$2.5M ticket purchased at M Variety on Bayview

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Winner with M Variety inset

A weekly visit to the modest convenience store at 1495 Bayview Ave. has paid off for a Toronto man. Vincenzo Tassone popped in to see Gita and Vino again last week and picked up his usual 6/49 ticket. Tuesday night it was announced that the Saturday tumbling of the numbers threw up the same one printed on Mr. Tassone’s ticket. The jackpot, complete with some additional winnings, came to some $2.5 million dollars. No doubt stunned by his good fortune, he returned to M Variety to ask Gita for a copy of his receipt. For our money, M Variety is one of the nicer places to buy a lottery ticket. Gita is pretty savvy about such things and believes enormous lottery jackpots might be better if they were spread around. Gita and Vino have run the little shop just across the street from the Valu Mart since about 2005. 

Many adding Netflix to monthly cable charge

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Somewhat over-long but in parts quite penetrating view of how we use TV delivery services is linked at bottom. The gist of it is that many users are adding Netflix to the standard cable/satellite services (Bell, Rogers, Shaw etc). They pay about $8 a month for the movie syndication service. Netflix has caught fire in Canada, as it has in the U.S. That popularity may have to do with continuing absence or delay in the introduction of  the RedBox video rental service. RedBox was to install vending machines in Mac’s stores but so far there isn’t much evidence of that.  Canadian Press 

Semi at 110 Millwood Rd. sells for $985,000

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The semi detached home at 110 Millwood Rd. has sold for $985,000 after a bidding war, as reported by the Globe and Mail, drove the finishing price there.  The asking price had been $899,000. Some history reveals the breathtaking increases in value that have been seen in this desirable neighborhood over ten years. Among the specs on thus older home are the 160 foot lot, 1800 sq. ft. and overall location near the Yonge subway.  Previous selling prices were $750,000 (2007); $522,777 (2003) and $406,000 (2000).  Globe and Mail 

220 McRae project meeting re-set for January 27

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John Parker (Ward 26) has sent out an explanation for the cancelled meeting of last week intended to deal with the proposed townhouse development application for 220 McRae Drive. The meeting was called off  “as a result of a technical flaw in the formal notice issued by the City.” Mr. Parker extended his apologies to all those who showed up on Wednesday. The meeting has been rescheduled to take place on Monday January 27, 2014.  According to Mr, Parker’s note, the venue is expected to be the same – Leaside Gardens William Lea Room. The start time is expected to be 7:00 pm but formal notice will be sent out in accordance with the resolution of North York Community Council requiring the meeting. 

South Bayview Bulldog Secret Road Salt Diary #2

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Diary, this continuing shortage of road salt is turning South Bayview folks into sneaks, as well as hoarders. At the Home Depot on Wicksteed there was a bag of salt just as plain as can be sitting on a little pull-trailer from the store. Had the woman got it in the store? “Oh no, we’re completely out,” chirped the store guy helping her to load her SUV.  “So where did you buy it?” “Oh golly,” says she. “Um, well, my husband bought it and he didn’t tell me where, or anyway I can’t remember.” Okay lady. Hiding your sources. Let me tell you, Diary, you have to be lucky to get salt. At the  Shell station on Bayview and Roehampton, you might — just  might — get a single bag of salt if you fill the tank. That exchange went like this:
“When are you going to have salt again?” 
“Wad ya say? 
“When are you going to have salt again.” 
“I can sell you a bag of salt, but just one, because you bought a tank of gas. It’s locked up.” 
This was not a bad deal at $5.01 for a 10kg bag, Diary, but the shortage is warping the neighborly spirit of South Bayview. You know the salt ships at the mines underneath Goderich are stuck in the ice, don’t you? That has something to do with the shortage. First Diary entry

Pothole army hits our rotten roads Monday

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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

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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.