Toronto Hydro says that a power outage bounded Danforth Ave, Sherbourne St, Lake Ontario and Coxwell Ave has been repaired. The cause is described only as a “loss of supply” from Hydro One. Power was returned by about 3:20 p.m.

Urban Toronto has written about a plan to increase the density of Bayview Village Shopping Centre. It comes forward from QuadReal Property Group and is designed by DIALOG and Hariri Pontarini Architects. The proposal would add five new mixed-use residential and commercial buildings around the existing mall, ranging in height from 6 to 33 storeys. The project made its first appearance at Toronto’s Design Review Panel recently. Urban Toronto

EXPLOSION:
Yonge St + Carlton St
-Subway lines are not affected
-Streetcars may be slower due to partial road closure@TTCnotices
^dh

— Toronto Police Operations (@TPSOperations) February 10, 2018

Team Epping

East York Mayor’s Chain

They play tonight

No service subway

Monarch Park Community Skate

Snowy Owl “Irruption”

South Bayview will be rightly proud of Team Epping (upper left) from the Leaside Curling Club for winning the 2018 Ontario Recharge with Milk Men’s Tankard in Huntsville earlier this month.  John, Mat, Patrick and Tim will represent Ontario at the Brier in Regina which runs from March 3-11. To the right, we love this shot of two flying Jr. Wildcats, Mackenzie Lloyd (18) and Mackenzie MacDonald (87). It reminds us that the team plays the Waterloo K-W Rangers Saturday (tonight) at Leaside Memorial Community Gardens starting 7.40 p.m.  Centre left, we see East York Mayor True Davidson receiving the Borough’s Chain of Office from Reginald Martin of the East York Kiwanis Club. Defenders are saying the chain will not be sent to Toronto for use in a municipal museum because it must remain on display at 850 Coxwell Ave. Quite right.  Lower left, the sad map of “no service Saturday” on the Yonge subway line. Davisville Station is as empty as (um) a museum. To the right, a reminder of the Monarch Park Community Skating Party Sunday. And finally, a welcome snowy owl “irruption” is said to be underway in midtown. We like that.

Layne Vu Pollard with her dad, Stan Pollard. (Stan Pollard)

Layna Vu Pollard, 12, of Guelph, has died from influenza. She is reported to be the second pediatric death in Ontario but the details are vague. Layna was a Grade 7 student who was at home with her parents when she fell ill. Her vaccination background has not been reported. Among all ages, more than 80 deaths have been recorded here. The Canadian flu season is said to be, in general, not much different from the US, but child fatalities there have shocked much of the country. As many as 63 children are reported to have succumbed. “In general, we can expect a very similar influenza season in Canada compared to the U.S. but not exactly the same,” Dr. Isaac Bogoch, clinical researcher at the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute told Global News. “This year has been more of a rough ride compared to prior years.” According to the latest data from the Public Health Agency of Canada (between the week of Jan. 21 and Jan. 27), there are signs that activity is starting to “slow down” in parts of the country.

Police have revealed a sneaky telephone fraud which relies on victims thinking they have phoned the police or their bank when in fact they are still on the line with criminals. The potential for theft is enormous. Five Toronto residents have lost $5.1 million transferred to criminal accounts. Here is a summary from police issued Friday.

Recently, members of the public have been contacted via phone by people posing as retailers who claim to be alerting them regarding a fraud offence in progress which involves the use of their credit card account.
After the initial conversation, the intended victim may be advised to dial 9-1-1 in order to alert police of the “credit card fraud” that is supposedly in progress. The victim may also be advised to contact their financial institution in order to protect their financial interests.

The victim will hang up and do so, being unaware that the original caller has not disconnected.
The victim believes they have contacted police via 9-1-1 and/or their financial institution, but they have actually been re-directed to an imposter posing as a 9-1-1 call-taker or bank employee.
The “call-taker” will speak to the victim and connect them to yet another imposter posing as a police investigator or will refer the victim to a “bank investigator” either by connecting them directly or asking them to hang up and call the number located on the back of their bank card. The victim will comply, again being unaware that the original caller has not actually disconnected.

Ultimately, the victim will be urged to attend their bank branch and immediately transfer funds to a specific account that is supposedly intended to safeguard their funds until the “investigation” is complete. The scheme may vary in detail from person to person depending on the circumstances. The scheme appears to be directed at persons using their home-based phones. There is no particular phone provider associated to the victims. To date, five Toronto victims have suffered combined losses of over $5.1 million. Investigators believe there are other victims.

There is evidence to indicate that the scheme is being conducted nationwide and hundreds of thousands of people have been targeted. Furthermore, there is evidence to indicate that, in certain cases, the callers may already possess some of the banking particulars of the intended victim. The public is reminded of the following: 9-1-1 is for emergencies where people or property are at risk. 9-1-1 call-takers will not forward your call to a police investigator  If you are in doubt about the security of your personal funds, attend any branch of your financial institution and make enquiries in person

Mona Piper

Bamboobay Valentine’s Workshop

Sheila Cary-Meagher

Valu Mart roses

14 hours hours ahead of Toronto

Many people will wish to be reminded that visiting for the late Mona Piper will take place Friday at the Humphrey Funeral Home A.W. Miles-Newbigging Chapel at 1403 Bayview Ave. Two receptions are scheduled, 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Obituary. A nice day Saturday may be had for children who visit the Bamboobay Valentine’s card-making workshop. To the far right, long-time East York TDSB trustee Sheila Cary-Meagher is under fire for alleged use of “inappropriate language” toward staff. Lower left, Tuft’s Valu Mart will offer free roses on Valentine’s Day. Finally, the PyeongChang Olympics are underway but live viewing is awkward as events in Korean unfold 14 hours ahead of EST in Toronto.

A Service of Remembrance for Peter David Ballantyne is to be held Friday at Rosedale United Church. Mr. Ballantyne died February 2, 2018 after a long battle with cancer. He was a member of Torys LLP and a prominent resident of Moore Park. Globe and Mail 

Karen Fraser, a well-known Leaside resident and friend of many, and owner of 53 Mallory Cres. with her partner Ron Smith, has spoken to CBC Radio about the jolting realization that someone had been burying human remains on the property. Police find remains of at least six men on Mallory Crescent

Toronto Police will broadcast live from police headquarters Friday at 10:30 a.m. about their concern over what is called a phone-based fraud scheme. That might cover a lot of ground. The news conference will be live-streamed and seen at the link.

As reported earlier this week, Friday and Saturday will see snowfall in amounts estimated as high as 5 cm each day. Friday, this snowfall is expected to mainly impact the afternoon commute.