The South Bayview Bulldog

Starbucks at 1545 Bayview remained closed Thursday as renovation work apparently overtook the schedule. The store has announced on signs that it would re-open today.

Getting ready to board flght to Edmonton

Some 100 BC business, Indigenous, labour and community leaders boarded a flight from Vancouver to Edmonton Thursday to show support for the Kinder Morgan pipeline. Twitter activity says this venture is supported by the Great Vancouver Board of Trade. Tara Weber of BNN reported that the Indigenous tribe members on board the Federation Flight are those whose lands surround the pipeline. It’s said that while most Indigenous groups oppose the project, certain others are enthusiastic about it. The name of the mission — Federation Flight — has clear symbolism for patriotic Canadians who fear the economy and foreign investment will suffer if Canadian crude cannot be shipped to Asia. Meantime, the future of the pipeline is locked in the political grip of the splinter BC Green Party, which is propping up the NDP government.

David Bryant has confirmed to the South Bayview Bulldog that he and his selfless band of volunteers will once again stage a fireworks show this long weekend. It will begin at 9 p.m. Monday, May 21, on the playing field at Leaside High School. Mr. Bryant has begun a widely appreciated practice of such displays during the better weather. This year there will be more than 100 pieces exploded with a “special ending” says Bryant.

Leaside High field last year

David Bryant (centre) and friends prepare a fireworks show in 2017

“Mixed-use” proposal

Roehampton Hotel when it was still the Best Western

A meeting is set for Thursday (tonight) at The Roehampton Hotel (formerly the Best Western) to discuss a proposal to replace the hotel building with a 44-storey mixed-use building containing 457 residential units with retail space on the first level. The developer proposes 166 parking spaces in four levels of underground parking. The meeting is convened by Councillor Matlow beginning at 6:30 p.m. at The Roehampton Hotel, 808 Pleasant Rd. Urban Toronto

It’s early but not uncivilized if you’re a fan of this elaborate royal event. The nuptials are said to commence at 7 a.m. EDT (noon in Windsor). Some nice perspectives on the wedding are seen below.

A post shared by ?? London ? UK ? Europe ?? (@tmnikonian) on May 17, 2018 at 5:06am PDT

Adrian Ghobrial of City News assays the newly-introduced “drive-away” parking tickets by Parking Enforcement Officers. It used to be legal to drive away while the hornet was writing the ticket. Legal consensus had it that the ticket had not been properly served. But when it comes to money, the City is far more interested in making you pay than silly stuff like due process. Now they send the ticket to you in the mail and right or wrong, you’re on the hook. Gotcha parking methods live on at City Hall.

PC CANDIDATE RESIGNS AMID DATA THEFT ALERT

Simmer Sandhu, the PC Party candidate in Brampton, has resigned from the candidacy amid allegations pertaining to his “work life and nomination campaign.” Sandhu was employed until recently at 407 Express Toll Route, the firm that runs the toll highway. As Sandu was making his announcement, the company said it is investigating the theft of some personal information of roughly 60,000 people from its offices “some time over the past 12 months.” It said the data was limited to account names and phone numbers. No credit card or banking information was taken. Without saying anything related to this revelation, Sandhu said he “absolutely denies these allegations” and called them “totally baseless.”

BEN AND JESSICA MULRONEY CHILDREN TO BE IN BRIDAL PROCESSION

Finance Minister Morneau (the MP for Bennington Heights) has pledged federal money to Kinder Morgan for losses it may incur as it tries to build the federally-approved pipeline to the Pacific. It’s an unknown sum of money. Critics of the Trudeau Liberals ask why this matter has not been referred to the Supreme Court. The answer is the political cost of that. Everyone is slathered in naked electoral expediency. The LPC fears losing seats in BC. BC Premier John Horgan has decided to jump as high as the splinter Green Party demands. He will go down to defeat if they’re unhappy with him. The federal NDP, led by that bulwark of principle, Jagmeet Singh, has chosen Horgan over NDP Premier Rachel Notely because there are more NDP votes in BC than Alberta. And maybe Notely will be taken out by Prairie Conservatives in Alberta at the next election. Love this country.

J.A. Happ reached three times and allowed only two baserunners over seven innings as the Toronto Blue Jays got their first road victory against the New York Mets, 12-1 on a rainy Wednesday in Queens. Happ (5-3) struck out 10 while pitching two-hit ball. The left-hander also singled twice and walked in his first multi-hit game since 2011, when he had two hits for Houston at Citi Field. Toronto was 0-12 against the Mets in New York, the longest such skid against one team in interleague baseball history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. New York’s Brandon Nimmo homered off Danny Barnes with two outs in the ninth and Wilmer Flores added a double before Barnes finished Toronto’s four-hitter.

THREE HOMERS

Justin Smoak, Teoscar Hernandez and Richard Urena each homered and drove in three runs as Toronto piled up 15 hits. The Blue Jays improved to 22-21 and haven’t fallen below .500 since being 1-2 on March 31. Toronto had averaged 2.8 runs over its past 11 games, batting .211 with a .630 OPS while going 3-8. Smoak sparked the breakout performance by smashing a homer to right off Zack Wheeler (2-3) in the first inning. Wheeler was otherwise sharp early on, striking out six prior to a brief rain delay during the bottom of the third inning. Wheeler fell apart after the delay. Hernandez put Toronto up 3-0 with a two-run shot in the fourth, and then Smoak ripped a two-run double during a three-run fifth inning — AP

Jaye Robinson

Not an accident?

Death in the night

City of Toronto officials, apparently desperate in the face of 22 road deaths so far this year, have declared that “traffic collisions aren’t accidents, they are preventable events that can be eliminated through smarter street design, targeted enforcement and thoughtful public engagement.” This laudable concern for human life and ways to stop accidents has prompted Councillor Jaye Robinson (Ward 25) to call for a team of citizens who are passionate about road safety to get involved in the Vision Zero challenge to reduce road accidents to zero. It is proper and necessary to try to do better. And education is the best hope, especially among pedestrians. But the goal as set out (zero deaths) and the tortured logic of the mandate (accidents aren’t accidents) may prove frustrating. The legal concept of intent is fundamental to law. A driver with no intent who hits a pedestrian has incurred an accident. He is responsible for it (or maybe not). He may pay a grievous penalty. But it is still an accident. Appalling accidents like the one linked here remain accidents, no matter how guilty the driver.  Fatal hit-run woman did seven tequila shots before crash CBC

Price label

Raw cow cheese

CFIA warning

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has announced a recall of Reblochon Cheese “raw cow cheese” from the marketplace with packing dates from March 20 up to and including May 15. There is concern about E. coli contamination. It appears the cheese was sold at certain Whole Foods Market stores including the Yorkville location at 87 Avenue Rd. and 4771 Yonge St in North York.

Comments reveal a deep divide in opinion about the wisdom of traffic lights at the corner of Bayview Ave. and Davisville Ave. A FB post Tuesday night from Grant Allardyce of the Bayview Leaside BIA was the first word of such a plan. As many as 60 people have commented by Wednesday morning. Mr. Allardyce told The Bulldog the City informed the BIA after doing a study. Some people are elated. Others say the lights, which will be a short block south of the lights at Millwood, will slow traffic further and drive traffic onto streets like Cleveland. Left turns have increased at Merton, Balliol and Davisville in recent years as traffic slowed on Bayview.

Soudan/Parkhurst

Several people refer to the contentious corner at Bayview and Soudan/Parkhurst. “Now, how about Soudan/Parkhurst & Bayview?” asks one. It may well be that this intersection sees many more collisions than Bayview and Davisville. Detailed analysis of how accidents are caused at Bayview and Soudan has not been published. The corner has been difficult since before the LRT congestion.  Some say the crosswalk deceives impatient drivers who overtake traffic and collide with vehicles trying to sneak through east or west while a pedestrian is crossing.  It is also subject to east versus west politics over “outside traffic” in Leaside

It appears that Meghan Markle’s dad has been uninvited to his daughter’s wedding after he accepted a paparazzi deal for photos of him getting ready for the event. Who will walk Meghan down the aisle? We must wait and see. Then, the Supreme Court of Canada has ordered a new trial for David and Collet Stephan. They used an appalling collection of things in treating their son before he died of bacterial meningitis. The high court concluded the judge did not take enough time to explain the mountain of evidence in the case. Then, it’s Olympic Marseilles vs Athletica Madrid Sunday in the Europa League Final in Lyon. Authorities are on edge and it’s not about who will win. Finally, lovely Bangalore, India’s version of Silicon Valley but there’s a problem. The talented people who work there spend 250 hours a year sitting in their cars. Proof again that it is great fun to travel but awful to commute.