Globe and Mail Montreal’s Eugenie Bouchard has defeated Angelique Kerber, 6-3, 6-4.
Video: How Eugenie stays strong (click picture)
Pot clinic choosing space at Yonge-Eglinton
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Isabel Teotonio of the Toronto Star with the latest on local marijuana clinics. One just opened on the Danforth near Broadview Ave. and another is getting ready to set up near Yonge St. and Eglinton Ave. E.
Grandparents forced to leave their home
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The mystifying case of little Nathan O’Brien and his grandparents, Alvin Liknes, 66, and Kathryn Liknes, 53, continues to shock the city of Calgary. this morning (Monday, July 2, 2014) the boy’s father, Rod O’Brien, has suggested he may offer a $100,000 reward for the recovery of his son. The boy, who is five, was on a sleepover at his grandparents. When his mother arrived to pick him up about 10 a.m. yesterday she found the home empty. Calgary Police issued an Amber Alert and the search has continued since. Police say evidence found in the Parkhill home suggests their disappearance may be suspicious. It appears the grandparents may have been forced to leave their home. They had been in the process of an estate sale at the residence. “When we went to the address and after speaking with family members, the home was not in the condition it typically would have been left in,” said Kevin Brookwell from the Calgary Police Service. He has blond, curly hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing peach-coloured shorts and a striped-blue hoodie. Global News
Rain-soaked E. York parade part of our greatness
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The full rich spectacle of East York’s chaotic rain-soaked Canada Day Parade is surely part of what make this land so great. TPS mounted police, motorcycle cops, the 236th Scout Troop of East York, Mayoralty candidate John Tory, sober Rob Ford and many other politicians, a Toyota dealership, helmeted, scarlet-trimmed and bicycle bell-ringing cyclists, the East York Historical Society, Mercy Marchers for God, Model T car owners and the East York Shriners driving little Shriner cars. There were kids, cats, canines and Maple Leaf flags just everywhere. And so it was that for the 57th consecutive year on Cosburn Ave. beside Dieppe Park the Canada Day parade was marshalled. Today the happy green space again belied the sorrowful battle of 1942 from which it gets its name. Last minute contingents or “units” as the parade marshall Christopher Salmond called them, herded their members from spot to spot as they tried to fit into the line already in place. “I’ll get ye in somewhere,” Salmond barked at a young woman representing who we’re not sure. It was a surprise to see Mr. Salmond present in this apparently traditional role. In recent weeks he has written online that his services were no longer wanted by the East York Canada Day Planning Committee. They had arbitrarily ended his term as “East York Canada Day Ambassador” he said. But there he was, as big as life. The parade and its revellers, headed off to Stan Wadlow Park for the day’s events in a drenching downpour that struck about 10.15 a.m. It is hot out there so to all those who celebrate our 147th year in that humidity, our best to you and Happy Canada Day from The South Bayview Bulldog. You make us great. Photos: top: bell-ringing cyclists, Mercy of God Church, Roller Girls consult, 236th Scouts. bottom: John Tory and friends, meet the (Ford) nation, Rob Ford, Parade Marshall de facto Christopher Salmond and supplicant
Whale lashes out with tail at sightseeing surfers
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Authorities in the Sydney suburb of North Curl had to use loudspeakers from shore to warn surf boarding sightseers to get away from a full-grown Southern Right whale that came coasting toward shore. The mighty mammal is fairly tranquil around humans but it began to get skittish as the surfers moved in close for a better view. One rather fooloish man had his son on his board with him. As seen in the pictures inset, and in the video, the whale lashes out at one of the surfers with its tail. It then moves quickly and lunges toward the same surfer. But the whale’s actions all seem defensive and it did not pursue any of the surf boarders. “To be honest,” said one witness, “they were harassing it a bit. They were so close it had no room to move. If I was the fish, I’d be harassed too.” By Australian law, surfers should stay 330 feet away from a whale. “I was pretty worried to see one guy out there with the kid on his board,” said Hansen. “It’s a big animal, one tail flick and we could have a death on our hands.” Southern Right whales can weigh up to 70 tonnes and grow up to about 50 feet long.Vaughan, Chan elected in Toronto byelections
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News services are declaring that Adam Vaughan and Arnold Chan, Liberal candidates in the Toronto area byelections, have won their races. In the Alberta riding of Macleod, the Conservative Party has retained the seat. In Fort McMurray-Athabaska it appeared that the Conservative candidate, as expected, had turned back a good challenge by the Liberal. With 60 percent of the vote counted, the Tory was maintaining about 35% of the vote which was said to be enough to win.
Loring and Wyle home on market for $4,800,000
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The old schoolhouse on Glenrose Ave. in Moore Park which for decades was the home of Frances Loring and Florence Wyle is on the market for $4,800,000. It seems like a staggering price for a home which is, to be sure, both historic and beautifully refinished inside. Still, the lot is 50 by 145 and large homes on the street could not command more than 2.5 million at the upper pinnacle of pricing. The building dates it is said from the mid to late 19th century and, in what has become local trivia, was not a former church even though it appears to be one. It was the original school of Deer Park United Church which at the time was a Methodist congregation. It became the home and studio for two subsequently famous sculptors and artists, Loring and Wyle, who fled their homes in the midwest United States to hide their love affair and became famous in Canada through much distinguished work. As celebrated as they were, the couple sometimes barely eked out a living. Some who knew them personally say the old schoolhouse was frequently dangerously cold for lack of coal to heat it. Loring and Wyle died within a few months of each other in 1968. The parkette at St. Clair Ave. and Mt Pleasant Rd. in the former streetcar turn contains a number of copies of Loring and Wyle sculptures. Most of the originals are in the national gallery in Ottawa. Study finds dancing makes child more helpful
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The McMaster University study which says that dancing with your baby can make the child more helpful is interesting but the science seems to have a way to go to prove that children are learning a long-term life skill. Researchers found that dancing with a child either in your arms or with the toddler’s feet on the floor tended to make them more helpful. There seems little doubt that this healthy interaction would be entertaining for the child. The researchers noted that after such a session the child would typically scramble to pick up a dropped pen or similar object and return it to the parent. This might be an attempt by the child to extend the pleasant engagement. That would be a healthy reaction but not necessarily one that identifies on-going helpfulness. As in all things, however, small steps lead to great accomplishments and that may be true with the findings of this study
Guardian of Bayview trees, Helen Godfrey rocks
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Helen Godfrey completed her annual planter blitz in early June this year. This exemplary Davisville Village resident and LEAF volunteer weeded and cleared debris from all of South Bayview’s tree planters (from Soudan to Millwood, on the west side). She was spotted again this morning (Monday, June 30th) giving some more planters a once over. Here is what Helen says about her philosophy. “Street trees are often neglected and I have long felt that communities should take some responsibility for their care. In my neighbourhood, on Bayview Avenue north of Davisville subway station, there is a four-block commercial strip that thrives – but unlike the businesses, the trees aren’t doing so well. The west side is lined with trees in concrete planters but the east is presently without any greenery due to sidewalk reconstruction. The difference between the two is stark and so I decided to attempt a tree care project. Here at the Bulldog, we would just like to say that Helen rocks! Photo of Helen Godfrey at work is from her 2013 blitz. Rob Ford is Olivia Chow’s ticket to mayor’s office
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Mayoral candidate John Tory has issued a statement on the return of Mayor Ford to City Hall. It calls on the mayor to resign. In all the circumstances this is an entirely reasonable demand. A recent poll found that nearly 60% of Torontonians want Mr. Ford to get out of their lives for good. But the statement is more than just a righteous response to the mayor’s appalling behaviour. It is a matter of life or death for Mr. Tory in this election. It seems true that neither Mr. Ford nor Mr. Tory can win the election as long as they are both on the ballot. It is for this reason, no doubt, that Tory pointedly notes that Olivia Chow, almost alone among mayoral candidates, has NOT called on Mr. Ford to quit. It seems a curious oddity of niceness on the part of Ms. Chow considering as she is a woman and polls find that women particularly (and logically) dislike the boorish Mr. F. We cannot be corrected on this. Olivia Chow refuses to call for Mr. Ford’s removal because he is her ticket to the mayor’s office.
780,000 HK citizen-democrats defy Beijing
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Freedom-seeking residents of Hong Kong fear the Beijing government is trying to cheat on its promise to introduce all-out democracy in the territory by 2017. In recent months, the Communist government has said that “democracy” will occur with candidates chosen (or approved) by a committee controlled by the politburo. The spectre of this type of non-democracy posing as real freedom prompted more than 780,000 Hong Kongers to vote in unofficial referendums this week and ending Sunday. It was the final day of the outpouring of concerns that has been branded illegal by local and mainland Chinese authorities. Hong Kong is a capitalist showplace for China. It has some seven million largely well-educated people who are tired of waiting for democracy. For a century, Hong Kong was run by the British on a lease which expired in 1997. While Beijing says Hong Kong can go ahead with a vote in 2017 for the city’s top leader, Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, the Basic Law, specifies that only a nominating committee can pick leadership candidates. Democracy activists want the nomination process to be open to everyone, in line with international standards. Dutch are dancing after 2-1 defeat of Mexico
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NED-MEX digital. Rather dim play-by-play