The warm glow of a weekend of ice action fills the homes of the Leaside Novice Red squad. The lads finished up unbeaten in their five games of play Saturday and Sunday. Well done guys.

Canadian Press reports that the number of Toronto area home sales have dropped year to year. Prices were down on average some 4.1 per cent to $736,783 from $768,351. “It is not surprising that home prices in some market segments were flat to down in January compared to last year. At this time last year, we were in the midst of a housing price spike driven by exceptionally low inventory in the marketplace,” said Jason Mercer, of  the Toronto Real Estate Board.

LULULEMON

And shareholders are calling on Athletica for more disclosure surrounding the abrupt departure of its chief executive who it says “fell short” of the Canadian “athleisure” company’s conduct standards. The Lululemon company is staying quiet after saying CEO Laurent Potdevin has left the firm and is no longer on its board of directors. In a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Lululemon said it will pay Potdevin $5-million over a year and a half in exchange for, among other stipulations, agreeing not to sue.

John Burnside speaking at meeting

Town Hall in Lea Room

The Town Hall meeting Monday night in the Lea Room of Leaside arena saw a wide range of topics discussed. A summary of Councillor’s Burnside’s agenda is here.

• The replacement of the playground at Trace Manes Park. Jillian Walsh has raised $800,000 to pay for this project in memory of her daughter Georgia. The City has contributed an additional $200,000 and developer Shane Baghai $250,000. Thus some $1,250,000 is on hand. There was no start-date mentioned but it would seem that it cannot be long delayed.
• The reconstruction of the corner of Millwood Rd and Laird Drive in the summer and fall of 2017. Burnside explained that unseen delays created a confluence of bottlenecks and obstructions that snarled this part of Leaside through the fall. He noted that a re-make of the wide corner at Millwood Rd. and Southvale will occur in the summer of 2019, the City having taken pity on residents for the summer of 2018.
• The pilot plan proposed by the North Leaside Traffic Committee to permanently close access to Bayview Ave at Glenvale Blvd., Broadway Ave. and Craig Crescent. It would not happen quickly and there are many requirements. But an informal survey of some 750 people in the area found 69 percent supported the idea. This would lead to a formal poll of perhaps 3,000 residents in which at least half will be required to participate in the vote for it to be valid. Of these, 60 percent would have to agree to the closures. Further hurdles await at Community Council and with caveats about traffic obstruction which such closures might cause elsewhere. The pilot, if approved, would last nine to 12 months, Mr. Burnside said. The concept is seen by many non-Leaside residents to the west as quite radical.
• The recently completed redistribution of municipal constituencies from 44 to 47 approved at the OMB still faces a court challenge from Ward 5 Etobicoke Councillor Justin Di Ciano for reasons not stated at the meeting. The new wards, if confirmed, will keep Leaside intact within a ward similar to Ward 26 but with a different number. It will be made slightly smaller by dropping off the Wynford Heights neighbourhood.

In discussion flowing from questions, Burnside said the issue of homelessness requires federal funding to accommodate the growing number of refugees who are now living in spaces for the homeless. Spaces were increased from 4200 in 2016 to 5700 in 2017 but the number of refugees housed by Toronto went from ten percent of the spaces to 25 percent.

ANGER

There was also anger, as there typically is among homeowners in Midtown, at the  weakness of municipal bylaws. One man called them “meaningless.” Others wondered resentfully why the Planning Department is required to consider the same type of variances rejected in the past. In response, City Planner John Andreeysk said proposals had to be considered on their merits, an explanation which some at least found difficult to accept  In a discussion of traffic and the need for new routes out of Leaside to the east, Mr. Burnside mentioned that a hoped for ramp off lower Don Mills to the Don Valley Parkway northbound had to be abandoned because there is not enough space in the valley.

Yes it’s unsettling but many investors think that the February stock plunge is a classic exampe of a market that can’t stand good news. One thing is certain. We will know in the days to come. Then to the right, you’ve heard of the Bayview Pixies. Now meet the Army Ice Maidens. They’re a squad of British woman who trekked 1,000 miles across Antactica in just 61 days with temperatures as low as minus 40C. Below that, the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Office is talking tough but what will it do about its suspicions in the case of Natalie Wood? Finally, rejuvenating kidneys to make them suitable for transplant. Toronto General Hospital in this Goldern Age of Medicine.

The Bank of Nova Scotia branch at Laird Drive and Eglinton Ave. E. was the apparent target of a holdup Monday afternoon. In fact the unofficial account of police calls — TPS Calls — reported such an incident but Toronto Police Operations did not. The branch was sealed off with yellow tape during rush hour. Parents at Northlea school were told to take children straight home at the end of class.

US stocks sold off sharply on Monday, with the Dow industrials falling back below 25,000, as a pullback from record highs deepened and investors grappled with rising bond yields and potentially firming inflation. All three major U.S. indexes fell more than 1 per cent while the Dow and S&P 500 dropped more than 2 per cent. Late in the session, the Dow was down almost 1,600 points. The index then pared some of its losses to just over 900 points. The Dow’s point loss would be its biggest of all time, though in percentage terms, its 5.6 per cent decline wasn’t as big as its worst drop during the financial crisis — Financial Post

NEW HUDSON BAY CHIEF

Helena Foulkes

Helena Foulkes, former executive with the CVS pharmacy in the US, is the CEO for Hudson’s Bay Co. Foulkes. She starts in two weeks. Richard Baker has been acting as HBC’s interim CEO since the departure of Jerry Storch last fall. Baker will continue as governor and executive chairman. “Helena is a transformational leader who will invigorate the business with a new perspective as we position HBC for the future,” Baker said in a statement.

Steve Paikin of the Agenda

Sarah Thomson

Steve Paikin, the host of the long-running TVO public affairs program The Agenda, has been accused by former mayoralty candidate Sarah Thomson of telling her she could appear on his program if she slept with him. The alleged incident occurred in 2010 and, according to Thomson, has been made subsequently in what might be called a jocular or laughing manner. In a statement released by TVO Chief Executive Officer Lisa de Wilde on Monday, the public broadcaster said it became aware of the allegation Saturday when an email from Thomson was sent to Paikin in relation to comments she alleges took place at a lunch. The station said Paikin immediately notified TVO of the email. Thomson referenced the allegation in an online post published on February 2 in which she alleges Paikin asked if he could sleep with her. “My assistant and I met him at Grano’s on Yonge Street, and the three of us ordered our lunch. Not five minutes into the lunch the host asked me if I would sleep with him,” Thomson wrote. Globe and Mail 

Town Hall tonight

Bantam Bulldogs capture medal

Atom A Wildcats Silver Winners

LUC Shrove

St. Cuthbert’s Anglican Shrove

Northlea United Shrove

St. Luke’s Anglican Shrove

Jon Burnside’s Town Hall is at 7 p.m. Monday in the Lea Room at the Leaside Memorial Community Gardens. At the right, the East York Hockey Association is showing off the medal won by its Bantam Bulldog team the at the Select Tournament. The Bulldogs beat the Leaside Flames Red team 2-1 at De La Salle arena in the championship tilt, but by the way, the Flames beat the Bulldogs 2-0 in regular play earlier, so there. Centre left, the Atom A Wildcats are rightly proud of their silver finish at the Aurora Silver Sticks Tourney over the weekend. Good going ladies. And then four Shrove Tuesday reminders from area churches. Would it be possible to hit all four before they wash up? Burp.

It being February and all, such outlooks are to be expected. Let’s remember that there’s no guarantee and hope for the best.

Danforth and Kingston/Mike Nguyen CP24 Twitter

Impaired driving is the allegation as police sort out the crash of a car into a pole at Danforth Ave and Kingston Rd early Monday. The driver is estimated to be in his 50s and was not seriously hurt.

Art Johnson

Edward Cornwallis

Andrew Forde

Angela Merkel and Martin Shulz

Bruce McArthur

Morgan Geyser

Tom Brady

Upper left, a London, Ontario man, Art Johnson, landed in Seoul late Sunday to take up his role as a Zamboni operator at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. Hat’s off to you sir. To the right, Edward Cornwallis has been dead since 1776 but they’re still trying to kill him in Halifax. His statue was removed over the weekend by the City he founded because he once put a bounty on certain indigenous persons who were fighting the creation of Halifax. Below that is violinist Andrew Forde. He will perform The Ideas of North at Koerner Hall in Toronto with his band The Ghost Tapes on February 9 as part of Black History Month. At bottom left, Germany remains without an effective government four months after the general election. Angela Merkel can’t get a coalition going with the Social Democrats. And then that pleasant-looking young man in his high school photo from Fenelon Falls Secondary is accused serial killer Bruce McArthur. Equally unsettling, the young life of Morgan Geyser. She has been sentenced to 40 years in a mental institution at the age of 15 for the appalling attack she and a friend committed on a classmate. It was inspired by a fictional Internet bogeyman named Slenderman. Such bunk. Finally, Tom Brady’s Hail Mary attempt to win the Super Bowl failed. The final was 41-33 Eagles.

Caroline Mulroney

Rod Phillips

Peter Van Loan

Party sources are saying that Caroline Mulroney will formally announce her candidacy for leadership of the Ontario PCs Monday. This as Rod Phillips, former Post Media executive and party candidate in the riding of Ajax says he will be supporting Mulroney in the leadership convention set for March 10. Phillips had been discussed as a leadership candidate. Mulroney is the daughter of former prime minister Brian Mulroney.  At 43, she is a lawyer, wife, mother of four, public appointee and charity activist. She serves on the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority to help oversee development of a $4-billion second border span between the two cities. She also co-founded the Shoebox Project in 2011, a non-profit body that collects and distributes gifts to women who are homeless or at risk. Peter Van Loan, Conservative MP for in the Commons for York-Simcoe is close to the family and says it was not Mulroney’s plan to run but supporters have strongly formed up behind her bid. “Wow she is so relatable, she understands me, she gets me, she listens to me, she obviously genuinely cares,” Van Loan said as he described Mulroney’s public appeal. She is also the acclaimed candidate for the riding of York Simcoe in the June Ontario general election.