It’s repugnant and wrong no doubt to bludgeon raccoons in your backyard. As a local man has learned, society rightly considers this type of behavior cruel. Then however the story, as reported today by CP24, observes that police were “trying to figure out the motive.” Honestly, unless this man was deranged, as opposed to merely misguided, the motive seems to be quite obvious. There will not be a homeowner in the city who does not concede that raccoons are a dirty, costly nuisance. And how could it be otherwise? Raccoons are essentially a protected species which over-populate Toronto. They are treated like creatures endangered by extinction. It’s all well and good to invoke the criminal law when something like this occurs. But it is irresponsible to ignore the foolish public policy that perpetuates this nuisance and occasionally leads people to the breaking point when it comes to raccoons.
Warehouse 13 in the Green P
by •
The Sci-Fi series Warehouse 13 moved into the Green P parking lot south of the TD Canada Trust Tuesday. The posed car crunch above is part of an episode. No lead actors around but lots of TV people busy with the shots. Warehouse 13 is looking around for a network or station to carry it this Fall. Below, you see stars Eddie McClintock and Joanne Kelly on the hunt for a buyer. No, that’s not true. In truth, the premise creates mild interest. Two Secret Service agents are assigned to hunt down supernatural objects that the U.S. Government has collected over the centuries. Did we say mild?Laura collecting autographs at spelling bee
by •
The Scripps National Spelling Bee is underway in Washington and Toronto’s Laura Newcombe is there. This story contains interesting reflections on Laura’s day in which she spent a lot of time getting the autographs of as many of her competitors as she could.
Patisserie la Cigogne to open on Danforth
by •
Patisserie la Cigogne, a favorite of South Bayviewites for many years, is expanding to open a second shop at 1419 Danforth east of Greenwood Ave The excellent pastry place was opened at 1628 South Bayview by Thierry Schmitt in 2003. There’s an explanation for the name — the Stork Pastry Shop (in ugly English). The stork is symbolic of Alsation culture and is used to decorate many of the patisserie’s creations. The opening is planned for about two weeks from now. Things have been delayed apparently by the difficulty of shipping refrigerated cabinets from France.
Shape of things to come on Rose Park
by •
New house that replaced the Dutch Colonial style building at 243 Rose Park Drive begins to take shape. A much more formal and larger structure will grace this space in the years to come. Air is working, bring on the heat
by •
The A/C is all in order and we’ve got our sun hats. Yes, the first really hot day of this season is about to begin. We’ve learned how to deal with this heat. Enjoy it briefly outside, and then back into the air conditioned car or shop or house.
Family BBQ for arena funds June 9, 2011
by •
Anna Donadio writes to spread the word about a family barbecue and fundraiser for the Leaside arena expansion. The BBQ will be Thursday June 9, 2011, in the space belonging to Canadian Self Storage, 1 Laird Dr., across the road front the arena. The event will go off rain or shine between 6 and 8 pm. with a bouncy castle for kids, free BBQ and drinks, ice cream, popcorn, face painting and much more.
The Battle of the Breakfast Babble
by •
It’s shaping up as the Battle of the Breakfast Babble. This flash is written in the sky as Rogers Media applies to start its own 24-hour TV news service, CityNews Channel. It will, of course, go head-to-head with CP 24, the CTV local cable yapper. We say this will be a major breakfast title bout because Rogers is no doubt going to return its once supreme Breakfast Television (BT) to 24 hour news. CTV, for its part, is not going to let Rogers muscle in on CP Breakfast turf without a fight. This channel, if approved, will also permit Rogers to place its 6 p.m. news program, CityPulse with Gord Martineau, up against Ken and Christine at CTV Toronto. What remains? Only whether the new CityNews Channel will eat 680 News alive. That’s what happened when CP 24 swallowed CHUM-AM, putting all those DJs out of work.We all wish Laura Newcombe good luck
by •
Laura Newcombe, the local spelling whiz is at it again. She and two other Canadian kids, will be competing this week in Washington at the well-known Scripps National Spelling Bee. Laura, 12, will be in a contest with 272 other spellers from all over the world. The other Canadian bee keepers are Veronica Penny from Rockland and Graham Abraham, from Kamloops. The first round of the Scripps bee will begin Tuesday with a 25-word written test. On Wednesday, all the spellers will compete onstage in rounds two and three. Only a maximum of 50 young students will be declared semifinalists and move on to the championship rounds scheduled Sunday. This will be the third time Newcombe is representing Canada at the Washington bee. She has also won the Postmedia Canspell competition three years in a row. Laura says this visit has been bittersweet because it will be her last chance to be crowned top bee at the competition. Newcombe is going to high school next year and will no longer be eligible for both bees. “I think I’m a bit more nervous this year,” she said. Laura is in Washington with her mom and dad. Good luck Laura! Caffe Doria closed for one day — too long!
by •
Loyal devotees of an uptown landmark, Caffe Doria, are having to do without that European ambiance of the place for one day. It’s closed for some fix up work. As our picture (right) shows, Caffe Doria always attracts a crowd. Caffe Doria is a constant focus of our sister uptown blog, Yonge and Roxborough. PM plans elected Senate with term limits
by •
Just when the world thought that Stephen Harper had lost his desire to reform the Senate comes word that he will do just that this summer. The key to his ability to do it is the majority of Conservative senators appointed in recent times. The Globe and Mail publishes a story today that says the Conservatives will introduce legislation in June that will bring about the most important changes to the Senate since Confederation. One new bill will impose term limits on all senators, including those already in the chamber; the other will allow provinces to hold elections for senators whenever seats become available. Read the story.
The many faces of Zeus
by •
Zeus is a 10-month old cross between a Great Dane and Mastiff. He’s a pretty big boy but he’s still got some growing to do. On South Bayview Sunday his moods were (left) “I am a serious dog” (centre) “How about this profile? and (right) “Hey. Where’s the party?”