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

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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

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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. 

New poured foundation of the enlarged Elgie House

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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

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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

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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.
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Much-loved stationmaster Tama becomes Shinto goddess

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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

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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.

Reader questions the location of new Tim Horton’s

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A reader has questioned the location of the new Tim Horton’s at the southwest corner of Eglinton Ave. E. and Bayview Ave. Kimberly Lexovsky has said this is a “terrible spot. Too busy a corner. Afraid for high schoolers crossing that busy accident prone intersection.” Ms. Lexovsky said: “Problem is kids at that age are glued to their phones and that is a problem when they are crossing a large busy intersection. Time will tell.” Thanks for perspective Ms. Lexovsky. Susan Johnson had this to say: “It would be better at the plaza, but by a bus stop is always good. The original location near Roehampton likely wouldn’t draw as many”. .New Tim Horton’s location

Pride Parade marchers in good spirits despite the rain

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Pride Parade marchers were in high spirits despite the weather. Earlier report: The Pride Parade was held in wet and chilly weather but an estimated 8,000 participated in high spirits. It wound along Church and Bloor Streets, south on Yonge to Dundas Street and then back to Church. Former Scarborough resident David Furnish, Elton John’s spouse, was the grand marshall of this year’s parade. Other grand marshalls included Celina Jately. a LGBTQ activist in India and Pussy Riot, the outrageous feminist punk group. famous singer Cyndi Lauper and Brendan Jordan, 15. There were politicians present. Premier Wynne, PC leader Brown and Mayor Tory, Thomas Mulcair and Justin Trudeau attended.

Post-midnight downpour leaves gutters full, tree falls

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Heavy rain into Sunday likely left at least the ten millimetres forecast. Toronto Police Operation ‏@TPSOperations reported that a large tree was down in the EB curb lane of Bloor St between Parliament and Sherbourne. The Ops room also tweeted that the City was experiencing multiple outages at traffic control signals along Bloor St. and asked drivers to treat blacked out intersection as all way stops. They were also reporting a tree down blocking Rosedale Valley Rd at Park Rd in SB lanes.