Sales up a sliver year over year but not for detached homes

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Home sales in Toronto saw a small increase in January. The Toronto Real Estate Board reports that there were 4,009 home sales recorded though its Multiple Listing Service (MLS) system in January, up 0.6 per cent compared with January 2018. On a seasonally adjusted basis, sales were up by 3.4 per cent versus December 2018. The board says the average selling price for all property types was $748,328 last month, an increase of 1.7 per cent from the same month a year ago. TREB reports that the more affordable condo segment led the price growth, up by 7.9 per cent in January. Semi-detached and townhouse properties also saw increases, while the price of detached homes fell by 2.8 per cent in January year-over-year.

“Ice accretion” the byword for 24 hours of freezing drizzle

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They’re saying Toronto can expect 4 to 8 mm of ice accretion during Wednesday and through to Thursday morning. It will come in the form of freezing drizzle, according to the alerts. Driving will be tricky and no doubt many will wish to simply stay home if they can. Some 300 cancelled arrivals and departures have been posted at Pearson Airport. Weather Channel

10 a.m. snap of Bayview and Eglinton seems to show light traffic

Some are asking if it’s Air Canada policy to fib to passengers

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Yes, it’s harsh. But time and after time the national carrier has told its customers apparent untruths about things over which it has absolute control. This isn’t whether a captain gets sick or an aircraft breaks down. It’s about factual stuff like how much it will compensate a passenger for giving up his seat and its obligation under the law.




Collision at Bayview/Nesbitt snarls rush hour traffic Tues

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Collision of two cars at Bayview Ave. and Nesbitt Rd. Tuesday evening/Rudy Limeback@rudydotca

A two-car collision at Bayview Avenue and Nesbitt Drive just before 6 p.m. on Tuesday evening knocked down a utility pole and snarled homebound traffic. Wires were strewn around the intersection but there were apparently no injuries worth reporting. It appears that the 28 Bayview bus  short-turned at Millwood Rd. Photos by Rudy Limeback.

Winter Weather Travel Advisory in effect for Wednesday

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Issued at 15:18 Tuesday 05 February 2019

Winter Weather Travel Advisory in effect for Wednesday.

Ice pellets are expected to begin over the area Wednesday morning. A risk of of freezing rain or freezing drizzle will accompany the ice pellets. Ice pellet accumulations of 2 to 4 cm are expected before the precipitation comes to an end Wednesday evening or overnight.

The Wednesday morning and evening commutes will likely be affected due to accumulating ice pellets and the potential for untreated surfaces to become icy.

Hamilton vinyl holdout Sunrise Records does HMV rescue

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Hamilton-based Sunrise Records has apparently acquired bankrupt retailer HMV in Canada. The deal, according to CTV, will safeguard some 1,500 jobs. However administrator KPMG says 27 stores will close immediately, resulting in a loss of 455 jobs.  In 2017, Sunrise chief Douglas Putnam took over 70 leases from HMV. The company seems to follow a careful policy of suburban locations. It has 85 stores nationally with only three stores in Toronto, one in Scarborough and two in Etobicoke.

Many parents in large fight at kids hockey game in Simcoe

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Norfolk County OPP are investigating after close to 30 parents got into a brawl following a youth hockey game Sunday afternoon in Simcoe. Police say they were contacted by a resident about 5 p.m. who was reporting a large fight at a Talbot Street North address, which is the street where one of the town’s two hockey arenas in the town is located. Police say the incident began as an argument involving several parents and then turned into a fight involving close to 30 people. When police arrived, however, the crowd of parents had already dispersed and there were no reports of injuries, police said — London Free Press

Recycler says big retailer to use returnable containers here

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Recyclable Haagen-Dazs containers
How it works
Just like milkman

A US recycling firm TerraCycle Loop says a major Canadian retailer is about to sell food in reuseable containers. The so-far unnamed retailer is said to be slated to launch a test of reusable packaging in Toronto. It’s identity is expected to be unveiled this spring, with online operations starting by year-end, says TerraCycle’s founder. Toronto shoppers would buy Unilever, Nestle, Procter & Gamble goods with Loop packaging in late 2019. The scheme is often compared to the glass milk bottle of 70  or 80 years ago. The milkman delivered his goods and took away empties. In the new model, as seen in the schematic upper right, Loop picks up collected containers and organizes them for-use by manufacturer. CBC

FB friends offer advice on where to put the snow (snicker)

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The etiquette and punctillio of snow — and where it may go — is on the minds of members at Leaside Community Tuesday. It begins with one woman offering a “friendly reminder”  not to throw snow in the street. It might create a hazard and the City doesn’t like it. This bit of advice is met by laughter from some and in one instance simple scorn. A man calls the post “ridiculous.” It is another curious example of the awful reality that when this much snow falls, there is no place for it except in the way. The simplest kind of logic would seem to tell us this but many dream that there is a proper place for snow even when we are buried in it. A place for everything and everything in its place.

DVP, Bayview extension closed briefly overnight by flooding

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Don Valley Parkway at Lake Shore early Tuesday/City of Toronto

The Don Valley Parkway was closed for about seven hours overnight because of a flood caused by an ice jam at the mouth of the Don River near Keating Channel. Bayview Ave. south of Pottery Rd. was closed as well for a period. Both roads are open Tuesday.

https://twitter.com/bradrossTO/status/1092750123015303168

Leaside Garden Society to offer horticulture scholarship

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The Leaside Garden Society has created a $1,000 scholarship for students in horticulture-related studies in Canada. The candidate must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident and be enrolled full-time in an undergraduate program in horticulture or a related field of study such as botany, plant science, ecology, landscape architecture or environmental science from an accredited Canadian college or university.  Consideration will be given to a candidate pursuing studies at other recognized Canadian institutions, at the discretion of the selection committee. The one-year scholarship will be granted for the coming academic year 2019-2020.. Recipients may reapply for the scholarship in the subsequent years. Candidates who are present or previous residents of Leaside or a relative of a Leaside resident will receive extra consideration.  For the purpose of this scholarship, Leaside includes North and South Leaside, Bennington Heights and Thorncliffe Park. Check the conditions at the LSG site.  Candidates must submit the following between May 30 and June 30.

  • A LGS Scholarship Application Form that can be found on the LGS website,
  • An unofficial transcript from the present year of their program,
  • An essay (250-500 words) describing why s/he should receive the scholarship,
  • The Leaside address/name which links the applicant to Leaside, if applicable,
  • The name and contact information of two references relevant to their course of study.

Toronto Fire at “grocery store” smoke at Don Mills/Eglinton

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Toronto Fire responded at noon hour Monday with several units to an address on Don Mills Rd. north of Eglinton Ave. The location appears to be the Real Canadian Superstore at 825 Don Mills. The call was cleared in the early afternoon with no further report.