TDSB to vote tonight on holding proms

by  • 

Toronto and District School Board (TDSB) will vote tonight on whether to authorize annual school proms using management staff like principals and other support employees to supervise the events. As it stands, the work-to-rule campaign by high school teachers appears to prevent any chance that they will be assisting in such dances. Students are said to be  working hard to save the prom, with or without school support. The student council at Bloor Collegiate Institute has been looking at the possibility of planning a year-end party themselves. For the prom motion to pass at tonight’s meeting, it will need the backing of a simple majority — at least 12 out of 22 elected trustees.

Frank Di Giorgio is city budget chief

by  • 

Frank Di Giorgio is Toronto’s new budget chief and it appears that he is a man of many parts. And we suppose that it’s picky to  laugh at his mixed metaphors because he is a smart guy (Mathematics McMaster and Western Business) and a family man, married to “Mary” for 15 years with two kids. He did provide entertainment however if you know that  a question like “Has the gravy train been stopped?” should not be answered:  “I think there is little low-hanging fruit at this time.”   But at a distance at least, you have got to like him. He’s not a cut, cut, cut maniac. He wants to find ways to keep down costs by bringing in new revenues. Here’s a bit of his bio as posted on the Toronto site: A graduate of McMaster University in Mathematics and the University of Western Ontario Business School, he has a diversified background which includes teaching, coaching, business management and public life. In the business world, Councillor Di Giorgio was a marketing and seminar leader in pension plans and tax planning and later established his own small business. As a teacher and a coach, Frank was an Assistant Head of Mathematics, and Associate of the College of Education and guided three championship football teams before pursuing postgraduate training in business administration.

Making sure your passport is still respected

by  • 

When dual-passport Canadians commit terrorist acts, it ought to concern every one of us personally. The government says the “Canadian” who helped blow up a bus loaded with Israeli tourists in Bulgaria last summer was a dual-passport citizen living in Lebanon. Our disgust at this barbarity is natural but such acts are a serious warning. When the Canadian passport is used this way it diminishes the country and casts a serious shadow over just how your passport will be received at checkpoints all over the world. In a column today in the Charlottetown Guardian a man leaving soon for a visit to Egypt, Israel and Jordan says he hopes his Canadian passport will be respected as it has on previous trips.  Canada is a large land and like many such countries it seeks to encourage immigration by permitting duel citizenship. At the very least, the Bulgarian atrocity, and the recent Algerian gas field hostage taking, should make the government wary about just who is permitted to hold our passport. This would seem particularly true for parts of the world where violent political acts are more or less standard practice. 

Driveby purse snatch on Overlea Boulevard

by  • 

Toronto Police Service report: A 59 year old female reports that on February 1, 2013 at approximately 1400 hours, she was in the area of Overlea Boulevard and Thorncliffe Park Drive, when she was approached by unknown suspect(s) in a vehicle. The suspect(s) reached out of the window and grabbed the victim’s purse. The suspect(s) then fled the scene in an unknown direction. No injuries were sustained by the victim. 

Metrolinx restores the Ferrand Drive LRT station

by  • 

Ferrand Drive at Eglinton

It now appears that Metrolinx has changed its recently announced plan to  cancel both the Leslie Street and Ferrand Drive stations on the Scarborough LRT. Instead, only the Leslie station will be eliminated while the Ferrand Drive station will be built. This new direction emerged from a meeting held January 31, 2013 at the Ontario Science Centre with residents of the area. Metrolinx is the provincial body charged with planning all mass transportation in Ontario. At the meeting, Metrolinx spokesman Jamie Robinson, is quoted as saying  “We believe Ferrand can work.”  The logic of this direction is fairly apparent. While the Leslie Street intersection is surrounded by parkland and right at the bottom of the Don Valley, Ferrand Drive is on a flatland that is home to  Flemingdon Park. It is also opposite the Aga Khan Museum, a large cultural centre which is expected to draw considerable traffic. Previous Post 

How to walk the walk while you talk the talk

by  • 

It’s outrageous but British designer Sean Miles has struck on a novelty concept that just might find a niche.  As the Mailonline reports, before smart phones and iPads it was two-way radio transceivers that occupied the top spot of most children’s Christmas wish lists. Miles decided to create a  retro walkie talkie which was ideal for outdoor activities and a fun and easy way of communicating without a hefty phone bill. He re-furbished old walkie talkie phones and built them into a range of fashionable footwear.   Bianca London 

Local Loblaws will “round up” on your change

by  • 

As the penny is pulled out of service, retailers and the public are grappling with the mechanics of the “rounding” process. For the time being of course it’s still viable to make change to the penny. At Loblaws however, the company says it will keep prices the same, even though with HST, the price frequently comes to an odd number of pannies. In making change, Loblaws will “round up” to the nearest nickel of change coming to the customer. So, if your bill comes to $87.28 next time you go shopping, and if you pay with a $100 bill, Loblaws will give you $12.75 change, a bonus of three cents. Don’t waste it.   

Canadian comes face to face with medieval history

by  • 

It is a remarkable story, not least because it seems to telescope our history in a way that we can hardly imagine. That’s Richard III, King of England on the left. He died near Leicester in 1485. at the Battle of Bosworth Field.  On the right is Canadian Michael Ibsen, a direct descendant of Richard, alive and eloquent on the discovery of his blood relative of some 17 generations ago. Ibsen calls it extraordinary and indeed it is. It was DNA provided by Ibsen, of London, Ontario, which cinched the scientific case for making the Richard identification. Ibsen was contacted after the body was found buried under a parking lot last September because his mother, now deceased, was confirmed as a direct descendant of the 15th century king. Examination of the bones reveal a slim and perhaps frail frame of a short man. People were short in those days. The body is marked by several barbaric wounds perhaps delivered after he was dead in the manner of the way things were done at the time. 

Flying Wheels to former Rumah Tangga shop

by  • 

The Flying Wheels bicycle shop which was located for many years on Manor Rd. behind Hollywood Gelato has reappeared as the new tenant at 1639B Bayview Ave. This is the former address of the Rumah Tangga design and accessories shop which closed before Christmas. The entrance to 1639B is on Fleming Crescent. In other South Bayview leasing news, the former Oddjects shop at 1643 Bayview has been taken by a tenant who is as yet unidentified. Keep watching for more on that. 

Cupcake Girls now open in Leaside Village

by  • 

The Cupcake Girls shop is now open in Leaside Village  It is a franchise of the phenomenal business created by two Victoria B.C. women Heather White and Lori Joyce who quit school on a wild whim to make these little tasties. They tell their story in YouTube videos and express their surprise at the popularity of their fare when they were just starting out. The beginning of their empire occurred when friends who were in the know said they should franchise their business across the country. And here they are.