The U.S. Centre for Disease Control will send doctors and experts aboard the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Explorer of the Seas when it docks in St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands on Sunday. The ship has about 280 very sick people aboard. Passengers report vomiting and diarrhea. In addition, another 22 crew members are ill. It is not clear what has hit the ship. A total of 3,050 passengers and 1,165 crew members are aboard the Explorer of the Seas. The CDC said Royal Caribbean officials have taken action, including increasing disinfection procedures and preparing new crew members to join the ship mid-voyage.
McDonald’s fights to win back lost relevance
by •
McDonald’s CEO concedes that the chain has “lost some of our relevance” is the dynamic fast food industry. New products like the egg-white McMuffin and Mighty Wings haven’t caused much of a fizz. “We’ve lost some of our customer relevance,” Don Thompson conceded on a call with analysts. Guest counts at locations fell nearly 2 percent globally and 1.6 percent in the U.S. in 2013. To win back traffic, Thompson said the chain will focus on speedier service, better value offerings and raising “awareness around McDonald’s as a kitchen and a restaurant” that prepares high-quality food. It is also bringing in a new U.S. marketing chief, Deborah Wahl, formerly with homebuilder PulteGroup and automakers Chrysler and Ford.
Employee “95% sure” fire started by cigarette
by •
Heartbreak is piled on heartbreak in L’Isle-Verte Quebec today as a worker at the seniors home destroyed by fire says he is “95 percent sure” the deadly fire was caused by a cigarette. Canadian Press is quoting the employee, Bruno Belanger, as saying he persuaded a resident from going outside to smoke in the cold. Later when he heard the alarm ringing Belanger went straight to the man’s room and saw smoke coming from the unit. It is a flashback to the days when careless smoking was the cause of many fatal fires. Smoking regulations, abstention from tobacco and better alarm systems have made major reductions in such deaths. It’s believed 32 old people died in the L’Isle Verte fire.
Police count 32 dead in Quebec fire
by •
Wong-Tam skating event today in Ramsden Park
by •
It’s always a good opportunity to bend the ear of your council member when she holds a public event Kristyn Wong-Tam (Ward 27) invites you to tie up your skate laces with her on Saturday, January 25, 2014 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Ramsden Park outdoor skating rink.
BookCity on Bloor St to close after 37 years
by •
Virtual hug for Justin Bieber from Premier Wynne
by •
Time-based transfers just a matter of who pays
by •
Time-based TTC transfers? It is no cheap shot to say it’s a lot like a free ride. You get on, get off, get on and get off but you pay once. Many cities are said to have it but they have probably managed their money better than Toronto. 680 News Much love of time-based transfers on Twitter.
Peter Neal in light-hearted mayoral gambit
by •
Political hi-jinks on FaceBook as Leaside businessman Peter Neal (Neal Brothers Foods) floats a perhaps not so serious balloon suggesting he will run for mayor. It’s all very light-hearted but response from his friends in pretty impressive. You never can tell. Check it out here.
Best Buy layoffs follow abrupt closing in Leaside
by •
 |
| Out of work |
A week after closing its Leaside Future Shop, Best Buy Canada is laying off 950 people at its combined Future Shop and Best Buy retail stores. The company reveals that it has been hurt by intense competition during the holiday sales period. Online competitors such as Amazon and retail store competitors like Wal-Mart have cut into sales of electronics. Best Buy recently revealed that revenue fell 0.4 per cent to $12.8 billion in the holiday period with same-store sales dropping by 1.4 per cent. The Future Shop in the RioCan Centre at Eglinton Ave. E. and Laird Drive closed it doors January 24, 2014 at the end of business. The shuttering of the store will seem more abrupt to customers and employees than it is to the owners. This is said to be the third Future Shop to close in Toronto in past months. Business will be consolidated at the jointly-owned Best Buy store in the SmartCentre down the street. Employees at the large electronics retailer were stunned to learn they were out of a job when told by the company last Sunday. A number said they had not had a chance to adjust to the loss of employment much less start looking for another job. Some are said to have worked for the store since it opened in 1995. Nor will the landlord, national commercial space owner RioCan of Toronto. be surprised. The property bounded by Laird, Eglinton, Vanderhoof Ave. and the property line to the east is slated for re-development in anticipation of the arrival of the Crosstown LRT. As reported by The South Bayview Bulldog, there will be a secondary LRT station on the property now owned by RioCan near the main intersection beside the Pier One outlet.
Extended rush hour will not apply to Bayview Ave.
by •
Josh Matlow (Ward 22) has kindly confirmed his understanding that extended rush hour restrictions do not apply to Bayview Ave., nor apparently, to most other commercial streets in the South Bayview readership area. Mr. Matlow says the reported new hours of 5 to 10 a.m. and 3 to 7 p.m. are intended only for King, Queen and Adelaide Streets “as part of the traffic study.” This will be very welcome news for store owners in all of midtown where the loss of an hour of parking. especially in the afternoon, would have a noticeable impact on business. It seems a remarkable thing that the new rush hour will be extended only to the named streets. Certainly, the rush hour extension has been overshadowed in news coverage by the increase in fines and towing provisions. Unlike parking fines however, rush hour restrictions had (and have) the potential to require changes in the routine of motorists who do not break the law, and of course, for retailers. It seems there might be more to say on this by explanation and we will hope to have more in due course. Everyone gets it that if you don’t understand the law, your chances of breaking it are higher.
Rob and Jess Tremblett leave Bayview Valu-mart
by •
 |
| Rob and Jess in Ingersoll |
Rob Tremblett and his wife Jess have given up their franchise at the Valu-mart grocery store at the corner of Bayview Avc. and Davisville Ave. Mr. Tremblett and his family have moved to Ingersoll where they are running the Your Independent Grocer outlet on Whiting Street. The Valu-mart under Rob Tremblett’s management was a very public-spirited business. It contributed much money, goods and support to community activities. Although the Valu- mart will carry on, it does so in a grocery market that is keenly competitive and crowded with stores fighting for every dollar of the shopper’s food budget. Next year will see the opening of a Whole Foods grocery store at the proposed development at 1800 Bayview Ave and Broadway Ave. Valu-mart (styled as valu-mart) is a chain of supermarkets based in Ontario. It is a unit of National Grocers, a unit of Loblaw Companies Limited, Canada’s largest food distributor. Stores are typically operated by a franchise owner. The stores operate in smaller locations than others operated by Loblaw Companies Limited. Your Independent Grocer is also owned by National Grocers.