140 Dinnick Cres. decision an injustice

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Timothy and Charlotte Stanley bid up the price of 140 Dinnick Crescent to $1,875,000, in order to get the property. They had checked and found there would be no impediment to demolishing the 1930 house. It  sat on a large lot which would be perfect for their dream home. But the Stanleys now know that despite one’s best efforts to avoid getting stuck with a heritage building, it can still happen. One day after the City of Toronto issued a demolition permit to them it rescinded the permit. That’s because the North York  Community Preservation Panel sent a letter objecting to the demolition.  This week North York Council endorsed the objection and declared the building, known as Langdon House, to be a heritage building. The Stanleys will make a last ditch stand before the Ontario Municipal Board. We hope they prevail. The property at 140 Dinnick is said to be valued because it has “architectural and contextual” significance. Maybe. But there doesn’t appear to be anything much about it that is very unique. Nothing of any consequence occurred there. The previous owners, members of the Langdon family, raised no concern that it be retained. There are many ways to preserve the character of a neighbourhood by making new buildings conform.  Most of all, there has been a serious injustice done to the Stanleys. It should be reversed.  Read reasons given for saving 140 Dinnick

U of T student pays off a $114,000 loan in cash

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 Great story. Yahoo News.

Charles gives DJ routine a whirl

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UK Press Associationn — The Prince of Wales dropped some beats as he tried his hand at being a DJ in Canada Charles got behind a pair of decks mixing and scratching vinyl records at a community project teaching skills to disadvantaged youngsters in Toronto.The royal was working with Sean Roman, writer of the track, Lick. Mr Roman is one of the instructors from the Uforchange initiative that teaches a range of arts programs to young people. Charles looked a little apprehensive at first and when he inquired if he had to wear the headphones another instructor, DJ Loquenz, real name Fayola Leach, made the invited guests laugh when she said “you do if you want to progress to the next level”.The instructors took him through the basics of mixing, telling the heir to the throne to count the beat of the record “One, two, three, four” and scratch as he went along before letting the record go so the track would play. Charles got a huge cheer when he tried and got it right first time, and the soulful house boomed out from the speakers. He also mastered switching between the two tracks, creating a club atmosphere that had the instructors singing his praises.

UN “writer of reports” says Canada is smug

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It seems a challenge to imagine anyone whose views about Canada would be less valid than Olivier De Schutter.  Mr De Schutter is the United Nations writer of reports (rapporteur) on food and human rights. He is part of the European apparatus of the UN and advises the European Parliament on its many saintly concerns. Recently, Mr. De  Schutter (left) concluded that Canada is “smug” about its efforts to address the enduring issue of poverty in the aboriginal population. Beyond that, Mr. De Schutter didn’t have much to say. Just that we should be doing better and that we’re smug. The whole thing  so upset the Health Minister, Leona Aglukkaq, that she told Mr. De Schutter where to get off. Unlike UN  report writers, Ms Aglukkaq (right) is the real thing.  She is an  aboriginal who has practical work and like most Canadian politicians, Liberal and Conservative, has laboured at solving the intractable nature of poverty among some of the native peoples  Mr De Schutter may well be a nice man to meet. Maybe when he has a day off  he volunteers at the Paris Food Bank. But the verdict on his professional activity is that he’s hardly working.

Street robberies on Mt Pleasant, Douglas Dr

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Police are reporting two incidents from last Sunday, May 20, 2012. The first occurred at approximately 8 pm. when a woman reported she was in the area of Mount Pleasant Road and Eglinton Avenue East when she was approached by a male suspect. The man produced a knife and made a demand for cash. The victim complied. The suspect then fled the scene in an unknown direction. No injuries were sustained by the victim. Police request the assistance of the public in identifying the following described person in connection with this offence. Description of Suspect: Male, black, 20-25 years, 5’4”-5’7”, 110-150 pounds, thin build.
Douglas Drive and Astley Ave.
The police service reports that a 15 year old boy says that on Sunday night at approximately 11.45 pm. hours he was in the area of Douglas Drive and Astley Avenue when he was approached by three male suspects. One suspect made a demand for the victim’s property then produced a knife. The victim complied. The suspects fled the scene with the victims Blackberry in an unknown direction. No injuries were sustained by the victim. Police are requesting the assistance of the public in identifying the following described persons in connection with this offence. Description of Suspect #1: Male, black, 14-17 years, 5’10”, black hair, medium build. Suspect #2: Male, white, 14-17 years, 6’3”, short brown hair, thin build. Suspect #3: Male, black, 14-17 years, 5’9”-5’10”, black hair, medium build.

Electrician Tim Schell wins $50 million jackpot

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RELEASE — After a long weekend spent house hunting, Toronto resident Timothy Schell can now buy the house of his dreams. Early this morning, Timothy discovered that he is the winner of the $50 million jackpot from the Friday, May 18 draw. Soon after arriving at work early this morning, Timothy and his colleague decided to check their numbers online. “We both got our tickets out and I read through the numbers one by one. I was in total shock when my ticket matched all seven numbers. I said to my colleague, ‘No way . . . Stuff like this doesn’t happen to people like me,'” said the 34-year old electrician.
Shell station at Bayview and Sheppard
Timothy bought his lottery ticket on a whim after much coaxing from the cashier at his regular gas station, the Shell outlet at 2831 Bayview.  Although the fact that he’s now a multi-millionaire is still sinking in, Timothy knows one thing for certain – the house he does eventually buy will have a huge garage. “I’m a hot-rod man – I love fast bikes, muscle cars and big trucks,” he said. “I also look forward to visiting all of the major bike and car shows around the world.”

Scotiabank sells its home for $1.2 billion

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As expected, the Bank of Nova Scotia has sold off its landmark building at King and Bay Streets. The 1988 complex consisting of about two million square feet of space and is almost completely occupied. The price paid was $1.2 billion. The buyers are well known Canadian firms Dundee Real Estate and H&R Real Estate. The partnered deal has yet to close.  Scotia Plaza was built during the halcyon days bank building during the 70s and 80s. It is described as a  postmodern landmark in red granite. The dramatic sculptured sides were as sensation at the time.  Most remarkably, the bank sold its building to raise cash to satisfy requirements of new global banking regulations. The sale of the building was a way for Scotiabank to raise money without having to sell off core banking assets.

Tokyo Skytree Tower has rocky opening

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Many tourists got stuck on the observation deck of the new Tokyo Skytree Tower on opening day. High winds forced operators to shut down two elevators to the observation deck. Everyone later came down safely. The world’s tallest tower and Japan’s biggest new landmark was designed to replace previous broadcast towers in the Japanese capital.  Nearly 8,000 visitors were expected to take high-speed elevators up to the observation decks of the 634-metre (2,080ft) tower to mark its opening. Some reportedly waited in line more than a week to get the coveted tickets for a panoramic view, although Tuesday ended up being cloudy in Tokyo.  The chart above shows the CN tower to be now the third highest broadcasting tower in the world.  National Post

Hospital posts ED wait times online

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There is a discussion about Toronto hospitals showing wait times online for treatment in the Emergency Department. A Kitchener hospital, St. Mary’s, has recently begun this practice. A picture of its website information from this morning can be seen above. At that time, there were 14 patients being treated, six waiting with a likely wait time of three hours for any other non-urgent cases. It’s said that St. Michael’s in Toronto is considering a similar service 

Mac’s at Eglinton and Petman robbed

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Toronto Police Service report:  A 24 year old male employee of Mac’s Convenience, 393 Eglinton Avenue East, reports that on May 19, 2012 at approximately 0024 hours, a male suspect entered the premises and approached the counter. The suspect produced a knife, held it to the victim’s back and demanded he open the cash drawer. The victim complied and the suspect grabbed a quantity of cash from the till and a quantity of sunglasses from a rack. The suspect then fled the scene in an unknown direction. No injuries were sustained by the victim. Police are requesting the assistance of the public in identifying the following described person in connection with this offence. Description of Suspect: Male, black, 20 to 30 years, 5’8” to 5’10”, 161 to 180 pounds, thin build, brown eyes.

Memories of the St Cuthbert’s Spring Fair

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Robin Dickie has generously written to report on the details of the much loved St. Cuthbert’s Spring Fair and has sent some pictures as well to keep memories fresh. Thanks Robin — Ed   Link here for Robin’s report.

Mayor on the air a hit for Newstalk 1010

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It’s seems to be the place to listen if you want to know what Toronto’s big guy is going to do next. The weekly appearance of Mayor Rob Ford and his brother Doug on Newstalk 1010 radio always produces a story for local media. Will he attend a gay-lesbian event? Does he support the Toronto police vs G20 dissidents? Will the mayor extend private garbage collection east of Yonge Street? It’s all there. And clearly, it’s a platform that serves both the mayor and the radio station. Mr Ford avoids annoying questions that normally pepper him in scrums. Newstalk 1010 gets the action. The latest flash from the mayor over the air is that he will not push through privatization of garbage collection east of Yonge Street this term. Answering a  listener from East York, the mayor said the east side of town will have to wait for privatization. It was a pretty frank response. Mr Ford obviously thinks privatization is a winning issue and he intends to use it to help him get re-elected in 2014. Some media, like BlogTO, are playing the decision like a betrayal. But it isn’t as if Ford is raising taxes when he said he wouldn’t. Now that would be a betrayal.