The South Bayview Bulldog

Eglinton and Leslie Saturday morning

A post to Leaside Community Saturday shows this utterly smashed bus shelter on Eglinton Ave. near Leslie St. just after dawn. It’s not clear how it happened but there was clearly a lot of force. At Leaside Chit Chat they were asking where you would find a phone booth in South Bayview. There aren’t many. One of the last was on Malcolm Rd beside the (now) Husky station but it’s gone. One poster remembered that a booth still sits on the Loblaws lot at Bayview and Moore. At Leaside Matters the historically inclined admin was asking Leaside families to ponder whether they lived in a Canada Wire and Cable home. These are said to be houses built on Airdrie, Randolph and area streets, more than 60 of them, for employees to buy. One poster recalled that her grandparents were offered one for about $15,000.

Cambridge has tied its quarter-final series with the Leaside Jr. Wildcats 2-2 in a game that was won in an astonishing ten-round shootout.  The one-on-one showdown saw both Cambridge and Leaside score in the seventh round. That tied it 2-2. It required three more rounds before Hana Solinger scored an unanswerable goal to make the final 3-2 Rivulettes. The series now moves back to Leaside Memorial Community Gardens for the fifth and final game scheduled to start at 3.40 Sunday afternoon. The winner will advance in semi-final play towards supremacy in the Provincial Women’s Hockey League. Leaside and Cambridge are evenly matched having finished fourth and fifth in regular season play.  But the playoffs can be surprising. First place Toronto Aeros with 31 wins are trailing 11th place Etobicoke Dolphins with 18 wins by two games to one in their best-of-five series.

Keeping car seats out of landfill sites

Alok Tomar, Leaside Insurance

The Co-operators insurance is collaborating with the non-profit environmental group Green Propellor to offer an option to parents concerned about bulky car and booster seats going to landfill. Co-operators agents like Alok Tomar of Leaside Insurance will receive these seats at their office and oversee their careful dismantling and recycling. Car seats can be broken down into component parts with all the plastic pieces able to fit in a zip lock bag. The Co-operators has a long track record in sustainable practices and support for Green Propeller aligns well with the organizational mandate. The service is free to The Co-operators clients and there is a fee to offset the cost of $15 per car seat and $7 per booster seat.  In the South Bayview area anyone wishing to drop off needs to first go to Green Propeller Recycling in order to register and obtain a voucher ($15 for a car seat, $7 for a booster and free for clients of The Co-operators) and then come on by to drop it off.  The Co-operators office of Alok Tomar is at 1820 Bayview Ave. There is free parking at the rear off Glazebrook Ave. Facebook .

St. Patrick is venerated in most Christian churches and why not. Even if he didn’t banish the snakes it seems right that in a blarney-loving land he’s so ascribed. Here we see a well-dressed Irish moose on Moore Ave at the IntegraCare offices and smiling Irish faces from St. Patrick’s days past. Below, wonderful step-dancing. What fun. Some things to do

Free rides on St. Patrick’s Day/TTC photo

Irish Distillers Inc, makers of Jameson Irish Whiskey, have paid the TTC to run service for free on Saturday after 4 p.m. on the 501 Queen, 504 King and 514 Cherry routes. Entertainment will be offered on some cars by the Canadian indie rock band Hollerado between the hours of 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. The TTC says it is proud of this promotion and the whiskey firm ads on the outside of trams says that “Jameson has your green covered.”  An old Irish expression, it seems.

Bodies remain under the collapsed footbridge at Florida International University Friday morning as work continues to recover them. Six are confirmed dead. Traffic video shows the collapse occurring.

Crash: Male ejected from a vehicle during a single motor vehicle crash. Rushed to hospital without vital signs. 16th Ave is closed between Fern Ave and Bayview Ave for investigation. pic.twitter.com/JBiWwSn2p1

— Tony Smyth (@LateNightCam) March 16, 2018

The CBC says that “City staff” are at work on a plan to widely increase permits for overnight parking in Midtown and East York. Public consultations are said to be planned for north Toronto, East York and at City Hall between April 3 and 10, but no times and locations are yet available. City-issued overnight parking permits — which the report says are currently only required on about 60 per cent of streets — would become mandatory wherever parking is allowed in East York and the old City of Toronto. There’s big money to be harvested.  CBC

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has told CTV that while he doesn’t support Sikh separatism in India he will continue to attend events held by Sikh nationalists in Canada because the gatherings are an opportunity to share his beliefs. It is the same argument that caused concern about former Liberal governments where ministers attended Tamil separatist meetings in Toronto but professed not to support such activity. It is a tricky position for Mr. Singh and will almost certainly be mightily resented in India. Singh told the network that because of his experience dealing personally with the discrimination and marginalization as a member of the Sikh community, he views invitations to speak at these events as opportunities to speak about how he’s personally overcome that adversity.

On Friday, March 16 (today) you can have Coffee with a Cop at four locations. Community members may drop in at these McDonald’s in 41, 42, 43 and 54 Divisions from 10 a.m. to noon..

41 Division: 3150 St. Clair Avenue East
42 Division: 395 Bamburgh Circle
43 Division: 1280 Markham Road
54 Division: 1045 Pape Avenue

A release Friday says that the majority of contacts police have with the public “happen during emergencies or emotional situations. Those situations are not always the most effective times for relationship-building with the community, and some community members may feel officers are unapproachable on the street. “Coffee with a Cop” breaks down barriers and allows for a relaxed, one-on-one, interaction.”

A teen boy is in hospital with several gun wounds after he was found in an underground garage on Rochefort Drive and Deauville Lane, near Don Mills Road and Eglinton Avenue East, at about 11 p.m., Toronto police said. Shell casings could be seen on the ground of the parking lot. Police told the CBC that people were seen fleeing the scene but it is not known if they were suspects.  The boy, 15, is expected to recover.

Rochefort Dr. parking garage/TonySmyth@LateNightCam Twitter

The current newsletter from Ward 26 Councillor Jon Burnside says that the planned opening of the Costco store on Overlea Blvd has now been delayed to June. Previously, the agents for Costco had said that cold winter weather had moved the opening from February to perhaps the end of April. The newsletter also says that the challenge to the re-drawn City ward boundaries has been turned down by the Ontario Municipal Board. This challenge was launched by Ward 5 (Etobicoke) Councillor Justin Di Ciano for reasons not at hand. It is also reported the board of Leaside Memorial Community Gardens is seeking new members. It says that if readers in the ward are “passionate about recreation and community engagement” they may contact the Public Appointments Secretariat at 416-397-0088. Application deadline:is Monday, March 19