Declining sales have caused owner Trader Corp. to cease publication of its flagship car advertising magazine, Auto Trader. The magazine has been published from coast-to-coast since the 70s. It’s been decided that printing should stop and readers are being referred to an online site
Star, 680 News discover Wicksteed Ave.
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It’s a good thing that the big media have discovered the interest of residents in the SmartCentres development on the north side of Wicksteed Ave. at Laird Drive. There are stories in the Toronto Star, 680 News and elsewhere this morning. A meeting will be held tonight at Leaside Gardens beginning at 7 p.m. and members of Leaside Unite have been busy getting the word out. Here’s hoping they have a huge turnout. See post two down for link to website of Leaside Unite.
1976 Apple 1 expected to fetch $180,000
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Meeting Monday about Wicksteed development
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Paddy Duncan of Leaside Unite writes with a reminder about the big meeting Monday (tomorrow) night to discuss the SmartCentres development on Wicksteed Ave. at Laird Drive.The meeting will be in the William Lea room at the Leaside Grardens (1078 Millwood at McRae and Southvale). As we posted earlier, this is a huge development and there’s every reason to be concerned that SmartCentres plans to install a Walmart in there (although that’s not confirmed). It’s worth caring about and you can check further by going to http://leasideunite.com/.
Redbox kiosks at Mac’s, On-the-Run stores
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The new kid in town offering cheap movie rentals is Redbox. And a pilot project recently announced is going to put the boxes in places like the On-the-Run stores in Canada’s Esso stations as well as Mac’s Milk stores. So here in South Bayview, we will no doubt soon be able to check out the offerings at the big Mt Pleasant Rd and Merton Esso or at the Mac’s in the Sunnybrook Plaza. The name to remember behind all these locations is the Montreal convenience store giant Alimentation Couche-Tard (Night Owl) which operates under these names outside Quebec. It’s network numbers more than 2000 stores. In addition to this, there is a deal to put the Redbox kiosks in a number of Walmart stores. The boxes should begin to appear in July. The pilot project will be centred in Toronto and Vancouver. Redbox built its name in the U.S. marketplace renting DVDs for $1 per day, primarily at grocery stores, though its prices have since increased.
Maria Sharapova wins the French Open
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Maria Sharapova won the French Open on Saturday, defeating Sara Errani 6-3, 6-2 in the final at Roland Garros to complete the career Grand Slam. (June 9)
Hi neighbour! Art colony moves in on Soudan
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A group of artists has a taken up residence at 593 Soudan Ave. in a house that is slated for demolition. It sold recently for $699,000 to a builder. The group calls itself Project Soudan and it has a Facebook page at The Soudan Project One participant is James Anthony Usas, shown above from Facebook. He is described as a video-artist and designer currently completing a Master of Architecture Degree at Waterloo University. An excerpt from material on the page: “The Soudan Project is a collaborative effort derived from an experiment by Toronto-based architects and artists. It is meant to explore and challenge the existential relationship with our immediate dwelling; consciously. We think that the house/place that we inhabit is present, yet intertwined with our everyday life, beyond its function or material existence. It is simultaneously giving home to our emotions, memories and state of mind, while sheltering our bodies and belongings. Through architecture the places we live in blends the boundaries of tangible and intangible, rendering an imagined world that is personal and distinct. We invited artists and asked them a simple question: “What have you always wanted to do to a house?”
I’ll Have Another scratched from Belmont
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“Jaywalk Alley” scene of pedestrian accident
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The stretch between Davisville and Merton on Yonge is known to many as Jaywalk Alley. This morning about 8.45 a pedestrian was hit and subsequently taken to hospital. Condition is not known. There’s no information whose fault it was but this strip of street is notorious for masses of jaywalkers coming off the west sidewalk at random. Part of the problem is that unlike other subway stations, Davisville has exits only on one side of the street — the west. Drivers familiar with the corner at Merton and Yonge will know that it’s necessary to have 360 degree vision to track on-coming pedestrians. It has always been a source of some curiosity why there is no railing as there is in other spots where jaywalking is a problem.
Local cops paddle for Victims Services
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After three months of indoor training and over a month riding the waves on Lake Ontario, the members of 53 Division Outrigger Canoe Team are well on their way in both achieving the goal of raising $10,000 for Victim Services Toronto and being fit to make their 51-km lake crossing July 21. TPS story.
3 Councillors switched sides between votes
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| Matlow, Pasternak and Minan-Wong |
Does it mater that some City Councillors apparently changed their votes in the bag ban voting just to go with the majority? That seems to be the case with three Toronto Councillors: Josh Matlow, Denzil Minan-Wong and James Pasternak. They all voted against the ban in the first vote on this subject last night. That vote ended 24-21 to ban so the vote-changers didn’t actually change the outcome when they moved over to the ‘”yes” side in the second vote later in the evening. The second vote was 27 in favour and 17 against. But it’s fascinating to see these moves, made as a matter of political strategy rather than environmental compulsion. And thanks to our reader who wrote to say it appeared that Mr. Matlow had voted in favour of the bag ban. In fact, Mr. Matlow was against it before he was in favour of it. Toronto Sun votes tabulation for both motions
Sorting out the bag ban vote
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We’ve had mail to suggest that contrary to our post below, Josh Matlow voted in favour of the bag ban. According to the Star’s map of who voted how, it seems he voted against the motion (red)
Any firm information either way is welcome in comment. Vote map.