Professional landlords must shake their heads in wonderment at the  gullibility of people who let strangers move into their places with the fingers-crossed credentials acquired from Airbnb. Another Toronto horror story has come to light as told by photographer Matthew Lyn. He had his place looted by a man and woman with a child early in March. They took him for $21,000 in valuables and his SIN card too. It runs against the “trust everyone” mantra of so many people but this is not at all surprising in the circumstances. The Airbnb name is derived from the earliest origins of the company when a founder used an air bed to billet someone and then merged half of that term with the short form for bed and breakfast (bnb). Fine, but the warm and fuzzy notion of a renter-community built on trust after a couple of phone calls is chancy to say the least. Trust isn’t built on a phone call. Mr. Lyn’s case is very sad. CBC

The St. Anselm’s Parish Spring Fling Craft and Vendor Sale is this Sunday, April 2, 2017. Toddle over to the church hall at 1 MacNaughton Rd. about 9.30 for the best selection. It lasts until 1 p.m.

Toronto medical officer of health Eileen de Villa is vowing to adopt and advocate for “a strong public health approach to marijuana legalization and regulation.” Dr. de Villa says there is a role for legalization and regulation of marijuana but cautions against notions that is completely benign. Dope dispensary principals such as Mark and Jodie Emery are frequently seen in the news insisting that marijuana is “completely harmless.” On her first official day as Toronto MOH, Dr. de Villa did not venture into the recreational use of marijuana or how it might be sold. The Liberal government has chosen to announce the outline for the sale of marijuana on Thursday, April 20, 2017, known to many as 4/20 or pot smoking day. Some criticized the choice of symbolism for such an announcement. Dr. de Villa is the mother of three sons and was previously the MOH of the Region of Peel. She made the video below in 2016 for the Crescent School for boys on Bayview Ave. where she is a member of the board of governors.

 

Davisvile Public School Parents @DPSParents are showing what’s called a second update on the layout and space allocation of a new school. It is by the well-known institutional architectural firm of Snyder. The school will sit to the south of the present school on Davisville rather than on Millwood.

HAZARD
Queens Park Cr and Hoskins Ave, SB, water main break, 4 lanes blocked #546603 ^cb

— Toronto Police Operations (@TPSOperations) March 28, 2017

UPDATE: 94 Wellesley route diverting westbound via St George, College, Bay, due to water main repairs at Queen's Park and Hoskin. #TTC

— TTC Service Alerts (@TTCnotices) March 28, 2017

The South Leaside Monday Group is organizing its annual Everything Kids Sale and is hoping local moms can contribute gently-used, children’s items to the cause. The money will go to support the Trace Manes Playground Rejuvenation (Georgia Walsh) cause and the South Leaside Monday Group. It notes two dates, one for drop off, one for the sale. Also see Leaside Chit Chat post from Kristin Leishman Ballard

• Drop off may be made Monday, April 3, 20-17 at Trace Manes Park. There may be other dates for drop set later.
• Sale date is Saturday, June 3, 2017 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Leaside United Church.

A Nova Scotia man who has been denied use of his family name on a personalized licence plate he has owned for decades says he will sue the Nova Scotia government in order to be able to use it again. Lorne Grabher, whose family name is of common German extraction, says he has been contacted by a lawyer at the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms in Calgary who is interested in pursuing the case. Grabher told the CBC he is hoping the government will change its mind but says if not, “I’m going all the way. I’m not stopping now. If I have to take this province to court, I will, because I want justice. Not just for myself but for other people.” The NS decision was based on one complaint. The license office said it concluded that the plate was indeed offensive. Grabher said he has been deluged with support, including mail from the mayor of the Austrian town of Lutenau where the name is common.

Jon Burnside (Ward 26) will support a motion by Councillor John Campbell (Ward 4) to de-fund the Pride Parade over the decision to exclude a police float from the annual LGBTQ event. Mr. Burnside told the CBC Monday that it’s Pride’s business if it wishes to exclude police but “part of my job is to decide on funding and I think that [the ban on police] not only sends the wrong message, it’s counter-productive.” In speaking about the proposed motion, Councillor Campbell said he concluded that Pride has been “bullied” by Black Lives Matter and thus has given up its claim on the usual $260,000 of free taxpayer money for the parade. Campbell said he’s had verbal expressions of support for his motion from Councillors: Mark Grimes, Justin Di Ciano, Glenn De Baeremaeker and Stephen Holyday as well as Mr. Burnside.

Police are asking for anyone who saw or has dash cam video of a pedestrian accident at the signalized corner of McNicholl Ave. and Warden Ave Tuesday morning to come forward. A woman, 65, is in critical condition after she was hit by a car at about 6 a.m. Police say they do not have a fix on whether she had the right of way.

Hobby farmer Dennis Goslow has found a huge egg laid by one of his chickens. Goslow, of Sault Ste. Marie, weighed the egg at 180 grams. That’s heavier than a major league baseball and the size of a large apple.

An overflow crowd of deeply-divided residents met at the Scarborough Village Recreation Centre for a Transit Panel discussion Monday night  They applauded boisterously for the panelists and frequently heckled Councilor Glenn De Baeremaeker as he delivered a sometimes melodramatic address about why Scarborough hasn’t been treated fairly by Toronto and the TTC over the decades. “You’ve all heard the badmouthing about Scarborough on the Internet. It’s a Stubway, it’s a subway to nowhere, it’s out to Scarberia, nobody lives there, if I go there I might get mugged. You’ve heard all of that stuff all over the place.” The bait pleased some but many were infuriated by it.

COUNCILLOR BOOED

His remarks were booed down with one man shouting “We’re talking about moving people here.” Mr. De Baeremaeker said he wanted to see a fair transit system and lamented the Scarborough Rapid Transit (Line 3) had not led to the kind of development that occurred along Yonge Street in North York. He seemed to consider the outcome to be Toronto’s fault. Three other panelists made the case for the Light Rapid Transit plan with seven stops rather than the one-stop subway. Councillor Paul Ainslie talked about his concerns related to overestimated passenger loads and the cost of building a system that won’t stop at places like Centennial College and the University of Toronto Scarborough campus. He said the LRT scheme would run along its own right of way without infringing on roads or requiring tunneling. Another panelist, Tricia Wood, a writer and contributor to Torontoist, called the case in favor of the subway like choosing a nickel over a dime because the nickel is bigger. She told of group sessions where residents talked not of  going downtown but of moving between locations in Scarborough. City Council votes Tuesday on the Scarborough subway for the ninth and apparently final time.