The Bulldog

“Super-honoured” to carry flag says Penny Oleksiak

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The Beaches Penny Oleksiak will carry the Canadian flag into Maracana Stadium for Sunday night’s Olympic closing ceremony. The 16-year-old swimmer said she is “super-honoured” to bear the Maple Leaf flag on behalf of fellow team members and all Canadians. “I’m super-honoured just to be able to carry the flag for Canada and lead all these athletes who’ve worked so hard to get here,” she told a news conference Sunday. Oleksiak will lead a Canadian contingent that has surpassed its goal in Rio of finishing in the top 12 in the overall medal count.

CP Rail locomotive off tracks, leaking oil at Dupont-Spadina

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train derail

CP Rail derailment is said to be leaking diesel fuel — Dionne Renee Twitter

A minor rear end collision has derailed a CP Rail locomotive on the main line across Midtown. The incident occurred about 5.20 a.m. at Dupont Street and Spadina Rd. The fire department says there is no hazard.

Man swallows 40 knives, complains of stomach pains

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It was by way of an after-thought apparently that this Indian man told doctors that he had had a habit of eating knives. Yes, they said, we’ve seen them in the x-rays and we think that’s your problem.

Tragically Hip night merges music, humanity and politics

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The final concert of the Tragically Hip has merged the band’s timeless place in Canadian music with foreboding for the health of its lead singer Gord Downie and political overtones inspired by the presence of the prime minister in the audience. CityNews 

“Justin, Justin” as PM visits Taste of Manila on Bathurst

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Bathurst Street is closed all weekend for the annual Taste of Manila festival. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited the event today and from all accounts there was a fair of amount of Trudeaumania present. Or perhaps Justinmania. After being greeted by chants of “Justin, Justin,” the prime minister took to the event’s main stage to speak about the value of multiculturalism. Mr. Trudeau then made his way through the crowd, shaking hands and taking selfies as people pushed and squeezed through other onlookers to get up close to the prime minister.He then donned an apron and cap to take his turn at a grill preparing Filipino delicacies. There was elegant Filipino dancing too as demonstrated in the video.

Young hero Kris Chung is donor who saved Binh Wagner

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It’s been revealed that the person who donated part of his liver to save the life of Binh Wagner last year was Kris Chung. a 21-year-old cadet at the Royal Military College in Kingston. Today, after a period of anonymity following his selfless act, Chung has gained some comfort with his role as a hero to the Wagner family — and many others too. The Wagner story is one of enormous courage and decency. Joanne and Michael Wagner adopted twin Vietnamese girls, Binh and Phuoc at 18 months. But the girls were both afflicted with a  rare disease that attacked their internal organs.  They needed liver transplants. Amazingly, Mr. Wagner himself was a match for such a transplant but he could not do it twice and survive. The Wagner’s asked physicians to make the choice of which child would receive the transplant. The medical team decided on Phuoc. That left Binh facing death until a total stranger emerged as a perfect donor. Chung was moved by a picture of Michael Wagner, who is also a soldier, with his nine children. He says he knew he had to make the donation. The remarkable details of how this fine young man applied as a donor, then arranged to get leave from his classes, place his affairs in order with his brother and travel to Toronto to save a life are contained in the linked CBC story. It is very moving. CBC

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Kris Chung with Binh and Phuoc Wagner and Joanne Wagner

 

100s of motorcycles, scooters invade Moore Ave parking lot

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A loosely planned gathering of motorcycle and scooter lovers resulted in a spectacular array of antique and current bikes in the parking lot of the Rexall Pharma Plus at 320 Moore Ave over the noon hour Saturday. There were hundreds of bikes. It was the regular Mods and Rockers event organized by Town Moto on Ossington Ave. Mods and Rockers has been publicized on Town Moto’s Facebook page for a few days. Everyone present seemed surprised by the turnout. After an hour or so to talk and check the other bikes, the bikers rode down Bayview to what was called by Town Moto “the afternoon’s festivities” at the Keating Channel Pub on Villiers Street. Town Moto

cycles urals

Antique Russian bikes called Urals still not extinct like Soviet Union

How to watch Tragically Hip’s August 20 concert on CBC

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Putting the cap on the Man Machine Poem Saturday night. CBC

Heavy lifting by hefty Leasiders is Lord’s work at LUC

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3-5 Southvale proposal public meeting set for September 8

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Updated plans for the property known as 3-5 Southvale Drive will be submitted by the developer for public consideration at a meeting on Thursday, September 8, 2016 at Leaside Memorial Gardens. It will begin at 7 p.m.  Previous posts 

First pictures of Manor Road United Church renovations

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mru three pix

Glass door, refurbished sanctuary and (bottom) an elevator

The first media pictures were snapped by The South Bayview Bulldog Friday of some of the attractive modernization and changes being made to Manor Road United Church, 240 Manor Road at Forman Ave. The 1927 Sanctuary building will now accommodate all activities of the church as well as a child care centre tenant in the basement. Among the modern additions is a smart glass entrance to replace the worn and dark wooden doors.

NEW ELEVATOR

An elevator will permit those needing it to go from the entryway to the basement or the sanctuary level. A kitchen has been installed at the south end and meeting rooms with windows that look onto the sanctuary are on the east side. The 1950 gymnasium is being demolished with the land on the corner of Forman now becoming a City of Toronto park.

TIME CAPSULE

A time capsule inside the cornerstone was opened today. It contained fairly predictable items from the church of the day as well as a copy of the Toronto Star of the time. Among the stories was one reporting on the advances being made by the British and Americans in Korea. More on the time capsule in future posts.

Tunnelling now complete between Brentcliffe and Yonge

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Metrolinx says that tunnelling is now complete on the 10-kilometre underground tunnel of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT. Remarkably, the twin tunnel run from Brentcliffe Rd. to Yonge Street has been finished four months earlier than estimates issued last fall. At that time it was guessed that it might take until the end of 2016 for tunnel boring machines (TBMs) Don and Humber to reach Yonge. In the process, the machines have installed 26,178 precast concrete tunnel segments which form 4,363 rings. TBMs Dennis and Lea completed tunnelling on the western segment of the Crosstown when they reached Yonge Street in May 2016.