South Bayview seems to have escaped power outages following overnight wind that blacked out many parts of the city. Around town, Rosedale Valley Road is closed as noon approaches as a result of fallen trees. Elsewhere, there is a large blockage of traffic on Spadina near the Lakeshore where northbound lanes are closed for repairs and southbound lanes are limited. CTV
Keep score of Leafs game secret pleads spaceman
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Nice summary of the return of hockey excitement to Canada from the CBC. High points include the return of the Vancouver Canucks “Green Men” and the picture inset which was tweeted from space by Astronaut Chris Hadfield He shared a photograph of our town calling it “home of my favourite team, the Maple Leafs,” he wrote “as seen from the International Space Station.” He also had a request for NHL fans: “I won’t get to see the Leafs-Habs game on the Space Station until it’s sent up to me tomorrow,” he wrote. “Can you keep the score a secret?” CBC
Sporadic delivery of flu shots to local drugstores
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Some pharmacies across South Bayview are out of flu vaccine, but the shortage is expected to be brief. Because demand for the shot is so high, based on the flood of late-comers responding to this year’s epidemic, delivery of the flu shot has become slightly sporadic in Toronto. There is plenty of the vaccine in stock but in some cases, it can’t be shipped fast enough to keep up with local demand. This sign at the Pharma Plus on Moore Ave near Bayview Ave. is up today. The drugstore expects to have more of the flu shot allocation very soon but this week’s supply didn’t arrive.
Outraged reader wants $20 bills sent to him
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Sean Blaney, a New Brunswick botanist, has a view of the Norwegian maple tree as a kind of interloper. It’s a strain of Maple that came here in the 18th Century and “really shouldn’t be in Canada.” Right Sean. You can see that if you start where Sean is at, it really is a scandal that the Norwegian Maple leaf appears to have found its way onto the new polymer Canadian $20 bill. The image here shows the Norwegian leaf on the left and the Canadian Sugar Maple leaf on the right. The Sugar Maple is the one on our national flag. How upset any of us should be about this is debatable. A lot of our relatives sneaked into pre-Canada in the 18th century. A comment in response to this story is enlightening: “This is outrageous,” say the reader. “I will soon be putting up a post office box address where you can send me all of these insulting $20 bills that you might have in your possession so that I can perhaps take a truckload of them to Ottawa to represent our collective anger to Parliament. I may even demand to speak to the Prime Minister or the Governor General about this.”
180 Laird Drive sold for “well over list price”
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The old CIBC branch at 180 Laird Dr. (at McRae Dr.) has been sold after about three months on the market. It was listed at $1.9 million but a source at the listing firm CBRE Group Inc. said it sold for well over that amount. As is expected in such maters, there is secrecy around who purchased this interesting place, right at a choice corner in Leaside. That information will be available after the transaction is reported to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and that should be by February 1, 2013. Then we will ask how the location is to be used. As previously posted in October, 180 Laird is a two a storey building dating perhaps from the 1930s. It has 18-odd parking spaces. There are about 3,000 square feet downstairs and 2,000 square feet upstairs. It is across the street from the SmartCentre. Planners have noted that if this building were removed it would permit a much smoother flow of traffic through the Laird, McRae, Wicksteed intersection. Over the front door the property comes with a very nice coat of arms in concrete of the now defunct Imperial Bank of Canada. Imperial and the Canadian Bank of Commerce merged in 1960. Incidental to the agent, CBRE Group, Inc. is a Fortune 500 and SP 500 company headquartered in Los Angeles. It is the world’s largest commercial real estate services firm (in terms of 2011 revenue). The company has approximately 34,000 employees (excluding affiliates) and serves real estate owners, investors and tenants/lessees through more than 300 offices (excluding affiliates) worldwide. In past times, the initials in its name have stood for Coldwell and Richard Ellis but it is unclear if they have any official relation to the name today. With WikipediaCRA ends mailing paper tax forms this year
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The Canada Revenue Agency has ceased mailing individual income-tax returns because more than a million of such mailed and printed packages went unused last year. And of course it costs four times more to process a paper return than an electronic one. If you still want paper you can find the printed copy of the tax guide and T1 return at the local post office or a Service Canada office beginning sometime in February.
Armstrong says it didn’t feel wrong to cheat
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Lance Armstrong has admitted he doped to win the Tour de France Cycling Championship and he has told Oprah Winfrey that he didn’t really feel bad about.it. “At the time it did not feel wrong?” Winfrey asked. No,” Armstrong replied. “Scary.” “Did you feel bad about it?” she pressed him. “No,” he said. “Even scarier.” “Did you feel in any way that you were cheating?” “No,” Armstrong paused. “Scariest.” CBC
TDSB acting chair, Donna Quan, to speak Friday
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| Donna Quan |
Donna Quan, a quiet and diligent member of the Toronto and District School Board, has been appointed acting chair of the board. She will also be in the running for chair as a search committee is formed to find the permanent chair. Unlike her extroverted predecessor, Chris Spence, Ms Quan has worked behind the scenes during her 30-year education career. Mr. Spence resigned in the wake of a scandal in which he admitted using unattributed material found in the New York Times in an article for the Toronto Star. Those who know Ms. Quan say she is fully able to rebuild the board following the disruption caused by the Spence scandal. Quoted in the Star, Lloyd McKell, a retired member of the board, said Quan will do a fine job of “steering the ship through these troubled times.” Ms. Quan will speak at a news conference Friday morning at board headquarters.
Town paper: Aboriginal “terrorists” lazy, corrupt
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Courtney Malloy may never smoke again
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| Courtney Malloy |
In the column to the left is video showing the moment of rescue of that Portland Oregon woman who found herself trapped in the narrow space between two buildings. She fell when she stepped into the space between roofs during an overnight shift of work. But what you ask, was she doing up there. Why grabbing ciggie of course. Malloy has confessed that she thought it was a neat place to take a smoke break but she didn’t count on it being quite as dark as it was. All sneak smokers take notice.
Council votes 40 to 5 to hire 63 firefighters
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The CBC online reports that Toronto council has approved spending some $3 million to hire dozens of new firefighters. This was a decision that Mayor Rob Ford had opposed but in the end, he supported. It includes many new hires and the maintenance of five fire trucks and the Runnymede Fire Hall, which had been slated to close. Some called it a defeat for the mayor but he has vowed to maintain other budget measures. Council voted 40-5 in favour of a motion to add 63 firefighters at a cost of $3.1 million. CBC
Across South Bayview, it might as well be Spring
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It may not be exactly warm, but with the spectacular sunshine and unseasonable temperatures of the past few days it really might as well be Spring. All across the area, scenes like those inset reveal snowless, bright and pleasant streets. These shots are on Rolph Rd (left) and Rumsey Rd (right). And while it has been a nice week so far, it will get colder as next week arrives. Daytime highs of minis 7 and minus 9 are predicted for Monday and Tuesday, so sadly, it won’t seem quite so much like Spring.