The South Bayview Bulldog

In the U.S., the Federal Trade Commission has publicly rapped Lord & Taylor for failing to reveal that it paid high-profile Instagram accounts to secretly market clothing. The FTC said that Lord & Taylor sent out 50 free dresses to “select fashion influencers” who were then paid anywhere from $1,000 to $4,000 to post photos of themselves wearing the dress on Instagram during a two-day period in March 2015. Lord & Taylor is the oldest luxury department store in the U.S.and is owned by the oldest commercial corporation in North America, the Hudson Bay Company.

Loblaws has backtracked on its plan to remove French’s ketchup from its shelves. The food retailer made the move a short time after the news hit Twitter and Facebook accounts and was published widely.  Kevin Groh, the vice president of Corporate Affairs and Communications said the ketchup would be re-stocked and, in a sideways kick at the media, said that Loblaws hoped it would see the same enthusiasm shown by the media among shoppers for French’s ketchup. An important issue is the nationality of the tomatoes — French’s is using Leamington tomatoes, a long-famous crop in Ontario’s “sun parlor” counties near Windsor.

A large electronic sign which would display a different “static” ad every ten seconds has been proposed for Eglinton Ave. E. at the CP Rail corridor east of  Leslie Street. The applicant is Outfront (formerly CBS) Media in cooperation with two other large sign companies, who are not applicants, Astral and Pattison. A community consultation meeting was held Monday night at Thorncliffe Park Library. It heard that the sign would be approximately 10 metres by 35 metres, a variance of more than 10 square metres high on the embankment beside the track facing west. It would be directed  at drivers who are headed  east. In total, the sign requires four variances in an area where no advertising is permitted whatsoever. Robert Bader, of the City’s sign bylaw unit said in answer to questions that such electronic signs were shown to be a “distraction” to drivers but there was “no conclusive evidence” that they caused accidents. He did not elaborate on this oddly vague conclusion.

OTHER VARIANCES?

Steve Wolowich of Outfront was eager to offer suggestions that the community would benefit from the insertion of local service messages into the sign’s ten-second “dwell-time” cycle. The sparsely-attended meeting saw opponents to the granting of any variance present. Among the perhaps 20 people was Geoff Kettel, of the Leaside Property Owners Association and Alex Wong, a resident of a condominium at 1105 Leslie Street. He made  an  eloquent statement against the proposal  He was among perhaps seven residents at the meeting to oppose the sign. Mr. Wolowich indicated there are already two variances for smaller signs in favor of Astral and Pattison. He said they had signs on the corridor  But these cannot be seen on Google Street recorded in September 2015.

METROLINX NOT A PARTY

He made a firm declaration that neither Metrolinx nor any other  party, governmental or private, apart from the railway, has an interest in the proposed sign. He also hinted at a type of quid pro quo for approval of the sign in the possible removal of a long-standing Outlook billboard on Laird Drive at Parklea Drive. He suggested that the company might put benches and create a miniature park at the location. But  the circumstances were unclear. Precedent would seem to be important for those wishing to stop the sign. A meeting at City Hall in the  Sign Variance Committee Room at 9.30 a.m.on Tuersday March 22, 2016 will make a recommendation to City Council.

See later post

The Ontario government is said to be peremptorily cancelling red and white health cards after three notices, according to anecdotal information among physicians. One case cited was an elderly man who had received three notices of an unknown kind who found on a visit  to his doctor that the card was no longer valid. The doctor is said to have treated the man anyway. The Wynne government has been anxious to eliminate red and white  cards, which do not carry a photo of the holder. The cards  have no time limit on them (except death) and do not need to be renewed like green photo cards. There is no information about just how much fraud these cards have facilitated but there is now action being taken to cancel some cards, including the elderly. The province stopped issuing red and white cards more than 20 years ago.

A Mississauga woman, Zhe Wang, is revealed as the winner of last October’s $64 million 649 jackpot. Six months after the draw Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp.Ms Wang held the single winning ticket although few other details are available Monday morning..The at a Petro Canada in Mississauga. The gaming agency says Wang’s win puts her on top of the list of Canada’s largest lottery prize winners who won with a single ticket.

Cindy Hsu of CBS News offers some manageable ideas on how to keep the blood moving while still getting the desk work done.

Social media — in this case Twitter — has been used once again to make a vulgar and violent threat. The person who issued it is just so surprised that anyone would take him seriously. It is less a story about him than the recently revealed (15 years) capacity of the unedited vox populi to make nasty, violent outbursts because they just don’t know any better. It’s what they do.

In the context of City Council’s decision to install bike lanes on Bloor St. West, the Globe and Mail columnist Marcus Gee has authored a thorough-going attack on the idea of street parking, demanding that Toronto “grow up” and eliminate it. It is an extraordinary series of objections to this useful (and profitable) form of parking including the alleged arrogance of a driver who wishes to park in front of a hardware store. (Find a hardware store). There is an easy assumption in Mr. Gee’s story that bicycles represent the civilized future of transportation and that cars should, perhaps, be removed from the City altogether. He seems to think that store owners who complain about the loss of parking are fabricating a problem.

STREETS TOO NARROW BECAUSE OF PARKING?

His suggestion that the streets of Toronto aren’t wide enough because cars park on them will surely draw snorts of derision from business and residents alike. Of course, automobiles carry far more people than bicycles every day. They will continue to do so because most people — the vast majority — are unwilling or unable (how shocking) to ride a bicycle. As always, readers are invited to comment but please, those who think Gee is correct, refrain from arguing that the bicycle was here before the car. So was the sedan chair. Take a look. Marcus Gee, Globe and Mail 

Toronto Hydro says it is working to restore power to as many as 500 customers in East York Monday morning. The hydro outage map shows an area north of Lumsden Ave and east of Woodbine  Ave.

Bite Me Grill at 1620 Bayview has closed its doors and is papered over. The all-day breakfast and lunch restaurant has been in business there barely six months. Hope was high that a practical eatery would be able to make it, especially since the original Bite Me on Danforth is still open.