Three years after the last strike by CUPE Local 416, we are facing another. Garbage collection could cease by midnight Sunday. It’s a sadness for everyone including the employees. But you may recall that it was the garbage strike of 2009 that irrevocably turned public opinion against former Mayor Miller. Ultimately he gave in to the union but it didn’t help him with the public. People felt they had been abandoned by the City. This time, if the strike drags on, an effort should be made to encourage freelance collection. In 2009, this activity was frowned upon. It’s not a perfect solution, There will be rogue operators and it will have to be policed. But many homeowners would be prepared to pay a nominal sum to have the garbage removed rather than pile it in a park.
Jus de Vie will open at 1627 South Bayview
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The premises at 1627 Bayview has been leased by a firm to be known as Jus de Vie, It will feature healthy juice drinks. This is the store which was occupied by Paradox for so many years. Steve Moskovski, owner of the property, told The South Bayview Bulldog that the upper level of this building will be converted from residential to commercial use.
Fiat reveals larger 500 model
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Fiat is showing off a new larger 500L model in advance of the 2012 Geneva Motor Show in March. The “L” in 500L stands for “large” and while this is the biggest model in the Fiat 500 family, it will still be one of the smallest cars on the road when it goes on sale in Europe later this year and in the North America early next year. The Fiat 500L is designed to better compete with small winners like the Mini Cooper. Fiat boasts that the 500L features the space of an MPV with the taller ride height and capability of a compact SUV. Overall dimensions come in at 13.6 feet in length, 5.8 feet in width, and 5.4 feet in height. Inside, there’s seating for five, although a seven-seat version is expected to be launched for European markets at a later date.How much did Target pay Fairweather?
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The guessing game among retail experts this week is how much Target Corp. paid to Canadian retailer Fairweathers for the exclusive use of the Target name in Canada. Fairweather more or less set a price when it launched a $250 million lawsuit against Target. Fairweather owned name in Canada and although its use of it on relatively few stores may have made the settlement easier for the American firm. In other words, Fairweather didn’t have too much tied up in the Target name. Target announced Wednesday it had reached an agreement with Fairweather, and its sister firms, International Clothiers Inc. and Les Ailes de la Mode Incorporées, that requires the Canadian retailer to stop using the Target mark by Jan. 2013. But no details about money were released.
Trend Shoppe running a store closing sale
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The Trend Shoppe at 1622 Bayview is having a store closing sale. Apparently the future of the Trend Shoppe on Bayview is doubtful although another women’s store may take its place. In the meantime, stock is being sold at 70 percent off at the Trend Shoppe.
Lawrence Ave muggers take winter jacket
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It appears that expensive winter coats with high-profile labels are now a target of street muggers. A 14 year old boy has reported that on Monday, January 30, 2012 at about 4.30 he was accosted by a group of boys near Avenue Road. A demand was made for the victim’s jacket and personal belongings. One of the suspects punched the victim about the body several times while another suspect removed his jacket and hat. The suspects then fled the scene in an unknown direction.
Ontario Place closed to save money
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Forty years of fun and memories were generated by the imaginative waterfornt concept. But time and money crept up on Ontario Place. Now the government will close it and save as much as $20 million a year. The Toronto Star has an excellent slide show Ontario Place Through the Years.
Warm winter ahead is the forecast
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Most Canadians across the country can look forward to a warmer-than-normal winter, right through until spring, according to Environment Canada’s latest forecast issued today. The prediction for February, March and April comes after an unseasonably warm couple of months. It’s set the pattern and although it may put a crimp in winter sports, the construction and renovation business is booming.
Updated Merton semi sells for $646,000
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An attractive semi-detached home at 98 Merton St. has sold for $646,000. That’s a nominal $3000 discount on the asking price of $649,000. This home has that most desirable feature of the Merton Street homes between Mt Pleasant and Bayivew namely a deep lot. The taxes, as those who live there might guess, were $5,051 last year. It has three bedrooms and one bathroom. This home was on the market a mere eight days. There are more pictures a the National Post.
Shafia family guilty of honour killings that gripped world
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Mohammad Shafia, his wife Tooba Mohammed Yaya and his son Hamed, 21, were sentenced to the maximum penalty — 25 years in prison without the chance of parole
The honour killing trial that riveted the world has ended with all three of the accused being found guilty. Mohammad Shafia, his wife Tooba Mohammed Yaya and his son Hamed, 21, all of Kingston, were sentenced to the maximum penalty — 25 years in prison without the chance of parole. It’s fair to say that the cold-blooded and unnatural behavior of the killers has left the country shaken. One of those who died, Mohammed’s 13-year-old daughter Geeti, had been so concerned about her safety that she had asked police to place her in foster care. But that didn’t happen. Instead, a few months later the killers executed their plot to drown Geeti and her two sisters, as well as an older woman the girls looked to as a mother. Now comes the time when the national conscience will be examined asking how such a thing could happen in Canada. There should most certainly be a national debate — free from cheap guilt and long on practical action — about how best to detect and defeat this primitive behaviour.
Nostalgic for the South Bayview stores of Year 2000
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Three months after Homefront opened on South Bayview the Globe and Mail published a feature called Eclectic Bayview. It appeared September 10, 2000 and featured a little map (right) showing what the author thought was the heart of the district. All the shop owners were flattered. There were seven named. They were Inquisitive, The Country Store, Early Canadian Furniture, Horticultural Design, Nestings, Homefront and M.E.G.S. Ten years has passed and, with Homefront slated to consolidate with its store at 371 Eglinton Ave. West, there will be two of the originals left on South Bayview. That of course is business. But we can’t help feeling sorry about closures on Bayview. The Globe’s article was highly personalized view of Bayview. As history has shown there are many other businesses that make the street exciting. And there have been openings. Detail, Oddjects, Moms to be and More and DEW, for example.
U of T team finds 190 million year old dino eggs
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SOUTH AFRICA — An ancient dinosaur nesting site, the oldest ever found, has been excavated in the Free State, the University of the Witwatersrand said on Wednesday. Paleontologists found clutches of eggs, many with embryos, as well as tiny dinosaur footprints Researchers said this was the oldest known evidence showing that dinosaur hatchlings remained at the nesting site long enough to at least double in size.The nests were from the prosauropod dinosaur known as the Massospondylus and were 190-million-year-old. At least ten nests were found at several levels. Each one had up to 34 round eggs in tightly-clustered clutches. The researchers said the distribution of the nests in the sediments showed the dinosaurs returned repeatedly to the site, and apparently nested together. The research was led by Canadian paleontologist, Robert Reisz, a professor of biology at the University of Toronto. Hans-Dieter Sues from the Smithsonian Institute in the United States, Eric Roberts from James Cook University in Australia, and Adam Yates from Wits, were part of the team. Reisz said he suspected there were many more nests in the cliff still covered by tons of rock.