Wild and crazy Bayview and Eglinton — the beat goes on

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The tumultuous corner of Eglinton Ave. E and Bayview Ave continues to be just that way. The beat goes on. The McDonald’s is gone but on the upside it is now much easier to get in and out of Metro. All that digging in the grocery parking lot last week was about removing the funny little lanes that used to slow things down so much when you went in there. There is still repaving happening outside the front door. Metro also has  placed a sign board on the corner advertising a new Peller Estates Wine store inside.

WYNNE-A-BEER?

This has nothing to do with the Wynne-a-Beer project of the local MPP. Peller is part of a wine mammoth which somehow got itself endowed with the right to open retail stores all over the province, unlike other Ontario vintners. Also in the Metro lot, Tosto Quickfire Pasta Pizza is forging ahead with plans to open at the designated address of 609 Roehampton Ave.  There is a sign in the window saying they are hiring. Kittycorner is the lifeless McDonald’s, except for the boys carting out bit and pieces.

SAY GOODBYE TO HIGH SCHOOL MEMORIES

Big Mac himself has already taken the stoves and other useful stuff to storage. It is sad for some because as @idcvannessa said on Twitter: “Someone say goodbye to my high school memories.” Across the street is the Mac’s. It will soon become a Circle K (Yee Haw Leaside). This is because the owner of Mac’s Couche Tarde (Night Owl) had a funny daydream to re-brand all the Mac’s. Jeez. Why don’t they try sleeping at night? Down the walk at Sunnybrook is Gentry Menswear where the owner has announced his retirement. Reasonably, the sale will go on until Christmas. Nice clothes though.

Toronto truck-bomb plotter stripped of citizenship

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Zakaria Amara

The federal government has revoked the citizenship of Zakaria Amara, the young man who organized a band of would-be terrorists in a plot to set enormous truck bombs at many points in downtown Toronto. Amara remains in federal prison. He holds Jordanian citizenship and might be deported there on his release. At his trial in 2010, Amara agreed to details of the plot in which he intended to rent U-Haul trucks, load them with ammonia nitrate bombs and detonate them by remote control  He told undercover Mounties that this was to be The Battle of Toronto. He set up a camp in Northern Ontario where he trained his followers. They became known in the media as the Toronto 18. In recent days, conspirators Asad Ansari and Saad Khalid have also been informed by letter they will be stripped of citizenship under Bill C-24 passed last May. According to the CBC, Mohamed Hersi, convicted of trying to join the Somalia-based extremist group al-Shabaab, has also received a letter.

 

Teen diets and has tummy tuck to fulfill her bikini dream

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CNN tells a story that is somehow uplifting even though it comes from the worrisome world of how we fret about our bodies. The result is remarkable.

Kelly Dolson opens renovated Core Pilates on Millwood

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kelly-550Kelly Dolson has officially opened her new Core Body and Science Pilates and Training Studio. Her husband Thomas was helping Saturday and there were many friends and clients at the studio which is at 862 Millwood Rd. That’s Kelly inset with some senior Leasiders and prospective clients. All seniors will find a warm and caring welcome at Core. Kelly, a former critical care RN, has had a studio in this block for a number of years. But as business grew and opportunity knocked, Kelly recently bought the building she and Thomas have just renovated. It is a charming space with a southern exposure through the newly installed all-weather folding doors across the front of the storefront. You can reach Kelly at 416.799.0444 info@corebodyscience.com

Another car into pole at the Mt. Pleasant-Stibbard curve

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A woman has been injured in a single crash of her car into a utility pole at Mt. Pleasant Rd. and Stibbard Ave overnight. She is in serious condition. This is the location of the gentle little double curve (or chicane) that has been the scene of more than one accident and has witnessed at least one death. Mt. Pleasant and Stibbard fatal of April 2012

Lotto Max ticket for $60 million sold in Ontario

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Closer and closer as Blue Jays beat Tampa Bay Rays 5-3

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CAMH meeting on 175 Brentcliffe building October 5, 2015

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The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health has scheduled a meeting in the Lea Room at the Leaside Arena for Monday, October 5, 2015 at 6.30 p.m. to answer community questions about the planned use of its building at 175 Brentcliffe Road. CAMH release  

When if ever will holiday closings face the Charter test?

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The Ontario Court of Justice recently rendered a decision which provided an opportunity for grocery stores in Toronto to remain open on statutory holidays. As a result, a Longo’s store downtown was open on Labour Day and so was Summerhill Market  Summerhill is often open but it usually tapes off large parts of the store to conform with arcane provisions of municipal law.

PREPARED MEALS

Essentially, the court found that Longo’s was selling “prepared meals” under the City of Toronto legislation by which holiday shopping is controlled. Council is making noises that it will somehow plug this loophole  It says the prepared meals language was intended for restaurants. It’s an interesting skirmish in the timeless question of why some businesses are open and others must close. The Eaton Centre is always open. It benefits from what most people recognize as a thoroughly bogus definition of the place as a tourist zone.

CRAZY-QUILT RULES

The ongoing question is when if ever will this crazy quilt of legislation be tested by the Supreme Court of Canada (SCOC). Although some Councillors are grumbling, there is a lot of opinion that the City doesn’t dare lay a charge against a large firm with lots of money. If the complainant decided to appeal to the SCOC, there is opinion that dozens of regulations would be found unconstitutional.

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Ford tough: 73-year-old fire truck 33 visits South Bayview

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Fire truck No 33 visited South Bayview today to be featured here by the The South Bayview Bulldog. Watch the siren check below. It is part of a city-wide tour of the wonderful 1942 Ford truck. It seems to be living up to the well-known advertising slogan Ford Tough. These and about eleven other antique TFS vehicles are well-coddled in fact. The current outings are to publicize the Firefighters Without Borders Calendar in aid of third-world fire departments. Money raised goes to purchase necessary equipment. This is the fifth year of publication for the calendar The tour has taken the two men assigned, Mykhal Baeir and Darius Kharazmi, all over the GTA. Today they started at the Yonge and Grosvenor station and moved on to the century fire hall at Yonge and Balmoral before dropping by Bayview and Millwood where these shots were taken.

McDonald’s falls dark as Metrolinx begins demolition

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mcdonalds They took down the McDonald’s signs at Bayview Ave and Eglinton Ave. E. yesterday and now the restaurant is dark as workers take it apart in preparation for demolition. It will become the Bayview LRT station, at least at street level. Concern for just what the province will do to try to recoup money by way of a condominium tower or other type of development on the site is unknown. The province, as we know, can do whatever it wants.