The South Bayview Bulldog

CP gets upper hand in battle to win Kansas City Southern

There’s been yet another twist in the knock-down battle between Canadian rail giants CN and CP to win possession of the sweet US rail company, Kansas City Southern. Early Monday it is reported that the KCS board has ruled that a takeover offer from Candian Pacific Railway Ltd. is a superior proposal to its agreement with Canadian National Railway Co. It had appeared that CN has locked up the KCS deal potentially making it the most powerful rail firm in North America.  Now the US railway says it plans to terminate its deal with CN and sign a definitive agreement with CP Rail which has made a proposal valued at about US$31 billion including debt.

Five days to better the deal

But CN still has five business days to make changes to its offer to win back the support of the KCS board. CN’s offer is valued at about US$33.6 billion including debt, but the U.S. Surface Transportation Board dealt it a setback last month when it rejected CN’s plan to use a voting trust to complete the deal, something it approved for CP Rail. The trust would allow KCS shareholders to be paid before the U.S. regulator completes its review of the proposed takeover. CP Rail had signed a deal in March to buy KCS, but CN topped that offer and secured support from the KCS board for its proposal in May. Canadian Press

2019 debate when things were more fun/Bulldog

The Don Valley West federal election debate is tonight (Monday, September 13), from 7 to 9 p.m. and will be held virtually on Zoom. To attend, register online if you haven’t done so. The Leaside Residents Association adds an important update: the NDP and PPC candidates have withdrawn from the debate, and the Green Party candidate has not confirmed. The two confirmed participants are Rob Oliphant (Liberal) and Yvonne Robertson (Conservative). Here’s a look back at the in-person debate of 2019: Public wall-to-wall to hear LPOA’s Don Valley West debate

Leaside Mart on McRae at Sutherland/Google

A long-time local food and convenience store, Leaside Mart at 223 McRae Drive, has been hit by a nasty robbery and vandalism incident. Reports say the perpetrators pulled up in front of the store about 3.30 a.m. Windows were smashed and goods disturbed and possibly stolen. FB

Leylah Fernandez

Denied the US Open championship trophy, Leylah Fernandez decided to make off with the spotlight instead. Visibly exhausted, her face both beaming and wet with tears, the 19-year-old Montreal native — bested in Saturday’s women’s final in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, by an even younger British tennis darling — refused to say goodbye to Flushing Meadows. Rather: until next time.

Reaction to the fake signage claiming that an 88 storey building had been proposed for the centre of Oriole Park seems to range from anger to a sympathetic nod. Of course, no one wants a tower like this in the park.

CTV commentator Evan Solomon assesses Thursday’s English-language leaders’ debate.

Cooked batteries on QEW/OPP

This load of car batteries was destroyed in a fire on the QEW at Fairview St. in Burlington early Thursday. The cleanup is tricky because of the chemical content of the batteries. There’s no indication offered on just how this fire started.

Federal leaders debate is Thursday night/CBC

As befits the age, tonight’s English-language debate ahead of the September 20 vote will be seen on YouTube and various apps as well as TV. You can listen to our political leaders slug it out with earplugs as you pub crawl if you like. See the CBC story on access and check out a translation of the French language debate last night.

Fake it to make it or simple fraud?

She is Elizabeth Holmes — smart, beautiful, and say federal prosecutors, one of the most notorious frauds in US business history.

The fall of the Novotel Hotel — superb service to shameful slum

Outside former Novatel Hotel/CTV

Downtown residents are raging over the conversion of the Novotel Hotel into a homeless shelter. Sounds like a familiar complaint.

SERRA, the South Eglinton Ratepayers and Residents Association has announced a candidates’ meeting for the riding of Don Valley West on Monday, September 13 from 7 to 9 p.m. The event has been organized by the Federation of North Toronto Residents Association (FoNTRA) with eight local residents associations joining together to provide sponsorship. Many Leasiders tend to think of DVW as a local preserve but the large constituency stretches all the way to Mt. Pleasant, Yonge and the 401. News release PDF.

Scene on Wicksteed Ave Wednesday/Global News

One person is reported dead and others are injured following an explosion at a factory at the corner of Wicksteed Ave and Beth Nealson Drive in Leaside. Toronto Police suggested that firefighters are facing a dangerous challenge in extinguishing a chemical spill. They said they arrived on scene at 225 Wicksteed Avenue, the address of Siltech Corporation, and found at least one injured person.  Siltech makes a wide variety of silicone products ranging from personal care to the auto industry. The call was received shortly before 10 a.m. Wednesday. Two men treated after blast at Siltech plant on Wicksteed –-2016

Scattered power outages, blinking stoplights and downed trees greeted residents in and near Leaside Wednesday after a night of thunderous rain and lightning. The Toronto Hydro Outage Map is showing a widespread blackout Leaside Wednesday morning. Map Leaside Community

Lexus on Randolph Rd has windshield taken out by debris/Bulldog

Montreal’s Leylah Fernandez has defeated Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina in the quarterfinal of the 2021 US Open. She is just 19. Go Leylah. Highlights

Pat Davies helped sink the Bismark

Ever so slowly the heroism and skill of so many World War II women is finally emerging. Here, 98-year-old former WREN Pat Davies recalls that the punishment for telling anyone what she did for the allies was the firing squad.

Same old Taliban bad actors are back

The new Taliban government in Afghanistan is chock-full of well-known terrorist names, some of whom are high on FBI wanted lists. Sadly, we will not be able to ignore these guys. History has shown us in technicolor that they and their agents will probably be coming after us.