Jan Van Nes

1622 Bayview Ave

Jan Van Nes, the founder of Van Nes Flowers, has died. The Van Nes business and storefront graced 1622 Bayview Ave. for many years. The obituary is published by the Morley Bedford Funeral Home.

Peacefully on Tuesday March 21, 2017 at North York General Hospital in his 89th year. A true entrepreneur, founder of Van Nes Flowers Limited, master floral designer, and the debonair “Mayor of Bayview” Beloved husband of Cathy for 64 wonderful years. Brother of Gerda and Henk (Holland). Dear father and father-in-law to Janette and Rob, Karen and Hugh, Richard and Sheila. Dearly loved Opa to Alyssa, Anthony, Patrick, Trevor, Matthew, Stephanie and Hannah. Great Opa to Olivia. A service of remembrance will take place on Sunday March 26, 2017 at 2pm, at Morley Bedford Funeral Home 159 Eglinton Avenue West Toronto,with reception to follow.“In Lieu of flowers” was never in his vocabulary. Donations to The Hospital for Sick Children or a Charity of choice. Jan, Dad, and Opa loved his family, his antiques and most of all his Flower Shop.

Beck Taxi is taking note of its large ad on the wall at Yonge St near Davisville Ave. Wednesday morning. The ad evokes a bad night with the wrong guy and how to get home safely. Safety would be a key element in any firm dealing with the Uber onslaught.

Paul Ainslie is the Councillor for Ward 43, an oddly-shaped electoral district that looks not unlike the boot of Italy. He has held the ward since 2006, winning three solid mandates. Today he stands alone against every other member from east of Victoria Park Ave. in his opposition to the one-stop wonder known as the Scarborough subway. To many, Ainslie is about as close as Toronto politics will ever get to a genuine Profile in Courage. When John Tory’s Executive Committee voted in December, Ainslie was the only voice in opposition to the multi-billion dollar rail line widely considered to be a boondoggle of the highest order. He has some friends at City Hall of course — Midtown pragmatists like Josh Matlow and others who think spending possibly four billion dollars on a subway that barely stops is close to a dereliction of elected duty. Next Monday, March 27, Ainslie will hold a meeting at 3600 Kingston Road at which he will try to rally public support against the subway and in favour of an LRT with seven stops. Ainslie will show powerful numbers which he says prove that fully 54 per cent of Scarborough residents oppose the one-stop wonder. Forty per cent are said to support it. In the rest of the City, only 28 percent support the subway with 60 percent opposed. Petition

The three-day pop-up event from Leef Luxury Women’s and Men’s consignment apparel and accessories goes Thursday, Friday and Saturday (March 23, 24 25) at Creeds Coffee Bar, 690 Dupont Street between Spadina and Bathurst. More in previous posts here and here

Chris and Kate

Chris Bentley and Kate Wheeler together are a treat for their legions of fans. They are a duo on radio now (plus media of the social kind) with their entertaining news and gab called What She Said! Chris and Kate can be heard weekends at 6 p.m. on the Jewel Radio Network 88.5 in Toronto. There are some nice movie ticket giveaways to be had courtesy of Elevation Pictures. Here’s some of the recent fun with film reviewer Ann Brodie @WhatSheSaidTalk

From the Beastly, to the Bloody to the Broody & the Breakout – film/tv reviews by @AnneBrodie: https://t.co/nj2yQCEveQ @Elevation_Pics pic.twitter.com/4PUlkNKHaG

— What She Said! (@WhatSheSaidTalk) March 20, 2017

418 Bloor West

Unknown millions drank here

Much-loved sign

The 141-year-old Brunswick House, 481 Bloor West at Brunswick Ave., has opened as a Rexall Pharma Plus drugstore. The superb result of the renovation is recorded by Retail Insider online. The tavern’s much-loved Ye Olde Brunswick House sign now hangs over the fridges in the pharmacy’s food section. Unknown millions of university students and who knows what number of beverage room idlers will surely want to make a sentimental visit to this storied beer hall haunt. It is a considerable credit to Rexall and rivals similar public-spirited work by large firms such as Loblaw (MLG) and Shoppers Drug Mart (Bayview Playhouse).

Susp Package: College/ Yonge. .TPS HQ.. package w powdery substance in mail room. No injs, no evacuation. CBRNE and HAZMAT OS. #501907 .^adc

— Toronto Police Operations (@TPSOperations) March 21, 2017

The experts from the Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense Squad are examining a package delivered through the mail.

The Trump administration has declared that passengers on nine airlines flying direct flights to the U.S. from airports in eight countries will be prevented from taking most electronic devices larger than a cellphone (such as tablets, portable DVD players, laptops and cameras) into the main cabin. Instead, they must be in checked baggage. The airlines are Royal Jordanian Airlines, Egypt Air, Turkish Airlines, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Kuwait Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Qatar Airways, Emirates and Etihad Airways. The airports are in Cairo; Istanbul; Kuwait City; Doha, Qatar; Casablanca, Morocco; Amman, Jordan; Riyadh and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; and Dubai and Abu Dhabi in United Arab Emirates. The ban is said to be indefinite and is inspired by concerns of explosives hidden in computer devices. Euronews

A brief and shaky video of a dog walker with one animal forced up on its hind legs while two others run unleashed is causing upset and anger among some people Tuesday.  The dog walker, Austin St-Jacques, is accosted by the video taker who is identified as Aleksander Kupisz. It is a rather scary exchange as Mr. Kupisz is quite upset. St-Jacques contends the dog in the harness was not being hurt. The CBC story has a lot of information but nothing really definitive about what this might be doing to the dog, although it seems unusual. CBC

Brief scene of dog on hind legs

Earth Hour weekend is Saturday and Sunday (March 25 and 26) and readers are reminded of the two days of activity at St. Cuthbert’s Anglican Church at 1399 Bayview Ave. Take a look  St. Cuthbert’s Environmental Fair March 25

Carol Eby’s family life magazine Neighbours of Leaside and Bennington Heights features a couple who used Anova, the Toronto fertility and reproductive health firm to grow their family. It’s the April issue and it looks like an enjoyable and different read. The magazine is delivered to homes by Canada Post.