Firefighters appear to be getting the upper hand on a raging fire that destroyed much of an iconic Jersey shore boardwalk after a last-ditch effort to slow its spread by ripping up boards that had not yet burned. Authorities had not declared the fire under control late Thursday but it appeared to have vastly lessened in intensity. Seaside Park Mayor Robert Matthies says “it certainly looks like it’s been suppressed.” No serious injuries were reported. The fire burned more than 30 boardwalk businesses in Seaside Park and Seaside Heights.
Premier Wynne to visit South Bayview Friday
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Premier Kathleen Wynne will be on Bayview Friday afternoon between 3:30 and 4:30 p,m. She will be visiting Badali’s Fruit Market and other food stores to promote locally sourced products.
Telling Visa to take its business elsewhere
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| Larry Rossy |
It’s a problem every retailer would love to have. Larry Rossy, the CEO of Dollarama, just can’t figure out how it would help his business at all to start accepting Visa and MasterCard. Nope. He’s tried to slice it different ways but he still can’t see why he should give up Dollarama’s cash and Interac only policy. He’s studied it and listened to the “credit card people” as he calls them. They can convince you of almost anything, he says. But no. Dollarama now dodges those nasty 2 and 3% Visa fees on fancy “black” credit cards, and on all the rest. He makes his money with a decent markup on cheap goods and by keeping overhead down. Rossy says he is especially concerned about Visa or MC cannibalizing that efficient Interac business. Maybe he would do a percentage or two more business by accepting credit cards only to find he was doing a percent or two less with Interac. When you figure in the card fees, that’s a net loss You have to love the man’s choices. Walking away never felt so good, we’re guessing.
Fire spreading across New Jersey boardwalk area
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Firefighters are said to be having a hard time controlling a large fire on the Seaside Park boardwalk. The fire was reported around 2:30 p.m. Thursday in the 1800 block of the boardwalk.
Ottawa transit home to 9/11 conspiracy placards
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Placard ads that are by any measure deeply offensive are running on Ottawa transit buses. The 300 ads promote the idea that the U.S. government (who else) was responsible for the 9/11 aircraft missile conspiracy. Apparently Osama bin Laden and the 19 other guys — most of them Saudi Arabian citizens — were just George Bush lackeys from Texas. Dear God in Heaven. Ottawa Citizen
Rogers reaches across ocean for new phone CEO
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Rogers Communications has appointed the chief executive of Vodafone U.K. as the successor to its outgoing president and CEO. Guy Laurence, 52, will become top executive of Toronto-based Rogers in December as the Canadian wireless giant prepares for a critical auction of federal wireless licences. He succeeds Nadir Mohamed, who had previously announced his intention to retire as the head of the wireless, cable and media company. “The board unanimously chose Guy as the best leader to succeed Nadir and to take the company forward,” said Alan Horn, chairman of the Rogers board of directors.
Heat clearing storm raged around South Bayview
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South Bayview and all of Toronto escaped fairly easily last night as the weather-changing storms swept across Ontario. Damage was much worse to the southwest and north where by 6 a.m. as many as 13,000 customers were without power. But here at home, the overnight rain was so insignificant most outlets haven’t bothered to mention it. This picture of a whopper of a lightning bolt was taken by Mark Robinson who tweeted it from his southwestern Ontario base.Storm causes evening blackout west of Bayview
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Bulldog readers report a blackout of undefined size west of Bayview Ave in the original City of Toronto. Power appears to be off north and south of Eglinton but is still on north of Broadway, which is in North York. All of this occurring about 10.20 p.m. Wednesday night.
Rainfall forecasts vary, some fear flooding tonight
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Rainfall predictions are varying wildly Wednesday as to what the evening and Thursday will bring. Environment Canada has issued a severe thunderstorm watch for the GTA and much of southern Ontario with warnings of as much as 50 to 80 millimetres of rain within one to two hours. The Weather Channel, which may be more focused on Toronto, is predicting more like 15 mm between now and Thursday morning. Be prepared. Here is the text of the Environment Canada watch: Severe thunderstorms possible tonight. This is an alert to the potential development of severe thunderstorms with large hail, damaging winds or heavy rainfall. Monitor weather
AT&T, Others Stumble Over Sept. 11 Tweets
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Essence du Papier now open on Bayview Ave.
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A late flash from the north block indicates that Essence du Papier is now open at 1657 Bayview Ave. just north of Fleming Cres. This is a quality stationery and paper goods store operated by the Pierre Belvedere interests of Montreal.
Hell no hotter than the hubs of South Bayview
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This is your favorite business street — South Bayview — about 3 p.m. Wednesday with the hordes of pavement repair people at work. There was, as we asked store owners, very little business to be done and it was a trifle on the warm side. Look at the sun on the truck cab wipe out vision for anyone walking south from Starbucks. This may last to the end of the week but temperatures will be cooler .