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.

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. 

Honda offers glimpse of new small SUV

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Honda brought something a little different to the 2013 North American International Auto Show: a sporty midsize Urban SUV concept with designs on competing with the quirky Nissan Juke. With a long history of success with small cars, Honda is hoping its reputation will help find the Urban SUV Concept an audience — even with no announced specs. Honda plans to have the production version hit showroom floors in Japan before 2013 ends, with an American launch in 2014. MSN

Boy reunites siblings separated for 65 years

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A brother and sister who were separated into different Chicago foster homes as children in 1948 have met for the first time, thanks to the detective work of a friendly 7-year-old neighbor Betty Billadeau, of St Louis, Missouri, and Clifford Boyson, of Davenport, Iowa, were introduced after 65 years apart yesterday. The pair were put into separate foster homes at age five and three respectively and spent decades trying to find each other to no avail. 
But with the help of Mr Boyson’s tech-savvy neighbour, Eddie Hanzelin, 7 (above) and his enterprising plan to track Ms Billadeau using his mother’s Facebook account they are now a family again. ‘Nobody would help me until I came and met little Eddie,’ Mr Boyson told ABC News. ‘One thing he said is that he has someone to send a Christmas card to now,’ Ms Billadeau said of her brother.

Phony tickets written to hide absence from work

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Eight TTC transit enforcement officers have been fired for fabricating offense tickets. Five of the transit enforcement officers face criminal charges for obstructing justice. The tickets were apparently issued to homeless individuals who were known to the TTC although it seems these parties didn’t even know tickets had been issued against them.  They were for offences such as panhandling, loitering or trespassing. Because the tickets were never served, no fines were paid.  Late today news organizations identified the motivation for the phony tickets as a cover up for being absent from work while receiving salary. The TTC said their special officers typically make around $70,000 a year but CTV reported tonight that some of the accused are on the Ontario “Sunshine List”, indicating they take home an income in excess of $100,000. Michael Schmidt, 44, of Barrie, two counts each; Tony Catic, 45, of Oakville, two counts each; John Posthumus, 44, of Toronto, three counts each; Jamie Greenbank, 48, of Milton, one count each; Neil Malik, 38, of Ajax, one count each. 

Wreckers demolish Glebe Presbyterian

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The wreckers went to work on Glebe Presbyterian Church on Belsize Drive yesterday and today. What’s left of the century-church is rubble and the 1913 foundation.  The church sign still stands among shrubs on the large property overlooking Belsize. A small sign for the Mother Nature Day Care service and a  kids playhouse are forlorn reminders of the history of this space. As previously posted here, there is a plan to build six town homes on this site.  

City installs “don’t bother” bus shelter

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So here we are at the corner of Mt. Pleasant Rd. and Broadway Ave,. outside the venerable Pik Kwik store. That’s just kitty-corner from Northern Secondary. This is where, thanks to the efforts of Jack Lakey, the Toronto Star’s “Fixer”, a new bus shelter has been installed. Except that this lovely shelter, Tuesday’s sunshine glinting off its aluminum-strutted roof, has no sides. No sides! The one that it replaced was wretched, but it had glass sides. It will be enough for most of us to know that the designer of these pieces, Astral Media, should have stuck to radio. The only solace we can offer to those who must gather on this corner when it is cold and windy is that there are two beat-up Bell Canada phone booths there. One of them looks like it would be pretty good as a wind-break.

We have to grow our great Avenues says planner

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She wants to grow main street

Toronto fledgling chief planner Jennifer Keesmaat cited five priorities for Toronto that will guide her tenure. Ms Keesmaat, who was appointed last year, spoke to the Board of Trade today. She said the city’s “Avenues” or great streets (such as Eglinton Avenue E above) needed to grow in such a way that jobs and work places were more closely linked. All these streets, St. Clair, Eglinton, the Lake Shore, have tremendous capacity for growth, Ms. Keesmaat said. With existing transit infrastructure and proximity to green space, they could accommodate new mid-rise buildings in a way that would not negatively affect surrounding communities. Ms Keesmaat criticised the political polarization at city hall, saying that conditions there are sometimes not pretty. It should be a priority to change this, she said. Other major goals: Fixing transit, the impact of climate change and the legacy of green space and land use.  National Post.