The Bulldog

Biting wind puts a chill on Trace Manes farmers market

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farmers mane
The opening of the farmers market at Trace Manes Park caught some poor weather Wednesday. It was chillingly cold on the parkland grass at Millwood and Rumsey Rds. There were about seven vendors with most selling homemade goods. The busiest were those selling fresh produce.

weather market

Pan Am Games $342 million over budget says auditor

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Ontario auditor general Bonnie Lysyk says last summer’s Pan Am and Parapan Am Games in Toronto came in $342 million over budget. As well, the province still paid more than $5 million in performance bonuses. The government, on the other hand, insists the Games were on budget because the ultimate cost was roughly the same as the $2.4-billion bid budget in 2009. But Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk noted that by her calculations the original budget should have been closer to $2.2 billion and the total cost of the Games was $2.5 billion. There is much talk today of the pride Ontario can take in these events and an assurance that it was all good value. Value of course is a matter of opinion. Many will wonder if there isn’t a better way to achieve such competition short of these staggering amounts of money.

Ottawa LRT digging causes gigantic sinkhole on Rideau St.

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Excavation for an LRt system in Ottawa went incredibly wrong as a huge sinkhole opened up Wednesday morning on downtown Rideau Street in Ottawa not far from Parliament Hill. Miraculously, no one was hurt. Police say 911 calls started coming in at mid-morning and they have been blocking off streets surrounding the cave-in at the corner of Sussex Drive. No injuries have been reported, although a taxi is believed to have been swallowed up by the sinkhole, which television footage shows was full of water from a broken water main. The city says nearby buildings have been evacuated because of the smell of gas. Water service in the area has been cut and traffic has been re-routed. The road itself had been limited to bus and taxi traffic only since last summer due to road and subway construction. This is the second sinkhole to open up in the downtown in recent years. In 2014, another road just a few blocks away collapsed. Officials blamed it on unexpected soil conditions encountered during a tunnelling operation

Farmers Market Wednesday afternoon at Trace Manes

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See later post 

Harry Potter and Cursed Child previews begin in London

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There is great excitement surrounding the epic new stage play co-written by J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. It opens in June but don’t count on going anytime soon as the play is sold out until well into 2017. Harry Potter is played by Jamie Parker.

Robbery reported at BMO at Yonge St. and Hillcrest Ave.

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Former part-time coach facing pornography charges

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This matter has been resolved over time.

Weighing the oh-so-nice nuances of the boutique suicide

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It seems quite unlikely one Canadian in a hundred could explain the pending collision of the government’s newly-enacted assisted suicide act with the high-minded reasoning of Canada’s Supreme Court about just what constitutes a proper planned death.  And we’re not talking about old-fashioned final arrangements here. Oh no. Listen closely or you might miss the subtle difference between a dying person’s opportunity to have an assisted death, and the undeniable death right, as the court sees it, for someone diagnosed with a typically fatal illness (but not necessarily dying any faster than the rest of us) to shorten life by months or even years while there is still time to really savour the occasion. The national guessing game of what else the court will discover in our wonderful constitution goes on. By the way, it may not be a good idea to discuss this around your older relatives. It can make them edgy.

Balliol and Mt. Pleasant, minor injuries reported

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Brazen daylight killing in Cowbell Lane at Yonge, Eglinton

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The deadly drumbeat of firearms has not missed a day in Toronto. Tuesday it was the shocking daylight shooting of a man in a white Range Rover parked in Cowbell Lane near Yonge St and Eglinton Ave. Police say two men fired six shots at the victim shortly before 3 p.m. in the busy lane which is bookended by the Salvation Army Citadel on the north and Soudan Ave at the south. The victim, who was dead at the scene, may be a resident or regular visitor to the Quantum Condominium South which sits between Cowbell and Yonge. His car is seen there regularly. Superintendent Reuben Stroble, the new top officer at 53 Division, has been met with a violent welcome to his new posting. He vowed that the killers will be captured.  The suspects were dressed in “construction vests”. One such vest was said to have been orange, the other green. Readers of The South Bayview Bulldog commented that this seemed to be a hitman’s typical gear. Regardless, the killers escaped in a black sedan, possibly a Honda. CTV’s John Musselman said that a woman dog-walker had been parked near the shooting scene with several animals aboard her van. She was seen from a helicopter shot being escorted away by police and the dogs placed in a police vehicle. The writing of the Toronto Star’s Evelyn  Kwong and Dan Taekema reflected the intrusion of a terrible reality into the lives of people living nearby. Their story begins: “Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. Then silence.” It goes on to describe the reaction of residents including some who said they would move away from the area.

Odd lease termination shuts Caplansky’s College St. deli

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Caplansky’s Deli has been shut down by the landlord of the property at 356 College St. for no known reason, according to Zane Caplansky. As posted on the door of the deli, the order to shutter the business is incoherent. It says the action is taken because the tenant did not effect repairs which were not authorized by the landlord. But even if there has been a typo, and the notice is complaining about necessary repairs, Caplansky claims he has had no dealings with the landlord, a numbered company, about any such complaint. The rent is paid in full and has been promptly paid throughout the lease. It is a mystery, although of course, logic dictates there is a reason.  “I’m a landlord’s dream,” said the smoked meat sandwich boss. “I pay my rent on time every month. I improve the building, I improve the neighborhood. It’s a safer cleaner place because I’m there.” According to the Toronto Star, neither the owner of the numbered company nor his lawyer immediately responded to requests for comment. The delicatessen opened at the corner of College and Brunswick Ave. seven years ago. It has three years left on its lease.

Atwood, Clarke Northern Secondary athletes of the year

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