vocal performance. She broke into television with this considerable talent before deciding her forte would be news. And yet her training as a lyric soprano and love of light opera sometimes make her long for an opportunity to sing publicly, even in a local ensemble. No doubt many would be eager to have her. But the demanding and unpredictable schedule of Carolyn Jarvis would spell disappointment she fears. The Global profile of Carolyn reminds us of how she really spends her time: “Her work, ranging from investigative to feature reporting, has won numerous awards – including a national RTDNA award for her profile of Cirque du Soleil’s casting department.”  First published March 2014. 

Ruptured at Parkhurst-Sutherland

Residents near Rumsey Rd. and Donlea Drive are complaining about the gravel aftermath of emergency watermain work in January and February. It is a common problem where the community’s 80-year-old pipes are simply no match for their age and our brutal winter. One woman, Andrea Cookson, has written to the Toronto  Star’s Fixer, Jack Lakey, to complain about the time it is taking to replace the pavement on the southwest corner where emergency work was done. But if this location is like the crisis point at Parkhurst Blvd and Sutherland Drive, things are  more complicated than that. On March 1, 2015, a crew restored water to homes in the vicinity of a totally ruptured main at this corner. But a long length of Sutherland needs a replacement and the likelihood is the sidewalk will wait until the watermain is finished.  As Lakey says. Toronto Water is engaged in ongoing water primary upgrades that will continue for a long time. But it is a lot like painting the Golden Gate Bridge. The job is never finished.