Kevin O’Leary has the support of 27 percent of respondents to a Forum Research poll asking who they would prefer for Conservative leader from among the 13 declared candidates. Some 38 percent answered “someone else.”  It is an example of the magic of name-recognition for O’Leary, the gadfly media personality and dot com millionaire. But it also suggests a lot of people are not impressed with the party’s offering of possible prime ministers. O’Leary says he’s the only Tory leadership candidate who can defeat Trudeau. It is a potent declaration. Whatever individuals think of Mr. Trudeau personally, there seems little doubt he is PM today because of his father’s name. The poll’s respondents were asked to provide their opinions on eight Conservative leadership candidates, including O’Leary, Bernier, Raitt, Michael Chong, Chris Alexander, Steven Blaney, Kellie Leitch, and Andrew Scheer.

60 Overlea Blvd

Typical of a thrift store

Dolls

The Salvation Army Thrift Store in Thorncliffe Park will debut with a special Grand Opening ceremony at 9 a.m. on Thursday, January 26th at 60 Overlea Boulevard (at Thorncliffe Park Dr.) The store will help the most vulnerable in the City and is a proud effort by the Army. “There is a strong sense of family and community in East York that we are proud and excited to be a part of,” said Michele Walker, National Retail Operations Manager at The Salvation Army Thrift Store. For individuals and families who need assistance, The Salvation Army Thrift Store offers vouchers provided through Salvation Army community and social service programs which can be redeemed for clothing and other items.  In an effort to integrate into the community, the Thrift Store has worked closely with local non-profits for recruiting and will have a ‘Community Corner’ in store with free reading materials.

DEDICATED DONOR WELCOME CENTRE

For the Grand Opening there will be a ribbon cutting ceremony, refreshments, giveaways and a ‘welcome mural’ done by students of Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute and Leaside High School in different languages to greet guests from diverse backgrounds. Speaking will be MP Rob Oliphant and Commissioner Susan McMillan, the Territorial Commander of The Salvation Army in Canada and Bermuda. The store includes a dedicated Donor Welcome Centre with donations accepted seven days a week. Store hours are Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. – 9 p.m. The Donor Welcome Centre is open Monday through Saturday 9 a.m. – 9 p.m., and Sundays 10:00 a.m. – 6:30 p.m.  The store opens in the same premises as the Goodwill store which regrettably was part of that charity’s bankruptcy last year. Student mural sets tone at Salvation Army Thrift Store 

The Trump administration is indicating clearly that the new president will approve the Keystone XL pipeline proposal and is also open to bilateral trade deals as it renegotiates NAFTA. Trump’s press secretary, Sean Spicer, said his boss had been clear about a preference for the project. “It’s good for economic growth, it’s good for jobs, and it’s good for American energy,” Spicer is quoted in the Globe and Mail. The White House indicated Monday that he intends to meet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the next month as he opens a renegotiation of the North American free-trade agreement. It seemed promising for continuing business with the U.S.

Toronto Police are asking for help in finding several persons they say committed a break in January 20 at the apartment of a man in the St. Dennis Drive and Don Valley Parkway area Jewelry, clothing and cash were taken from the man’s apartment Police have obtained security camera footage of three men and two women and the vehicle reportedly involved in the Break-and-Enter. The photos are not shown because the TPS discovered that some of the suspects were minors. .

CROOKS AND CASTLES

At least two of the suspects wore clothing with the word Crooks printed prominently across the front. This is apparently clothing from the Crooks and Castles line. The urban dictionary says this is taken to mean “Crooks”, criminals, pimps, hustlers, thieves, etc. And “Castles” those who got rich by becoming a crook.

Residents of Parkhurst Blvd. will be at the Committee of Adjustment Thursday morning to oppose plans for the demolition and re-building of a single family dwelling at #30.  A notice on the property calls the changes “minor” but neighbours say that in fact eight different variances are requested. They complain that the height variances are significant and on all four sides, which they call unusual and objectionable. Parkhurst resident Carolyn White says this would create a very tall house that would overpower the rest of the street. She adds that the existing houses are lower than the by-law so anything above the by-law is quite tall.

It’s the same everywhere, The lights, the crowds and the felons. Here’s a man who was sitting in his car when a gang of four or five kids decided to join him in there. They beat the man and robbed him. Police have put together pictures of the suspects from the many cameras in the area.

Proposed development which saved edifice of old bank branch

The swift, almost covert demolition over the weekend of a century bank branch at Yonge St. and Roselawn Ave. has stunned and infuriated area residents and members of the City Planing Department. The plan for the development at 2444 Yonge had been hailed as an ideal mix of new and old a year or so ago. But instead of proceeding to final approval with the scheme, which retained edifice of the venerable Bank of Montreal Building at the heart of a new office complex, the plan was withdrawn. During this period, the property was sold by the original developer. Then a seemingly lightning application to demolish the not yet fully protected heritage building was quickly approved by the Building Department. The careless oversight has shocked residents in Lytton Park and left the Planning Department speechless.

There much pride and rightly so among family and friends of the Minor Novice Red select team of the Leaside Hockey Association for winning “hardware” at the Bradford Blue and Gold Tournament over the weekend. Well done and looking good guys. And congratulations to the Minor Peewee A team for busting into the finals in Ottawa with a worthy show of class and heart

A 1 a.m. volley of bullets beside a darkened shopping mall near Islington Ave and Finch Ave. has left a man,. 24, dead. The car in which he was a passenger was riddled with bullets. He has not yet been identified by police but they are believed to know who he is. CBC

Aerial

Transit hub

South of Eastern Ave.

Transit hub

Interior

Promenade

The website Urban Toronto has an account of the enormous retail and commercial project south of Eastern Avenue to be known as East Harbour. It is the child of the First Gulf Corporation and seems ready to herald, if built as proposed, a radical transformation of the land use and the transit patterns of the area. According to First Gulf, East Harbour will feature 11 million square feet of office space, enough for 50,000 workers, on 60 acres. It will act as the major transit hub for the eastern edge of downtown, with at least 2 GO Train lines, a streetcar line, and the future Relief Line Subway all intersecting at this location. Urban Toronto

TRANSIT TERMINAL

Urban Toronto describes the transit hub as a remarkable structure featuring a high-ceilinged glass arch over both the GO Train platforms and the future extension of Broadview Ave, on which the streetcar is located. It says the soaring arches evoke a sense of grandness, emphasizing the space in a fashion common to many European central rail stations. Underneath the GO and streetcar interchange, the Relief Line subway platform would be located under Eastern Ave. The design of both the transit hub and the subway station are barely more than conceptual at this point, but as you can see in the drawing, a direct connection between the three different rail modes is envisioned. Urban Toronto

Kathleen Wynne has sent an open letter to Kevin O’Leary in which she says his remarks about the Ontario auto industry are just plain wrong.

HUMBER SiCKNESS

There appears to be a growing feeling that the illness that quickly struck and then departed from as any as 215 students and others are Humber College (north campus) was the norovirus.

LEGO POLICE

And streetcar motorman Daniel Ng has a hobby. He makes uninformed figures out of Lego. Toronto police, paramedics, and security guards, Ontario Provincial Police officers, and transit fare inspectors — it’s all just for fun.

Brenda Marshall-Wilson

An armful of porketta

Albert’s a Kunekune

On a farm near Washington, Albert (the runty little piglet right) has been saved from the fate of most pigs by a kind man who loved the idea that Albert was a hairy Kunekune pig. They are apparently native to New Zealand. His brothers and sisters were sold off to barbaric people planning dinner but Albert was too small for their plans. He survived and was taken home where he is living the life of Albert. Near Birtle, Manitoba, well north of Winnipeg, Brenda Marshall-Wilson (above) is the latest good soul to find and adopt a piglet found shivering in the minus 30 weather on the highway. She was driving to work near the Manitoba-Saskatchewan border when she saw this little guy. “I look in front of the car and there’s this little pig, like almost dancing around in front of me with its nose towards me,” she told the BC. When she got out to examine the piglet, Marshall-Wilson said it was shivering and looked to be about two weeks old. Having worked in a pig barn before, she knew to get down low and “talk” to the piglet just like a mother pig would do. The pig slowly crept up to his new momma and the rest is pig history. And the Siberian Times reports that firefighters were able to rescue some 150 piglets from a barn fire near Tomsk City.  Sadly their fate is more likely to be the Russian barbecue than anything else.