The South Bayview Bulldog

There was a morning stabbing at Sherbourne St and Queen St Saturday morning. The information is less than fragmentary. There is a suspect, as recorded in police operations tweets seen below.

The very hot weather this August has made the annual wasp season even edgier. The common and sensible practice of keeping food and drink covered on the patio is a good one. Sadly, this cannot extend to the food you want to eat.  Kathleen, above, shoos away a yellow jacket on the patio at Caffe Doria on Yonge Street.

The construction website Buzz-Buzz posted this wonderful video as an example of a construction style. It is also a testament to the decency of people. Amish farmers in Ohio raise a barn for a neighbor in ten hours between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. last May. The three-minute and thirty-second clip was shot by resident Scott Miller who used a Canon 60d Camera with a Pixel TW-282/E3 wireless remote timer set at 20-second intervals to capture 1,600 photos over the 10 hour period.

There is deep concern about the theft of potent fentynal patches stolen Thursday from a drug store at Church and Queen Streets. The fentynal is said to be more potent than heroin and police are especially concerned that it could fall into the hands of children. As many as 100 of the potentially deadly patches were taken, stolen for their opioid pain reliever. The Toronto Sun says that fentanyl has been linked to recent fatal overdoses in the GTA. The drug is also behind a recent spike in overdose deaths in Western Canada. There were 14 to 20 boxes, each containing five fentanyl skin patches, stolen. Police say the drug is used by addicts who scrape or otherwise extract the active material from the patches and inject it or mix it with other substances. The Toronto Police drug squad recently warned the public about the growing fentanyl problem, both with patches and the mixing of its powdered form with other drugs, such as cocaine and Oxycontin

Christine Elliot

Christine Elliot has resigned as a member of the provincial legislature Friday (August 28, 2015). She lost in an attempt to lead the Progressive Conservative Party earlier this year. Ms. Elliot is the widow of the late Finance Minister Jim Flaherty. She has three sons  The leader of the PCs, Patrick Brown has issued a statement thanking Elliott for her public service. “Christine has been a tireless advocate for her constituents and Ontario, and an esteemed member of our caucus,” he said. “We appreciate her well wishes and in turn wish her the best as she embarks on this next chapter of her life.”Elliott “could be the fiercest of adversaries in debates” and “left her mark on Ontario’s political landscape,” said Premier Kathleen Wynne. “She was passionate, but never personal,” said Wynne. “Her regard for Queen’s Park and its elected members made her one of the most respected MPPs in the house. “New Democrat Leader Andrea Horwath said Elliott was “a strong female voice” who always conducted herself with dignity and intelligence.

The plan for the former Amaya Dining Room at 1701 Bayview Ave is a concept to be known as the Indian Street Food Co. Owner Hemant Bhagwani  had promised a new idea or two and this is it. He is quoted in the Post as saying: “After Amaya, I wanted to take Indian food to the next level. It’s about street food for me now. We’re going to re-open as Indian Street Food Company.” The menu will have 25 items with a price range from $7 to $12. It sounds as if the place will be elaborately decorated in an ornate style with “street lamps” from India and a “royal gold door”. The food is described as street snacks.

Esso’s On The Run multi-pump station at Mt. Pleasant Rd. and Merton St. was jammed Friday (August 28, 2015) as drivers flocked to local gas bars for 99.9 cent-a-litre regular gasoline. That price is the lowest seen in more than four years, according to experts. Prices vary by market. Regular is as much as $1.05 in Vancouver to 76.9 cents in Edmonton to 98.9 cents in St. John’s, according to the Gas Buddy website. But the average yesterday was 99 cents a litre. According to Gas Buddy authority Dan McTeague prices may keep dropping into early next year. The discovery of petroleum in the U.S. by fracking has set up a struggle between OPEC and American producers that augers well for lower prices in the foreseeable future.

SkyGreece Airlines must be one of those things that seemed like a good idea at the time. That was 2012. Now the little specialized carrier has shut down leaving people stranded across its network from Toronto to Athens to Zagreb. Some of the passenger stories are heart-breaking and it makes many people shake their heads that anyone would embark on the creation of yet another a boutique airline. It is a field that destroys small carriers, especially start-ups, and seasoned investors are well-warned to stay away. SkyGreece is a Canadian company, headquartered in Athens. The linked CBC story quotes the owner Aris Sideratos as saying he just doesn’t know what to say to people who are stranded in Greece.  CBC

Ten-year-old Koen Norton of Prince Edward Island performed a he-man landing of a 486-pound (220-kilogram) bluefin tuna over the weekend. It may be a record-breaker too as Koen and his dad wait to hear from the Guinness Book of World Records to find out if it’s the biggest fish ever caught by a 10-year-old using the stand-up fishing technique. Koen spent an hour in a fishing pole harness with the tuna on the end of his line, reeling it in bit by bit, until he and his father were able to bring the fish back to shore.

Smokin Cigar held its annual Customer Appreciation Night on Bayview Ave. Thursday (August 27, 2015). The sounds and scents were straight from Havana, or for purists, Habana.

Fascinating Mercedes or maybe lookalike Mercedes was parked nearby, cigar lovers were given a special yard in front of Sport Clips and right, business is brisk. Smokin Cigar is at 1540 Bayview. The proprietor is Trae Zammit.