The South Bayview Bulldog

Several schools in the central west end have been placed on lockdown after reports of a man with a gun. The TDSB reports at noon that the hold and secure status at the building holding Keele St. Public School and Mountview Alternative School has been lifted. The hold and secure at Runnymede PS, Annette Street PS and Humberside CI continue. Lockdown at Western Technical-Commercial School, Ursula Franklin Academy and The Student School also continues.

*update*
-staging area for attending parents: 2178 Bloor St W. at the Runnymede Library#GO2239932@tps11div
^ka

— Toronto Police Operations (@TPSOperations) December 6, 2018

At noon Thursday the TSX composite was down 379 points and the Dow Jones index down 651 points in an astonishing spasm of panic over the arrest of Meng Wanzou, senior executive at Chinese telecom equipment maker Huawei. There is fear this could derail progress in China-U.S. trade talks.

2017 Guys Night Out at Leaside Pub/Don Bates

The 15th Annual Leaside Guys Night Out Toy Drive gathering will take place Thursday at the Leaside Pub on Laird Drive at McRae .This public-spirited event raises funds to buy Christmas gifts for every primary school student in Thorncliffe Park and Flemingdon Park. There will be a great raffle with prizes, a silent auction and a live auction. Please contribute and drop around for the fun.

The Bayview Pixies (2018)

From the Bayview Leaside BIA website: Yesterday (Tuesday) the BIA had their final Board Meeting for the 2018 year. Every 4 years we re-elect our Board of Volunteers and as we move into 2019 we are excited to say that a new board will be taking over. That being said, the BIA would like to send a great big THANK YOU to board members and volunteers who have donated their time to the BIA over the last 4 years! Specifically, Debora Kuchme and The Bayview Pixies. Debora volunteered as a board member along with spearheading The Bayview Pixies, a group of volunteers that have been responsible for cleaning, planting and pruning the street and the planters for the past 3 years. Their hard work has earned the BIA awards, grants and public recognition for their sustainable practices and volunteerism. We cannot shout their Their hard work and dedication to making our community a better place will be missed, and we only wish you the best as you move on to your next projects! Thank you, Thank You, Thank You. From The Bayview Leaside BIA

407 eastbound east of Jane/CTV Twitter

OPP reports of a multi-vehicle crash on Highway 407 have been supplemented by social media posts of a death having occurred. This was in the eastbound lanes east of Jane St in Vaughan. “One patient pronounced dead on scene, three others transported by @YorkParamedics. All lanes closed” was the tweet by DR@Media371.

Lonely 25 need money

18 to 8

City Council has voted in favour of doubling the staffing budgets for individual members. It’s a move which appears to eliminate any saving intended by the reduction of Council from 47 members to 25. The vote was 18 to 8 in favour with Ward 15 Councillor Jaye Robinson in opposition but with from Ward 12 Josh Matlow and Ward 14 Kristyn Wong-Tam. New council member Brad Bradford from Beaches Ward 19 also voted in favour. The staff budget per councillor is now $482,000 annually from $241,000. Office budgets for Councillors was also increased, going to $50,000 from $34,000. Mayor John Tory voted in favour of these increases.

JUST A FACT, SAYS MATLOW

“When Premier Doug Ford told the people of Ontario that there would be $25 million in savings to cut council roughly in half it was never true. There was never going to be $25 million in savings and that is just a fact,” Ward 12 Toronto St Paul’s Josh Matlow said during Wednesday’s debate. “What has happened now is that we are going to need more staff to be able to respond to our constituents because we are going to be busier in both having to address the needs and priorities of double the population but also spending more times sitting at these committees.” Some, like Stephen Holyday, Ward 2, felt that Council had missed a chance to see what the real cost of serving constituents might be before simply doubling the budget.

HOE ABOUT 1.5 TIMES?

“I was a little confused when I read the table in this report where it gave us the three options and two of the three options were dividing up the leftover money and all I could think of was the Romans coming in after and dividing the spoils of war amongst the people,” Holyday said during the meeting. “I understand the temperature of Council and think Council is looking for a significant increase in budget. I will submit to this Council that 1.5 times your current office budget is an enormous increase and it allows you to hire one or maybe two additional constituency assistants.” Ward 17 Don Valley North Councillor Shelley Carroll said that doubling the staffing budgets would help to address the range of workloads in different wards with different levels of development. She said that some councillors in large downtown wards will now have 50 or 60 active development applications and will need extra resources to deal with them while Councillors in other wards may be able to get by with less.

His son, George W. Bush, was both poised and then tearful as he delivered an uplifting eulogy to his father, George Herbert Walker Bush on Wednesday. former Prime Minister Mulroney also eulogized Bush, who was a friend. The service was in Washington and stock markets were closed in New York.

About 30 demonstrators blocked the intersection of Queen and Bay Sts. to protest he closure of the Ontario Child Advocate’s Office for economic reasons. The PC government announced this decision earlier. The photo is on Twitter from Pappi@Pappi23 who says the sign reads Our Experience Our Way.

The Bank of Canada is widely expected to leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 1.75 per cent today after a 25-basis-point increase at its last setting in October. This morning’s announcement comes in the wake of a move by the Alberta government to curtail oil production in the province after Jan. 1 to try to clear a crude storage glut that has driven western Canadian oil prices to multi-year lows. Meanwhile, the recently announced plan to close the General Motors of Canada car plant in Oshawa similarly offers a downside risk to future growth — Canadian Press

Home sales across the Greater Toronto Area fell nearly 15 per cent in November, compared with a year ago, as sale prices continued to see moderate growth, the Toronto Real Estate Board says   TREB says there were 6,251 residential transactions recorded last month through its multiple listing service (MLS) system, down 14.7 per cent versus a year ago. On a seasonally adjusted basis, sales were down by 3.4 per cent compared with October 2018. The average sale price was up by 3.5 per cent year-over-year to $788,345. Adjusted seasonally, the average sale price was nearly flat, down by 0.8 per cent compared to October 2018 — Reuters

A Leaside woman is keeping her key fob in a tea tin to prevent the use of so-called relay theft of her car equipped with keyless entry.  This matter continues to occupy the interest of residents as it is reported that another vehicle has been stolen over the weekend. Leaside Community.

• Police diagram reveals how car thieves trick keyless entry