The South Bayview Bulldog

A growing Facebook thread Thursday discusses the long-standing issue of bicycles on the sidewalk. The range of opinions about why it’s right or wrong for bikes to be on the sidewalk is well-known. It is against City legislation for bicycles to be ridden on sidewalks. We hear again how they threaten pedestrians and are hard for motorists to see when a rider unexpectedly appears from a driveway ramp or at a corner. Alternatively, some argue the roads are dangerous and the only safe place for a cyclist, especially a child, is on the sidewalk.

Astonishing video released by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation shows a woman cyclist coming home from July 4 fireworks and trying to somehow cross the Racine Street Lift Bridge in the Town of Menasha while it’s going up. Yeah. What was she thinking? She falls into the gap seen just in front of her in the photo. The woman, 37, would quite likely have died had the bridge operator not been watching and stopped the motors. The video shows as many as eight people coming to her help or calling for assistance. She suffered face injuries. Some cite a cycling phenomenon sometimes called forward motion compulsion. Cyclists can’t stop even though they know they should. It seems to be a function of the necessity to move in order to stay upright.

Overnight Thursday to Friday will see traffic on Eglinton Ave. west of Mt Pleasant Rd. over to Browlow Ave. reduced to one lane of alternating traffic. Work is set to begin Thursday July 19 at 8 p.m. and finish by 6 a.m. Friday. But there are no gurantees. Crews will be performing repair work to an underground sanitary sewer connection in the vicinity. Due to the location of this work in the westbound lane of Eglinton Ave E, traffic on Eglinton must be reduced to one shared lane, alternating traffic in each direction, between Mt Pleasant Rd. and Brownlow Ave. Crosstown release

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.