Toronto’s city council has voted 22-11 — a substantial majority — to appoint a replacement for Doug Holyday rather than hold a $250,000 byelection. The decision is being seen as a personal rebuff of Mayor Ford who wanted to see the replacement member of council elected. Today’s decision does not make an appointment, that will come later. The appointment is apparently conditional on the person chosen to refrain from running at the municipal general election on November 2014. Some are calling it a denial of democracy although it is entirely legal and thus cannot be construed too seriously. Eleven members of council were absent. The decision to appoint the replacement will be made in 60 days.
Warning of damaging wind, rain and large hail
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The cloudy gloom overhanging South Bayview and the city today comes with a warning of severe thunderstorms, damaging winds, large hail and heavy rain. .
Indy grocers to meet here Sept 30 and Oct 1
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Grocery Innovations Canada, the country’s largest grocery industry conference and trade show, will be held September 30 and October 1 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. They call it the “grocery store for the grocery industry” as an estimated 5,000 industry delegates and 260 exhibitors will attend. The event is organized by the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers, a body of more than 4,000 independent grocery retailers. It isn’t quite clear just how an independent grocer is defined but we assume it doesn’t include Galen Weston.
Atwood’s MaddAddam is a gloomy work
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Here is a review of the latest work by “Bennington Heights own” Margaret Atwood. It is called MaddAddam. The review itself is a workout for the mind with at least one detour to the dictionary to verify interiority. As a good teacher might now say: “Look it up”. In the most general of terms the review suggests that Ms. Atwood’s preoccupation with the future and further abuse of women continues to abide in her work. Tim Martin of The Telegraph gives it three stars out of five. 600 sq ft Broadway condo sells for $417,000
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For those who like to know, a 600-plus square foot condo at the corner of Broadway Ave. and Redpath Ave has sold recently for $417,000. The address is 88 Broadway Ave., the Suite # 1004. The previous selling price in 2009 was $360,000. The deal included one owned underground space and one owned locker with maintenance fees of $448.80 per month and taxes: $2,265 (2012). Toronto Star
Boy, 3, drowns in pool at Don Mills and Eglinton
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A three-year-old boy has drowned in a swimming pool in the Don Mils Rd. and Eglinton Ave. East area. The child somehow found his way into the pool at a moment when there was no supervision of kids in the enclosed pool at the condominium on Dallimore Circle. There was video surveillance of the pool and police were able to ascertain that the child was in the water for about three minutes before being noticed and pulled out. Police did CPR on the child and then took him to hospital where he was pronounced dead. They say the child’s mother had briefly stepped away from the area and left him in the care of another person at the time of the incident. “His mother was present. At some point she left the vicinity of the pool area, she went to the bathroom, returned and found her son at the bottom of the pool,” Sgt. Kirwin Marshall said. CPR was not performed until seven minutes, according to police. About seven people were in the pool at the time and no lifeguard was on duty.
Doctor forgets patient, locks up, goes home
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Longo’s marks first anniversary at Leaside Village
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Longo’s is celebrating the one year anniversary of the opening of its store in Leaside Village on Laird Drive. To mark the occasion there was cake at the store and later on Saturday some face painting for kids. Much good luck and congratulations to Longo’s.
Town Crier newspaper purchased by employees
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The Town Crier newspaper will begin publishing again this September in a limited fashion after a group of employees purchased the bankrupt paper. It was put into bankruptcy by publisher Multimedia Novus in May. The new editor, Eric McMillan, says in a news release that the paper continues to be supported by readers and advertisers. The first issue will be directed it is said at Leaside and Rosedale.
Mustard Academy to house 700 kindergartners
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| Dr. Fraser Mustard |
When school begins in barely a week’s time, Thorncliffe Park will be the focus of one of the largest commitments to the education of kindergartners in the country. The new Fraser Mustard Learning Academy will have spaces for some 700 five-year-olds. It will be a congregation of races, religions and cultures seldom if ever seen in Toronto even for a city so famously pluralistic. The adjoining Thorncliffe Park Public School is said to embrace kids of 47 national extractions and we may be sure that the Mustard Academy will be no less varied. At the same time, the citizenship of the vast majority of all these children is Canadian. The large two-story building has been three years in the construction and is named after the distinguished physician and specialist in childhood education James Fraser Mustard. Dr Mustard died in 2011 at the age of 84. His roots were well established here. As a child he attended Whitney Public School in Moore Park. The academy is said to accommodate 28 full day kindergarten classes. It would no doubt please Dr. Mustard who strongly believed that a child’s first six years shape the grown-up-to-be for life. The academy is operated by the Toronto and District School Board.
Cronut burgers were full of bacteria toxin
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| Staph aureus is no mystery |
The Cronut burger did it. Toronto Public Health has confirmed that the outrageously fatty meat, cheese, jam and who-knows-what concoction was the source of the bacteria that made more than 150 fair-goers sick as can be. The strain of bug is the staphylococcus aureus, a bacteria that was isolated in 1888. It’s no secret what it is or how to deal with. In almost all cases of food borne illnesses the problem is improper refrigeration. Although the source of staphylococcus aureus in poisoning varies from country to country, in the U.S., where eating habits are similar to Canada, food poisoning of this type has been traced to red meat in 36 percent of cases, according to Wikipedia.
Jenna 16 and Emma 13 are found safe, okay
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Jenna and Emma Kip have been found after more than 30 hours lost in Bon Echo Provincial Park north of Belleville. The sisters were located around 6 p.m Friday night and flown by helicopter to be checked out by paramedics. The sisters trip-into-the-woods began when they left their family at the Hardwood Hills campground at the park around 10 a.m. Thursday. They did not return to the campsite. More than 25 police officers, including the aerial, marine and ATV units, as well at the canine units and park staff were involved in the search.