The South Bayview Bulldog

The annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegan has not disappointed for 2016 — and certainly not in the  realm of things that make you wonder whether you need such creations. The combination clothes washer and drier (in one unit) will warn you somehow if you leave your phone in your clothes. We hate it when that happens. And what about the car that comes with a drone that permits you take a selfie at the wheel?  Ye gods and little fishes. Then there is HDR television. That would be High Dynamic Range. It is said to make television brighter and easier to view, cleaning up dark spots automatically sort of like a colour-adjusted photo.

For a few brief minutes around dinner time Wednesday police and residents were searching for the parents of a 6-year-old who was out on the street at Rolph Rd and Southvale Drive in his karate outfit and bare feet. It did not take long to find his home as police tweeted “all in order” from TPS Operations. Proving again that 6-year-old karate kids can usually find their way home.

There seems to be something for everybody in John Tory’s 2016 traffic congestion program. Along with a lengthy news release on what he is going to do, the mayor issued a map pinpointing what he and traffic planners call hotspot intersections. South Bayview is included courtesy of Mt. Pleasant Rd. and St Clair Ave E. Why it’s on the list of ten hotspot corners when others (like Victoria Park Ave and O’Connor Drive) are not, is unclear. One reason traffic backs up on St. Clair is because during the evening rush it is forbidden to enter Moore Park unless you live there. The people who do know how to sneak in and out down at Inglewood (or Kringlewood) Drive. But how one makes the corner better is anyone’s guess. The mayor has an easy way of speaking. The CBC quoted his honour as declaring that new traffic lights will produce “more green lights when the lights should be green and fewer red lights when the lights shouldn’t be red” Could be good. There is a dizzying amount of information in the City’s news release and much other information in the CBC report.

Premier Wynne (Don Valley West) is appearing in radio ads in the riding of Whitby-Oshwa which hasn’t been called yet. The deadline for the call is imminent however the Premier is stressing things like the end of the use of coal to generate power. The CBC says she raises the spectre that other parties might bring it back. No metion of the debt apparently. CBC

RELEASE — The second best sales result on record for December capped off a record year for TREB MLS® home sales in the GTA. Toronto Real Estate Board President Mark McLean announced that there were 4,945 sales reported in December bringing the 2015 calendar year total to 101,299 – a substantial 9.2 per cent increase compared to 2014 as a whole. Strong annual sales increases were experienced for all major home types last year.

“Home ownership is a quality long-term investment that families can live in while the value increases over time. A relatively strong regional economy in the GTA coupled with low borrowing costs kept a record number of households – first-time buyers and existing homeowners alike – confident in their ability to purchase and pay for a home over the long term,” said Mr. McLean.

“If the market had benefitted from more listings, the 2015 sales total would have been greater. As it stands, we begin 2016 with a substantial amount of pent-up demand,” continued Mr. McLean.

The average selling price for 2015 as a whole was $622,217 – up 9.8 per cent compared to $566,624 in 2014. The MLS® HPI Composite Benchmark Price was up by a similar annual rate of 10 per cent in December. GTA home price growth was driven by the low-rise segments of the market, but condominium apartment price growth was generally well-above the rate of inflation as well through 2015.

CBC reporter John Lancaster updates story of wild shooting incident and what it may mean for the cop who unloaded his gun.

The widely anticipated lifting of the 140 character limit on tweets appears to be imminent. Twitter president Jack Dorsey says the company will not be shy (odd word to use) about giving its users more power. The current restriction was introduced in Twitter’s early days, in a similar way to short text messages, and while Mr Dorsey praised it as a “beautiful constraint” he noted that users already find ways to cram more into a tweet by posting images with more words.  Dorsey sent a tweet after a report on technology website Re/Code suggested Twitter is currently considering upping the limit to 10,000, although he did not refer directly to the report in his message.

MORE COHERENT

Longer messages might make Twitter generally more coherent but it seems likely to generate tweets that are longer versions of sarcastic  and self-involved hecklers. One might think that advertising would weigh on Dorsey’s mind.  Twitter needs to make money. There is no hint that he will. do anything to let users make money.

Councillor Josh Matlow says in his newsletter released today that a deal has been reached for the City to buy a large portion of the Glebe Manor Lawn Bowling Club property. The builder who bought the land through transactions that seemed doubtful to many people has now been given permission to build a single townhouse on the site at 196 Manor Road. The size of the remaining parkland will by 1,138 sq. metres which Mr. Matlow says represents 4/5 of the property. He does not discuss the negotiations nor the price paid. The City however has always held an ace in the form of its power to grant or deny a building permit.

MANY MEMBERS NOT CONSULTED

It is a community drama which has played out largely in the shadows with many questions remaining unanswered. In July of 2014 eight shareholders of the Glebe Manor Road Lawn Bowling Club led by Manor Rd. resident and former member Derek Tilley sent a letter to the president of the club, Phillip Foubert, demanding that he convene a meeting to discuss alleged shareholder rights violations. The demand was made in the wake of the move by Mr. Foubert and members of the board of directors of the club to sell the property to a developer. But according to Tilley, there were as many 872 outstanding shares in the club representing potentially hundreds of members who were never consulted on such a sale. Ultimately, a closed meeting was held at the Lea Room at which no one who objected to the sale, including Matlow, the media and former members, was allowed to enter. Not surprisingly, Mr. Matlow himself called the circumstances “fishy.”

IS THIS THE END?

Many people hoped that former bowling club president Wally Rayner was correct when he said that the 1923 articles of incorporation of the club required the property to be returned either to Glebe Presbyterian Church (from which the land had been given as a gift) or to the City for a nominal sum if the company ceased to exist as a lawn bowling club. Rayner was president in 1999.  But his assertions were apparently not easily certified at City Hall. By the summer of 2014, Glebe Presbyterian Church itself was but a memory. Whether there is yet another chapter to the story of the Glebe Manor Lawn Bowling Club remains an open question. What was said and done between the City and the developer seems to be done with, to use a term.

Ashley Rowe

Many viewers wondered why Ashley Rowe didn’t ascend naturally like cream to the top woman’s anchor chair at Bell Media (CTV) Toronto. Her fill-in jobs were a must-watch for many. But such guessing has been idle especially since her move to WKBW in Buffalo announced in November. Now local outlets report that starting Monday, January 18 Rowe will appear on all three of WKBW’s main news programs, 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. Monday to Friday.  For the time being at least, Rowe will share anchoring of the 6 p.m. program with 65-year-old Keith Radford, another CTV Toronto alumnus.

It’s not clear whether there is really anything behind this announcement by Ontario Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca but we won’t have long to wait to find out. The Detroit Auto Show opens next week. Detroit Auto Show 2016: Ontario expect ‘major’ driverless car news