Pothole army hits our rotten roads Monday

by  • 

                               

The City will launch an emergency army of some 50 pothole repair workers this morning (Monday, January 13, 2013) as streets and thoroughfares are fairly crumbling in the erratic weather. Rita Giller (inset) gets some commiseration from CTV’s John Musselman on the Allen Road where her car hit an enormous and deep pothole (top) which blew one of her tires. To say that the weather has been unusual is to glaze the eyes. City crews have already repaired about 4,000 potholes so far this year, compared to about 1,500 at this point last season. After weeks of frigid weather, temperatures have been hovering above zero over the past two days. Today we may expect a high of 5 C with a 60 per cent chance of showers in the afternoon and into the evening. Tuesday the temperature will drop to 0 C, before falling below zero again on Wednesday. The City is encouraging people to call 311 to report potholes in their area. About 188-thousand potholes were repaired last year at a cost of $3.6 million. Screen captures courtesy CTV. 

Post office now at the Rexall in Sunnybrook Plaza

by  • 

Canada Post has opened a new outlet in the Rexall/Pharma Plus Pharmacy in Sunnybrook Plaza. The new full service outlet has been open about three weeks and will come as welcome news to area residents. We took this news on the fly Sunday morning with a quick call to the pharmacy to confirm the information. It appears the hours are somewhat different from those of the reliable post office which ran for years in the Wrap-it-up shop at Sunnybrook, before that store closed in 2013. Many residents from all over South Bayview will find it much more convenient to visit the Pharma Plus at Sunnybrook especially considering the options. This is true of homeowners who live “across the postal divide” of the Moore Park Ravine. Those between Mt.  Pleasant and the ravine have always looked to South Bayview as their preferred shopping area. But for registered mail retrieval  Canada Post sends these customers into the paid parking jungle on Alvin Ave. Then its downstairs into the basement of the St. Clair Market and hope for the best. Of course, anyone who doesn’t ride the subway daily gives this location a wide pass.  And we do acknowledge he pleasant and hard-working staff at the Post Office in  the Shopper’s Drug Mart on Bayview Ave. Here’s the Pharma Plus number for inquiries (416) 485-3043.  Hey, you read it in The South Bayview Bulldog.

Mich. ER employees fired for posting patient pix

by  • 

This is a creepy case where an off-duty ER employee took a rear view picture of a woman patient and posted it on FaceBook with the caption “I like what I Iike.” A number of other employees “liked” the post. Not surprisingly, their employer did not like it.  All the ER staff who knew about the post have been fired. 

Canada Post returns to the Sunnybrook Plaza

by  • 

Idle chatter about the “Leaside Conspiracy”

by  • 

Improbable, not to say dopey, things appear on the Internet. This thread by aimless Leaside High School habitues is about the “Leaside Conspiracy”  Read on, or maybe no 

Oxygen masks on as West Jet in rapid descent

by  • 

Province 

“Most entertaining airport delay ever” at Pearson

by  • 

Megan and Bryan

As passengers endured the downed computer at Pearson Airport Saturday, Megan McMillan, who describes herself as a proud Maritimer and avid sing-along participant” called her airport delay “the most entertaining ever”. That’s because she was thrown together in passenger Hell with Canadian singer-songwriter Bryan Adams. We don’t know if Adams thinks this delay Cuts Like A Knife but he has already had a lot of good fortune in life so maybe he could handle it. Megan arranged to get a picture of herself with the musical star as a nice souvenir (inset). Adams rose to fame in North America with his album Cuts Like a Knife and turned into a global star with his 1984 album Reckless.  In 1991, he released his popular Waking Up the Neighbours album which included “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You”, one of the best-selling singles of all time. With Wikipedia..

How are you managing so far, South Bayview?

by  • 

How are you doing so far South Bayview? The conditions are sloppy and the atmosphere is opaque but at least you can go outside without turning into a human Popsicle. On Twitter, Ingrid McGaughey says she is hoping the thaw will last long enough for her to chip the ice off her steps. But she fears the kids outdoor rink is gone. Melinda (not Melissa) Maldonado is saying she enjoys the mild temperatures of “le grand thaw” and sends a picture inset. Vraiment, Melinda. Kim Randall thanks drivers for sharing the road with “this puddle jumping runner.” Hey, we can relate, Kim.  But no matter how you smush it, we have mild temperatures across the area with a resulting mushy mess. Environment Canada is calling for 15 to 25 mm of rain as temperatures sore to a high of 8 C. Many residents awoke Saturday morning to a thick fog across much of the region, creating limited visibility for motorists.

82 Rosedale route canceled because of ice

by  • 

The melting conditions have made things slick in upper Rosedale. As a result, the 82 Rosedale bus is cancelled Saturday morning. That’s the line that snakes around nice streets like Scolfield Ave. and MacLennan Ave. then loops back to the Rosedale station along Crescent Rd. 

Keep kids out of the Don ravines as snow melts

by  • 

It’s only good practice to keep the kids away from running water for the next few days. The thaw is expected to cause at least some localized flooding. Check your drains and catch basin, if you have one. You know the drill. 

Gripping video of escape from small plane crash

by  • 

This video of a small plane crash into coastal waters in Hawaii is no like no other you have seen. You would never know from the events recorded here that a woman died in the crash. She was Loretta Fuddy, 65, the state’s health director. It is the intense activity of passengers as they grapple with life jackets and calmly struggle to escape that seems so improbable. Ferdinand Puentes, 39, was on the 2002 Cessna Grand Caravan and captured the footage of passengers’ bracing for impact moments before the plane crashed into the water Dec. 11. The plane departed from Molokai, Hawaii, bound for Honolulu with nine people on board. 

ABCs of the 97 Yonge bus service not for kids

by  • 

The familiar 97 bus which used to take passengers all the way up Yonge Street from downtown to Steeles Ave has been turned into a kind of alphabet soup by the TTC. They say it is for a good cause. There is serious construction on north Yonge. The changes are intended to make things run smoother. But it means the 97 bus no longer turns into St. Clair Station.  Last Monday the TTC split the 97 into two separate north and south services. Buses on the northern section now operate from Steeles Avenue to Lawrence Station via Yonge Street, on a 97C (Steeles-Lawrence Station) branch. On the southern section, seven day a week service is now operated on the 97A (Davisville Station-York Mills Station via Yonge Blvd) branch. Monday-Friday peak period service will be operated on the 97B (Queens Quay-York Mills Station) branch. Service between Davisville Station and St Clair Station, which previously operated in the midday from Monday to Friday has been removed. Service levels will change slightly. An apple for the teacher please. TTC map. 
Escalators at York Mills Station  
Still on Yonge Street, Jaye Robinson (Ward 25) is passing on a TTC note that both escalators at York Mills subway station are out of service until the Fall for renovation. Oh joy!  The old trundlers have passed their 25-year life and need an overhaul.