Barber shop bid for former Ron Sloan storefront

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An application will be heard at Committee of Adjustment tomorrow (Wednesday, June 11, 2014) to permit a barber shop at 1491 Bayview Ave. That’s the location where for so many years the Ron Sloan Racquet Specialist Shop did business. The tennis service closed one year ago this month after 38 years on Bayview and the space has been vacant that whole time. The application will address some of the onerous old Town of Leaside bylaw provisions — still applying — like the requirement for ten — (yes you heard it right) — ten parking spaces connected with the business. The applicant proposes zero. The committee gets underway at 10 a.m. at 5100 Yonge Street. 

Desperate last-minute race to solidify vote

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The phones are ringing late and early around South Bayview with calls from campaign workers seeking an edge for their candidate. The Glen Murray office has been especially busy in Moore Park. We are in the last frenzied few of the election countdown. Voters will cast ballots Thursday. Around the province, as noted by the National Post, rational debate is giving way to wild accusations against the opposition parties. The Post suggests the  Liberals are coming off as a little more desperate since Premier Kathleen Wynne got a 90-minute thrashing during the leaders’ debate on June 3. But the PCs are spinning madly too as the ad below indicates.

“How can we bust out of this joint wearing cuffs?”

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If it wasn’t so serious, the escape of those three drug bosses from Orsainville Prison could be a comedy. It now been revealed that the day before that green chopper landed inside the prison courtyard, the three convicts were given  relaxed  security which permitted them to remove the handcuffs they had been ordered to wear. Yves Denis, Denis Lefebvre and Serge Pomerleau escaped from the detention centre in suburban Quebec City on Saturday evening. The “questionable” decision to relax security has rocked Quebec and shaken the new Liberal government.  Deputy Premier Lise Theriault was peppered on the subject for more than 30 minutes in the National Assembly. She was asked several times by interim Parti Quebecois leader Stephane Bedard why the government did not appeal the judge’s decision.

Cruelty charges to be laid against dairy workers

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A secret video is said to capture animal abuse at Chilliwack dairy farm. Charges of animal cruelty are pending against eight workers at the farm, Canada’s largest dairy farm, after undercover video captured workers using chains, canes, rakes and fists to abuse dairy cows. The British Columbia  SPCA says Criminal Code charges were recommended for wilfully causing “unnecessary pain, suffering and injury” after their officers viewed the footage (shot by non-profit group Mercy for Animals Canada) and visited the farm last week. “The images in the undercover video are extremely disturbing and highlight an urgent need for better standards to protect farm animals in B.C. from abuse and neglect,” said Marcie Moriarty, the BC SPCA’s chief prevention and enforcement officer.

Pope fires entire Vatican financial board

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Pope Francis has fired the entire board of the Vatican’s financial regulator in an apparent attempt to clean up the leaky management of the the church’s money. Francis has dismissed the Italian five-person board and appointed four new experts from Italy, Singapore, Switzerland and the US. The church has seen the same mishandling of OPM (Other Peoples’ Money) that afflicts almost every bureaucracy.  

Rosedale residents fear parking from Brickworks

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The notice for the Chorley Park Switchback meeting tonight says that some people in Rosedale are against the idea of a path to the Brickworks because it might make their neighborhood a secondary parking lot for the weekend activity down in the valley. It is a prickly issue apparently with some, maybe a few homeowners, who want nothing to do with public access to that business site. The meeting goes at 6.30 p.m. at Rosedale United Church, 159 Roxborough Drive.  

Heartbreak as fire kills 10-year-old Brampton boy

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Heartbreak is piled on heartbreak in that Brampton town home today. The most terrible wound is the loss of a 10-year-old boy because he stayed over at friend’s home. The 4 a.m. fire ripped several homes and has displaced as many as 100 people. Police have identified the lad as Nicolas Gabriel. He was visiting a family for a sleepover and he was reported missing after everyone escaped the burning complex and they were unable to find him. Firefighters found Gabriel’s body as they extinguished hotspots and did a sweep through the gutted complex. Fire broke out at the homes on Ardglen Drive in Brampton early Sunday, June 8, 2014. Peel Regional Police spokeswoman Const. Lilly Fitzpatrick said the boy’s family lives in the neighbourhood and is “completely devastated” after learning about his death. “It’s a very, very fresh wound for them. They need some time to collect themselves and deal with this horrible blow that they’ve been dealt,” 

Why can’t Manor Rd. lawn bowling be a park?

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A plan to sell the Glebe Manor Lawn Bowing Club at 196 Manor Road to a developer has galvanized neighbors and some former members of the club to stop the move. Derek Tilley (inset) who bowled at the club for ten years is spearheading a petition and campaign to have the nicely situated green space turned into a city park. Through the auspices of Josh Matlow (Ward 22) the municipality is said to be ready to match the price offered by the so far unnamed developer. But, according to Mr. Tilley, executive members of the club are determined to sell to a developer. No one seems to know why. The Glebe Manor Lawn Bowing Club was founded in 1923 and this last remaining green space in the immediate neighborhood cries out for rescue. The proponents of a park at this spot have a site at Friends of the Glebe Manor Lawn Bowling Club. The distressing part is that there seems to be no down side to club members, who own shares in the limited company, if the city pays the freight for the property. Why is it necessary to sell to a developer? It’s a question on everyone’s mind. Those interested in this patch of local green becoming a city-owned public park may contact the local Josh Matlow’s office at (416).392.7906 or by email councillor_matlow@toronto.ca  

Hey Toronto, you’re looking pretty sharp today

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So here’s another one of those “city awards” like “most liveable city” and others. This one crowns Toronto with the world’s “intelligent community award”. The title is said to honour the best in information and communications technology. Kingston, Ontario, was named the third most intelligent city in the world. Life is an on-going struggle against needless cynicism so let’s just say that we should take all this for what it is worth. Both Toronto and Kingston are wonderful places. There is no reason why they should not win prizes. But the Intelligent Community Forum, a think tank, appears to be a group of Canadian-American business interests which must have more on its mind that this award, and that’s fine too. But it’s good to keep it in mind when we are measuring ourselves against the entire rest of the world.  Here is the  Globe and Mail  story all straight-faced and breathless.