Fire guts vacant home on Rochester Ave. in Lawrence Park

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116 Rochester Ave

The Toronto Fire Service has knocked down a stubborn fire that gutted a vacant home at 116 Rochester Ave. in Lawrence Park. Ovetime the course of fighting the blaze, six-alarms were run. The home was under construction. Flames leaped out of the basement Thursday evening at the home near Bayview Ave and Lawrence Ave. The Google Traffic Map Friday morning shows Bayview blocked between Lawrence Ave. and Post Rd. Facebook

8-floor condo intended for Bayview Ave. south of Balliol St.

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Condominium proposed for properties running from present street addresses of 1408 to 1420

Urban Toronto reports on a new proposal submitted to the City at the end of February seeking rezoning and an Official Plan Amendment to permit an 8-storey development on Bayview Ave. south of Balliol St. The proposal by Gairloch Developments calls for the replacement of four existing buildings including two brick semi-detached homes numbered from 1408 to 1414. To the north of that two buildings numbered 1416 and 1420 are included. The new address for the condo would be 1410. The website notes a retail space of 98 m² proposed beside the lobby. It can be seen at the south end of the depiction above. Urban Toronto

Context Map of Subject Site – 1408-1420 Bayview Avenue

Dollarama set to make St. Pat’s Day bigger than Halloween

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Flashing glasses for Irish Eyes
Bigger than Halloween
Dermot and Seamus
I’m Irish
Rocking the Shamrock

St. Patrick’s Day Toronto-style is coming down Dermot’s turnpike. That’s the day we’re all Irish whether we like it or not. No offense. Dollarama has stocked up for this occasion with tons of celebratory items. We like the flashing green glasses. It seems bigger than Halloween, which falls second only to Christmas for commercial excitement. Again this year, liquor firm Jameson has agreed to pay the fare on the Queen and King streetcars. Mind, many in South Bayview would be happy to ride the 88 Leaside free even stone-cold sober. But no such thrill is on offer.

Concept Lagonda “vegan” with spinning key, suicide doors

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Front seats swivel to permit foursome to play poker or whatever
Vegan car lol
See the key spin

The giddy designers at Aston Martin are showing the concept Lagonda in Geneva. It is fully electric and has a spinning key. You have to see it. The concept Lagonda also has front-opening “suicide doors” at the rear. This is a dangerous feature that was abandoned by Detroit 80 years ago. But the copy writers have outdone the designers by calling the car vegan because the seats are not leather. So what are they? There may be some baloney in this Lagonda. Also Euronews.

Beijing discovers instant Huawei pests in Canadian canola

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China has banned shipments of Canadian canola after using it for decades with no problem. Uh-huh. Hardly inscrutable. Then to the right, the prime minister held an early morning news conference Thursday and made certain concessions about the impact of L’Affaire Lavalin. “Erosion of trust” seems to be the new buzz phrase. Other players are Gerald Butts and CPC leader Andrew Scheer.






Mike Layton (Ward 11) calls for return of Toronto car tax

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Mike Layton (Ward 11) will file a motion during Council budget debate Thursday to re-establish the $60 tax on cars registered in Toronto. The tax was abolished under the Rob Ford administration in 2010. Mr. Layton’s ward conforms to the federal constituency of University Rosedale, an odd-shaped area stretching on the northeast from the corner of Welland and Moore Aves. and extending all the way to Ossington Ave.

MOORE PARK, GOVERNOR’S BRIDGE, NORTH ROSEDALE

Locally, it includes Moore Park, Governor’s Bridge and north Rosedale down to Rosedale Valley Rd. The CBC says Mr. Layton sent a letter to constituents Wednesday with news of his plan but it does not seem to have reached the farthest corner of South Bayview so far. Council is struggling with the 2019 budget and is coming up short. The battle has centred on raising taxes beyond an increase of 2.55 perecent. “If Councillors are so unwilling to raise property taxes, it leaves us with no other choice,” said the Ward 11 Councillor. Also CP24

Water (now ice) has been turned off at Steeles/Woodbine

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Watermain break at Steeles and Woodbine

Tweets from Mark Douglas of 680 News say the water has been turned off at Steeles and Woodbine Aves. at the site of a watermain break. It is now a slippery mess. Drivers may finds some lanes closed.

Kindly stop putting your garbage bin on top of a snowbank

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Inaccessible
No, no, no

Tickets tucked into many garbage bins across Midtown this week inform taxpayers that the refuse is in the wrong place and therefore might not be eligible for pick up. The list of possible concerns from the City names 16 things that will disqualify a homeowner from pickup. The last is Other. But it was the snow that troubled collectors on current runs. Bins had been placed on top of the icy-hard banks of snow that crowd residential streets this winter. The City doesn’t want your bin out in the street or blocking pedestrians, of course. It suggests helpfully that you clear a nice space for all bins in the rock hard dikes between you and the garbage truck. Thanks so much for the advice.

Taverner takes himself out of consideration for OPP boss

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Ron Taverner has withdrawn from consideration to be the next commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police. He did so in a statement released Wednesday citing his desire to protect the integrity of front-line officers. Taverner, 72, is a long-time Toronto police superintendent and personal friend of Premier Ford. “This decision is not an easy one for me to make,” Taverner said. “I believe the OPP requires new leadership and a change in culture at its most senior levels. The thousands of men and women who make up the front lines of the OPP deserve leadership that will put their concerns and well-being at the forefront of decision-making.” The announced appointment of Taverner to the OPP post was met with bitter opposition from Deputy OPP Commissioner Brad Blair who was fired from his position this week.

Banks support “returnship” program for qualified women

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The five big banks have endorsed a return-to-work program for qualified women who left financial careers to have a family. It is a program called Return to Bay Street created by Women In Capital Markets (WCM) a large gender diversity non-profit organization. The returnship program brings experienced women back to the senior roles from which they left, rather than them having to work their way up the ladder again. The 2019 program gives candidates the option of choosing between the Asset Management Stream (Buy Side) or the Dealer Stream (Sell Side) Applications are due on March 25, 2019. Learn more here.

Poet Laureate, Shazam Ma’am and Marie Henein on the job

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Al Moritz
Brie Larson
Marie Henein

It’s not entirely clear to The Bulldog why the City of Toronto has a poet laureate, but it does. The latest incarnation of this public office was named today. He is Al Moritz (left) the Blake C. Goldring Professor of the Arts and Society at the University of Toronto. At centre is Brie Larson. Her portrayal of the first distaff Captain Marvel is in theatres Friday. Shazam Ma’am. And at right is Toronto criminal law practitioner Marie Henein. Wednesday she told an Ottawa court that she will subpoena Gerald Butts and anyone else she can think of if the PMO doesn’t pony up documents she wants to help defend her client, Vice Admiral Mark Norman.

SERRA AGM set for April 30 at Greenwood College School

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The annual general meeting of the South Eglinton Ratepayers and Residents Association (SERRA) will be held Tuesday, April 30 at Greenwood College School, Mt. Pleasant Rd. and Davisville Ave. starting at 6 p.m.  Councillors Josh Matlow (Ward 12) and Jaye Robinson (Ward 15) will speak. .