Norm Kelly says Toronto tree canopy in bad shape

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Toronto’s tree canopy is among the city’s most precious assets and the deputy mayor, Norm Kelly, said today that the damage done by the December ice storm has reduced this essential green umbrella to perhaps its lowest level in recorded history. He spoke at a roundtable meeting of interested parties in Toronto today. Kelly said  the canopy is at 25%, about 15 percent below the city’s established goal of having a tree cover shading as much as 40 percent of the community. According to Wikipedia, the tree canopy refers to the upper layer or habitat zone, formed by mature tree crowns and including other biological organisms  680 News

Library rejects request to ban “Hop on Pop.”

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The age-old practice (some might say primordial instinct) to jump on Dad is still okay at the Toronto Public Library. It’s contained in the Dr. Suess rhyme. Apart from anything else, this is a good chance for Dad to say “not too rough”, if he wants to. That’s how they learn, we hear. CTV said a “”patron” of the library had complained that the book encouraged children to use violence against their fathers. A document that lists books patrons have asked to be pulled from Toronto Public Library shelves was posted online Monday.  CTV

Oh dear, Toronto “wellbeing” under attack again

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That great and totally vague measure of affluence known as the Canadian Index of Wellbeing has popped up  in a study about travel times to work. Government money from the Trillium Foundation went into this piece of academic busy-work. It says GTA residents average about an hour getting to and from work each day. “Those living in Toronto commute 65.6 minutes, those in Oshawa 63.6 minutes, and Barrie residents commute 59.2 minutes,” reads the first Ontario-focused CIW study titled “How Are Ontarians Really Doing?”  Oh dear. The burden of it all. We suppose that the CIW might quiver a bit if our teeth were falling out or there was a foot of water in the basement but, you know, driving to work in traffic is pretty awful too. Glad we’re spending money on worrying about it.  Global News takes it all quite seriously.

Leaside Horton’s at Bayview-Broadway gets fix-up

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Tim Horton’s at Bayview and Broadway Aves. will be closed for three weeks while the store undergoes a renovation. It is a competitive business and Tim’s has recently heard that McDonald’s will be gunning for the coffee business even more vigorously. At the same time, the Canadian firm announced just last week that it will replace all existing lighting fixtures in its more than 4,400 restaurants throughout Canada and the U.S. to save energy. Tim’s will install efficient LED lighting from Royal Philips. The move is part of the company’s commitment to environmental sustainability, according to a news release. The renovations began today on Bayview.  The gas station is still open. 

CFRB departs Deer Park home for “Whiskey Saigon” home

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As reported some months ago NewsTalk1010, known for nearly 70 years as CFRB, will move from the corner of Yonge St. and St. Clair Ave. The final outing of this plan to tighten up Bell Media’s Toronto radio assets comes in an 18-part series by Alan Cross on NewsTalk1010 encapsulating the history of the station. It is a nice thing to do but a fairly light treatment of the important role the station has had in the media and business history of the city. Cross recalls that CFRB moved into these offices at the Deer Park corner in 1965. In the beginning, it was the Proctor and Gamble Building. The streets are crowded with memories like Wally Crouter Walkway and the business lunches that kept Fran’s Restaurant alive. NewsTalk1010 will move to what is known in Bell Media circles as the Whiskey Saigon space on Richmond West at (it seems) Duncan. It’s a pity for those who are moving there that the night club action is a long ago dream because the neighborhood, for all it’s manufactured 24-hour news excitement, is a dreary, treeless place in all directions. Nice if you own a loft maybe.

Caddy plows into minor accident injuring 5

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Orange Yaris, blocked 403 traffic 

OPP are saying they expect to reopen Highway 403 westbound at Waterdown around 9:30 p.m..Monday night after a terrible accident that has seriously hurt two people, a man and a woman. Three children with less serious injuries are also in hospital. At about  6.30 p.m., OPP Const Graham Williamson says, his colleagues were investigating a minor accident when a Cadillac Escalade apparently plowed into the stopped vehicles. It’s not known from which vehicle the seriously injured parties came. As the picture shows, a small-car Yaris was turned into a ball of junk.  Ontario Provincial Police told CP24. A police cruiser was stopped to investigate a minor collision when the black Escalade struck a white pickup truck and brushed against the cruiser. The Escalade continued on to strike the orange Yaris, a grey GMC Yukon, two tow trucks, a white Volkswagen Jetta and a grey Chrysler Pacifica. Williamson said damage is small vehicle was catastrophic.

Old street sign auction gets underway in Toronto

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Bidding has opened on a series of decommissioned Toronto street signs, the first of what is said to be several batches that will be sold by auction. A badly rusted but familiar sign for Hillsdale Ave. that hung at the corner of Duplex Ave is among this series of signs. The sign has collected five bids to stand at $75. But there are still 60 days bidding to go.  It’s easy to see how these signs might fetch much more money than one might think. A sign off of Mt. Pleasant Rd. autographed by Mayor Ford is doing well for just a few hours of bidding. The price to beat is $215 offered by “eva”. The signs are nicely displayed on the site of Palladium Liquidations Inc. Over the next 12 or more months more than 1500 of the decommissioned signs will be made available for auction, with additional signs added each week.  Each sign will be posted for 60 days and is only available through the auction process  The minimum opening bid is $30 with bidding continuing in increments of $5.  You will need to register (it’s free) on the Palladium site in order to bid. A countdown timer displays the ending date and time for each sign. A certain  number of signs will be autographed by Toronto personalities  Successful bidders can have their purchase shipped by Canada Post (shipping cost extra) or picked up in person at Platinum at 1001 Petrolia Road, Toronto. Signs being auctioned. 

Pfizer to bid $100 billion for U-K’s AstraZenaca

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U.S. drugmaker Pfizer is not giving up on an attempt to buy the British pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca, maker of such celebrated medicines as Crestor. The proposed price of $98.9 billion dollars has sent AstraZenaca’s share prices flying high — up as much as 15% in recent days.  A previous offer was rebuffed by the British company.  In a statement, Pfizer said AstraZeneca had declined to engage in discussions on two occasions and the U.S. group was now considering its options. AstraZeneca urged its shareholders to take no action and said it remained confident of its independent strategy.  

Leaside Sports Hall of Fame seeking nominations

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The Leaside Sports Hall of Fame has opened up nominations for a slate of inductees for 2014. Worthy sports women and men of all type of activities will be considered for this year’s awards. They will be give out at the second annual induction ceremony and reception on Friday, November 21, 2014. But it is important to get those suggestion in now. Nominations can only be made until June 1, 2014.  Candidates may be Olympians, house league coaches, researchers or professional athletes or individuals in any variety of roles who have contributed to sporting life in Leaside. The Leaside Sports Hall of Fame wants to help tell their stories. A good idea of the varied backgrounds the Hall of Fame is seeking, here are the award winners from 2013: Martha McCabe – Swimming;  Howard Birnie – Baseball;  Teri-Lynn Black-Calleri – Skating; Catherine (Carpenter) Lansdowne – Speed Skating Coaching; John Child – Volleyball;  Rich Ferguson – Track and Field;  Erica Gilbert – Tennis;  Peter Mahovlich Jr – Hockey;  Dr. Tom Pashby – Sports safety;  Dr. Ron Taylor – Baseball;  Lloyd Woods – Lawn bowling   Nominate someone here