LRT might impact Eglinton condo foundation

by  • 

Remarks which were emailed Sunday night to members of the Leaside Property Owners Association say that concerns have arisen about protecting the foundation of the Scenic on Eglinton condominium complex if the Eglinton-Crosstown LRT tracks follow their original overland route approved in 2010.  In a previous post The South Bayview Bulldog reported that Metrolinx, the Ontario Government planning body responsible for construction of the LRT, had decided to tunnel the line all the way from Laird Drive to Don Mills Road. In the 2010 plan, trains were to exit the tunnel at Brentcliffe Rd. The change requires trains to travel under the Don River. The emailed remarks, said to have been authored by Carol Burtin-Fripp, vice president of the LPOA, say that residents who attended a meeting on December 11, 2012, were told of  “new property constraints” related to the Scenic on Eglinton, which is still under construction. It is said that the original overland route, exiting the tunnel at Brentcliffe, would require temporary shoring to protect the foundation of the condominium. Other matters raised in the remarks were the inconvenience created by the elimination of two stops (Leslies and Ferrand Drive), congestion at Laird and Eglinton if Leslie-York Mills commuters are bused to Laird station and the additional cost of the longer tunnel.  

Million stories behind 30-year history of President’s Choice

by  • 

Galen, Amanda House and Trader Dave

There are a million stories behind the 30-year campaign of the Loblaws chain to extend its private brand, President’s Choice, into a household term representing thousands of products. In the process, Loblaws went from being merely a bunch of grocery stores in the 1980s to a huge manufacturer and creator of many of the items on its shelves. Amanda House and her complaint that Loblaws failed to deliver on buying her yogurt treat is just the latest tale. She says that Loblaws didn’t carry through on undertakings it made to buy and sell her pro-biotic product. Loblaws then produced a product of its own which Ms. House says looks a lot like hers. Her $20-million lawsuit with Loblaw Companies Ltd., and an especially sad plea on YouTube for Loblaws to do the right thing, have earned her a meeting with the Loblaw chief this week.

Trader Dave

Ms House said no settlement offers came out of the hour-long meeting with Loblaw executive chairman Galen Weston Jr. But she was hopeful that communication will remain open between her company YoPRO Treats Inc. and the supermarket chain. “It was a step in the right direction,” said 35-year-old Ms. House, who attended the meeting at Loblaw headquarters in Brampton with her lawyer. The thing is, Loblaws can readily argue that it has done nothing wrong here. It just decided not to buy the YoPRO product and instead do what it’s been doing since the day of the fabled Loblaws President, Dave Nichol, and make its own. It was Nichol, kindly known by many customers as Trader Dave, who engineered the first jaw-dropping scheme to make Loblaws very own soft drinks.

A million stories

In the process, he kicked Coca-Cola to the back of the store. Did we say there are a million stories about President’s Choice? You have to know that every big brand name firm from Kraft to Maple Leaf got indigestion over Loblaws private label program. In the end, however, success sells. The public has embraced this concept even though some customers continue to complain that time-honoured brand names have been removed from Loblaws shelves for good. In the meantime, we can only hope that there is sympathy at Loblaws for Ms House and her colleagues. They seem like decent people.

Dollarama to open in January says Bulldog reader

by  • 

South Bayview Bulldog reader Ed Murphy of Cleveland Street writes to tell us that Dollarama is displaying a sign which says that the store will open in the first week of January. Ed says there was a sign posted Saturday at the new store at 1531-1533 Bayview to this effect. Thanks for the news Ed. 

The Flower Nook is back at 1542 Bayview

by  • 

Tannis and Michael flanking Jen

The Flower Nook at 1542 Bayview Ave has been an institution on our street for decades. It is owned by the solid family of Mom (Agnes) Dad (Grant) and Daughter (Jen). They are celebrating a return to the Bayview shop which has housed the business for so long. The family bought The Flower Nook in 2010  but they barely got started before the store was ravaged by smoke damage during the fire that destroyed Leaside Cleaners in October 2011. It was necessary to move out for eight months but now they are back and the place is humming. That’s good news for all South Bayview and especially nice for The South Bayview Bulldog because The Flower Nook is our newest advertiser. So welcome back to Bayview to the Flower Nook and welcome to the pages of The Bulldog.

CBC producer says it’s your fault he fooled you

by  • 

According to Chris Kelly, producer of the CBC fake news program This is That, it’s more or less your fault if you believe much of what it broadcasts. Kelly appears to bring a whole new school of thought to the field of journalism ethics. This week the program ran a story, complete with a fake interview, that a Montreal Councillor was insisting that dogs in Montreal parks should be able to respond bilingually to commands. It was a ridiculous idea but it came from a place where there are many ridiculous ideas about language. It’s hard to imagine that anyone who ran the story really believed such a mental feat is possible for canines. But it was — and is — entirely possible that Quebec can generate ideas of this quality. The daily news run is loaded with stories which are ridiculous but which are also true. Check the post right below  this one. Kelly is unfazed. “We obviously feel for the City of Montreal and city council who are probably getting some calls right now. We feel bad that that was an outcome of this, but it’s a joke. A pretty funny one,” said Kelly. “The overarching truth that we’ve noticed about this style of stuff is we live in a very knee-jerk age and people sometimes don’t take the time to go beyond the 140 characters,” Kelly said.  There you are. It’s your fault he fooled you.  

Landlord insisted salon not cut white men’s hair

by  • 

The annals of small business are full of unreasonable landlords but this case is surely good for a nomination to the Hall of Leasebreaking Fame.  Vancouver Sun

4 Click Video Pick circles the world

by  • 

The Click goes clockwise and begins with a promising invention to reduce cycling deaths.  The British brain and barnstormer for the Blaze is Emily Brooke. While in university, she created a neat handlebar mounted laser lamp that casts a green image of a bicycle out onto the pavement ahead  of the cyclist. Motorists are able to detect the presence of bikes even  in the blind spots and thus avoid turning into them.  Number two is a charming re-union of Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta some 35 years after “Grease”. Below that are some of Vuitton’s chic mini bags (arm candy if you please) showing this season. Finally, most touching is the story of the Landfill Harmonic, a very good orchestra made up mostly of poor kids from Paraguay who fabricate their instruments out of salvaged junk.

High court upholds anti-terrorism law

by  • 

This quiet corner of the Canada we like to call South Bayview may sleep better tonight after today’s Supreme Court of Canada decision that one cannot legally commit wholesale violence in the name of freedom of expression.  The justices decided 7-0 in the matter. This suggests that in the end they didn’t have a very hard time making up their minds.  CBC<

Whole Foods still set to open at 1860 Bayview

by  • 

The new owners of the property at 1860 Bayview say they are readying a program of consultation with the community. Trillium Development Group purchased the site late this year and are working their way through the details of the zoning which were approved for any commercial use of the land. Trillium was able to confirm that Whole Foods is still scheduled to become a tenant at 1860 Bayview. The Austin, Texas-based company will lease the second floor of a two storey complex.  Trillium said talks continue with other prospective tenants.  The matter went to the  Ontario Municipal Board this year which approved a settlement permitting the construction of the  approximately 16 metre retail/commercial building with 193 parking spaces in a two-level underground garage. Neighbourhood improvements, including road widening along Bayview and Broadway Avenues to accommodate traffic concerns, were secured as part of the settlement. . 

Light smoking doubles heart risk in women

by  • 

Women who are light smokers – including those who smoke just one cigarette a day – double their chance of sudden death, a large study suggests. The research tracked the health of 101,000 US nurses over three decades. Light-to-moderate smokers were twice as likely to die of sudden heart problems than those who had never smoked. But those who quit smoking saw their risk begin to go back down within years, a journal of the American Heart Association reports  .    BBC

4 Click Video Pick for December 12, 2012

by  • 

 
Our 4-Click Video Pick begins wth Boston piano  prodigy George Li, 17, who this week thrilled an audience on the stage of the Jane Mallett Theatre in Toronto. Here he plays Beethoven’s 4th Piano Symphony with the Symphony ProMusica under Mark Churchill when he was 16. Wonderful. Continuing clockwise, twelve couples in Hong Kong take advantage of the good luck said to be attached to today’s date — 12, 12, 12.  Next, the really remarkably well-preserved remains of a WWII British fighter plane in the Egyptian desert. it was found this summer. The story at CNN. And finally, the flash mob success of all time from the Welland shopping mall in 2010 when local singers entranced residents with the Messiah. This video has been watched a staggering 39 million times according to YouTube.

Auditor General McCarter’s 2012 report

by  • 

The Ontario Auditor General’s report  for 2012 released today reads a bit like a history lesson for some. It is a long list of  items which  over the years have become a standard part of of our society. All of them are necessary in various measures. Bureaucracies which make Ontario so complex. The Auditor General ponders whether Crown Attorneys work efficiently given crime levels which are down, whether staff at the Youth Justice Services Program of the Ministry of Children and Youth Services are efficient, whether we can do better educating Aboriginal kids when it is said that only 45% of them in Grade 10 are on track to graduate. Fodder for the most sincere and civic-minded citizen but not much help in the end to making a plan  If you are  inclined, take a look at the original news release from the man himself, Jim McCarter.