The South Bayview Bulldog

Hey, it’s going to be 12 today according to the Weather Network. And there are warming temps predicted all week. It won’t be long before the trees on Bessborough Drive (below) and all over South Bayview turn green.

Clare Dietrich and her husband had a scary moment or two Sunday evening as they walked along McRae Dr. near Randolph Rd. That’s when an impaired driver barreled down McRae from behind them heading toward Laird Drive. Apparently she wanted to turn left at Randolph but overshot the corner. She wheeled back and bounced over the northwest curb then dipsy-doodled across the northwest corner and along the sidewalk dinging a Lexus SUV as she went. Police were called (they received a number of complaints) and say the woman was stopped before she got too much farther.

New Democratic leader Tom Mulcair has been resoundingly rejected by his party. The NDP leader received less than 50 percent of the votes in a convention motion at its annual gathering in Edmonton Sunday and said merely that he will stay on as leader until a leadership convention is organized.  According to Canadian Press, it is the first time in living memory that a party leader of any political stripe has received less than 50 percent of delegate support. CP says that a stunned silence fell over the convention floor at Shaw Conference Centre as delegates realized that not only had Mulcair not attained a respectable level of support, he hadn’t even reached the 50-per-cent threshold. Canadian Press  Twitter  Chantal Hebert 

Leaside’s Martha McCabe has won a spot on the Canadian Swimming Team at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio at the qualifying event in Toronto last night. The trip to Rio will mark McCabe’s second shot at Olympic glory, as the 26-year-old also competed at the London games in 2012. The Leaside Sports Hall of Fame member is an alumnus of the UBC Thunderbirds swim team. Her friends and family celebrated her success last night after she  qualified

"It takes a village to raise an Olympian", certainly holds true for Martha McCabe flanked by family and friends! pic.twitter.com/kWvoNNZAdF

— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) April 10, 2016

A second incident of a child falling through the rear hatch of a van has emerged in China. Both cases are wrapped up in this video. It seems likely given the rarity of child safety seats that more kids have unlatched the cargo door and dropped out onto the road. Some surveys say that fewer than half a percent of children in China are properly belted in place. Amazing.

Complaints about misleading ads for inexpensive clothes on Facebook has brought a concession from Facebook’s VP of ads and pages, Andrew Bosworth, that the firm acknowledges the problem. He says: “We’re looking at ways to incorporate new signals that will help us identify which of the over 50 million active businesses on our platform are delivering products and services that are overwhelmingly unsatisfactory to people.”  This is recorded on the consumer site Consumerist with a link to an expose by CBS News in Dallas. A reporter there bought four items (above). They all had problems. Some were putrid, didn’t fit, shapeless or coming apart at the seams. Often the advertised material — leather, wool — was not. In short, they were not what was ordered.

The Brownstones of Leaside project is featured on the planning website Urban Toronto and is also an advertiser in The South Bayview Bulldog. The 3 and 4 bedrooms starting from $1.5 M up to 2900 sq. ft.will be constructed in the centre of Leaside at Sutherland drive and McRae Drive. The map shows the location. Urban Toronto 

It’s furniture sale day at Leaside United Church and the event goes on until 2 p.m. Here we see Bob Lister helping a customer with her treasures. Nice chairs. The church is full of great pieces donated by generous friends and it has to be moved out to make room for the Awesome Sale in May. Take a look. LUC is at Millwood Rd. and McRae Drive. LUC furniture sale is TODAY 

Nicole DiCarlo

Nicole DiCarlo is sunshine and light as she reports from the wild and crazy corner of Bayview and Eglinton about the demolition of the McDonald’s. Nicole is the Crosstown Team Lead for Community Relations at the Metrolinx office in the remnants of Sunnybrook Plaza while demolition work is taking place to make way for the future Leaside Station. Hey Nicole. YouTube  Tearing up the McDonald’s at Bayview and Eglinton

Mike Crawley, the CBC’s man at the Legislature, has exposed a galloping misuse of a fundraising loophole by the Government. Now Premier Wynne says she will make reforms.