The South Bayview Bulldog

Davisville resident Nandy Heule and her neighbors have had an important win at the Committee of Adjustment. Committee agreed with the residents, and with the South Eglinton Residents and Ratepayers Association (SERRA) on an important intensification file. The address is 585 Hillsdale Ave. where the development application asked to tear down a small apartment building, sever the lot and build two “very large tall” homes. As Nandy reports, the developer has appealed the decision. Three residents are noted for helping to organize some 50 homeowners. They are  Bartek (Bart) Plocienniczak, Andrew Pagel, and Ellen Demidov.  The residents are not intractable, as a further explanation shows. This development might have created a “win win” say the homeowners if the plan had been “closer to the required local zoning bylaws.” A letter of opposition came from councilor Josh Matlow. The residents say they are looking for “respectful, sensible redevelopment.” No doubt there will more to hear on this important stand made by the residents of Hillsdale Ave. Many thanks to Nandy Heule for writing to the The South Bayview Bulldog. You can write to The Bulldog too.

The Uptown Yonge BIA is holding its Fall Fest on an unofficial three-day long weekend on September 25, 26, and 27, 2015. It looks like a pleasant occasion for anyone who takes the walk on Yonge from Roehampton (Orchard View on the other side) up to Glengrove Ave. Some events are intriguing: Children’s performer Markus, Jeff Salem Drum Circle, Rob Tardik Trio and singer-songwriter Carlo Copolla. There’s a bit of whimsy related to both the here-and-now as well as the hereafter in the parking lot of the Trull Funeral Home. Someone there will be offering secure shredding for papers requiring a dignified goodbye.

City of Toronto 

Yvonne Prowse will speak at St. Anselm’s Parish Hall at MacNaughton Rd and Millwod  Rd on the recent encyclical of Pope Francis about the environment. Ms. Prowse’s remarks will be in a series of three evenings at the church hall on Wednesday, October 21, Wednesday, October 28 and Wednesday, November 4, 2015. All are welcome and the information on the series says that she will reflect on the Pope’s message and what people can do to “respond to the call of Earth — our common home —  for healing.”

Simba re-united with owner at Pearson Airport

An Air Canada pilot diverted a Toronto-bound jet to Frankfurt so that a French bulldog named  Simba could be released from a cargo area where the heating had failed. The dog was placed aboard another aircraft which arrived back in Toronto about the same time as the original flight. Simba’s journey originated in Israel and it was as the plane headed toward the frigid Atlantic air that the captain saw an indicator which showed the  heating in the compartment had failed. Temperatures for dogs are set by the airline at a minimum ten degrees. Air Canada said: “While we recognize this was an inconvenience for our customers, the overall reaction was positive, particularly once people understood the dog was in potential danger but safe as a result of the diversion.” The owner says Simba is like his child. .

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La Presse, once the dominant newspaper voice of  French Canada, will stop publishing a weekday paper edition in 2016. It is a decision that must send chills through the offices of papers like The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star and others. LaPresse ruled public opinion, advertising and classified advertising for  more than a century since its inception in 1884. Now the publication will print only a Saturday paper and rely on the readership of its internationally renowned tablet. This electronic success is read daily by some 460,000 people, LaPresse says.

A bank robber known as the Vaulter Bandit for his athletic leaping of counters has been arrested in Geneva, Switzerland.  He is Jeffrey James Shuman, 53, nicknamed “The Vaulter” because of his ability to hop over counters to rob banks, had been sought under an international arrest warrant issued by Canada in connection with 21 bank robberies over the last five years. York Regional Police incorrectly said the accused man’s last name was Shulman, and then corrected it to Shuman. He is described as an American-French citizen who resided in France. His practice of leaping over counters and successful string of bank robberies in Canada brought him to  public attention. The Canadian Bankers Association has a $100,000 reward posted for the Vaulter. From what is known, there may well be a book behind the apprehension of this man. It is clear now that authorities knew a lot about Shuman. In the video below, Stephanie Smythe of CP24 speaks with a Swiss police source who confirms that Canadian police had time and location information on when the Vaulter would land in Switzerland. According to the source, it was apparently an easy arrest by plainclothes officers. At the time of his arrest, he was wanted on an international arrest warrant for 22 bank robberies committed in York Region, Peel Region, Hamilton, Ottawa and Calgary over the last five years.

There was another test in Ontario Wednesday morning of the television Alert Ready System run by the government via the broadcast regulator, the CRTC. Few people know about the system and those who do may know how it might be applied. But when it is tested, it takes over television arbitrarily as it did today. The test occurs without warning and in successive repetitions for about 20 minutes. The type of event which might require the use of the Alert Ready System would surely be catastrophic — a nuclear attack, a widespread biological attack or possibly Martians.

The BBC slugged this stunt “insane” but although somewhat chancy it appears the rider had all his marbles, so to speak. The good part is no one can try it here because we don’t have any dams. This is in Slovenia where mountain biker Primoz Ravnik has clocked up 4.4 million hits on the video since it was posted earlier in September. He hurtled down a 60m (197 feet) high dam in Zirovnica on August 28, 2015. Mr Ravnik learned to ride a bike when he was two, and is now a cross-country and downhill biker who, it might be added, is looking for fame.

The distant civil war that influenced politics in Canada and caused civil disorder in Toronto is before the United Nations human rights commission this week. Judges have concluded that both Sri Lankan state forces and Tamil Tiger rebels “most likely” committed war crimes including mass killings of civilians during their quarter-century war. At the height of the conflict, Tamil Tiger organizers were accused of extortion on the many Tamil families living in Scarborough. Money was extracted to support the uprising.  Tamil Tigers supporters marched daily in Toronto and on one occasion in 2009 blocked the Gardiner Expressway in an attempt to get the Canadian government to somehow intervene in the  civil war.

Police say they are suspicious about a fire that broke out early Monday (September 14, 2015) the York Mills Road and Fenn Avenue area where three houses were under construction. One home was destroyed and poilice find it very fishy. They hope that the busy street traffic will yield someone who saw something that will help them. Police are asking the public for assistance in identifying any person or vehicles in this area at around 5.45 a.m.