Strange fences surround strange “tree growth”
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Apologies to Robert Frost who wrote that Good fences make good neighbors. These crazy-quilt city-built tree protection fences take things up a notch as our municipal passion for protecting trees appears to have run amok. It’s a source of on-going public curiosity and amusement at 126 Manor Road where Redpath Ave. joins. The fences are installed around the oddest collection of growth we have seen behind such fences. In fairness, there is one big old tree in the backyard which no doubt deserves to live. This is the contentious site of a proposal which nearly went to the OMB for settlement. It is said the owner Zoran Sretenovic, wanted something like a three-storey row house here. But with the help of Josh Matlow (Ward 22) and staff, agreement was reached by all parties for a semi-detached home. It was nip and tuck because even though there was an agreement brewing between the parties, the Committee of Adjustment denied a deferral and the application was refused. The applicant, Mr. Sretenovic, filed an appeal with the OMB. But with Mr. Matlow’s interest the matter was re-opened and there was an agreement reached without reference to the provincial body. The semi should fit nicely on this fairly large corner lot. Strange, strange fences though. Northlea reflects on assembly to honour Jake
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This is a nice in-house reflection published by Northlea Public School on the recent assembly which honoured crossing guard Jake Apacible. Jake’s Day Previous Post
Artful dance to an enormous island airport
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Toronto Star reporter Amy Dempsey does a kind of stately dance here on how Billy Bishop Airport could become, step by artful step, a great big roaring airport with planes from all over North America landing there. Amy Dempsey
Target hopes card breach limited to the U.S.
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Target Corp. is telling Canadian cardholders that, so far as it knows, the breach of the company’s databank of customer information has not extended to this country. But if they shopped in the U.S. in recent days, Canadians could be in jeopardy. Target authorities learned only a couple of days ago that millions of American customers information is now in the hands of criminals. The Thanksgiving mentioned in the report is the U.S. one — November 30, 2013.
LeDrew unable to get Premier off talking points
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Premier Wynne has granted Stephen LeDrew of CP24 a sit-down interview at the year-end. Snippets of it are being run in advance of the full airing this weekend Thursday night’s preview revealed Mr. LeDrew quite unable to get the Premier to set aside her armour-plated talking points. Every foray came back to Ms Wynne’s rapid-fire recitation of what the Liberals have done for Ontario. The CP24 pundit was earnest nearly to tears as he tried to persuade the Premier to ponder human nature and the practice of spending. On the Ontario Power Generation Corporation, yes, the premier said there is a problem. But the problem was decades old and the Liberals had already replaced all the bosses ten years ago and it didn’t change the culture. Whether that’s entirely correct, who knows? But that was why, she said, the government needed more control over OPG. It was dispiriting to hear the Premier skirt the need to clean house and to keep plugging until the province gets the management it deserves at OPG.
Christmas trees still available from 58th Scouts
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John Spence writes to tell everyone that the 58th Scouts still have trees available at their lot at 111 Manor Road next door to the Church of the Transfiguration right where Redpath Ave joins Manor. These are nice ones. There are Balsams and Fraser Firs stretching up to 8 feet. Wow! They come from Drysdale Farm locally and of course they help support the activities of the 58th Scouts who have sold trees at Christmas now for over 50 years. Remarkable. The sale is on evenings between 6 and 8 p.m. and will be in full force this Saturday and Sunday between 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. 88 hurt as theatre ceiling falls in London
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Some 88 people have been injured but there were no reports of fatalities in the collapse of part of the ornate plaster ceiling of the famous Apollo Theatre in central London. As many as seven are in hospital with serious injuries. There is said to have been about 700 people in the theatre at about 8.30 p.m. local time watching a performance of The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Nighttime. Witnesses said a chunk of ceiling about 10 feet by 10 feet came crashing down on patrons underneath it. There was apparently little warning. One witness said some people had reported an odd creaking noise. A thunderstorm struck London about an hour before the incident but there is no known connection with the collapse. Witnesses said that after the immediate shock people behaved in a fairly orderly way. A London bus was used to accommodate theatre-goers and move them to hospitals to be checked. Shocked patrons were said to have shown little panic. Martin Bostock was in the audience with his family, and said “complete chaos” erupted in the theatre. “At first we thought it was part of the show,” he told Sky News. “Then I got hit on the head.” . Special search and rescue teams remain on the scene, along with ambulances and police. Pictures: Upper inset, theatre-goers in bus, centre inset, injured outside Apollo, lower inset, file picture of ornate ceiling taken this year. Crane operator says he is retiring from life’s work
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| Adam Jastrzebski |
Crane operator Adam Jastrzebski says he is calling it quits. The 68-year-old construction worker spoke from his hospital bed today as he recovered from the burns and trauma caused by his harrowing escape during yesterday’s raging fire in Kingston. Jastrzebski, 68, was stranded atop his crane at the centre of the massive fire and was “severely burned” before a military helicopter was able to navigate smoke and flames to airlift him to safety. Mr. Jastrzebski is said to have been burned on his hands, legs, back and buttocks. His employer, Aram Malek of Canadian Professional Crane Inc., said “He’s in severe pain right now in the hospital and they’re giving him morphine.” He added, “I’m just surprised no one got hurt more than that because the fire was enormous.” Firefighters from neighbouring communities had to be called in to help Kingston crews battle the flames which had engulfed an apartment building that was under construction. A crowd watched from the streets as the crane operator got out of his cab, crept along the boom of the crane to its very edge and waited to be rescued by a team from CFB Trenton.
Ford gives complete apology, Dale ends action
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It seems to have taken some people by surprise but the supplemental apology tonight (Wednesday, December 17, 2013) from Rob Ford was inevitable. On Tuesday, Mr Ford displayed his habitual defensive behaviour throughout the day. He mocked the City Hall speaker Frances Nunziata and made a parody of his apologies. Now we have a full apology written by who knows and which Mr.Ford has signed in silence. The reporter, Daniel Dale, is vindicated and has withdrawn his action. Apology
PO boss: Old folks will exercise on way to mailbox
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| Deepak Chopra |
The head of Canada Post Deepak Chopra has said that seniors have told the corporation they want more exercise and fresh air. This was his answer to an MP’s question about how the elderly will be especially hard hit by the cancellation of home mail delivery. The answer has enraged many people and prompted one Ottawa website to headline the story: HOW STOOPID IS THIS GUY?
Residents fight “Flying Table Top” at Yonge/Strathgowan
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A series of meetings to try to reconcile local uptown residents to the design of a proposed condominium at Yonge St. and Strathgowan Ave. has failed. A communication from the Uptown Yonge Neighborhood Alliance (UYNA) rejected the final compromises offered by the architect Will Alsop. The unorthodox appearance of the Alaska condo with its much ridiculed “Flying Table Top” component has yielded widespread opposition to the building. In the last of a series of working group meetings last week the development team behind Alaska presented its proposed revisions to the original application. The members offered to reduce the height of the building one storey, add a service vehicle entrance off Yonge which would pass through the building and exit onto Strathgowan across from Sheridan Nurseries, add landscaping along the eastern and northern frontages and create a single residential entrance for condo owners and tenants off Strathgowan. The UYNA newsletter says these “minor revisions” leave the fundamental scale and design of the building unchanged. The design team is said to be standing by the present form on grounds of “economic viability and design integrity”. But UYNA insists Alaska continues to “unapologetically flout the zoning by-law, key sections of the Official Plan, and the Avenues and Mid-Rise Buildings Study.” UYNA maintains the position that a development at Yonge and Strathgowan should respect the City’s policies and says it remains committed to appropriate development at Yonge and Strathgowan.