Category: Uncategorized

Never Grow Up South Bayview opening set for July 4, 2015

Never Grow Up, the Oakville children’s wear store, has announced that it will open its South Bayview store on Wednesday July 1, 2015. A Facebook notation says: “We are SO beyond excited to announce our firm opening date for our Bayview location. We want to apologize for the long delay in opening this location!  We had so many setbacks for this store but we finally did it. We can’t wait for you guys to come see our second location”  Well okay. Never Grow Up will be very welcome as it fills the space at the former Newsome store at 1725 Bayview. That’s just up the street from Alex and Bev Simmonds shop, Dolly Jewellers. Very good company to keep

Todmorden Mills Eco-Art-Fest promotes sustainability

Mary Fragedakis (Ward 29) and festival Eco-Art-Fest producers will join representatives of the Toronto Museums and Heritage Services to launch the second annual Eco-Art-Fest. Events will kick off at 6 p.m. with remarks at 6.30  p.m. tomorrow (Thursday, June 18, 2015) at the Todmorden Mills Heritage Site, 67 Pottery Rd. Every  Friday, Saturday and Sunday from June 20 to September 13, this celebration of arts and culture will promote sustainability and environmental awareness. Visitors may experience public art installations by leading Canadians, all-ages art-based activities, fresh food, live music and art tours at Todmorden Mills. More information is available at the Eco-Art-Fest website 

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Federal websites swamped in “denial of service” attack

A number of Canadian government websites were crashed Wednesday by an unknown person or persons who used the handy disguise of Anonymous. Government sources and individual ministers have confirmed the attack which is said to be a “denial of service” type. This is caused by a flood of demands that leave the server unable to answer. The reason is said to be retaliation for a new anti-terrorism law passed by Canada’s parliament. In a video posted on YouTube said the law violated human rights and targeted people who disagree with the government.

Toronto students will get “truncated” report cards

The Toronto and District School Board will mail out a truncated report card to 154,000 students in Grades One to Eight despite the elementary teachers work-to-rule campaign. There will be similar arrangements made by school boards in Durham and York. In Peel Region, the school board says it will provide only letters of promotion. This as the talks with both the elementary teachers and the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OSSTF) head into a summer of what will surely be rank frustration. The government says there can be no increases. The elements are the children and the cost.  Once again the public seems condemned to negotiate against its own interests. Globe and Mail

Alert Ready test takes over TV with advice on future threats

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French message is on screen as English audio message silences CP24 anchor

A series of interruptions of cable television service in Toronto is occurring Wednesday in the name of the Ready Alert program of emergency messages. The messages say it is a test of an Ontario system that will tell Canadians of  serious and immediate threats. There is no indication of when they will end. Nor does there appear to have been any notice of these tests. Wikipedia 

Davisville Public School snared in Ontario’s debt crisis

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Josh Matlow (Ward 22)

In his current newsletter Councillor Josh Matlow has described a project known as a Community Hub for the lands of Davisville Public School on Millwood Rd. near Yonge St.  He also says the school needs replacement because it is old, crowded and has faults like failing boilers. It seems there is room on this spacious property to build a decent school and accommodate the Community Hub as well. Except for a decision of the Ministry of Education to require the Toronto and District School Board to sell off as much as an acre of the property to provide funds to pay for a new school. Matlow says he has been working with Davisville parents and others locally to keep the Hub idea alive.  “It is in the best interest of the School Board, as well as the Province and the City, if this public land is used for (along with a new, modern school) recreation, child care and other community uses instead of just another condo,” he says. This little outline tells the Councillor’s story as well as the often muted tale of how the provincial debt impacts us all in many ways. There is no money for anything. And without regard to political leanings, the numbers alone shout at us about the profligacy of the last ten years. The debt continues to grow in the range of $284 billion. It affects everything. It’s why the government must sell school land and among other things limit the number of visits people make to medical specialists.

1860 Bayview scheduled for completion in Spring 2016

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Scenes of the Whole Foods commercial site at Broadway and Bayview Aves.

The commercial complex at 1860 Bayview Ave. had previously been scheduled for completion in the fall of this year. No such target is possible and Whole Foods is now saying it will open sometime in 2016. From the top, the corner of Bayview and Broadway and below it the structure of the corner and beside it a look into the underground garage. At the bottom, the view from Rappert Ave on the west. Approval of this project went to the Ontario Municipal Board in 2011 where residents were successful in keeping it at 17 metres. There will be 193 parking spaces in a two-level underground garage. Many will recall that this construction was made possible when General Motors went bankrupt and cancelled the Brennan’s Pontiac franchise.

Hodgson Senior walkout signaled by xylophone ringtone

hodgsonForty students at Hodgson Senior Public School on Davisville Ave have staged a demonstration against the refusal of teachers to provide report cards as part of their work-to-rule. It was a lively affair as reported by veteran education reporter Louise Brown of the Toronto  Star. And there was an element of intrigue. The surprise walk out by the Grade 7 and 8 students was signaled by a phone ringtone simulating a xylophone. As Brown puts it: “Like members of the French resistance, these politically charged young teens had arranged a code that would signal that it was time to get up and walk out of the north Toronto school to protest teachers’ refusal to type in marks on their final report cards. The student reading Tuesday’s announcements was in on the protest plot, said Grade 7 student Alexis ‎Cole — and suddenly, the announcements ended and there it was…“The iPhone ‘xylophone ringtone!’ ” she said.