The South Bayview Bulldog

Metrolinx has announced that Leslie St will re-open at Eglinton Ave Wednesday. A release this morning says that’s two weeks ahead of schedule. Access to and from Leslie to Eglinton by car had been closed for work on the LRT tracks. According to Metrolinx, the work went off without a hitch.

The Danish government is expressing shock and disbelief on Wednesday over Donald Trump’s cancellation of a state visit to Denmark after its prime minister rebuffed his interest in purchasing Greenland. It has the air of bullying about it. Trump’s interest in buying land around Canada recalls the 1866 purchase of Alaska by the US from the Russians.

Alaska purchase shocked the British into creating Canada

The purchase stunned the British and prompted the creation of Canada. Since then, many parts of Canada have reportedly toyed with joining the US — Nova Scotia once threatened it but probably wasn’t serious. British Columbia and Alberta, on the other hand, might ask “how much?”

Wind whipped mattresses

Way it was supposed to be

This very funny video shows dozens of air mattresses rolling away in the wind from their home at Denver’s Bed Cinema. The Bed Cinema idea was a four-night summer fantasy for friends or couples to recline and watch. For $50 they could have one of 150 mattresses, cozy up and enjoy a movie. At least that was the idea until the wind picked up. Check the poor guys trying to stop the mattresses from sailing away forever, or landing in the nearby swimming pool.

East End Power Outage: All power is restored to customers. If your home is still without power, please call our dispatch team at 416-542-8000 and press 1.

— Toronto Hydro (@TorontoHydro) August 20, 2019

Some 3,200 Toronto Hydro customers have had power restored shortly before 5.30 p.m. Tuesday. It ends an afternoon blackout that extended from Victoria Park to the Don, and then in reduced form between O’Connor to the north, Danforth to the south, Bayview to the west and Donlands to the east. As many as 8,000 were effected at one point. “The cause of this was equipment failure,” Toronto Hydro spokesperson Russell Baker told CP24. Traffic light failure slowed traffic, including rush hour bus service.

Replacement of the culvert pipe at the Dundas ramp of the DVP will close parts of the parkway this weekend.

The Don Valley Parkway (DVP) will be partially closed this weekend to replace the culvert pipe that crosses all lanes under the bottom of the Dundas Street East on-ramp. This City of Toronto work is to ensure flooding doesn’t occur in severe weather conditions and to keep the expressway safe and in a state of good repair.

The following DVP sections, ramps and lanes will be closed from 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, August 24 until 5 a.m. on Monday, August 26:
• all northbound lanes on the DVP from Lake Shore Boulevard East to the Dundas Street East on-ramp
• the five on-ramps leading to northbound DVP from the Gardiner Expressway, Don Roadway, Eastern Avenue, Queen Street East and Dundas Street East
• approximately 500 metres of the southbound lane immediately adjacent to the work zone near the Dundas Street East on-ramp (all other southbound lanes will remain open).

These closures are needed to finish critical work that was not completed during the previous closure in May due to rain, which prevented the culvert replacement. A full closure is required for the safety of the public and the workers.

Andrew Scheer is saying Tuesday that he “won’t lift a finger” to bring Jack (Jihadi) Letts to Canada by virtue of his Canadian citizenship. It seems likely that Mr. Trudeau feels the same way but he has to deal with his famous (infamous?) “a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian” rebuke of Stephen Harper during the last campaign.

The Alberta Human Rights Commission has resurrected a complaint from 2017 against a single father who asked a person advertising on Kijiji as a babysitter about his age and gender.  The babysitter, James Cyrynowski, complained to the commission. The matter seemed dormant after another of Mr. Cyrynowski’s complaints on the same issue was dismissed. It was appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada which refused to hear it.

It’s 1 a.m. and we’re out of control on Bathurst St.

There’s an old saying about trying to settle a street fight. Don’t bother. That seems to be the lesson after this man, a Bathurst St. brawler according to police, sucker-punched and broke the jaw of a bystander. This came about after the victim’s friend had stopped a street fight and the peacemakers thought the fighting was over. Uh-huh.

Wendy Sisson and friends discovered 2500 in 2018

Snapped by Josh Matlow

A Peter Witt passing the Crest (now Regent) Theatre at Mt. Pleasant and Belsize Dr.

A tweet from Councillor Josh Matlow (Ward 12) early Monday of a derelict Toronto streetcar has inspired interest from a generation which hardly knew them. Mr Matlow’s shot of Peter Witt car 2500 was taken in the Haliburton Highlands apparently on the Haliburton Scout Reserve. There seems little doubt that it was carted up there to serve as accommodation sometime after the Witt cars were retired and either scrapped or sold off in the 1950s. One of the many routes travelled daily was the St. Clair East and Mt. Pleasant line which looped at Eglinton and short-turned down at the site of Loring and Wyle Park at the corner of St. Clair and Mt. Pleasant. It was known then as the Moore Park Loop. Wendy Sisson’s wonderful shot of she and her friends at the site is an absolute treasure. Who has her head stuck through the headlight hole? Origin and history of the Peter Witt.

Land worth more than the business

Vancouver store

Canadian private equity firm Catalyst Capital Group Inc. bought a 10 percent stake in Hudson’s Bay Co. through a previously announced tender offer as part of its efforts to block a proposed takeover by the retailer’s chairman. The Toronto-based firm said in a statement it had received and accepted about 18.5 million shares in Hudson’s Bay for roughly $187 million (US$141 million) in cash at $10.11 per share. That’s a premium to a $9.45 a share offer from Chairman Richard Baker and his partners. The stock jumped 9 percent to $10.22 in Toronto, the biggest gain in more than two months. Catalyst’s purchase of the minority stake adds to pressure on Baker to boost his bid, which also faces opposition from activist investor Jonathan Litt. Catalyst and Litt are pushing for a higher offer, arguing the owner of Saks Fifth Avenue has valuable real estate that could be unlocked — Financial Post