The boutique grocer Farm Boy is open Saturday at Leslie St. and Lake Shore Blvd with a grand opening ceremony until 2 p.m. This is Farm Boy’s first foray into central Toronto. Some previous Bulldog stories tell the Farm Boy story. It is owned by Empire Company, owners of Sobey’s.
A ticket sold in Quebec claimed Friday night’s $26.6 million Lotto Max jackpot. That means the jackpot for the next Lotto Max draw on Feb. 8 will be approximately $10 million.
Education Minister Thompson has backtracked on her position of three days ago which seemed to waffle on the future of all-day kindergarten. Friday she said the government is “absolutely committed to full-day learning” for kindergarteners. She released the statement, after days of increasing concern. During an event on Tuesday, Thompson revealed the government would be holding consultations to determine whether the policy was working. She would only commit to the program for the 2019-2020 school year.
Ron Joyce, a man born of serious poverty who became the first Tim Hortons franchisee and ultimately the firm’s owner, has died at the age of 88. Mr. Joyce is credited with the urban coffee watchword “double double” meaning double sugar and double cream. This report from Richard Southern is most interesting and well beyond the routine notices of Mr. Joyce’s death.
York Regional Police are asking that you take a look at this arsonist at work in the hope of identifying him. Then, fuel companies are scrambling to try to keep the tanks full at Toronto and area gas stations. Below, a CBC story on a young girl who took her own life in the UK. The cause and effect is sketchy although most parents know that a close up look at the world’s worst behaviour is not good for kids. Finally, it is 50 years Thursday since the Beetles gathered for a surprise rooftop session in London. It would be the last time that John, Paul, George and Ringo would play together.
Leaside’s Andy Elder, proprietor of Grilltime on Laird is camped out at Leaside Memorial Gardens this weekend serving some fantastic arena fare. If “healthy” is your thing, the salad seen below will be available all weekend at the Leaside Select Hockey Tournament along with their Glazed Back Bacon Sandwiches and Grilltime Chili. Drop in for a snack and catch a game or two.
Here’s the schedule: SCHEDULE: Leaside Select Invitational Hockey Tournament
Today is #Time4Change Day, where 600 students and volunteers are taking over 27 of Toronto’s TTC stations, PATH locations and high-traffic urban areas to raise $101,000 for Youth Without Shelter (YWS), an emergency residence and support house serving 1,000 homeless youth in the GTA annually.
From 7 am to 7 pm, the 12-hour, Toronto-wide student art activism event will see students and volunteers collecting spare change and TTC fare to support transportation costs and essential programming at YWS. Students will perform theatre, dance, visual arts, music and spoken word to convey the staggering realities of the youth homelessness crisis. (Youth between the ages of 13 and 24 make up a shocking 20% of the homeless population in Canada.)
If you’re not going to be at any of their locations today, you can text CHANGE to 45678 to donate $10 to Youth Without Shelter.
PATH & RETAIL/SCHOOL LOCATIONS
TTC STATIONS
A Leaside resident whose furnace went out last night is appealing on Leaside Community for the best place to get help. It is a harrowing notion when the heat or power goes off in conditions like these. The long thread contains a warning from one member not to call Enbridge or its service arm Enercare. He says they “act as a regulator and slap (red) tags on other equipment. Have cost me thousands.” Others have complained of this “red tag” mania.
Firefighters face another day of bitter cold as they try to clean up after the five-alarm fire that ripped through the Agincourt Recreation Centre on Glen Watkins Drive Thursday. Witnesses tell of people in swimming gear and shorts fleeing the centre late in the afternoon as smoke and flames erupted. The centre is now largely a frozen hulk although it is said there are still parts of it smouldering. Among the challenges for fire staff is frozen equipment and ice underfoot. Schools in the area have directed students to attend to other schools in Scarborough. As a result of the fire at Agincourt Community Recreation Centre, the entire facility is closed until further notice and all programs have been cancelled. City staff are looking at relocation options at nearby facilities and will contact all program registrants and permit holders by early next week with more information.
UPDATED: Fire at Agincourt Recreation Centre in Scarborough upgraded to a 4-alarm blaze, says Toronto Fire Chief Matthew Pegg. https://t.co/r1kea3WID8 pic.twitter.com/aYqAjqrGql
— CBC Toronto (@CBCToronto) February 1, 2019
A four-alarm fire has roared through the Agincourt Recreation Centre on Glen Watford Drive in Scarborough. Fire personnel fought the fire in paralyzing cold after a call about 4.45 p.m. Fire Chief Pegg said his staff are trying to save the arena, a job made more perilous by flammable chemicals used in the pool and skating rink.
The Leaside Select Invitational Tournament began Thursday afternoon with the under nines North Toronto Green facing off against the Avenue Road Ducks in the Minor Novice Division. They played half-ice as mandated last year by the Ontario Minor Hockey Association. Friday will see the silent auctions open for bidding in the William Lea Room as well as the food concession. Many other concessions will fill the main hallway. Drop in and take a look.
The Hospital For Sick Children Patient Support Centre, a proposed 22-storey redevelopment, is seen in a photo gallery at Urban Toronto. It is designed by B+H Architects. The new Patient Support Centre (PSC) has been given the go-ahead to replace the 8-storey Elizabeth McMaster Building, which is being demolished at the corner of Elm and Elizabeth Sts.
