Rosedale Valley Road will be closed overnight from Bayview Avenue to Park Road in both directions until Saturday, December 13, 2014 to allow for emergency repairs to the Glen Road pedestrian bridge. The road closure will begin at 9 p.m. each night and continue until 5 a.m. the following morning.
“Significant” snow predicted for us tonight
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As much as 10 cms may be seen here. Environment Canada
Baby left in car is found safe and well by police
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A baby which was taken as part of a car theft is apparently fine and back with his mother Wednesday. The vehicle, a Honda CRV, was taken while the woman was inside a Shell station at Rexwood and Derry Roads in Mississauga, having left her 9-month old son in the back seat. When she came out after paying, the car was seen leaving the lot. Police say it was abandoned a very short distance from the station. Presumably the car thief was surprised to find he had stolen someone’s child as well as the car. It is a cautionary tale for all people with children although many will say it passes all knowing why an infant would be left in an unlocked car.
Study says turbines don’t depress home values
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The most recent survey of property values in areas where the Ontario government is building wind turbine farms has concluded that there is little effect on the value of nearby properties with some isolated exceptions. Others, like local real estate agents, say the value of such homes has declined by as much as 50 percent against homes in turbine-free areas. The parameters of the recent study are not very clear, at least as explained in news reports. The researchers are Richard Vyn and Ryan McCullough of the University of Guelph. It seems intuitive that homes from which turbines can be seen and heard are going to suffer reduced values whereas those which are close to, but out of sight and beyond the sound of wind turbines, would be more stable in value. Dave Launchbury, who has been selling real estate in the wind-farm area of Melancthon 100 kilometres northwest of Toronto for seven years, says there appears to be a growing stigma attached to properties near turbines. Many potential buyers won’t even look at them, he said. Launchbury estimated properties close to turbines sell for “at least” 10 per cent less. As you may have guessed, the picture above is not a true picture of what residents see as they drive out of Bennington Heights or Leaside. But we are guessing if it were, your house prices would be under water. Hope we didn’t scare you.
Beautiful and quick “Shiho” wrapping for holidays
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In Japan they do it with what seems like the speed of light. It’s called Shiho and it does seem to simplify gift wrapping. According to the information with this YouTube video it takes less than 20 seconds for wrap most gifts. (In a Japanese department store is seems to like two seconds). Here is a slowed down version showing how to gift wrap in this style. Materials: Decorative Paper (Katazome-shi was used in the video), Ribbon, Decorative Tape. Good luck
The “human right” not to play on artificial turf
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It’s come to this in Canada. The land will soon know if the choice of playing soccer on grass rather than artificial turf is an inalienable blessing from God or otherwise delivered to humanity by supernatural power. If a tribunal of human rights wise persons find it so, the right to “go grass” will rank right up there with the right to free speech, equal access to paid work and freedom of religion. What a country. Ottawa Citizen
Smart meters a costly flop says Auditor General
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The Auditor General of Ontario, has dropped a ton of bricks on the Liberal government, accusing it permitting the provincial debt to soar out of control and claiming that the over-budget two-billion dollar smart meter program is a total flop. Bonnie Lysek says essentially that off-peak saving are an illusion. The price of the supposedly cheaper power has ballooned, costing consumers more than they would have been paying if smart meters had never been invented. The entire AG’s report is a shocking revelation, even considering her independent role from the government. She says people in Ontario are paying billions of dollars extra for electricity because of the dysfunctional smart meter program. Lysek reported today (Tuesday December 9, 2014) that ratepayers will pay $50 billion between 2006 and 2015 because of an extra charge on their electricity bills that covers the gap between guaranteed prices paid to contracted power generators. Hamilton Spectator
Cody carollers return to Starbucks on Bayview
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Kate and William thrill crowd at Cavs vs Nets
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Tow truck drivers heading for Queen’s Park
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| Getting the hook? |
Tow truck drivers protesting that they are over-regulated may be hard for many people to swallow. But that’s the story Tuesday morning (December 9, 2014) as an estimated 1,500 of them converge on Queen”s Park. Yes, stay away. The province says new legislation will regulate the tow truck industry and reduce auto insurance rates. But tow truck drivers say it hampers their ability to do their job and may ultimately raise prices. It is touting reduced auto insurance premiums by about 15 per cent by August 2015 and the convenience of paying tow truck drivers by credit card,. That one really does seems reasonable. But tow truck drivers so no, claiming it will raise prices. Under the new act, drivers would be under the authority of the Commercial Vehicle Operator’s Registration, which would limit their workdays to 13 hour days and a maximum of 60 hours a week. Drivers say this this will limit their ability serve customers and create longer response times, especially during the winter when one tow can take four hours.
“World’s worst driver” clocks 3,108,811 clicks
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Calgary police are cutting some slack — but not much — for the poor middle-aged lady who spent five minutes trying to get her car out of a public lot there. They say they understand but have still handed her a $115 ticket for unsafe backing after she was caught on camera reversing into a vehicle. The story with video is in our previous post. A day ago there were 500,000 clicks for the YouTube video but that has grown as the video goes worldwide. It sits at posting time at 3,108,811. As police say, it’s not that the scenes are horrific. They’re just kind of stupefying. Insp. Ken Thrower, head of the traffic section, says the woman probably got nervous trying to back out of the lot and the more she tried the more frustrated she became.“I would think she probably panicked a little bit, got nervous. It’s in front of windows so there’s probably people looking out at her.
Look out! Here comes “You know you shouldn’t”
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Here it comes. You will be “educated” to drive properly in Toronto and you will enjoy it, as those old satires might have put it. On the instructions of the mayor, City officials and police are warning you that the dreaded zero tolerance is about to be invoked. Step out of line and you will get it. You know you shouldn’t — So don’t will address five driving bete noires. See how many of them you commit. 1. Drivers making prohibited turns at intersections 2. Pedestrians stepping on to roadways in advance of green light or walk signals 3. Blocking of the intersection and failing to clear an intersection in the green light 4. Blocking of lanes by stopped vehicles 5. Failing to clear minor collisions.. Chief Blair says that, in the run-up to elections this year, Torontonians had said a major issue affecting their quality of life was traffic congestion. Let’s see how we like the solution.