Honey the Golden Retriever back safe at home

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Honey, the Golden Retriever who was found on Hanna Rd. yesterday, is back with her family. The dog was found by a friendly dog-owner in the Bessborough School playground.  This kind person placed an ad online and alerted local pet establishments including the Petsmart store at 835 Eglinton Ave. E. The owners checked in and were re-united with Honey. 

Tory sees “Canary Wharf” on East Don Lands

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John Tory has set out an ambitious plan for the East Don Lands, which among other things would see Bayview Ave. connect with Lake Shore Boulevard. Mr. Tory’s  plan would create a second business district in the city modelled after Canary Wharf in the British capital.  He made the announcement on Thursday (May 15, 2014) in the old industrial Don Lands. He said the plan would create 70,000 jobs and a new transit hub and involve private investment. “These are the moments we must seize as a city,” Tory said. “As your mayor, I will form a unique partnership with developers and investors, and work with city council to help maximize transit to create a new business hub. It’s time we start saying yes, as a city, to bold and ambitious projects.” The proposal hinges on a rerouting of the Gardiner Expressway’s eastern section and building more transit links. The Gardiner east of Cherry Street would be realigned south of the GO Transit tracks, continue east and loop up to the Don Valley Parkway. The elevated part east of Cherry would be taken down and Lake Shore Boulevard would be connected to new streets, including an extended Broadview Avenue.

Crossing guard judged and found sadly tasteless

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From the video 
Kathleen Byers, the dancing school crossing guard, has been effectively dismissed from her job. This after the 65-year-old woman made a video with a local rap group dressed in her school-guard gear. Nominally, at least, that’s the part that the police officials who administer the guard program said they didn’t like. But we suspect it was all just too much — the pre-occupation of Ms Byers with dancing and then the very tasteless lyrics which have now been rolled out on YouTube for other guards and every pupil in Toronto to savour. (Yes, we know the standard for such things these days is down in the sewer) But every day hundreds of crossing guards focus only on making sure the children are safe as they cross the street. That’s the way the police service and school board want it done and honestly, who can disagree with them? We can be sure they don’t want to attract anymore aspiring dancers or performers of any kind to their ranks. God bless Ms. Byers. She seems to be at peace with her situation. We wish her well. 

Are these two pollsters on the same planet?

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It’s as if Lorne Bozinoff of Forum Research and John Wright of Ipsos Reid (inset left and right) were in different provinces talking about different election campaigns. Polls released by these two organizations earlier this week are entirely opposite in their findings. Forum says the Liberals have 38 percent of the popular support, the PCs 35 percent. The Forum release is full of bright information about the likelihood that the Liberals will win. The Ipsos Reid poll says the Conservatives have 39% of the popular support and the Liberals 30%. The poll says the PCs are poised on the basis of these results to win a majority. It isn’t enough to say that there is a margin of error in polling which might account for this strange contradiction. Any statistician would have to admit that one of these two operations is just hopelessly wrong and inept, or something. The public really deserves better. Read Twitter chatter about “weighting” etc.   

Editor fired for demanding equal pay, pension

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Jill Abrahamson 

Jill Abrahamson, the executive editor of the New York who was fired yesterday, had been demanding that she be paid as much as her predecessor in the job.  “She confronted the top brass,” says a associate quoted by New Yorker Magazine and this may have fed into the management’s narrative that she was “pushy,” a characterization that, for many, has an inescapably gendered tone. Great fun to read about the travails of the privileged and famous. New Yorker Magazine

Ipsos Reid latest Ontario election poll results

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Five weeks out from Ontario’s June 20, 2014 general election, Ipsos Reid has concluded that the Conservatives continue to lead in public support (39%).  The poll, done for CTV, suggests support for the NDP has slipped further (24%) while support for the Wynne Liberals is unchanged (30%). It’s a rough numbers game so some curiosities may appear. The last Ipsos poll showed the Liberals at 31%, which would not leave them unchanged. But no matter. The PCs continue to evidence voters who are committed to vote, a good sign for them. But Ipsos says the Liberals also have traction with Liberal intended voters at 31% compared to PC intended voters support at 43%. It’s not really possible for laypersons to analyse just what this means but the general idea is there. The poll was done within the past 72 hours.

    

$10,000 reward to solve armoured truck heist

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G4S Garda World is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the two men involved in the armed robbery of a truck on January 10, 2014 in the Fairview Mall. They especially want to talk to young woman who bought the 2000 Dodge Caravan used in the robbery ten days earlier for $800 cash from a man in Ajax. The bandits exchanged shots with the guards and made off with  just under $100,000. “This is a planned event, they make a purchase of a vehicle 10 days before, possibly by the woman who may have been duped (into making the purchase),” Staff Inspector Mike Earl said. She is described as black and in her 20s. Earl urged her to come forward to police. He said if these suspects are willing to exchange gunfire, they are a danger to the public. “Public safety is a big concern… For public safety, officer safety and even for G4S safety, we want to get these guys off the street,” said Earl. “We’re hoping the reward will stimulate some individuals who may have information.” 

Bid to move old “coach house” to Molson St.

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As reported in our sister blog Yonge and Roxborough News, a developer has applied to sever the rear of the lot of 92 Roxborough Street W. and remove the three garages on Molson Street (lower inset) and move a heritage building (upper inset) into the space. The building has been called a coach house but a Roxborough resident says the “coach house” is actually a building that housed servants for the main dwelling across Isabella Street. It is located at 119 Isabella and has been offered free to anyone who would move it from its present location at Casey House. One way or another, the building will go to make room for a Casey House expansion. Kristyn Wong-Tam (Ward 27) has scheduled a special community consultation regarding the application on Tuesday, May 20, 2014, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at City Hall in Committee Room 2 to discuss the move, both ends of which would be within the ward. Molson Street residents are said to think it would be an improvement on the tatty garages. 

Hortonites and mere mortals get a free doughnut

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60s sign at Yonge-Dundas 

Tim Horton’s 50th anniversary went off swimmingly today (Thursday, May 15, 2014) in Toronto, a distance of about 40 miles from where a lot of  people thought it should have happened. That’s because the first Tim Hortons was in a converted gas station at Ottawa St. and Dunsmuir Rd. in Hamilton. It’s still there but has been turned into a modern Tim’s  The Toronto event took place in make-believe Tim’s 60s lookalike in Yonge-Dundas Square where thousands of people grabbed free goodies and coffee. The company even used a crane to erect a vintage Horton’s sign.   There was a jazz concert with singer Nikki Yanofsky, a Stanley Cup exhibit and appearances by Toronto Maple Leafs alumni Wendel Clark and Darcy Tucker. Tim Horton was, of course, a Maple Leaf we must recall for the youngest of Hortonites. Branches across the country will be offering free birthday-cake donuts on Saturday, which is the actual anniversary. The Oakville-based company has more than 4,400 restaurants including ones in Canada, the U.S. and Dubai.