Dad and daughter team fly across the Pacific for Air Canada

by  • 

Captain James Sullivan, and his daughter Jennie Olafson/CTV capture

A dad and daughter piloting duo are profiled by CTV. James Sullivan, left, and his daughter, Jennie Olafson are flying Boeing 787 Dreamliners across the Pacific for Air Canada. In Hawaii, residents are bracing for further earthquakes and volcano activity after the eruption of Mt. Kilauea in its most violent awakening since the 1970s. Below that, it emerges that Meghan Markle will have zero bridesmaids at her wedding this month while in Verona, the exotic sports car show to top them all is underway.






Orioles defeat Dodgers at Davisville Park but score unclear

by  • 

Rookieball at Davisville Park/Bulldog
Compost Day/Bulldog
Exquisite Luna/Bulldog
Fries from Waxy’s on Wheels/Bulldog
Instant dandelions/Bulldog
Goodbyer 28 Southvale/Bulldog
Lemonade at yard sale/Bulldog

Rookieball action at Davisville Park Saturday ended with good sportsmanship. Here the teams shake hands. The Orioles (in orange of course) defeated the Dodgers and it was a challenge to remember the score. Well played men. At the right, three shots of the exquisitely patterned Whippet named Luna as she disported herself at the Park and Bark event on Yonge St. at Millwood Rd. At the left, Jon Burnside’s Compost Day saw this stalwart assistant helping a resident to take home some natural fertilizer from the big pile outside Leaside arena. At the bottom right is a handsome lemonade salesperson on Southvale Rd. who took advantage of mom and dad’s yard sale. Yes, it’s that time again. At left, the tempting fries are from Waxy’s on Wheels and were available at the Park and Bark. Below that we see instant dandelions beside the well-used tennis courts off Mt. Pleasant. Last week there was ice. At bottom, goodbye to 28 Southvale Dr. By the way, work has begun on 3-5 Southvale, the Shane Baghai condo beside the arena.

Blackouts fewer but many still remain across South Bayview

by  • 

Hanging on for dear life on Davisille/credit in text
Person at top has been knocked down by wind, others hide

As many as 21,000 customers are still without power in Toronto Saturday morning and at least 190,000 across Ontario are also affected after yesterday’s wind storm. A man is dead after scaffolding fell on him at a construction site at corner of Yonge and College Sts. The Toronto Hydro outage map shows there has been progress restoring power to large parts of near East York across the Don Valley. Many blackouts continue however both there and in Leaside and Davisvile Village. Power is out at some shops and businesses and Mt. Pleasant Rd remains closed  as Hydro still has not been unable as of noon Saturday to replace the hydro pole at the corner of Belsize (see post below). People in pictures above shot by Monkeynastix Toronto@MonkeynastixT show people bowled over on Davisville Ave. Others cling to poles to stay upright or find cover.

Quirky Hydro map makes EY outage tiny, huge, tiny, huge

by  • 

Current (we think) outage map
MP’s strategy meeting by candlelight

The outage in near East York across the Don River Friday night is quite substantial, as an updated version of the Toronto Hydro map monitoring such issues shows. It was published at 9.15. Previously, it showed minimal outages. But, life goes on. A strategy meeting held by MP Judy Debrusin was held by candlelight. Toronto Hydro Outage Map

Utility pole down on Mt. Pleasant Rd., shops are left in dark

by  • 

Mt. Pleasant Rd. is closed until Toronto Hydro or Hydro One (or both) can attend to the pole at the corner of Belsize Drive. It came down in the wind Friday afternoon. Fire and police personnel have been keeping order at the scene since about 5 p.m. The street is closed from Penrose Rd. to Millwood Rd. A few businesses are without power. Fire officials were surprised at how few seemed dark The Belsize Public House and Mt. Pleasant Rd. Baptist Church are out. It seems possible morning traffic will re-routed.

Watch traffic light fall, car burn on 427 in windy mayhem

by  • 

https://twitter.com/TheMikeSirois/status/992529762366115842

Fleming Cres. blacked out as wires, old Maple down in wind

by  • 

Keep smilng

Fleming Crescent and homes nearby were blacked out Friday night after winds snapped wires all along the street and brought down an 90-year-old Maple near Parkhurst Blvd. The owner of the tree said he knew from the sound the tree was making late in the afternoon that there was trouble coming. But there was nothing he could do. Free fire wood until it’s gone.

Wires down at many homes
Free firewood
Old roots gave up

High winds and downed trees bring power outages to GTA

by  • 

Broken electrical lines attached to a twisting metal sign cause sparks on the top of a TTC streetcar on Friday afternoon. (Nick Murphy/Submitted to CBC)
Shingles fly (Photo: Naomi Parness / Twitter @naomiparness)
Albemarle Ave in Riverdale (Photo: Sam Bornstein / Twitter @SuasionSam)

As many as 100,000 customers across Toronto were without power Friday night as a result of the surprisingly damaging afternoon wind storm.  A large outage eoccurred in near East York across the Don Valley. The blackout stretched from Danforth across Mortimer Ave up to parts of O’Connor Drive. Toronto Hydro appealed for patience as it worked to restore electricity. Former CTV reporter Naomi Parness tweeted a picture of shingled and social media saw dozens of photos of fallen trees. Caution is still urged around downed power lines. Toronto Hydro suggests drivers stay at least 10 metres back (length of a school bus) to be safe.

TREE WORKER KILLED

A man working on trees has been killed in Milton and another seriously injured in the fall of a tree Friday. Halton Regional Police say the men were working on a tree in the area of Side Road 20 and Fourth Line Nassagaweya in Milton this afternoon when the tree collapsed. A man in his 50s was struck by a falling tree in the Bloor Street West and Windermere Avenue area of Etobicoke, Toronto paramedics said. The man was taken to local hospital for treatment of undetermined injuries.

Traffic light at unstated location
Woman tweeted swinging chandelier in her high-rise condo

Couple acquitted but authorities get peace bond just in case

by  • 

Sabrine Djermane
El Mahdi Jamali

A Montreal couple acquitted on the majority of terrorism-related charges have signed a peace bond after authorities were still frankly suspicious about what they might do. Canadian Press reports that Sabrine Djermane and El Mahdi Jamali agreed to sign an undertaking Friday to keep the peace over the next 12 months and respect a host of conditions. They were charged last year with conspiring to commit a terrorist act but subsequently acquitted except for a conviction against Jamali for possession of an explosive charge

Kids all safe as wrong-way bus strikes cars, falls into river

by  • 

Dramatic landing for this school bus/City News
CP24
City News

All 17 kids aboard are safe after a school bus lost power on a hill and rolled backwards, smashed into two cars and finally landed in the Humber River ravine. This occurred on Humber Lea Road between King Street East and Kingsview Drive in Bolton about 8:15 a.m. OPP PC Tamara Schubert says that no injuries have been reported as a result of the crash. As reported by City News, it was a frightening trip to school for the area students. Paramedics say one person was taken to hospital as a precaution. The person’s age and gender and not yet known. This will probably have been the driver of a car. The bus was trying to make its way up a steep hill when it stalled near the top and started to roll backwards towards the bridge over the Humber. The bus struck the side of the bridge and ended up in a ditch near the river. “The rear of the bus was hanging over the river,” Schubert said. The OPP later said the tail end of the bus hit the water. The bus hit a Jeep and a Ford during the crash. “We rolled down the hill and we avoided one truck, a pickup truck. We just dinged a Jeep and the bus hit a red Ford,” a 14-year-old student who was on the bus told City.

Leaside barriers a benign cul-de-sac or selfish imposition?

by  • 

The vote on a pilot plan to close Glenvale Blvd., Broadway Ave. and Craig Crescent with concrete barriers has electrified Leaside. Discussion, concern, defenses and damnations of the scheme are published from beyond North Leaside where people are permitted to vote. Is it a benign cul-de-sac or a selfish imposition on others? Friday morning the posts at Leaside Community number perhaps 200, maybe more. Those in favour speak mostly about the safety of children but frequently simply complain about  traffic. It’s understandable. Drivers making illegal turns into the three streets in question want to avoid a busy intersection at Eglinton. It’s made much worse by the LRT insanity but as a practice it is done everywhere. Others posting, like those to the west of Leaside and south of Eglinton think they are being made scapegoats. The terms of the pilot contain verbal provisions that any impact on South Leaside traffic will nullify a permanent closure. How this will be decided is an open question. Assurances have been made that emergency services see “no problem” but immutable time and distance makes this seem challenging. In many public discussions no paramedic, police or fire officials have been seen. The plan, as explained at links below, has many conditions which might end it. Leaside Community

GoodLife Fitness Marathon to close many roads on Sunday

by  • 

The GoodLife Fitness Marathon set for this Sunday will again close dozens of roads during the day. The closures begin at 6 a.m. in North York and in Midtown stay to the east of Yonge St. until the marathon crosses Yonge at Belmont/Aylmer to go down Rosedale Valley Rd. to lower Bayview Ave. Have a look.

ALSO ON THE ROAD