York Mills Place condo flooded as main breaks

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Residents of the York Mills Place condominium at the corner of Yonge St and York Mills Rd. are undergoing a flooding ordeal Friday (November 14, 2014). A broken mater main has inundated their garage, lobby and cut off electricity — so there are no elevators. Many occupants are said to be elderly. Toronto Police Service Operations desk is warning motorists to stay away as well. Traffic is backed up in all directions. CBC  Photos: CP24 via Twitter 

Events coming up in Mount Pleasant Village

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In Mount Pleasant Village there are some interesting events coming up. Tomorrow, there will a book launch at Canadian Fine Arts Gallery at 577 Mt. Pleasant Rd. The book is Impressionism in Canada by A.K. Prakash and the event runs from 1 to 5 p.m. On Saturday, December 15, 2014, Mount Pleasant Rd Baptist Church will host the Jubilance Singers and Orchestra (below). Mount Pleasant Village BIA

Santa Claus Parade comes to town on Sunday

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The 110th Santa Claus Parade comes to town this Sunday, November 16, 2014 with many road closures. Organizers say there are more floats this year than ever before. Always fun. The parade will start at 12.30 p.m. and follow an established route east on Bloor Street from Christie Street.  It should pass Bloor and Avenue Rd early in the afternoon.  Read details in police directions

PM Harper and wife welcomed in New Zealand

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Prime Minister Harper and his wife, Laureen, execute the important Maori welcome ritual of rubbing noses as they arrive in New Zealand. The salutation, as seen, demands a pressing together of the foreheads as well as noses.  Harper has spoken about the war on ISIS and the environment as he travels on to Brisbane for the G20 summit. CBC

Erica Stark (Bissinger) formerly of Leaside

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The following notice is re-printed from the Toronto Star obituaries where it was published this morning (Thursday, November 13, 2014)  Erica Stark (nee Bissinger) was killed when she was struck by a minivan a week ago today.  Previous post. 

ERICA STARK (nee BISSINGER) Aged 42, lifelong resident of Toronto. Much loved wife of David; mother of Dylan, Gavin and Matthew; daughter of Linda Bissinger and Ed Bissinger (Carol Stanley); sister of Sarah Bissinger (Craig Anderson); daughter-in-law of Jack Stark; sister-in-law of Andy Stark (Sylvia Proaño) and Laurie Stark; aunt of Lennox, Camilo and Evan; step-sister of Hilary McMahon (Colin) and Allan Stanley (Lynn Pacarynuk). Missed terribly by aunts, uncles, cousins and little ones on both sides. Taken from us suddenly, Erica lived life to its fullest: travelling the world with her family, teaching healthy living and empathy to her boys, inspiring others and being inspired and giving her time, love, enthusiasm and unstinting dedication to the Withrow community. Cozying up with good books, discussing them at her book clubs, fostering future dog guides, cooking, baking, snowshoeing, brisk walks, yoga, Zumba dancing classes and spending summers and work weekends at YMCA Geneva Park, we will remember Erica for these and other pursuits that reflect her strength and passion for life. Erica and David spent 22 wonderful years together and she adored every minute she had with their beautiful young boys–always mindful of their health, safety and well-being. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to: Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides, YMCA Capital Campaign for Geneva Park or the Withrow Home and School Associationn Visitation will be held at Trull Funeral Home, 1111 Danforth Ave., on Monday, November 17, 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. Funeral will be held at Eastminster United Church, 310 Danforth Ave., on Tuesday, November 18 at 10:30 a.m. Online condolences may be made by visiting www.trullfuneralsdanforth.com

Liquor, wine and the future of South Bayview

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The organizers of the yet to be formed Business Improvement Association on South Bayview have their work cut out for them. One looming problem is the likely disappearance of the LCBO store at 1524 Bayview at Millwood Road. Even when the easy-up, easy down plastic signs were being installed in 2013 (inset) workmen were laughing at how short this location was going to last. The LCBO is following its time-honoured policy of going to the malls, where parking is free, big stores kiss them and so do the landlords. In this case, it appears the Bayview LCBO will find its new home in what is being called the Whole Foods development at 1860 Bayview and Broadway Ave. The construction on the old Brennan’s Pontiac site is speeding along and Whole Foods is committed to a 2015 opening. An LCBO there will make a nice tit-for-tat arrangement between the 1860 Bayview landlord, RioCan, and the other lucky host to a local LCBO, Smart Centre, on Laird Drive. What to do? There is no business like a liquor and wine store to make a street “vibrant” in the parlance of BIA promoters. It may be good news that the local MPP’s name is Kathleen Wynne. Who knows? Does the Leaside Property Owners Association care about South Bayview? There are options to the LCBO. They’re not as good but better than nothing. Vincor International, owners of the Wine Rack brand, have sniffed around South Bayview more than once. And there is that appealing 21st Century solution seen in many U.S. states and all across Asia: the wine vending machine. Compact, secure, convenient and, dare we say, vibrant. Sadly, the LCBO just doesn’t want to know about this concept it seems. Last April’s much-trumpeted notion of liquor kiosks in supermarkets has been shown up as a tawdry election gimmick. Plans call for so few of the outlets you might drive miles to find one, if they are ever built. Grocers face long odds of LCBO Kiosk   Ontario should explore wine vending machines 

3-D bus shelter for Downtown South Bayview

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A crew from Bell Media’s Astral Out-of-Home Division was on the northwest corner of Bayview Avenue and Millwood Road this morning. When they were done, the neighborhood had a useful new bus shelter. It is described as three-dimensional which seems to mean that waiting passengers can get out of the weather on all sides. Some Astral shelters hardly deserve the name. They are canopy models and usually shoehorn onto narrow sidewalks. They have no sides or front and barely any top.   

Window washers rescued from above New York

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There was a heart-stopping emergency and equally nerve wracking rescue over the streets of Manhattan today (Wednesday, November 12, 2014) as two window washers found themselves in a dangling washer carriage which normally goes up and down the side of buildings flawlessly. It happened at the newly-finished Number One World Trade Centre and rescue crews immediately went to work to bring the men down safely. They train for this all the time apparently and are said to have practiced just such a rescue at the World Trade Centre merely ten days ago. Still and all, it took nearly 90 minutes for rescuers to be lowered  from the roof. Others cut open a large hole in the skyscraper’s glass sheathing. When that was done, workers and rescuers together, everyone wearing a safety harness, made the perilous step from the stranded carriage into the 64th floor of the office tower and safety. There are many more renderings of this event on YouTube

Boffins checking lander status after harpoon hitch

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A space adventure intended to expand out understanding of how the solar system was created some 4.6 billion years ago has landed a space robot called Philae on a comet six billion kilometres from Earth. Philae was launched from a mother ship, Rosetta, which carried the robot lander from lift-off ten years ago to its critical descent journey within recent hours. There has been a hitch in the plan however as the status of Philae remains somewhat unknown. Harpoons on the robot failed to anchor it to the surface of the comet. The European Space Agency said the lander launched on schedule today (Wednesday, November 12, 2014)  after a seven-hour descent from its orbiting mother ship. But during the free fall to the comet’s surface, the harpoons were non-starters for some reason. The agency hopes to know more about the state of the probe by Thursday. Scientists hope that samples drilled out from the comet will unlock details about how the planets evolved. Comets date to the formation of the solar system 4.6 billion years ago. Scientists suspect impacting comets delivered water to the young Earth. Rosetta and the Philae craft have cameras and nearly two dozen instruments to probe the comet’s surface — and to analyze the material below it.

Philae robot makes historic #CometLanding

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Space history is made as the ‪#‎Philae‬ robot makes a ‪#‎CometLanding‬. ‪

Two young men die in Haliburton plane crash

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Two young men have died after their small plane crashed near Haliburton on Tuesday night (November 11, 2014) The pilot of the Cessna 150, which had taken off from Buttonville Airport, apparently became disoriented in cloud and ran out of fuel. Captain Alexandre Cadieux of the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre at CFB Trenton said the wreckage was found early Wednesday morning in Whitney inside Algonquin Provincial Park area. 

Loblaws sees large boost on Shoppers Drug

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Loblaws has seen a 36% jump in revenue and stronger-than-expected earnings in the third quarter as a result of increased business from its Shoppers Drug Mart acquisition. Loblaws said third-quarter revenue climbed to 13.6 billion from $10 billion a year earlier. Excluding Shoppers, revenue at Loblaws edged up just 2% in an intensely competitive business. Loblaw continues to experimnet with the removal or independent brand names in an attmept to impove its margins. In somes cases, it has removed brands and then returned them  to its shelves after gauging customer reaction.