The Emergency Department at St. Michael’s Hospital has been closed until further notice as the hospital deals with a flood caused by a broken pipe. It sounds as if the damage is considerable. Patients are being cared for in other parts of the hospital and no new emergency cases are being accepted.
Westminster Kennel decides top dog Tuesday in New York
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SIU probe apparent police shooting at Wynford Drive hotel
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The inquiry into a shooting in which a man was seriously injured in the parking lot of the Toronto Don Valley Hotel & Suites on Wynford Drive is now in the hands of the Special investigations Unit (SIU). Although nothing has been said, this would suggest only one thing — a TPS officer fired a shot or shots in some sort of confrontation. It happened about 4 p.m.
GLASS FALLS FROM FOUR SEASONS
A sheet of glass fell from one of the upper storeys of The Four Seasons Hotel Toronto on Yorkville at Bay Sts Monday afternoon. . Hotel staff says there are concerns that other glass is loose and may also fall. Yorkville Street is closed for this reason as the investigation goes on.
Drake makes NBA weekend scene with his “favorite teacher”
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Drake spent Valentine’s Day and the NBA scene with a woman he calls his “favourite person in the world” — a Toronto teacher who helped the rapper graduate high school. He and teacher Kim Janzen took in the East versus West matchup and other festivities. “My date for tonight’s game. Who else but my favourite high school teacher who helped me graduate,” Drake wrote on Instagram. “Happy Valentine’s. Hope everybody is getting love from somewhere,” he said. Drake graduated high school in 2012, just before his 26th birthday.
Zoo releases new video of panda cubs on the move
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The Toronto Zoo panda cubs which were born on October 13, 2015, continue to grow. Now just over 4 months old, they have started taking solid steps and are becoming extremely mobile.
Zero today with a week that looks more manageable
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Alberta housing project employs and stores thermal heat
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A project in Okotoks in southern Alberta captures heat from the sun in summer and uses it to heat homes during winter. It appears to follow the geothermal heating concept employed at a home at 43 Bessborough Drive in Leaside. This project was profiled in 2011 and is re-published just below. Advocates of this method, like the man interviewed in this CBC report, speak of the practical to climate change. But it is also a concept to achieve uninterrupted power supply (UPS), or at least more consistent power when a home or neighborhood goes off grid. Home storage batteries fed by solar is another.
FLASHBACK: Geothermal conversion at 43 Bessborough
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This story was published in The South Bayview Bulldog in February 2011. A home at 43 Bessborough Dr. is being converted to geothermal heating, a technique which uses the earth’s heat to heat and cool the building. It would seem to be a fairly rare project. The home is undergoing a renovation and with it, workmen are drilling down an unknown distance to tap the heat of the earth. As one worker at the site said, “This house is going to be completely disconnected from natural gas.” At the left, a bin containing mud from drilling is being evacuated. At right, shots of the drilling equipment.
Geothermal heating relies on an energy exchange between the air within the building being heated and the ground. Below ten feet the earth’s temperature is fairly constant (generally between 50º-56°F). During the summer when the ambient temperature of the building exceeds that of the ground heat pumps are used to pump heat from the building into the transfer medium (typically water with small amounts of ethanol or glycol) and is subsequently pumped through narrow pipes into the ground so that the heat can be dissipated in the earth. When the ambient temperature falls below the ground temperature the process works in reverse. Heat pumps extract heat from the ground and use it to heat the building. Wikipedia
Furtado O Canada furore as West beat East 196-173
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#KobeBryant takes the mic before his final All-Star Game #NBAAllStarTO https://t.co/YDJmV9bdz9
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) February 15, 2016
Twitter furore of Nellie Furtado rendition of O Canada NBA game final on Twitter
John Lippert taught music to generations of East York kids
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John Lippert
A funeral service was held January 31, 2016 for Joseph John Lippert Jr. at the Heritage Funeral Centre on Overlea Blvd. He died on January 28 in his 90th year. Mr. Lippert was the founder of the Lippert Music Centre at 970 Pape Avenue and was known to generations of East York children and their parents as a kind instructor of great talent. The service in his memory featured music of the harp, cello and his personal instrument the accordion. Mr. Lippert founded his music instruction business in 1957 after studying music at what was then the Ontario Teachers College on Carlaw Ave. The music centre is now run by his daughter, Charleen Beard. The well-attended service saw friends and former students present as well as local representatives MPP Peter Tabuns (Toronto-Danforth) and Councillor Mary Fragedakis (Ward 29).
IT’S LOVE: Thousands spend Saturday riding UP Express
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One lady says it felt like waiting for "carnival ride" #UPExpress pic.twitter.com/x1qWtxBbsg
— Anna Vlachos (@AnnaVlachos) February 14, 2016
It was absolute love as more than 10,000 people crowded the UP Express Saturday for the Valentine’s free weekend service to Pearson airport. The day’s ridership, which Metrolinx guessed was composed of 30 percent travellers and 70 percent curiosity seekers, seemed to prove that people like the idea of a train to the airport but don’t like the fare of $27.50 (one way). Spokesperson Anne Marie Atkins said the service will be launching a new program to encourage ridership soon. That sounds like a decision to reduce prices which would make sense because it represents some revenue as opposed to very little. It is said that the trains normally run at about eight per cent of capacity.
Loblaws MLG and Summerhill stores open Family Day
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Loblaws at Maple Leaf Gardens will be open on Family Day as will Summerhill Market at 446 Summerhill and at the satellite store at 1048 Mt. Pleasant Rd. These openings reflect a pattern of holiday food shopping options that has been set in the past year or so by these two stores. Other full-service grocery stores will be closed including Metro, Loblaws and Longo’s stores.
PRESSURE ON WHOLE FOODS TO OPEN
Whole Foods at 87 Avenue Road (in Hazelton Lanes) will also be open but it is a little further away from South Bayview. The pressure is on Whole Foods to stay open. It is experiencing a sag in business related to consumer resistance to prices, although this may be somewhat unfair. When the new Whole Foods opens this spring at 1860 Bayview it will be interesting to see if it opens on holidays, and if so, what pressure that puts on nearby competitors.