The South Bayview Bulldog

Here is a study that finds Toronto City Councillors vote “no” much more often than councillors in cities like Ottawa and Hamilton. The think tank Manning Centre says Toronto Councillors take four times as long debating items as those others places and vote no 11.2 percent of the time compared to 0.1 percent in those other places. Are they awake? Okay that’s unfair but it is not necessarily a bad a thing that we get a goodly number of no votes. Some of the ideas are really bad. CP24

The South Carolina cop who upended a desk and dragged a misbehaving student out of the classroom has been fired.  Authorities said deputy Ben Fields, was dismissed after an internal investigation concluded that he had violated department standards. See it here. 

Since November 2014, police have responded to reports of thefts of gas in the city’s east end. An investigation has uncovered a security camera image of the man believed to be responsible. He is described as white, with dark hair, 35-40, 6’0″, 180-200 lbs. He is driving a dark, possibly grey, Mazda 3. He may be using various Ontario licence plates, including BTSJ 194 and BSXV 201.  Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-4300, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477), online at www.222tips.com, text TOR and your message to CRIMES (274637). Download the free Crime Stoppers Mobile App on iTunes, Google Play or Blackberry App World.

Here is a hilarious study from Oxford University that has concluded that when it comes to touching a stranger, it is best to err on the side of caution. No kidding. The above CNN episdode on kissing, and air kissing, is fun too. Below is part of a so-called Guide to Touching that purportedly shows how prepared we are, men and woman, to be touched by various levels of relatives and friends or strangers. Not sure about some of this but you can look at it here.

Residents filled the William Lea Room to near capacity Tuesday night to hear both the City Planner and the developer of the property known as 939 Eglinton Ave. E.  As many as 30 people made comments and asked questions about the five-acre site on the southwest corner of Eglinton and Brentcliffe Road. Questions centred on traffic, schools and what many said will be a hopelessly overloaded LRT when it is completed in 2021. The developers are Diamond Corporation in partnership with Dawsco Corporation, the land’s owner. Dawsco has operated a shopping mall on Brentcliffe between  Eglinton and Vanderhoof Ave. for many years.

A LITTLE BIT OF GOOD NEWS

It is by any measure an enormous proposal. Councillor Jon Burnside called it the “Big Daddy of them all.” He said the development will set the tone for what happened to the west at the Leaside Centre property owned by Rio.Can and to the east on the property occupied by Staples and other big box stores. Mr. Burnside lamented the failure of the City to properly study the area as was called for in its flossy Eglinton Connex study of 2013. There was no money but the Councillor said his continuing efforts  had finally yielded results and such a “drilling down” into traffic conditions at the site will be done. But it was not clear just how much value it will have in assessing 939 Eglinton. He called the study “a little bit of good news.”

CLASSROOMS IN A CONDO?

The plan itself is quite staggering. It is a  project worthy of Burnside’s Big Daddy description. Four condo towers of 19, 20, 31 and 34 storeys plus a mid-rise multi-use building on Eglinton of maybe eight storeys and a new private road to separate less intense commercial activity the south. There would be a mid-rise office building and a park. Under heavy questioning about how the  school board would manage the influx of kids, CEO Steve Diamond said his firm has had talks with the Toronto and District School Board (TDSB) about classrooms or a school (it wasn’t quite clear) in the condos somewhere. It was getting on in the evening and this bit of information was treated quite scornfully by the residents.

HOW HIGH?

The mood started to go downhill during a description of  the development by architect Sol Wassermuhl  In a detailed description of the site he neglected to state that the towers to the south were to be 31  and 34. It was only when Mr. Wassermuhl was asked the specific heights of these two towers that he said they were 31 and 34 and added he was sorry for forgetting that. The information is public but the meeting took this slip quite badly. It isn’t clear just why it happened but ratepayers can be unforgiving of mistakes. The development is at an early stage and Mr. Diamond was hopeful that a final version could be agreed upon in meetings with the City. He said that he did not wish to find himself at the OMB and that his firm has not resorted to that in the past.

A South Carolina student is manhandled and handcuffed after she allegedly disrupted a class and refused to leave a classroom at a local school. Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott told reporters Tuesday that the student “bears some responsibility.” Her violent arrest was captured in a video. “If she had not disrupted the school and disrupted that class, we would not be standing here today. So it started with her and it ended with my officer. What I’m going to deal with is what my deputy did,” he said. The sheriff spoke about the existence of another video that purportedly shows the student resisting. “It showed the officer as he puts his hands on her, her punching him,” Lott told CNN, adding that the student’s behavior doesn’t justify what happened after. The school resource officer involved in the incident, Deputy Ben Fields, has been suspended without pay. Lott expects to make a decision within the next 24 hours about Fields’ continued employment — CNN.

Three people are dead in a horrifying accident on Highway 404 Tuesday afternoon. A fourth person is in hospital. Video suggests it was a collision between two vehicle with the wreckage all in the northbound lane north of Stouffville Road. The Sun newspaper quotes OPP Sgt Kerry Schmidt as saying “it looks like a crossover” meaning that a southbound car leaped the median and landed in the northbound lane. He said the vehicles were a Ford Fusion and a Toyota Camry.

The CIBC branch on Bayview Ave. is going all digital. The first thing you will notice about the change is that there will be no tellers. That’s right. In less than two weeks, the little branch at 1529 Bayview will re-open with only digital service for all withdrawal and deposit requirements. Our local branch is one of five in Canada to be so designated by CIBC head office. There will be people in the branch, but none of them will be standing at a wicket waiting for your business. A source at the branch says the tellers will all find work in other bank jobs. No doubt one of the busiest occupations will be explaining how it works to some customers.

DEEPEN RELATIONSHIPS?

Early in October CIBC’s new CEO Victor Dodig announced his intention to take the bank into new territory where it could “deepen relationships through digital” with customers. It seems certain that at least some customers will struggle with just how warm a digital relationship might be but the bank is pressing on. The Bank of Montreal is making similar all-digital sounds. Anyone listening to the earlier announcement might have guessed that there was precious little additional digital possible in banking as we understand it, apart from no tellers. Money by mail, bill payments, investments  — it’s all here. The South Bayview branch will close from Wednesday, November 4th to Sunday November 8th, 2015 reopening on Monday November 9, 2015. Concierge staff? CIBC makes digital push

The details relating to the death of a newborn boy who was circumcised and subsequently bled to death have been aired at a hearing of the Ontario Health Professions Appeal and Review Board.  Hamilton Spectator