Tale of two homes — from Cleveland St. to China

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On the left is 337 Cleveland Street as it stands today, all 20 feet across. It’s up on the market for $1.6 million and it’s Toronto Life’s Home of the Week. In the centre is 337 Cleveland before it became the minimalist structure it is today.   At the right, this is what happens in China when the government wants to buy your house to build a highway and you refuse. They build the highway around your place. See post above.

Police raid warehouse, find stolen Sally Ann toys

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Police have swooped down on a Brampton warehouse to recover three tractor trailers full of toys and other goods that were stolen from a Toronto Salavation Army warehouse over a two-year period. The items, stored on 146 skids, included everything from toys to baby cribs, strollers and food and were seized from a commercial warehouse in the westerly Toronto  suburb.   “The items are currently in the possession of the Toronto police Service and are being inventoried,” a news release states. “When the inventory is complete the items will be returned to the Salvation Army.” 

Van driver will be best witness to cycling death

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63-year-old Manuel Martins (right) saw cyclist Tom Samson, 35 (inset) struck by a van during this morning’s rush hour at Lansdowne Ave and Davenport Road. Then he saw Mr. Samson’s body flung through the air directly at his own van.  The cyclist bounced off Mr Manuel’s vehicle and fell to the roadway.  The brief horrifying accident is loaded with ill fortune. The driver of the first van, which was travelling in the opposite direction to Martins, kept right on going. Police are looking for a 1996-2000 Chrysler van with heavy damage to the front end. It seems certain they will find it. Mr. Samson was the father of two and a well-liked  teacher at Swansea Public School. Police say they have not determined exactly what happened but Mr. Martins will be an important witness. He says Mr Samson was riding his bike across Davenport in the pedestrian walkway. He says the vans had the green light.  

Unborn babies yawn endlessly waiting to be born

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Note — video has no sound: A study at a British University using high resolution ultrasound has confirmed with fascinating evidence behind the belief that unborn babies yawn incessantly as they await birth. A writer at the BBC said hanging around in the limbo of the womb seems to be so dull it is little wonder that foetuses yawn. This video shows it for the first time. But it may not be because they are bored. The most likely explanation is that foetal yawning is an essential process linked to brain development. While it is well known that foetuses open and close their mouths, experts had disagreed over whether or not they were actually yawning. But this study carried out at Durham University, using high resolution ultrasound footage, has confirmed that babies really do yawn, and do it often.

Justin Trudeau sorry for anti-Alberta remarks

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Liberal leadership contender and Montreal-area MP Justin Trudeau says he is sorry for remarks he made (above) in an interview about Alberta politicians. “I’m sorry I said what I did. I was wrong to relate the area of the country that Mr. [Stephen] Harper is from with the people who live there and with the policies that he has that don’t represent the values of most Canadians,” said Trudeau, who was speaking at the Vancouver Art Gallery, on the final stop of his British Columbia tour.  National Post 

Of Things Past opens location on Yonge Street

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Of Things Past, the consignment store with its original location at 185 Bridegeland (west of Dufferin  Street and South of Highway 401) has taken the former location of Jackson Falk at 1096A Yonge Street. Of Things Past is known for intriguing and sometimes valuable curiosities. Among their merchandising techniques is a form of what is known as a Dutch Auction where prices are progressively lowered week by week on some items until they sell. Their web page  Courtesy Yonge and Roxborough News 

Three views of the changes at 34 Sharron Drive

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The little  bungalow at 34 Sharron Drive in Leaside was badly run down and overrun by bushes and ivy last summer. But, at left, it is now an excavation for a new home which will no doubt add a lot to this quiet street between Rumsey Road and Cameron Crescent. Centre is the house a couple of years ago and at right the previously mentioned green overrun in August this year.  

Hotel hit by Twitter Tide after horse refused entry

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Marty the Calgary Stampeder horse is welcomed at the Royal York Hotel this afternoon after hotel management realized it was committing a huge public relations blunder by turning Marty away. Perhaps the hotel’s owners, Fairmont, being American, had no sense of the history of horses at the Royal York. It started in 1948 when Calgary first competed in the Grey Cup in Toronto. Reports say that the noisy crowd outside on Front Street demanding entry was less persuasive than the Twitter Tide that hit the hotel as news got around town. The Royal York tried to make up for its gaffe by offering Marty excellent looking crudities in a suitable bushel basket. Yes Sir.   

Sophomore scores 138 points in U.S. college tilt

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Jack Taylor’s performance left even Kobe Bryant impressed. The Division III guard shattered the NCAA scoring record with 138 points, hoisting a mind-boggling 108 attempts — or one shot every 20 seconds — in eclipsing the previous record by 25 points. Taylor made 27 of 71 3-point attempts, was 52 of 108 overall from the field and added seven free throws on 10 attempts while playing 36 minutes in Grinnell College’s 179-104 victory over Faith Baptist Bible on Tuesday night in Grinnell, Iowa. “I don’t think reality has set in yet,” said the 5-foot-10, 170-pound sophomore from Black River Falls, Wis.