Fred (Freddy) Webb

Long-time Leaside resident Frederick Webb died at Sunnybrook Hospital Thursday January 11. Mr. Webb was born in Parkdale but he and his wife Marilyn lived in Leaside for 55 years. Fred Webb was fondly known to family and friends as Freddy. He was a gentle, kind man who touched many in the Leaside community. Freddy coached boys MTHL hockey with the Leaside Kings and at North Toronto, he coached Pitt’s Midget Baseball at Talbot Park and umpired in the Toronto Men’s League. He was also instrumental in the introduction of Girl’s Softball in Leaside and a strong supporter of Leaside Girl’s hockey in the early years. He was actively involved In St. Augustine’s Anglican Church for nearly four decades. Toronto Star

Rate chart shows how cost is shared between the rider and the municipality

Unlike with transit, taxpayers are charged only when there is an actual ride

The website Urban Toronto has published an update on the unique transit experiment in Innisfil Township in Simcoe County. It uses Uber service instead of a municipal-owned bus line. According to the UT article, the early results of the shared-cost system are encouraging. Between May 15 and July 15, the first two months the pilot was in operation, Uber undertook 4,868 subsidized trips, or an average of 79 trips per day. A report presented to Council detailing the initial results of the pilot concluded that “[t]he total costs after two months have been $26,462.41 for the town’s ridesharing transit service, while there would have been a $270,000 start-up net cost for one bus and $610,000 for two buses running along routes servicing only a small portion of the town.

BUS SYSTEM WOULD HAVE COST MORE

This strongly indicates that the cost of a fixed-route bus system to service all of Innisfil would have been far greater and a less convenient option than through the current ridesharing transit service.” The Town has yet to publicly provide another update on the pilot’s ridership numbers. Another advantage of this program is the data collection and analysis component. Unlike the vast majority of transit systems, which obtain ridership data through a combination of Automatic Passenger Counters (APCs), manual counts, and smart payment cards (Presto Card in the GTHA), Innisfil will have access to complete origin-destination data through Uber — Urban Toronto

Carbon monoxide alarms alerted dozens of residents of the Deauville Place seniors residence early Wednesday and sparked a speedy evcaution. High levels of CO were found on floors 4, 5, and 6 of the Flemingdon Park home near St. Dennis and Grenoble Drives. The source was traced to a recently repaired air conditioner.

The mother of a newborn baby has admitted to making up a false story that she found the child abandoned in a laneway at a North York plaza. The baby boy was in fact born in a home on Redeberry Parkway where the young mother was taken into custody Tuesday afternoon as seen in the tweeted picture below. A worker at a dry cleaning business with a door facing onto the walkway where the baby was falsely reported to be found previously told CP24 that investigators reviewed surveillance footage but did not see any baby being left in the walkway.

Newborn was never abandoned, police source says as mother transported to hospital https://t.co/RlGIiVUvNN pic.twitter.com/9wkZHyXLH0

— CP24 (@CP24) January 16, 2018

Mayor from 1991 to 1994

There will be a celebration of life for June Rowlands at 2 p.m. Tuesday (January 16) at Rosedale United Church. She was the 60th mayor of Toronto and first woman to hold the office. She was also a long time City Councillor, City budget chief, head the TTC and chair of the Metropolitan Toronto Police Commission. June Rowlands fought for affordable housing and sought to preserve the city’s ravines and historical neighbourhoods.  She died in her sleep on June 21, 2017.  In lieu of flowers, the family is asking people to donate to Wellesley Central Place (part of www.rekaicentre.com) for their recreation and palliative care programs.

Delores O’Riordan

Album cover on Big Bald Lake

SERRA meeting Wednesday

Parents meeting at Maurice Cody

Foxes (not this one) seen on Bessborough Drive

At top, Dolores O’Riordan, lead singer of the Cranberries had divided her time between Ireland and the community of Buckhorn in Kawartha Lakes north of Peterborough. It is reported Tuesday that O’Riordan has died at age 46 in London. South Bayview fans who knew her from the Kawarthas and distant concerts in Toronto, were saddened by the news. The singer spent part of the last decade living in a waterfront home on Big Bald Lake near Buckhorn with her then husband, Duran Duran tour manager Don Burton. Publicist Lindsey Holmes said O’Riordan died suddenly while in the UK capital where she was recording. No cause of death was released. Far right, the South Eglinton Ratepayers’ and Residents’ Association is reminding members of a meeting to deal with the elusive solution to the 18 Brownlow matter. It’s at the Best Western Hotel at Mt. Pleasant Rd. and Eglinton Ave. E. on Wednesday, January 17, starting at 6.30 p.m. Lower left, Maurice Cody parents are reminded of the Parent’s Council meeting Tuesday (tonight) at 6:30 p.m. in the Cody Library. Complimentary babysitting is provided and as always it promises to be an informative event. Finally, a post to Leaside Community states briefly that two foxes were seen Monday on Bessborough Drive south of Millwood Rd.

Hoping for the best

Rescued

Capt. Scott Stroup  was ready and able as a panicky mom threw her child from a flaming building near Atlanta. CNN

Two incidents, one tragic and one regrettable, are reprised here by 680 News and the CBC. The horrifying ambush of a girl, 5, by technology and chance outside her school in North York when a car apparently left in gear crept on her and pinned her against another vehicle. She has died.

LEAVE IT ALONE

Then, the act of a another child, a girl merely 11. It fit so compellingly into the narrative that there is hatred everywhere for Muslim Canadians. Whatever the truth of that, this young person must now go back to school where other kids, maybe even some Muslim kids, may not be too kind to her. It is deeply sad that this burden will weigh on a child. There is even a suggestion that the police should not have taken the girl’s story at face value. Please don’t do this. Many seasoned cops and journalists found the story and circumstances questionable well before it was said to be false. But no one ought to speculate publicly about the honesty of a child in the red-hot context of racial bias in which we live. Leave it alone.

Single veh collision, at Broadview Ave & O'Connor Dr. garbage truck hit a light pole, mounted the curb and hit a tree. Driver not injured, pls drive with care. #GO92933 @TPS54Div ^gl

— Toronto Police Operations (@TPSOperations) January 16, 2018

Signals for pedestrians on west but not east side.

An elderly man has died from injures he received Friday, January 5 about 11:45 a.m. in a left-turn accident at Adelaide St. W at Sheppard St.  The victim, 85, was attempting to cross Adelaide apparently on the east side of the intersection and was hit by an SUV making a left turn off Sheppard. Signals for pedestrians control the west side of the intersection of Adelaide, which is one-way eastbound. The death may be seen as part of an alarming series of fatalities since the year began. There have been 26 deaths on OPP-patrolled roads, an increase of 271 percent over 2017 according to the OPP and a figure that does not include deaths in municipalities. .

26 people have died on provincial roads so far this year. An increase of 271% from 2017.
Save a life. #DriveSafe #OPPStats pic.twitter.com/zjc9E26Gba

— OPP Highway Safety Division (@OPP_HSD) January 15, 2018

Gold winners at Frolics on Ice

Salvation Army Thirft Store is one year

Riverdale United Church, 1986

Wildcats and Rams together

1 Randolph for sale

Elegant fixtures for free

Upper left, three proud gold winners at the Leaside Skating Club’s Frolics on Ice. Nice going ladies. Upper right, the Salvation Army Thrift Store at 60 Overlea Blvd.is inviting shoppers to catch its first anniversary a week Friday on January 26. Below that, we see Riverdale United Church in 1986 (those were the days). No longer a church, this fine old building is owned the WoodGreen Community Service, which is inviting people to take away elegant fixtures like stained glass windows and ornate lights — for free. It’s at 1117 Gerrard St. E., just west of Leslie Street. The first open house is on Wednesday, Jan. 17 from 9 a.m. to noon, the second on Thursday, January 18 from 6 to 8 p.m. and the third on Friday, Jan., 19 from 2 to 5 p.m. Centre left we see the Leaside Junior Wildcats visiting the Ryerson Rams women’s hockey team. And at bottom, your chance to own the poor little bungalow at 1 Randolph Ave. for $1.7 million along with plans and zoning permits for a 3,600 square foot home. Nice co-ordinates at the corner of Hanna Rd. though.