A car jumped the curb and smashed into the Dove Cleaners storefront in the plaza at 325 Moore Ave about 9 a.m. Saturday. The driver, an older woman with a cane, apparently mistook the direction of the gear in which the car was engaged as she was leaving the plaza. She was reported trapped in the vehicle but was easily freed and did not go to hospital. She was examined by paramedics at the scene.
St. Cuthbert’s Christmas Fair will be held Saturday, November 11 in the church at 1399 Bayview Ave. Doors open at 11.30 a.m. It runs until 2.20.
OPERATION RAISE A FLAG
Sunnybrook veterans will awake Saturday to a sea of flags on the lawns outside the veterans hospital and home.
WHERE TO OBSERVE REMEMBRANCE DAY
Justin Trudeau was a no-show at a meeting to discuss a trans-Pacific trade agreement in Vietnam today. It is said he does not want to ruffle Donald Trump unnecessarily at critical negotiations around renewing NAFTA. The US president has already pulled out of the TPP talks. The CBC wins a turn-of-phrase prize for Friday by saying that Trudeau was at his most Harperesque in staying away. The former PM, known for his stubborn tendency not to just do what others want him to do, might take it as a compliment. Trudeau, who knows? The City News wrap here covers the abuse Trudeau took from the Australians over this. On the right, Trump being Trump about trade at the same gathering.
The Vale of Avoca is a Midtown ravine which sits so close to the lives of millions of residents that they hardly seem to notice it. That’s probably because it is “down there” for most of them as they ride over the St. Clair Ave. E. bridge coming and going from Yonge St. and the Line One subway. The Vale of Avoca was most recently in the news last May when large sections of the embankment behind homes on Rose Park Crescent fell away, threatening the stability of the homes. Now five residents association will ask the City next week to begin work on fixing the Vale of Avoca. It is said to be suffering from years of erosion and neglect. As reported by CBC writer Muriel Draaisma, the Deer Park, Summerhill, Moore Park, North Rosedale and South Rosedale residents associations will ask the City’s parks and environment committee at its November 17 meeting to develop a master plan and a working group for the ravine.
STABILIZE EMBANKMENTS
The spokesman for the association is John Bossons. His agenda is to clean up the Yellow Creek, which runs through the ravine, stabilize embankments and return the forest in the ravine back to a condition where there is undergrowth that will keep banks from eroding so quickly. Residents say the network of trails on the east and west sides of the ravines are not safe. Some like to dash across to Yonge Street from Moore Park by way of steps off Rose Park Crescent. But the steps are not sanctioned by the City and are considered to be built on unstable inclines. The name Vale of Avoca comes from the poem The Meeting of the Waters by Irish poet Thomas Moore. Landslide drops Rose Park backyards into Yellow Creek
Police report as many 70 collisions in the overnight and early morning hours as snow and ice make driving treacherous. There’s only one fix and it’s called drive slower. The photo at upper right shows a scene similar to that outside most Midtown homes Friday. The twitter bug who posted it is saying that Toronto isn’t in the snow belt. Really. When did that happen?.
Work has begun on the two new parks on Manor Rd. east of Mt. Pleasant Rd. One is a trim field just off the business district where the former Glebe Manor Lawn Bowling Club was located. The original sign remains and presumably will be there in perpetuity as a reminder of the area’s history. Residents and visitors will sit or play bocce ball here. Photos at the top show work so far on the court. Down the street at Forman Ave (below) the beginning of a park for children can be seen. On the left is an early schematic of play areas and on the right these locations begin to take shape. The park sits beside Manor Road United Church, which sold the property to the City for this purpose.
City News version here of this important local story.
A judge has found that the trial of former aides to then Premier McGuinty must proceed to a conclusion despite a request from the defense for the matter to be dismissed immediately. Judge Timothy Lipson said that some evidence exists that might lead to the conviction of David Livingston and his deputy Laura Miller in connection with the wiping of computer hard drives in 2011. The Crown contends this was done to hide evidence related to the cancellation of two gas plants notoriously done hours before the general election that year. “At this stage, it is not the court’s function to weigh the evidence, nor to test its quality or reliability,” Lipson said. “I am not entitled to make findings of fact, nor to engage in an assessment of the evidence with a view to determining the guilt or innocence of the defendants.”
POPPY DOUGHNUT FUSS AT TIMS
Canadian Press reports that a Tim Hortons employee in Calgary took it on himself to create a “Poppy Doughnut” which has now, because of social media super sensitivities, got him in hot water. The head of the Calgary Poppy Fund says the poppy is a registered trademark and a symbol that many hold sacred. He says he would have preferred that the business reached out to his group ahead of Remembrance Day about partnering to raise funds for veterans.
SMOKER DIES AS CIGARETTE DETONATES BREATHING EQUIPMENT
A smoker has died in Oshawa when his lighted cigarette detonated his oxygen tank and breathing apparatus as he sat in his home Thursday morning. The improbable compulsion to smoke in his apparent condition with the odds-on chances of an explosion sooner or later make the mind swim. Durham Regional Police spokesperson Dave Selby says emergency crews were called to a home on Park Road South in Oshawa at 9:20 a.m. for a report of an explosion. An investigation revealed that a man breathing with the help of an oxygen tank and mask was also smoking.
The backyard eggery battle rages on even as City Council has voted in October to permit an 18-month trial of chickens at homes in Wards 21 and 5. Liz White (top) is head of Animal Alliance of Canada. She says the creature facing her (cluck cluck) turns into a nuisance as egg-laying capacity declines. “When the egg-laying years decrease after 18 months, people generally don’t want the birds after [that],” she told Markika Washchynshyn of the North York Post. “What do they do with them? Do they turn them in? Do they let them out? Do they slaughter them in their own backyards even though it’s not allowed? We know this happens because we get complaints.”
SOUDAN/PARKHURST
Below that to the left, a typical fender bender of many that occur at the corner of Soudan Ave. and Parkhurst Blvd. A petition has been started to oppose stoplights at the corner. Those wishing to know more can mail Beth Ann McFadden (see below). Next, they are proud as can be of the Davisville Public School Choir today after the kids turned in a wonderful version of O Canada at the Raptors game Tuesday. To the right, Elaine Snider writes to say that Fantasy Lingerie will close at 1673 Bayview Ave. after 11 years in the face of increasing rent. And finally, Santa reminds us of the St.Cuthbert’s Christmas Fair set for Saturday, November 11 at 11.30 a.m.
bethannmcfadden@gmail.com
Councillor Josh Matlow was accused of calling the TTC chief a liar Wednesday during a debate on the cost of the one-stop Scarborough subway. Matlow denied it but said he felt sure the estimated cost of the alternative to the subway, a multi-stop LRT, has been inflated. An acrimonious exchange may be seen at the Council YouTube site in which Mr. Matlow asks Andy Byford about the briefing note which included estimates for the cost of the LRT option. Go to approximately 2.26.10 of the video. At one point, Byford denies that any elements of the note came from Mayor Tory’s office. It has been widely speculated that the mayor supports the one-stop subway as a sop to Premier Wynne, who wishes to mollify Liberal voters in Scarborough. Toronto Sun
