Press council to probe stories on Ford brothers

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Rob and Doug Ford back when
The Globe and Mail has outed itself on an impending review of its work in publishing stories told by ten anonymous sources on the activities of Doug Ford as a young man. The story raised many eyebrows because it seemed like the newspaper was trying to get back in the game after the Toronto Star’s series of exposures on the Mr. Ford’s brother, Mayor Rob Ford, allegedly smoking cocaine and other revelations. The Ontario Press Council will hold a hearing in September on both papers after receiving complaints from the public. The two complaints will serve as representative of the 41 received by the independent press council — six of which were in writing, the rest by phone. “The council has determined that the issue to be addressed in each of the two hearings is whether the newspaper has engaged in irresponsible, unethical investigative reporting,” council executive director Don McCurdy said in a statement. Globe and Mail. 

Oak doors go to Habitat for Humanity store

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The end is near for the elegant old stone home at 308 Rose Park Drive in Moore Park. It will be torn down this week to make way for two homes on the 68-foot wide lot. The process has been a collaborative one in the neighborhood. Many resident-lawyers and other neighbors have collaborated with the owners to make sure the builder creates homes they can live with. No one wanted to stand in the way of the deal made by their 30-year neighbors. Today (August 20, 2013) the heavy oak doors were being removed by Habitat for Humanity. Those doors will be desirable merchandise at the charity’s store. The home was listed for $2,495,000 in September 2012. The sale price was $2,150,000 in October 2012 and the now divided lot at addresses 308A and 308B may be purchased from Cimetta Properties together or singly, with or without a home built to the approved plans. No 308 Rose Park dates from the 1920s and is one of only a few architect-designed homes on the street.

“I just kept thinking of Josh,” says lake-swim girl

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Ashleigh Beacham is seen as she was interviewed today on a hometown television station in London. The 15-year-old girl swam Lake Ontario Sunday night in support of the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Josh is the five-year-old leukemia sufferer who will be going to Disney World because of Ashleigh’s efforts.   Interview.. 

Our worst fear for kids — taking home a “fat letter”

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To read the news stories, all our worst fears for our children are rolled up in so-called “fat letters” sent home from school to tell parents that a child is overweight. Bullying, humiliation, shunning — they are all said to flow from such letters. Could be. Yet, if we can get control of our panic it seems this information is often helpful to parents in adjusting their kids eating habits. Here in Toronto, the Toronto and District School Board will not send out letters although it will weigh and measure the height of kids. Presumably parents can ask. The discussion began with a paper issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics.  The AAP says letters home are an important tool in combating the obesity epidemic. This kind of screening has been going on in parts of the U.S. for over a decade, and despite the objections, has led to positive lifestyle changes for many of the children identified as obese, the paper argues. So there you are. Hamilton Spectator 

Jewellery break-ins on Delisle, Roselawn Avenues

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Toornto police reports (combined): A resident of Delisle Avenue reports that between 2359 hours on August 17, 2013 and 0242 hours on August 18, 2013, entry was gained into the premises by unknown means. Removed was a quantity of jewellery and watches. (And) a resident of Roselawn Avenue reports that between August 11, 2013 and August 12, 2013, a quantity of jewellery was removed from the premises.

Free salad offerings this week at Mad Italian

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The Mad Italian gelato and restaurant location at 1581 Bayview Ave. will offer free samples of its new signature salads this week, starting Thursday and through Friday and Saturday. It’s a lunch time thing — 12.30 to 3 p.m. 

Updating the “3 sisters” of Rose Park Drive

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On lovely Rose Park Drive in Moore Park between Mt. Pleasant and Welland Ave. these 80 year-old “3 sisters” are receiving loving re-makes and in at least one case, a large extension. Behind the common blue mesh fencing (left) they are 232, 224 and 222 Rose Park. At least one, maybe two of the homes are the work of the architectural firm of Bruce Studio. The construction is by Cornerbrook Construction. The third, 232, has a handsome new extension going on at the rear. These homes date from a time when the lots were seldom less than 180 feet and these might be longer. Very nice and a tip of the hat to the homeowners who are spending big-time to have their dream homes in Moore Park.  

Work underway on the “Towns on Rumsey”

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Work has begun on the town homes to be built on the southeast corner of Millwood Rd. and Rumsey Rd. This shot taken Monday morning by a South Bayview Bulldog contributor shows the new sign proclaiming this to be a Berkshire Axis Development. A backhoe and other equipment is now on site. Another sign  indicates the houses will be built by South Hill Homes. Okay, South Bayview meet South Hill. A nice feature of these homes will their “2 car garages” as announced on the sign. 

Whence NewsTalk 1010 under Bell’s tender hand?

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You don’t have to like the frequently outrageous things that are said on NewsTalk 1010 to understand how this radio station serves Toronto quite well. It’s purpose is to challenge the conventional view of the city on topics as diverse as the Caribbean Carnival to GO Transit. It may have only a minority listenership, but it is a philosophical minority, people who keep alive the need for a society to examine its prevailing shibboleths. Do the empire builders at Bell Media understand this? Do they care? One of the underground mumblings in the trade is that Bell will turn NewsTalk 1010 into an audio repeater of its popular CP24 television service.  As such, the station would be very profitable. A radio station with no staff.  It would presumably play its own commercials inserted into the CP24 schedule. The prospect would be tempting for anyone much less the railroad construction gang at Bell.  This humble blog can only hope that there is a greater sense of public service at Bell HQ than some people think. We are the heart and soul of private enterprise but it has always been clear that the purchase of Astral Media by Bell was not in the public interest and that remains as true today as it ever was, Verizon or no Verizon.  To show otherwise, Bell Media should say as soon as it can that it will leave NewsTalk 1010 alone. 

Survey hints expectation for Target was too high

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Forum Research, a Canadian firm, has done a survey relating to customer satisfaction at large retail stores. The results seem to suggest that Target has not fulfilled the high expectations that people had for it. At the  same time, the company has mounted a very large renovation of stores — some 68 so far,  including the outlet in the East York Town Centre on Overlea Blvd.  Target has also constructed from scratch a supply chain to Canada which includes three distribution centres. The main complaints from consumers are that goods sometimes seem to be in short or erratic supply and prices are higher than those paid in the U.S.  Globe and Mail.

Small town girl completes chilly lake swim

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Ashleigh Beacham, a 15-year-old swimmer from the southwestern Ontario town of Komoka, has swum Lake Ontario from Niagara-on-the-Lake in support of the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Ashleigh touched shore at Marilyn Bell Park just before 8 p.m. Sunday night after being in the chilly waters since 1 a.m.  “It’s just unbelievable to think that a 15-year-old girl would spend two years training for this to send a little five-year-old boy with leukemia to Disney [World],” Elaine Blaney, Beacham’s grandmother, told CP24.  “We’re all so very proud of her.” 

When the chief justice sounds like Nancy Grace

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It’s a sad day when the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada comes off sounding like Nancy Grace. But the bleating of Madame Justice Beverly McLachlin. (inset upper) about access to justice does not become her.  “People just swallow their pain and their loss and live with it, I guess, in some unsatisfactory way feeling they can’t get justice,” she has been complaining. Her remarks come in the context of a report from the Canadian Bar Association about the seriousness of the same problem. All well and good if like the lawyers who authored this report you think that “justice” is like medical care. If our learned friends don’t understand that justice is almost entirely in the eye of the beholder, those seeking it may wish to look for help in the want ads. Which is not to say that people don’t face stress and disappointment because of delays in the court system. To deal with this however it would be well to appreciate how the rising expectations of society have led to an enormous bureaucracy that, in the end, will never grow large enough to meet our expectations. It may be sad. It may be painful. And it’s like looking for love in all the wrong places. The justice system was not created to soothe away sadness and pain. In court there’s almost always a winner and a loser. Much is made of the stress and pain people feel when families break down and they seek redress in the law. Stress and pain begins when fractious humans cannot resolve differences on their own. The author of the report is  Melina Buckley. She says one of biggest concerns is the growing number of people who represent themselves in civil cases. She says this happens because they earn  just enough money so they don’t qualify for legal aid, but they also don’t make enough to pay for a lawyer.   May we say Ms Buckley that increasing the amount of money paid to legal aid lawyers (and they may deserve a raise) is not going to eliminate a class of people who fall between the stools, so to speak. An increase will pay the lawyers better but it won’t help those who are still making just the wrong amount of money to qualify for one.