The South Bayview Bulldog

Pierce Goulimis and Lucas Flemming

Pierce Goulimis and Lucas Flemming didn’t have ready work for the summer so the two Leaside boys, 15, decided to open a pop-up novelties store on Bayview Ave. It’s called Hello Summer (catchy) and it’s located at 1551 Bayview next to the Scotiabank. That’s a sweet part of the street. It’s taken some planning and support from mom and dad but anyone can imagine how proudly the elders think of the boys right now. Inside is a range of entertaining stuff including a wooden salt and pepper grinder with a large crank handle, comic character wallets, key chains, good-looking tote bags and many other things. Drop in and say hello to Pierce and Lucas, as well as summer.

Novelties

Comic character themed wallets

1551 next to Scotiabank

Golden Mitka

Cohen Naulty

Nicole Lentini

At left, Golden Mitka reports for the BBC on harrowing brutality in the slum suburbs of Johannesburg. It is an appalling tale of daily rape, vigilante vengeance and filth. Prepare yourself if you click to watch. Then back to the first world where Cohen Naulty, 17, has been ridiculed after he paid for a meal with his friends with mostly quarters at a Virginia restaurant. And he left a $10 tip. Sheesh. Lastly, the zero-waste world (literally) of Nicole Lentini and her husband. Catch the huge drum she has in the backyard to grind leftovers. The story does not say if they have kids but we wonder.

New additions to the cabinet table are shown in bold face, ministers who have changed portfolios are marked with an asterisk. The shuffle is called substantive but it seems key posts remain the same as follows: Freeland, Morneau, Garneau, Goodale, McKenna, Wilson-Raybould and others — with CBC.

• Justin Trudeau – Prime Minister and Minister of Youth.
• *Dominic LeBlanc – Minister of Intergovernmental and Northern Affairs and Internal Trade. LeBlanc will also become President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada.
• *James Carr – Minister of International Trade Diversification.
• *Mélanie Joly- Minister of Tourism, Official Languages and La Francophonie.
• *Amarjeet Sohi – Minister of Natural Resources.
• *Carla Qualtrough – Minister of Public Services and Procurement and Accessibility (adds Accessibility).
• *François-Philippe Champagne – Minister of Infrastructure and Communities.
• Pablo Rodriguez – Minister of Canadian Heritage and Multiculturalism.
• Bill Blair – ​Minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction.
• Mary Ng – Minister of Small Business and Export Promotion.
• Filomena Tassi – Minister of Seniors.
• Jonathan Wilkinson – Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard.
• Carolyn Bennett – Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations.
• Scott Brison – President of the Treasury Board and Minister of Digital Government.
• Marie-Claude Bibeau – Minister of International Development.
• Kirsty Duncan – Minister of Science and Sport.
• Bardish Chagger – Leader of the Government in the House of Commons.
• Navdeep Bains –  Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Developmet.
• Jean-Yves Duclos – Minister of Families, Children and Social Development.
• Chrystia Freeland – Minister of Foreign Affairs.
• Marc Garneau – Minister of Transport.
• Ralph Goodale – Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness.
• Karina Gould – Minister of Democratic Institutions.
• Patty Hajdu – Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour.
• Ahmed Hussen- Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship.
• Diane Lebouthillier – Minister of National Revenue.
• Lawrence MacAulay – Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food.
• Catherine McKenna – Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
• Maryam Monsef – Minister of Status of Women.
• Bill Morneau – Minister of Finance.
• Seamus O’Regan- Minister of Veterans Affairs.
• Ginette Petitpas-Taylor – Minister of Health.
• Jane Philpott – Minister of Indigenous Services.
• Harjit Sajjan – Minister of National Defence.
• Jody Wilson-Raybould – Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada.

(New additions to the cabinet table have been bolded, ministers who have changed portfolios are marked with an asterisk* and ministers who are staying in their role but whose titles or responsibilities have changed are italicized.  Source: CBC)

The reported move of defensive star Kawhi Leonard to the Raptors from the San Antonio Spurs is among Leonard’s least preferable moves say media reports. The trade is in the news Wednesday. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski says Leonard has “no desire to play in Toronto.”  Leonard and Danny Green are said to be a swap for DeMar DeRozan and Jakob Poeltl. They don’t like it either, says ESPN. Doug Smith Toronto Star

Alleged road rage/City News

OPP have charged a man, 59, in a case of what they allege is rage road. It caused a three vehicle accident on Highway 401 that sent three children and two adults to hospital. This was early Monday  near Leslie St. An SUV with one occupant, another car with three occupants and a car with a family of five were involved. Sergeant Kerry Schmidt said a 17-month-old baby remains in critical condition. The other four suffered minor injuries.

DRIVERS ARGUE, ONE IS RUN DOWN

MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENTS

One motorcyclist is dead and two others are seriously injured after three accidents. One man died when his machine collided with a pickup truck in East Gwillimbury. He was dead at the scene. Another motorcyclist was gravely hurt in Brampton Tuesday night near Bonnie Braes Dr. and Chinguacousy Rd. after a collision with a Honda CRV. The third accident occurred in Oakville where, for reasons unknown, a motorcycle left the road and hit a tree. A 21-year-old man has life-threatening injuries. This occurred at River Oaks Blvd near Trafalgar Rd. late Tuesday. .

Gas prices dropped overnight, as expected, but the decrease may not last as oil supplies fluctuate. The price at most locations is sitting at $1.31.9/litre. Dan McTeague of GasBuddy.com says the drop is the result of a drop in wholesale prices for oil. McTeague also predicts gas prices will climb 2 cents a litre on Thursday. Map below shows prices early Tuesday. Note how prices stay high in South Bayview.

ULTRAMAR ON BROADVIEW

Bulldog sleuths have determiend that the cheapest gas within driving distance is at the Ultramar station at Broadview Ave. and Bater Ave. a couple of blocks north of Pottery/Mortimer. Regular is selling there Wednesday for 1.26.9/litre.

Former BC Premier Gordon Campbell

Premier Ford

Former Premier Kathleen Wynne

A former Liberal Premier of BC, Gordon Campbell, will conduct a rapid Commission of Inquiry into the previous Liberal government’s spending practices with a report to be issued by August 30. Ontario Premier Ford announced the independent inquiry Tuesday and said the government is taking bids from outside experts to conduct a line-by-line audit of government books. Ford said the inquiry will provide answers on what went wrong with the province’s finances while the audit will shed light on how the government can fix those issues. The current provincial debt is nearly $350 billion dollars, the largest non-sovereign government debit in the world. That’s nearly $23,000 per Ontario citizen, even the school kids. In recent years, the auditor general, Bonnie Lysyk, has suggested the government understated its deficit by billions.

Seriously, the future of sex education will challenge the adult mind. But the range of views about what a child should know and when is enormous. Next, your jeans will soon be designed without cutting a shred of fabric. A fascinating look at the casual wear that dominates most wardrobes. Below that, gun violence. This CBC report gets lost in vague “root causes” talk before hitting on what most people know. Role models and job mentors for young men would be good. Most boys have a role model named dad. But he has to be at home. Finally, a couple who spent more than $20,000 US and took their pet to Japan for surgery.

Davenpoprt Rd./City News video capture

An overnight storm caused this tree to fall across Davenprot Rd. Tuesday morning. The street was closed for the morning rush and work continued into the day to remove the Maple.

Donald Trump is facing apparent universal disapproval at home for his embrace of Vladimir Putin’s version of events related to Russian hacking and alleged efforts to maniupulate the US election in 2016. Trump offered a breathtakingly benign view of Putin and the Kremlin. Russia is viewed almost universally as an emeny of democratic freedom. Newt Gingrach called Trump’s performance “the most serious mistake of his presidency.” Such reproofs seem likely to have a impact on the electorate.

A news release has announced that chef Mark McEwan will close his restaurant North 44 on Yonge St. at the end of the month. The restaurant helped McEwan establish his international reputation. It opened in 1990 at 2537 Yonge (and Sherwood). Mr. McEwan may well have found that his enormous energy is sufficiently challenged by his grocery store chain and many other restaurant locations. They are ByMark, Fabbrica and One Restaurant.

Mark McEwan/Mark McEwan blog

The release said North 44 has “enjoyed its longevity due to the unwavering support of its valued customers, the local community and its talented team.” McEwan also posted to Instagram: “I will look back on North 44 fondly,” says McEwan. “North 44 has seen some incredible talent over the years and I have made many life-long friends. I owe North 44’s success to our hard-working team, our loyal customers and to the Toronto community. I learned a lot from North 44, but want to continue to look forward. Our team have built restaurants, an extensive catering and events division, several gourmet grocery stores and we don’t have any plans to slow down. We’re opening three new properties and that’s just the plan for 2018.”

At shortly after 9 p.m., the Environment Canada weather watch said “conditions remain favourable for the development of severe thunderstorms that may be capable of producing strong wind gusts, large hail and heavy rain. Scattered thunderstorms will affect the region this evening. The severe weather threat will diminish later this evening.” The beauty of the sky as snapped by Jeremy Cohn@JeremyGlobalTV about the same time is very special.

Sky near Burlington/Jeremy Cohn@JeremyGlobalTV