Photo of royal family revealed in Queen’s address

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The Queen’s annual address this year has featured some interesting behind the scenes video and this historic picture of four generations of the royal family. The Queen spoke with apparent satisfaction about how the birth of a baby allows people to think about the future with renewed “happiness and hope”. The traditional message to the nation featured behind-the-scenes footage taken at Clarence House of the royal family posing for the christening pictures under the direction of celebrity portrait photographer Jason Bell. The Christmas address is written by the Queen and usually has a strong religious framework, reflects current issues and draws on her own experiences over the past year. The speech is one of the rare occasions when she does not turn to the Government for advice but is able to voice her own views. The Queen’s traditional message was produced this year by the BBC and recorded in Buckingham Palace’s blue drawing room.

18,000 unconnected at noon Saturday, Dec 28

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Toronto Hydro is reporting that approximately 18,000 customers are now without power. And Hydro CEO Anthony Haines says they may all be re-connected by Monday or Tuesday at the latest.

Premier talks of providing food to “vulnerable”

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Premier Wynne is talking about a plan to somehow provide free food to those who have had spoilage in their refrigerators because of the ice storm. It is a bit vague but Ms. Wynne spoke of  “people who are vulnerable” saying her government has “reached out to food suppliers to try to come up with a way of compensating people and getting some extra food — or food vouchers, something to folks, so that’s what we’re working out over the next couple of days.”  The CBC said the province is expected to announce in the next 24 to 48 hours how the food distribution system will be organized for those facing a lack of food due to spoilage. There will be quite a good response it would seem to the idea of free food. There is no word if the free food will be advanced on the honour system. That is, anyone asking will be given food without a question. Nor is it clear if food banks will figure in this scheme.  

Hello to falling ice all-day and all-night

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Toronto Hydro CEO Anthony Haines reports that the crashing and bumping of falling ice on the roof has actually made things worse, apart from keeping you awake most of the night. Even so, the number of those without power is now 23,000. The higher temperatures have been a slight relief from the bitter cold of recent days but it has left a lot of roads with a coating of ice chunks. The CBC reports that “amid the rising anger and frustration of those still in the dark, utility companies are pleading for patience, saying crews are working around the clock and nothing else can be done to speed up the process.” Later  post 

Envy, anger a bitter result of ice storm

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Our post about how Scarborough resident Kclairmo suspects there is preferential Hydro treatment for Leaside has had responses ranging from resentful to dismissive. One Rolph Road man was indignant. He says Leaside is being taken advantage of by other parts of the city when it comes to paying for “modern schools, indoor swimming pools, community centres and covered rinks.”  We’re not sure just which places he’s thinking about but we see in his words the mirror image of  Kclairmo’s frustration and envy. It is hard to see how the privileged people of Leaside, whatever their personal means, could envy those elsewhere in the city. And in fact we in South Bayview are as well-treated as any when it comes to getting new facilities. The new arena required an enormous community fund-raising but it was voluntary. The money was loaned by the city at almost no cost. It should also be remembered that the wonderful new artificial turf field at Maurice Cody in next-door Davisville Village was bankrolled by residents, businesses and the city. Our hard-earned dollars make this facility all the more precious in our minds. So we do well to dismiss Kclairmo’s suspicions as born in frustration. Even now in Moore Park, some on Moore Ave, live in the cold and dark because their homes are one-off disconnects. They wait and worry. It is true many schools like Northern Secondary School, Hodgson Public, Rolph Road others need repairs. The TDSB certainly bears a lot of responsibility for more careful management of repair monies. It would be better if some property were sold off, as many recommend, and these fine schools and others brought back to first-class condition. But let’s count the blessing as well. 

Can ice storm chill out bad feelings about Mayor?

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As the human hardship caused by this inhuman ice storm grips our attention, there is a second story unfolding inside the headline grabber. It is how Rob Ford is trying, and quite possibly succeeding, to rehabilitate his image across a city that absolutely had had enough of him.  It’s been an authoritative and newsy briefing (or more) a day for Mr. Ford, with highly visual visits to repair locales, beleaguered homeowners and warming centres. “Have you got blankets for them,” the mayor inquires as he strides into this venue recorded by CTV Toronto a couple of nights ago. Of course they had blankets. But this guy knows it counts that you thought about and most importantly said it. Out loud. And then we had the cot testing scene where the rotund chief magistrate had the wit to joke about his weight. Can all or any of this get Ford re-elected? We think that is doubtful. But we can be sure it helped in some quarters. “It’s an ill wind” as the saying has it.

Crestview Apartments power back on Dec. 26-27

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David  Roe of Toronto Hydro has reported that the south side of Leacrest Road and notably the Crestview Apartments have been restored to full power. That was a full five-day ordeal for those people. The lights came on variously late Thursday night and early Friday morning, Mr Roe said. Remarkably, as many as 28,000 people in Toronto are without power The story of residents near Yonge and Sheppard is being told on CP24. For reasons not clear they are still without power. 

Cells fulfill our compulsive need to know

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We call them Smartphones but our habitual device syndrome (HDS) has less to do with the phone than a compulsive need to know. The time, the news, the weather, video counts, where-is-she-now and on and on. A poll done for Rogers reveals that with HDS (we  made that up) it isn’t the phone that occupies Canadians, its the capacity to review information of all sorts in a glance — a sneaked glance if necessary. We apparently check phones as frequently as once an hour and most of us keep them with us 24 hours a day. Kids don’t phone they text, of course. We take our personal news tickers to the washroom, check them in church and glance at them in company, much as we used to check our watches. Just to know. The Harris Decima poll says you  keep your phone within reach for 90 to 100 per cent of the day.  Three in four respondents between 16 and 44 said they do it all the time or often. Smartphone owners were also asked how often they usually find themselves trying to sneak a peek at the screen in various situations. Just over half of the respondents said they’d check their phone at least once while on a date, while one in four said they’d find a way to see the screen at least once an hour. 

Preferential repairs in Leaside? Surely not!

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Some will say it just had to happen and so here we go. Desperate (apparently) and without power in Scarborough’s M2J forward sortation postal area, Kclairmo is tweeting complaints that there is favoritism in the Hydro repair process. He says there is video showing Toronto Hydro crews fixing “large houses” on Leaside’s Heather Road on Sunday, December 22, 2013 at 11.15 a.m. area. Now most of us can cast our minds back to last Sunday and remember how downcast we were about everything. At 11 a.m. power had been out in South Bayview generally for about 9 hours. Kclairmo, who seems to have a tweeting penpal in Councillor Shelley Carroll (Ward 33), does not say where he saw this video or why he knows about it. The Bulldog has reached out through the ether to ask him. Feels good that ether. Really though, Heather Road is a nice street but if you wanted to curry favour with the rich there are other places that might be better. Where does Hydro CEO Haines live? Kclairmo tweets

West subway down, ice falling on your head

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There is no subway service from the St. Clair West subway station down to Union. That’s because a transformer exploded near Bathurst Street and St. Clair West Friday afternoon. And by the way, this nice sunny day has caused ice to start falling in the darnedest places. It can come crashing down on you on a nice dry walk across the street if you happen to be under a line. Just so you have something to think about.  

Ford says 32,000 customers in dark Friday

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The joint news conference on getting power restored is underway. Mayor Ford says that some 32,000 metred customers are still without power. This is attested to by the complaints seen on Twitter DarkTO where many people say they are a still waiting. It is unclear whether the efforts yesterday restored all of South Bayview, Notwithstanding the one-off homes like those on upper Airdrie north of Millwood. 

Skateboard firm Roarockit a Leaside asset

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Norah and Ted 

The East York Mirror’s Daniela Piteo has written a feature on Norah Jackson and Ted Hunter, owners of the unique skateboard manufacturing company on Millwood Road at Sutherland Ave. A curious revelation is that neither of the two skateboard. And yet their imaginatively named company, Roarockit, has earned a place in the industry.  Ted is a member of the Ontario College of Art and Design Design Faculty.  Daniela Piteo