More wires overhead on South Bayview

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The man on the right is using a laser to measure the location and height of wires and other equipment on the utility poles lining South Bayview. His job yesterday was to assess the viability of placing a further string of wires on the poles, this time from Rogers Communications. We asked him about the massive project of two summers ago (left) which saw electrical conduits buried under Bayview so that the above-ground wires could come down. “I don’t see that happening any time soon,” he replied. The mills of Hydro One grind slowly, it seems.


Robert Prtichard is the new chair of BMO

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Robert Pritchard will be the new chairman of the Bank of Montreal. Mr. Pritchard is at present the head of Metrolinx, the agency that operates GO Transit for the Ontario government He is also a former CEO at Torstar and will take the position after serving as an independent director of BMO since 2000. Mr. Prichard replaces David Galloway who is retiring. In 2009, Torstar gave the departing Mr. Prichard a multi-million-dollar severance package as part of a management shuffle and a host of moves designed to combat slumping fortunes, according to the National Post. .

NIMA vows to re-open within 2-3 months

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It’s been a tough break for the genial owner of the NIMA currency exchange, as it has been for everyone caught in the nasty fire that hit his next door neighbor Leaside Cleaners in October. Many were wondering whether Hamid would make it back into business at 1538 Bayview. He opened last February (left) fulfilling a dream to have a business named after his son, Nima. Hamid told the South Bayview Bulldog today that he will definitely be back in business but it may take a few months. The insurance companies have got to agree and the smoke and water damge still needs to be cleaned up. Hamid is the enterprising owner of, among other things, eight Subway sandwich outlets.

471 Millwood adds to the neighbourhood

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They’re nearly finished at 471 Millwood (left) and the new home is a really nice addition to the neighborhood. At right, you see it on Saturday, July 2, 2011, the day after the owner pulled down the top of the building. As you can tell, he built up from scratch, widening the house to fill most of the driveway space (to the west of the original). Underneath he has added a very convenient indoor double garage. The owner chatted briefly about his project to the Bulldog and said there had been concerns about the garage at the front of the house. But now, he says, everyone agrees it looks pretty good.

Kent Duncan, Northern coach, dead at 62

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Kent Duncan, 62, a solid East York left-hander and coach of the Northern Secondary School baseball team passed away Saturday. Duncan coached at Northern for 31 years coaching various sports including baseball from its inception and won several Toronto championships. As well he coached Leaside juniors for three years winning the Toronto championship in 2009-10. Duncan retired from teaching in 2005 but continued with some supply teaching and assisting with Northern’s team.Visitation will be at McDougall & Brown Funeral Home (2900 Kingston Rd.) Tuesday (2-4 p.m. and 6-8 p.m.) with the service at 1 p.m. Wednesday. In lieu of flowers, donations in Duncan’s memory may be made to Canadian Tire’s Jumpstart Program. Toronto Sun

We like to look on the bright side of things

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South Bayview and all around is wet, for sure. We’re forecast to get as much as 10 cm of rain tonight and a similar amount tomorrow night. We only know what we are told by Wikipedia but if it’s true that 2 cm of water translates into 20 cm of snow, you can see how we should be grateful for this wretched drizzle. We like to look on the bright side of things.

Sunshine and Sweetie arrive in Edinburgh

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A giant panda couple from China’s Sichuan province arrived today (Sunday Dec 4) in Edinburgh as part of a programme that will see them spending the next 10 years in their new home in Edinburgh Zoo. Yang Guang (Sunshine) and Tian Tian (Sweetie) travelled from the provincial capital of Chengdu. ITN’s Katie Lemborn.

DC-7 flight full of nostalgia for Sully Sullenberg

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One of the world’s last DC-7 passenger planes has flown to its resting place at an airline museum in Charlotte, NC. The flight was fully loaded with aviation buffs as it took off from Miami. One notable passenger was Capt. Charles (Sully) Sullenberger (left) the pilot who successfully landed his U.S. Airways jet in the Hudson River in 2009. He recalled making models of the DC-7 as a kid. This DC-7 dates from 1958 and belonged to Eastern Airlines. It remains in very good condition. Some of the enthusiasts on board remarked that the hat racks along both sides of the cabin had been removed. “We used to hang on to them,” one lamented. In Canada, the DC-7 was the workhorse of Trans-Canada Airlines, predecessor to Air Canada. TCA called them the North Star. They were renowned for their reliability and sheer deafening engine noise. Below, some TCA DC-7 pictures including an ad that ran in New York City offering a flight to Toronto for $22.65, one way of course. Interestingly, Toronto had a premium attached to it even then as the flight to Montreal cost only $21.30


Bennington construction chronicled by rudy.ca

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The construction work being done by Hydro One at the extreme south end of Bennington Heights has been chronicled on a local website, rudy.ca. It’s run by Rudy, naturally, and in this case his extensive labours have yielded information of very considerable interest. The most visible and perhaps contentious aspect of this work is the set of traffic lights installed on the Bayview extension south of Moore. The project requires the removal of 1920s era tension towers (inset) along the CPR main line and their replacement. It’s a job that Hydro One has estimated will take about three years. Hence the air of doubt as to whether these lights may properly be called temporary. It’s a fact however that they are not intended to be there after the work is done. They are there to allow Hydro vehicles to come and go safely. Local residents received a circular from Hydro One in September announcing the work. It was added to the website of Councillor Parker. But information given to the local homeowners has been generally unknown to the tens of thousands of motorists who make their way up and down the extension every day. Some have offered rather tart commentary (see post below) on the odd placement of the traffic lights.