Three Leaside Parks closed because of wet conditions

The Parks Department has officially closed both Trace Manes Park and Howard Talbot Park in the west diamond area, as well as Leaside Park on Millwood Road. This is  caused of course by the soggy conditions and sadly there appears to rain in tomorrow’s forecast.  What a nuisance..

Dear Premier: For humanity’s sake throw a net over HOV

Honest to Pete, it’s hard to suppress an epithet listening to Transportation Minister Stephen Del Duca pompously lecturing Toronto on how to use the Pan Am Games HOV lanes. This dizzy scheme concocted by Del Duca and his mad bureaucrats offers all the signs of a provincial government that is out of control. Incomprehensible road signs to places most people don’t want to go. HOV lanes snarling traffic on highways and roads with punishing $110 fines if you can’t figure it out. The mayor of Toronto is begging the government to relax its three-person per vehicle requirement. HOV is the Transportation Ministry out of control and the Premier should throw a net over it in the name of humanity and good government.

Ground floor apartment at 342 St. Clair Ave. E. for lease

342 st clair The ground floor apartment in the elegant duplex at 342 St. Clair Ave. E. is for lease. This house is located at the corner of St. Clair and Welland Ave. It is large with seven rooms including two bedrooms and two bathrooms. The monthly rent on a lease is $2,995. Bonnie Byford Real Estate (416) 483-4444

Lowes to say Tuesday if it will open in East York Centre

There is much anticipation of the Tuesday, June 30, 2015 closing date on purchases made by Lowes Canada of 13 former Target leases across Canada. All of Thornclifffe Park, Leaside and South Bayview will benefit if one of those leases is at the East York Town Centre. In mid-May, Lowes said it would announce its decision June 30. That was in response to a speculative story in The South Bayview Bulldog saying it would make sense for Lowes to locate at  the Town Centre. The actual message from Lowes was to “stay tuned” for information  — a message inclined to make readers optimistic. Now the date is almost here and we will learn the truth Tuesday.  Will Lowes find its way to the East York Town Centre

OMB to hear RioCan plan for towers at Sunnybrook

Tuesday, June 30, 2015 will see the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) meeting at which RioCan will appeal to amend the City of Toronto Official Plan so it can build towers on the site of Sunnybrook Plaza. Community organizer Kate Whitehead has been leading the fight against a plan to construct towers 13 and 19 storeys. She and others are hoping for a good  turnout at the hearing which is scheduled for 10 a.m. at  655 Bay Street on the 15th floor. Here is her Facebook page. 

TSX down sharply as Greek collapse hits investors

Globe and Mail 

New poured foundation of the enlarged Elgie House

elgie-foundation-w insert A poured concrete foundation for the historic Elgie House has been created at 262 Bessborough Drive. It is the future resting place of the 19th Century pioneer home and a new extension which will be built onto it. It appears that the time of the great shift of the home onto this foundation is coming near. Right now, the home sits beside the foundation (inset) on two layers of steel beams and below them wooden blocks.

David Sweat moments after he was shot and handcuffed

sweat-field-500-textThis first picture of David Sweat is from CNN. It shows him sitting in a field Sunday near the Canadian border after he was shot in the shoulder by a state trooper. He and his accomplice Richard Matt (now dead) had led police a wild three-week flight across northern New York State. Sweat was spotted in the hamlet of Constable, New York and told by police to stop. He apparently did not, and was shot. It seems clear he was trying to get across the border and he came within two miles. .

Chippers are singing in the rain across South Bayview

Here on McRae Drive a City crew was busy on this wet Sunday afternoon cleaning up fallen branches from the overnight rain and wind. The tree chipper is in good voice. It has been a stay-home day across South Bayview but Monday is forecast to be mostly sunny with a high of 24. Rain is forecast for Tuesday and the rest of the week is mostly sunny. Below left, Bessborough Drive homeowner nearly had this branch on his van. Right, big bruiser of a branch fell from quite high to bend the fence that way outside Bessborough school.
branches-500

Much-loved stationmaster Tama becomes Shinto goddess

tama

The much-loved white, orange and black Calico cat who became a local tourist attraction at a Tokyo railway station has died. Tama was 16 and her passing has so moved the local friends, fans and owners of the Wakayama Electric Railway Co. that the gentle creature has been elevated to the status of a goddess in a Shinto funeral ceremony. Tama’s lore includes her  discovery in the train station in 2007 and a decision to dress her in a custom-made stationmaster’s hat as a welcoming presence. It worked beyond the wildest expectation of the railway which attributes a sum of nearly $10 million Canadian to Tama in fares, pictures and souvenirs. Tama died of heart failure on June 22.  The Shinto religion, indigenous to Japan and practised by many Japanese, has a variety of gods including animals. Wakayama President Mitsunobu Kojima thanked the cat for her achievement, and said Tama will be enshrined at a nearby cat shrine next month.

Banks to close as Greece faces collapse of its economy

Greek banks and the stock exchange will be shut tomorrow as creditors refused to supply new bailout cash. Account holders are lined up all over Greece trying to get their money out. Other European nations warned travellers to Greece to make sure they have enough Euros to get in and out of their vacation destination. The Greek banks have been kept afloat by emergency funding from the European Central Bank. That funding is now being slowly turned off. It is expected that the Athens government will default on a €1.6 billion payment due to the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday.

Hydro reports some customers without power Sunday

Hydro Outage Map