The South Bayview Bulldog

Asphalt fill/Bulldog photo

John Spence photo

One-way alternating for Monday/Bulldog photo

Work began Monday on the depression which has been gradually deepening on Moore Ave. just east of Welland Ave at the Mud Creek Beltline Trail crossing. The project appears to be a simple fill project using new asphalt. It is expected to make the drive across Mud Creek smoother but apparently does not address the longstanding instability of the street at this point. Hugh Grant of the Bennington Heights Residents’ Association wrote to Councillor Robinson in October (link below) about the progressive erosion that was eating at the “foundations” of the road causing perennial sinking. Moore Ave. sits on the boundary between Ward 15 (Don Valley West) and Ward 11 (University Rosedale). The Moore Park Residents Association indicates that Councillor Layton of Ward 11 was made aware of the depression also. Letter to Councillor on Moore Ave. instability at Mud Creek

Donna Strickland, of Waterloo University, has accepted the Nobel Prize for Physics Monday in Stockholm. As reported here in October, Ms. Strickland shared the coveted honour with two others.

Headlines that ask Could Elon Musk buy the GM plants slated for closure? seem a bit like hallucinations. That’s especially true of a plant in Canada. More than that, Tesla, which may or may not have a great future, is non-union. The GM plants in are union towns. And there is a lot of bad blood between Musk and the UAW.

CTV is quoting Mal Coven, former owner of the long-since closed BiWay chain of stores, as saying that he intends to make a comeback in 2019. Mr. Coven, 89, helped build the brand into a 250-store chain before it closed in 2001. By then it was owned by Dylex Corporation and it went down with businesses like fashion brand Fairweather in the notorious Dylex bankruptcy. Coven says he will open a 7,500 square foot location called the BiWay $10 Store in August of next year. “BiWay is a legacy brand,” Coven told CTV News. He said he has tens of thousands of dollars worth of goods ready and the backing of investors. He plans to open four more stores by the end of 2020. The stores will stock children’s wear, household furnishings, mens and ladies wear, toys, toiletries and food. Coven, the son of Russian Jewish immigrants, grew up in Boston and his late wife Miriam was from Montreal.

Councillor speaks to Town Hall at MRUC

First elected 2010

Voted against doubling staff budget

The Town Hall meeting Sunday at Manor Road United Church heard of a plan to place portable classrooms on the rink at Hodgson Middle School on Davisville Ave. Councillor Jaye Robinson said she understood that the Toronto and District School Board had received permission from the City, which is the rink’s owner, to use the space for two years until overcrowding at area schools can be fixed with a permanent building. The rink is a rare example of a compressor-assisted outdoor facility which makes ice in most weather outside of summer. It was fully re-built in 2014.

GOOD, BAD, UGLY

Robinson was reviewing the way school capacity has been outstripped by development, part of the good, the bad and the ugly of Toronto. The catchy line re-states a timeless dilemma that what is good usually has a downside. The Councillor was thrown a puckish question. Did she think Mayor Tory was “a forward-looking mayor.” There was laughter and Robinson said she would refuse to answer. She said she had found the mayor courageous on topics like his effort to place tolls on the Don Valley Parkway. “Talk to me after. I might tell you more one on one,” she said somewhat in passing but publicly.

CENTRE-RIGHT

Councillor Robinson is beginning her third term. The enlarged Ward 15 (Don Valley West) is affluent and politically engaged. Robinson said that voter turnout in October fell by something like 20 percent from a high in 2014 of 60 percent. But, she said, turnout was consistently strong throughout Ward 15. Robinson may be best described as a centre-right politician. She professes strong support for environmentalism. She voted against (and in the minority) for a motion at the new council last week to double the staff budget. That will eliminate any saving which might have flowed from the reduction in the number of wards. So far as is known, she has not spoken about this. Mayor Tory and area Councillors like Josh Matlow, Mike Layton and Paula Fletcher voted in favour. It’s only money as Council votes 18-8 to double staff budget

Everyday model

Vicky Phelan

Lyudmila Alexeyeva

Faces of women from beyond the headlines include (left) this “everyday model” of lingerie. She is part of industry changes to conform fashion to the needs of the people who wear it. The CBC report seems to get lost in bad-mouthing Victoria’s Secret but otherwise is quite informative. At centre is Limerick’s Vicky Phelan, a woman badly betrayed when a 2011 cervical test was reported to be negative for cancer. It wasn’t. Now she is facing a premature death. Really appalling. And at the right is Lyudmila Alexeyeva. The resilient defender of human rights has died at 91 after spending decades fighting the excesses of both Marxist tyranny and Russian autocracy.

15U Boys Leaside Thunder

Berta, Ken and the ringtails

At Longo’s

Christmas tree sale

What do I do now?

Sunday evening

Upper left, Michael Caesar, executive director of the University Health Network, tweets his congratulations to the 15U Boys Leaside Thunder Silver Medalists in the 16U Provincial Cup. They are standing tall for sure. At the upper right we find Berta Mascarenhas and Ken Gruber having breakfast and discussing their wholesome interest in raccoons. The East York residents publish an annual Raccoon Calendar. This year they have added a book on where to find raccoons although many will say that ringtails are good enough at finding us. Others may opt for the mauve roses seen at Longo’s as a nice diversion. Moving right is a reminder of the 132nd Scout Christmas Tree Sale at Leaside Presbyterian Church, Eglinton Ave. and Hanna Rd. Then, when red wine goes flying into your lap in a restaurant what do you do? “Go home” is the wrong answer. In Leaside, this man has messaged Facebook members for urgent help. As of early Sunday there are an astonishing 36 responses to this plea. Some are a bit flippant.

There will be a Town Hall meeting with Councillor Robinson Sunday (today) at Manor Road United Church, 240 Manor at Forman Ave., between 3 and 5 p.m. The church says the event is called Toronto: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

There was no winning ticket for the $9 million jackpot in Saturday night’s Lotto 649 draw. However, the guaranteed $1 million prize was claimed by a ticket holder in Ontario. The jackpot for the next Lotto 649 draw on Dec. 12 will be approximately $12 million.

Leaside Junior Wildcats (2-14-1) tied the high-flying Kingston JRs (13-1-4) at Leaside arena Saturday night. The final was 3-3 with the Cats coming back from a 3-1 deficit. Credit goes to Leaside goalie Hanna Zukow who kicked out 38 shots against the merely 15 saves made by Kingston’s Emma Gorski. Box score.

Near MasterCard arena on Kipling Ave.

William Nylander, 22, is Leaf forward and on social media “a good Swedish boy” for driving a Volvo. Nylander had a minor accident Friday near the Leaf’s training arena, MasterCard Centre, at 400 Kipling Ave. Neither Nylander nor his teammate, Kasperi Kapanen, was hurt in the collision which appears from photos to have been a T-bone hit. Twitter

A member of the Faebook account Leaside Community has posted a picture of paint vandalsim to her car when it was parked in the underground lot at Bayview Ave. and Millwood Rd. Friday afternoon. She found it as shown about 6 p.m.