The South Bayview Bulldog

The Toronto Real Estate Board says home sales in April climbed nearly 17 per cent higher compared with a year ago. The board says 9,042 homes were sold last month compared with 7,744 in April 2018. The increase came as the average price rose to $820,148 for the month compared with $804,926 in the same month last year. New listings for April were up eight per cent compared with a year ago. On a preliminary seasonally adjusted basis, the board says April sales were up 11.3 per cent compared with March this year — Canadian Press

A meeting to discuss the proposed condominium on Bayview Ave. south of Balliol St. is set for Monday (tonight) at Greenwood College School, Mt. Pleasant Rd. and Davisville Ave. Here.

Colm is missing at DPS.

Soon to be Tim Hortons

Duplex conversion

Open House at Leaside Lawn Bowling Club

Cleaning the Belt Line Trail

High Tea

These are eventful times in South Bayview as (upper left) fellow students and staff at Davisville Public School tweet their regards to young Colm, one of their own. He’s in hospital battling Dysautonomia. This weekend he was raising money to continue the fight in a campaign called Get Loud for Sick Kids. Last year Colm raised $9,000. Upper right. the long-standing drive-in on the northeast corner of O’Connor Drive and Donlands Ave will soon be a Tim Hortons. Area residents may recall the long history of this spot as a Mac’s (with gas station) Hasty Market, Seven Eleven, cocktail lounge and others. Below that, Eurodale Developments is tweeting pictures of duplex conversions which have been approved at Committee of Adjustment but, it says, have also drawn objections from some residents. At the bottom, reminders of the Leaside Lawn Bowing Club Open House next weekend and St. Cuthbert’s High Tea set for Sunday May 26. The invitation calls for High Tea Attire, which will have many men without spats struggling. Sounds like fun. Finally, dozens of public-spirited citizens, all friends of the Belt Line Trail, were out Saturday to clean the scenic route. Hat’s off to you fine people from The Bulldog and a sincere thank you.

With her memoir set to become the bestselling autobiography of all-time, former first lady Michelle Obama spoke to a sellout crowd in Toronto Saturday night bringing her message of hope and love as part of her international book tour. The welcome was close to adulatory.

A long thread is growing longer at Leaside Community Facebook Sunday morning on the tendency of some Canada Post personnel to abandon any effort to deliver packages to the door. Instead, the package stays in the truck and a ticket is hung on the door. It’s a common complaint in this Amazon age. The originating post in the thread makes a serious charge against a North Leaside driver. It says that he stole things off her porch as a form of retaliation because the family complained about the no-delivery practice.

Tim Chapchuk slices Certified Angus Beef sirloin at Grilltime

Andy Elder of Grilltime

Dry aged for 42 days

Can’t wait

Saturday saw a delicious unwrapping and preparation of Certified Angus Beef at Andy Elder’s Grilltime shop at 62 Laird Drive. Upper left, Tim Chapchuk of Macgregors Meat and Seafood of Toronto cut the meat. The Ontario striploin is dry-aged for 42 days to concentrate flavour  Macgregors says no cooking method can generate the depth of flavor of a dry-aged high quality piece of meat. It’s a bit like aging fine cheese. Bon appetit.

No winning ticket was sold for the $7 million jackpot in Saturday night’s Lotto 649 draw. However, the guaranteed $1 million prize was claimed by a ticket holder in the Prairies. The jackpot for the next Lotto 649 draw on May 8 will be approximately $9 million.

In yet another incident of a pedestrian being struck by a vehicle turning left and approaching from behind, a woman has sustained life-threatening injuries this week. It happened Thursday about 5:15 p.m. as a woman, 47, crossed Markham Rd. on the south side of Steeles Ave. walking east to west. A car driven by a man, 41, approached from the rear on Steeles to make a left turn onto Markham. He hit the woman and now police are asking for help locating security or dash camera footage of the scene. This blind-side jeopardy for pedestrians seems to throw up dozens of such accidents.

Markham Rd. and Steeles Ave.

Police locate driver in fail-to-remain collision in Brampton https://t.co/B7iWgFXvN2 pic.twitter.com/KBExET25DU

— CP24 (@CP24) May 4, 2019

One driver has serious injuries and another is being sought following a fail-to-remain collision at Steeles Ave. and Winston Churchill Blvd. about 2 a.m. Saturday. From the look of the wrecked car above, it rolled over. Police say they are on the trail of the other motorist.

Loblaws. is recalling certain President’s Choice brand and PC Black Label brand sauces due to the potential presence of glass fragments.The affected products include President’s Choice Creamy Horseradish in 250 ml bottles with best before dates (BBD) up to Sept. 9, 2019, President’s Choice Thai Red Curry Cooking Sauce in 400 ml bottles with BBD up to Dec. 15, 2019 and PC Black Label Lemon Curd in 250 ml bottles with BBD up to Sept. 21, 2019. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says it is verifying that industry is removing recalled product from the marketplace — CP

A ticket holder somewhere in Quebec won the $50 million jackpot in Friday night’s Lotto Max draw. There were also two Maxmillion prizes of $1 million each up for grabs, but neither was claimed. The jackpot for the next Lotto Max draw on May 10 will be approximately $12 million.

The Ford government has proposed legislation which some City Councillors say will return Toronto to the whim of developers who wish to disregard municipal planning. Changes proposed for the new Local Planning Appeals Tribunal would permit so-called “de novo” hearings in which a developer can argue that planning laws should not apply to size, height, density and many other constraints on large buildings. One of those issuing statements of alarm is Ward 15 member Jaye Robinson. She is urging residents to comment or complain to the government here.  News release