Bayview extension at Pottery Rd

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Police are tweeting that the Bayview extension is closed at River St because of flooding and that rising waters threaten the Don Valley Parkway Thursday. City road maps show that Bayview Ave southbound is blocked at Moore Ave. The City is said to be closely watching the Bloor ramp to the Gardiner Expressway.

Traffic camera shows Don River creeping towards the DVP Thursday morning

Thursday will be another day of Spring-like temperatures but Friday and Saturday will see temperatures plunge again. Icy patches will make walking tricky.

Not cheap

Statistics Canada says the rate of inflation year over year has topped five percent for the first time in more than 30 years. Overall, prices leaped 5.1 percent in January over 2021. Excluding gasoline prices, Statistics Canada says the annual rate of inflation would have been 4.3 percent in January. Prices for groceries increased year-over-year by 6.5 percent for the largest yearly increase since May 2009. Food price increases in particular are attributed to supply chain issues. Everything from absenteeism to cross-border slowdowns of all sorts is cited.

Distressed area residents with dirty laundry are looking for alternatives to the now-closed Washrite Launrdomat at Mt Pleasant Rd and Hillsdale Ave. Some are recommending the Laundry Boss Laundromat at 24 Overlea Blvd. That’s on the southeast corner of Overlea and the south leg of Thorncliffe Park Drive.

The national emergency declared this week permits the police to commandeer trucks and equipment from owners who refuse or are reluctant to assist the police. The clearance of the Ambassador Bridge had to rely on State of Michigan tow trucks because many Canadian tow truck operators refused to cooperate with police.

A Lotto Max ticket holder in the Prairies is waking up $20 million richer. A single winning ticket was sold in Tuesday’s Lotto Max draw. The jackpot for the next draw on Feb. 18 will be an estimated $10 million.

Toronto Police have announced new temporary no parking restrictions on certain downtown streets as they continue to monitor possible blockades. The release reads:

Given recent events, the TPS has deployed a greater number of uniformed police officers to the downtown area and some road closures and no parking restrictions remain in effect.

Queen’s Park Circle, from College Street to Bloor Street, remains closed to all vehicular traffic.

There is no parking on University Avenue, between College Street and Queen Street and on Queen’s Park Circle, between Bloor Street West and College Street

Parking Enforcement will be patrolling these areas and vehicles will be tagged and towed.

A filming notification has been delivered to homes on Bessborough Drive between McRae Dr and Millwood Rd regarding a commercial shoot this week. The street, arguably Leaside’s finest, is among the City’s most favorite places for such activity.

Protesting with trucks

Many news services are reporting Monday that Prime Minister Trudeau has told his caucus he will invoke the never-before-used Emergencies Act to give the federal government extra powers to handle the protests across the country. Exactly how such powers would be employed against truck blockades remains an open question. The country has witnessed the challenge of dispersing so-called protests when the protesters employ enormous trucks to block roads. Headlines

Premier Ford announced Monday that the province will drop its proof of vaccination requirements for all settings as of March 1, if public health and health system indicators continue to improve. Masking will remain in place, but a timeline for lifting that measure will be announced at a later date. He also announced the province would be lifting more measures first on Feb. 17, including increasing social gathering limits to 50 indoors and 100 outdoors, removing capacity limits where proof of vaccination is required on restaurants, bars, cinemas, casinos and other indoor venues. They will also expand capacity for sports arenas and concert venues to 50 percent. As Mr Ford spoke, Denmark entered its second week of absolutely no restrictions. As heard in the report above, it has to do with how the country understands the nature of Omicron.