The Bulldog

How 6 Astor Avenue has grown out and up

It’s about the value of the mud on Astor Ave. as we see how No. 6 has grown in just a couple of months. This home last changed hand on January 1, 2014 for $1,185,000 so you know what the builder has got to find in added value from the sale of the now much-enlarged home. It sits on an unusual lot on the corner of Astor and Southvale Rd. 

Safety meet tonight at North Toronto Collegiate

Police will hold a public safety meeting tonight (Thursday, October 2, 2014) at North Toronto Collegiate, 17 Broadway Avenue, between 6.30  and 8 p.m. Officers from 53 Division will be present to discuss community safety and how to decrease victimization. Topics include social media, safety for women, Metrolinx (traffic), crime management, break and enter prevention and traffic management. The meeting is presented by the 53 Division TPS. 

Bright Gehlila summons help for mom from 9-1-1

Toronto Police have published a story and participated in honouring Gelila Aedmasu, 8, for her smart and level-headed work in getting help for her mother. It happened August 16, 2014 when Mrs. Aedmasu was not well and collapsed. Gehlila kept her head and remembered her school training on how to call 9-1-1. She did so on her mother’s cell phone and with the help of operator Michelle Everest was able to get the help which saw her mom restored to her normal self. It is a moving story but it is also an insight into how good schooling and a pretty intelligent child can reinforce our confidence in both systems and people.  TPS story

Desktop users cheer at Windows 10 system debut

The knock on Windows 8 was that Microsoft got way out in front of it’s desktop user base. Now it seems the company is trying to fix that with Windows 10, a much more desktop friendly system. With Windows 10, users can run any app on the desktop, even Windows 8 apps that were originally designed for touch. Before, those apps kicked you into a tablet type full-screen mode, which was difficult to operate with a mouse and keyboard. You can run Windows 8 apps next to older Windows 7 apps. Most importantly the Start menu is back. It looks very similar to what you’re used to seeing in Windows 7, but includes the popular Live Tiles from Windows 8.  Business Insider 

Top Canada MOH says Ebola risk is low

Canadian authorities are once again reassuring people that Ebola does not pose a significant risk in Canada. Dr. Gregory Taylor and Health Minister Rona Ambrose spoke today and offered reassurance. “I want to reassure everyone the risk to Canadians is very low,” said Dr. Taylor at a news conference in Banff where Canada’s health ministers are meeting. “The Ebola virus does not spread easily from person to person like the flu.” Taylor is the chief public health officer of Canada. 

Coffee-pod wars brings $600-million legal action

Canadian coffee pod maker Club Coffee is suing Keurig Green Mountain Inc for $600 million. It’s all about the new Keurig 2.0 machine that has a “lock-out” technology that interacts only with Keurig-licensed and approved K-Cup packs. Reuters says Club Coffee’s suit comes more than a week after a U.S. federal judge refused to block Keurig from selling the Keurig 2.0 machine, Reuters

Whitney Public School Harvest Fest is today

Family, friends and Moore Park neighbors of Whitney Public School will want to drop in at the school’s Harvest Fest today (Wednesday, October 1, 2014) between 5 and 7 p.m. at Rosedale Heights Drive and Carstowe Road. No doubt parents are aware of this event but it looks like fun for other Moore Park folks as well. There will be burgers, hot dogs, vegan burgers and other food and drink. There is also a receiving place for donations to the Daily Bread Food Bank. Website

Ford Motor lands on the right side of the news

The Ford Motor Company of Canada has landed squarely on the right side of the news this Wednesday, October 1, 2014 by announcing it will add 1,000 jobs at its plant in Oakville to build the 2015 Ford Edge crossover SUV.  Two days after the misbegotten plan to change the name of Maple Leaf Square to Ford Square, the Detroit automaker is putting it back together. Reporters made much of the confusion in the minds of people between Ford cars and the Ford brothers. But the real problem was that MLSE  had begun to mess with stuff that is sacred to ordinary Torontonians. Now Ford just has to wait out the election to begin to reclaim its name in the public mind. Other companies have had far worse problems. How must they feel at Magnotta Winery (a perfectly respectable family business) with that wretched misfit Luke Magnotta in the news all the time. Please send him away forever

Moore Park residents work to save old lamp posts

Residents of a Moore Park neighborhood are fighting to save the nearly 90-year-old architectural lamp posts that adorn a short length of Rose Park Drive. Electricians were working Tuesday to repair again one of the old street lights but they have warned homeowners that the wiring system needs to be replaced. The wires are made of lead and the lamps do not meet code. City staff has recommended that the lamps be retro-fitted but this can only happen if they are in good enough condition for this work. A big safety concern is that none of the poles are grounded. There are ten of the lamps on Rose Park between Welland Ave and Hudson Drive. The Moore Park Rate Payers Association and Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam have been asked to throw their weight behind the effort to save the lamps. In other parts of Toronto, like Rosedale’s Chestnut Park Drive, historically correct replacement lamp posts have been installed. They make a magnificent contribution to the neighborhood. Previous post

Hey Joey, will this old bank be a Local Pub?

Work is going ahead at the old CIBC building at 180 Laird Drive with the expectation that an established restaurant and bar will take the location in the near future. A building application which was accepted on August 27, 2014 shows the name Local Public Eatery under the heading for “description”. That’s not where one would expect to find the applicant’s name on a City permit but it is the name hanging over five trendy dining and drinking establishments in B.C., Alberta and Toronto’s Liberty Village. The Toronto Local says on its website that its “kind of like your living room, with better food and people to serve you beer, fanatical about craft beer and rotating new selections, passionate about great food and the best ingredients.” Back at 180 Laird Drive however workers at the old bank building say they’ve been told the tenant will be a Joey restaurant. Joey, as dining cognoscente will know, is a lush, chandeliered and inventive dining place with valet parking at several locations here. Curiously, Joey also has a very strong western presence and its owner, a dynamic businessman named Jeffery Fuller, is headquartered in Coquitlam, a suburb of Vancouver. It has some locations in Washington State too. The little two storey building on Laird is smaller than many Joey restaurants. It was built in the heyday of industrial Leaside by the Imperial Bank of Canada before it merged in 1960 with the Canadian Bank of Commerce to form the CIBC. Many changes are required to fit it out as a restaurant. One document at City Hall reveals that a “retractable cover for a second floor patio” is under review. In any case, the large interests behind the plan are not not readily available to explain just what name will go on the building when it is done. The owners, First Capital Realty, did  not respond to an inquiry by post time.  Photos from top: 180 Laird as seen in 2012 before the bank moved to Leaside Village, construction on the east face of the building now and the elegant Imperial Bank crest over the front door.