You can help in city census of the needy

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Jaye Robinson

Local rep Jaye Robinson (Ward 25 Don Valley West) is inviting public-spirited citizens to participate in a one-evening project which counts the numbers of homeless/vulnerable people in the city. It’s a kind of census of those in need. This is a very sensible idea and as Ms. Robinson points out, some 700 volunteers will  help Toronto make useful decisions for the welfare of those who need help. It’s a far cry from a dark past of correctness at city hall when some members opposed the idea saying it was somehow too stigmatizing of the homeless to conduct such a census. Totally hapless. As Ms Robinson says: “This is an opportunity for Torontonians to help some of our most vulnerable residents.  Without hard data on what services people find useful in finding and keeping housing, we cannot be sure that we are making the right investments to help the city’s homeless. Those who volunteer for the Street Needs Assessment are stepping forward to help achieve our long-term goal of ending homelessness, one person at a time.”  Ms.Robinson is Chair of the Community Development and Recreation Committee. City residents 18 years of age or older on April 17 are invited to sign up online at http://www.toronto.ca/housing or by calling 311. No previous experience is needed and there are opportunities to volunteer throughout the city 

Deer Park hi-rise without power overnight

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Residents in mid-town Toronto in Deer Park and into the area east of Yonge are without lights or heating tonight and Toronto Hydro says it won’t be able to restore power until perhaps 6 a.m. The failure comes after a spectacular hydro vault fire on St. Clair Ave. w. near Deer Park Crescent west of Yonge Street. By mid-evening Monday the  outage spanned from Kilbarry Road to Cottingham Street and Mount Pleasant Road to Walmer Road. Tonight its believed that five apartment buildings are without service;  two are on  St. Clair, two on Spadina Rd. and one on Avenue Road. Above, the president of the Tower-Hill East Tenants Association tells of the hardship of residents, many of whom are disabled. 

Brands 4 Less at 418 Eglinton W. to close shortly

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The Brands 4 Less pop-up store at 418 Eglinton Ave. West will close barely two months after it opened. An employee at the store said that it had been planned to run the store for at least six months but disagreements had developed with the landlord. Brands 4 Less is a cut rate retailer selling general merchandise and it has four other stores in Toronto, all of them permanent locations. 418 Eglinton was built in the 1930s and served as a grocery store. It is a large building and includes a basement. In recent years it has been a challenge for retailers. It was recently the home of Liv, a spin off of the Au Lit group. At one time, the building housed the Paul Slavens real estate offices which are now located in company-owned premises across the street on Eglinton West. 

Montreal watermain break sets downtown afloat

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A water main break in downtown Montreal has caused consternation and a few harrowing escapes. Video on the right shows a woman swept down a hill to an unknown fate while juveniles on the sidewalk giggle and offer helpful advice like: “Dude, someone should probably go and save her.” 

Conrad Black will become a Znaimer Zoomer

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Improbable business associates Conrad Black and Moses Znaimer will collaborate on a talk show featuring Mr. Black. The ever resilient Mr. Black reached the deal with Mr. Znaimer’s ZoomerMedia to host his own weekly, 60-minute current affairs talk show to be called “The Zoomer — Television for Boomers With Zip”.  Zoomer is a term applied by ZoomerMedia to seniors by way of complimenting them. The program will offer the  point of view of those aged 45 and over. Can’t wait. 

Visa card system back up after national disruption

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Toronto  Star

Markham arena and its illusory NHL team

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NHL ambitions of Markham arena power-brokers will be aired at town council Tuesday night. Long but informative column by Elliotte Friedman

Moody’s downgrades Canadian banks a notch

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Many people may consider it to be a kind of meaningless busywork on the part of Moody’s Investor Services, but the credit rating firm has downgraded five Canadian banks a notch to Double A one, two or three.  The reason is given as concern over the banks exposure to heavily indebted consumers and elevated housing prices.  The ratings affect Toronto-Dominion Bank, Scotiabank, Montreal,  Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, National Bank and the Desjardins caisse populaire. 

Valentine’s shopping at Leaside Presbyterian

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The ladies of Leaside Presbyterian Church are having a Valentine’s Shopping Spree at the church on Saturday, February 2, 2013 between 10 am. and 3 pm. There will be more than 25 vendors there with gifts suitable to the season. Among them will be KCNY Cake Pops, Laurie’s Crafty Creations, My Beaded Design, Re-Vamped Books, Rubin Cupcakery, Avon, Arbonne, Stella and Dot and many more.  Leaside Presbyterian is at 670 Eglinton Ave E. at Hanna Road.

Mink coat shawl stolen from Furs by Leonard

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There was an early-afternoon heist of a mink coat shawl on Saturday. It happened at  Furs by Leonard, 1417 Yonge Street near Pleasant Blvd. about 1.15 pm. The police report is sketchy, but the coat got out of the shop and is gone. 

No school cancellations in Toronto

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Despite the bad weather this morning there are no cancellations of classes or school bus service within the Toronto and District School Board. A useful list of cancellations is linked here from the CBC showing cancellations elsewhere.  

Uncle Eugene conquers the land of bonehead TV

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He’s known to millions of TV viewers as the boneheaded Uncle Eugene. But Canadian actor and writer Levi MacDougall has created a near-legendary man among dumb men of Canadian advertising. And there are lots of dumb men in the contest. Uncle Eugene sells Rogers wireless service by embarrassing himself as the only jerk in sight who isn’t with Rogers. The grand-daddy of his blundering appearances is the visit to the Telecommunications Museum (above).  Eugene (Levi) is there with his nephew who humiliates his uncle in front of a large cast of characters. Anna Hardwick (second from left) is the slightly contemptuous guide who can’t believe that anyone could still receive the Internet over a phone line. Eugene is outed by his nephew for just this stone-age conduct.  Mortified, Uncle Eugene clumsily beheads a mannequin staged as an old-fashioned phone operator and draws further disgust from cool guy Jamie Spilchuk (right) who is always there to show up Eugene for the dope that he is. Spilchuck has been MacDougall’s second banana in several commercials. We particularly like the one where he aces out MacDougall for a chance to pick up the cute girl trying to find the address of the ballet school down the street. Faster search on his Rogers phone, you see.