The South Bayview Bulldog

When the Northlea Elementary and Middle School Blood Donor Clinic gets underway on April 9, 2014, the challenge will be out to young Leasiders right across the community. Those 17 and older are eligible to give the precious gift of blood. Every public-spirited person who does give, will do so in the name of people like Northlea student Emmy Duff and Noah Wolfe (inset right). Emmy was diagnosed with Leukemia in 1996 and a second time in November 2002. It was shocking news but there was even worse to come. The Northlea community reeled when one of Emmy’s schoolmates, Noah Wolfe, was diagnosed with the same disease within a week of Emmy’s second diagnosis. It was a catastrophe that echoed through every home. Registered Nurse and Northlea mom Anne Murray and her friends began to think about starting a blood donor clinic to help Emmy and Noah. But there was much skepticism that a simple elementary school could organize a successful blood clinic. Canadian Blood Services required a minimum of 80 pledged donors per clinic. Ms. Murray, her friends and neighbors went to work. At that first clinic, held in February 2003, a remarkable 206 people arrived. After necessary testing eliminated some, the Northlea start up clinic had collected 172 units of blood, more than triple the average collected elsewhere. Now, Ms. Murray and clinic marketing co-ordinator Maria Charlebois say, the challenge to maintain this life-saving work falls on the shoulders of those who follow. “I’m really hoping we will have a good showing from Leaside High School,” she says. The organizers are hoping that groups of parents and their teenage kids will find the time to participate. “Emmy had the courage to say yes to the idea of a blood clinic and to comprehend that others would benefit as well,” Anne Murray says. Now the Northlea Blood Clinic must hope that this spirit is still alive among those who knew Emmy and Noah. To make an appointment call 1-888-2-donate (366283). The clinic runs from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.at Northlea school, 305 Rumsey Road. on Wednesday, April 9, 2014. The clinic is held bi-annually in the Spring and Fall. It has become an important part of the collection process for Canadian Blood Services. 

The City of  Toronto is urging residents to clean up as much of the leftover brush and tree branches from December’s ice storm. Wood debris will be removed by the regular leaf and yard waste collection crews on the next pickup day. Get the stuff out there by 7a.m. The diameter of branches must not be larger than 7.5 centimetres (3 inches). For limbs, trunks and stumps that exceed this accepted size, residents must make arrangements with a private company specializing in handling this type of waste. For City collection, branches must be put out in small bundles no longer than 1.2 metres (4 feet) in length and 0.6 metres (2 feet) in width. The maximum height for yard waste containers is 95 centimetres (37 inches) and each container cannot weigh more than 20 kilograms (40 pounds). Kraft paper bags are acceptable containers. The City will not pick up yard waste set out in plastic bags or cardboard boxes. If residents see large fallen limbs from public trees located on public property, they may call 311 to report it, the City advises. 

The Federal Competition Bureau has approved deal by which Loblaws will purchase Shoppers Drug Mart. The bureau will require Loblaws to sell 18 stores. None of  these are in Toronto and none seem to carry the company’s flagship name. Most of the locations are small-town Shoppers plus a fe No Frill locations. It isn’t too clearly stated in news reports but it appears this is related to nearby Loblaws or other company franchises which include a pharmacy, or may yet get one. The decision reveals some of the hard-ball tactics used by Loblaws and others with suppliers, such as requiring discounts retroactively. Globe and Mail 

Mayor Ford has denied that a video depicting him punching the air and blithering about wanting to kill someone should be taken seriously. He says he did not have his former brother-in-law in mind. The denials come in a  statement of claim against a lawsuit filed against Ford by the man, Scott MacIntyre. It alleges a jailhouse beating of MacIntyre was instigated by Ford to protect the mayor’s reputation from his brother-in-law’s revelations. But Ford says the video that appeared in the media last November was taken while he was “discussing and imitating, as a joke, the pre-match rant of a professional wrestler.” He said his “jocular” imitation was supposed to be a run-up to a planned charity event that the mayor was hoping to have with a famous retired wrestler. The inebriated Ford is seen on the tape in someone’s dining room vowing to “kill that f—ing guy.” None of his allegations have been proven in court. vertical-align: baseline;” None of the allegations have been proven in court.

Waiting to be cracked

Saturday, March 22, 2014 at noon Loblaws at 321 Moore Ave. will participate in another typically dubious — but invariably entertaining — stab at a Guinness World Record. No, they won’t be eating PC Decadent Chocolate Chip Cookies or zip-lining the length of the store. On this occasion Loblaws stores will attempt to crack 1,000 wheels of that rock-like but smacking good cheese known as Parmigiano Reggiano.  We presume there are some yet-to-be-revealed rules here and that there will a Guinness judge on site. Most such records require conditions on just how many people are going to try to break the record. It’s no good if Loblaws brings in every strong-back from its warehouses nationally to break this record as a team.  This can’t be like the orange juice consumption record for a football team at half time. It has to be more like the record broken by Loblaws associate Rudy Limeback’s son, Eric, who smashed the Guinness benchmark for single-handedly solving Rubik’s Cubes at university last October. We will be watching. There’s a chance for snacking! 

The detached three-bedroom home at 36 Donegall Drive, one street east of Bayview Ave., has sold for $1,240,614, some $151,614 over the list price of $1,089,135. There was a five-party bidding war during the brief six-days it spent on the market. The previous selling prices are surprising, not to say shocking: $550,000 (2002) and $155,135 (1993)

The search for objects which may be related to the  missing Malaysian Airlines jet has finished for the night. It will resume in six or seven hours at dawn in Perth Australia.  Perth is about 12 hours ahead of Toronto. 

Aircraft from many nations are swarming into a search area in the Indian Ocean where two objects have been found which might be related to the missing Malaysian Airlines jetliner. This after Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott told the House of Commons that the objects has been spotted by satellite and verified as physically real. But the images are indistinct, the prime minister said. He stressed that they may not in fact be related to the missing passenger jet and that the objects will be hard to find in any case. One object is said to be as long as 24 metres (62 feet) with the other object smaller. They were first seen by the Australian Geo Spatial Service. The zone being searched is 1,429 miles from Perth on Australia’s west coast. The ocean depths at this location is said to be very deep, possibly as much as 13,000 feet.