The South Bayview Bulldog

It’s surprising it doesn’t happen more often in busy, re-constructing Leaside. But yesterday the north wall of a bungalow at 133 Randolph Rd collapsed inward all by itself during a day off for workers. The wall had been left standing obviously without support as is often the case in such re-builds. No one was hurt and firefighters say the well-fenced site is safe. 

Jeweller Linda Penwarden, and her shop at 631 Mt Pleasant Rd., has been profiled by Post Media News and the article may be read here linked from the Ottawa Citizen. Ms Penwarden is apparently an example of hard work and persistence being rewarded with a successful practice in  jewellery making.  As reported by David Kates, she has worked in the jewellery business for nearly two decades. He says she has learned the valuable lesson of doing your homework. For sure.

Wendy’s President and CEO Emil Brolick earned total compensation valued at $4.6 million in 2011 after taking the helm of the hamburger chain in September, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Friday. Wendy’s outgoing CEO Roland Smith, who retired rather than relocate to Ohio from Atlanta after Wendy’s sold most of Arby’s, took home about $16.5 million in total compensation last year, including $11.4 million in severance pay. That pay package was up more than three-fold from the $4.9 million in total compensation that Smith earned in 2010. Brolick’s 2011 compensation included $338,462 in base salary for time served in the role; his base salary for the full year is $1.1 million. Brolick also received a $500,000 signing bonus, $3.2 million in stock and option awards and $533,000 in non-equity incentive plan compensation. Brolick, a former chief operating officer at Yum Brands, joined Wendy’s on Sept. 12. Fox

Tremblettt’s Valu Mart and realtor Patrick Rocca teamed up to get the Easter Bunny (inset) out on  South Bayview Saturday.  Many kids had the thrill of a picture with the normally flop-eared rabbit, who had fairly upright ears on this occasion.  Easter Sunday is set to be a warm one, with temperatures predicted to climb to 16°C and a minimal chance of rain. The chance of rain is about 30 per cent, said Kuhn, though it will be scattered throughout the city. Warm temperatures Sunday will drop slightly Monday then drop further Tuesday as an arctic air current moves in. Sunday’s temperatures are above average but still far from the record-setting heat felt in 2001 when the mercury hit 25.2°C.

Gasoline prices in Canada are climbing to near-record highs, and financial speculators betting on the closing of a Philadelphia refinery are partly to blame Pump prices shot up in several major cities Wednesday – topping $1.40 a litre at many Toronto gas stations – as motorists across the country feel the pinch of steadily rising prices in recent weeks, even as crude oil costs have remained relatively stable. Shawn McCarthy in the Globe and Mail

The Mad Italian is about to expand its network of Gelato shops by way of franchise operators. The owner, Joel Friedman, says the sophisticated concept of Italian ice cream, fine coffee, sweets and mealtime entrees is ready to move into other high class street in Toronto. He suggests such neighborhoods as The Danforth, Bloor West Village and possibly downtown. As South Bayviewites will recall, the Mad Italian was founded by Alessandro Settimi and his family in early 2010. He soon expanded to a second location on College Street in Little Italy to make the present network. The Mad Italian has grown in the variety of services offered in just  two years and now is also licensed to offers beer and wine. 

The estimable economist Sherry Cooper is back in the news with her carefully considered concerns for the value of Toronto homes. Like others, she warns of too much household debt and is wary of an overheated market, mainly in condominiums.  These concerns are cast against the U.S. where in many places conditions are still quite bad. Will the infection cross the border?  The essential factor of any catastrophic drop in prices is a glut of units. In the U.S. people with means  still want houses, but there are just too many units left over from the insane construction of the past 20 years to push prices up much.  The building was fuelled by the determination of certain American legislators like Representative Barney Frank to funnel billions of dollars into mortgages for people who had no chance whatsoever of paying them off. In many cases, they had no intention of paying the money back. In Canada, the banks, including Ms Cooper’s employer, Bank of Montreal, have applied basic principles which protect the market. In other words, to borrow money for a house in Toronto you have to be more than simply poor. This is not as callous as many will say because when the housing market collapses, everyone suffers.   Carolyn Ireland, Globe and Mail