The South Bayview Bulldog

Mayor Tory

Councillor Matlow

Mary-Anne Bedard, general manager of Toronto Shelters

An open letter to the general manager of Toronto Shelter Support and Housing from Mayor Tory and Councillor Josh Matlow (Ward 12) has called for daily searches of playgrounds and school property near the Roehampton Hotel street persons shelter at 808 Mt. Pleasant. The letter also calls for searches of residential properties.  Private property notwithstanding, the letter says: “We are ready to engage private property owners if there are barriers to access on these sites.” Violent incidents continue to inflame community feeling against the shelter. It was created without public notice in July and is said to be necessary to protect individuals previously living in City-issued tents. The letter asks the general manager, Mary-Anne Bedard, to conduct searches aimed at finding syringes, drug paraphernalia or other items dangerous to young people. The letter, which is here, seems to relate not just to concern for the safety of the community but to a potential political issue at the 2022 municipal election. Excerpt:

Please utilize space in the hotel to provide recreational activities and programs to support the health and well-being of the people staying at the Roehampton program. Community members have offered to facilitate fitness, music, and other classes. These programs should be pursued not only for the obvious benefit to the residents but to also help integrate them into the neighbourhood.

Stories we found interesting Tuesday include the first news conference of the new CPC leader Erin O’Toole. Then, KFC puts its “finger-lickin” motto in the closet while C-19 rages. Below that, famous retailer Debenhams seems to be in serious trouble. Lastly, gun crime, the pandemic and its upside-down politics have some people saying New York City is dead. Can it be?

The Ministry of Health counted 100 new cases of C-19 in Ontario for the 24-hour period ending at midnight. New infections continue to waver around or slightly above this mark and clearly reveal a province suffering the Stage 3 blues. Cases in Toronto are also up although Midtown continues to so far dodge the insidious bullet. There were 25 cases in Toronto and 26 in Peel reported Tuesday. C-19 weary citizens are warned yet again that the virus cannot be ignored.

126, 132 and 134 Laird Drive proposal

A mid-rise residential development on the site of the old Gyro Mazda site on the west side of Laird Drive was more or less written in the sky after the City zoned the area for such buildings. That would certainly seem to be the motivation for Gyro’s move to the east side of Laird, which remains low-rise commercial and industrial. The new auto dealership is nearing completion. Some details of the mid-rise development are here. It has an odd name, 126, 132 and 134 Laird, for what appear to be two buildings (not three) on either side of Stickney Ave. At Leaside Community Facebook there are many comments.

Playground will feature climbing structures for older and younger children

Georgia Walsh

Splashpad under construction

Splash pad feature “ground geysers” and more

Senior and junior structures

Work continues daily at the playground on McRae Drive with many wondrous things being installed. The old playground was a favorite place for the late Georgia Walsh. She was killed in a traffic accident coming home from there in the summer of 2014. Now a new playground funded by residents, businesses and friends of the Walsh family will open this fall in honour of Georgia. Builder Shane Baghai gave $250,000 of the approximately million dollar cost.

The Toronto Star (subscription) story Monday is straight from the whacky rabbit-hole world of Alice in Wonderland. It says the UK employment firm FDM Group has sent a bill for $30,000 in “damages” to a Toronto man for, apparently, “damaging” FDM’s reputation. FDM has offices in the Richmond-Adelaide Centre. The fired employee is appealing.

The Toronto Raptors defeated the Brooklyn Nets 150-122 Sunday night to advance to the NBA Eastern Conference semifinals against the Boston Celtics.

Toronto-area MP Erin O’Toole is the new leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. He is 47 and has been the member for Durham since 2012. O’Toole was Minister of Veteran Affairs in the former Harper government. Last night he defeated party founding father (2003) and former Minister of Defence Peter MacKay in the 2020 Conservative leadership election to succeed Andrew Scheer as CPC leader. It appears the ballotting was contentious, requiring three rounds of voting.

This is live CBC coverage Sunday night as the Conservative Party leadership goes on, globalNews is saying the delay was caused by voting machines that ripped ballots when envelope-opening went wrong.

Vitoria Mario will go to college thanks to Taylor Swift/ITV

Vitoria Mario is saying thank you to Taylor Swift after the singer made a £23,373 donation to the girl’s education fund right out of the blue. That’s nearly $40,400 Canadian. Then, that improbable championship winner we know as Nick Nurse.  He’s the NBA Coach of the Year. Below that, a money-for-all-experiment in Germany. Can those who get it hang onto it? Finally, meet the lucky Lillingtons. Raymond and Gaye have won huge 649 jackpots twice in seven years. Yee-haw.

The Conservative Party of Canada has counted more than 175,000 votes from members as the leadership campaign comes to an end Sunday night. We will know the new leader before bedtime. At #CPCLeadership last-minute tweets are flying. One says East York lawyer Leslyn Lewis is trending. Retiring leader Andrew Scheer snipes at media for suggesting CPC is not diverse. Lots of fun. CBC

Check those numbers. A ticket holder in Ontario has won the $6 million jackpot in Saturday night’s Lotto 649 draw. The draw’s $1 million guaranteed prize went to a lottery player in British Columbia. The jackpot for the next draw on Aug. 26 will be approximately $5 million.