The South Bayview Bulldog

Any occasion

Selling advice and wine

What occasion?

According to the Washington Post, Nordstrom, Inc. has a new game-plan to boost sales: Don’t sell high-end luxury fashion items. Instead of selling clothes, shoes, accessories and other fashion products, Nordstrom is testing a concept where it will offer stylists, manicurists, a tailor and wine. Advice on what to wear will range across all of life’s challenges like dates, job interviews, vacations and so on. The payoff occurs when — and if — the customer likes the advice she/he gets and places an order at the store with Nordstrom.com. According to the Post, the first new store concept, Nordstrom Local, will open in Los Angeles next month and analysts are already thinking that the retailer will be opening many more stores in urban areas over time. Nordstrom has two stores in Toronto —  CF Eaton Centre and Yorkdale.

PEO Erin Urquhart

Interior of St. Peter’s

St. Peter’s Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church at 817 Mount Pleasant

Leaside AAA Major Peewee team

Leaside Minor Mosquito AAA team.

It won’t surprise anyone to hear that social media has changed everything. Proof of that comes dressed in TPS blue as Parking Enforcement Officer Erin Urquhart. She pedals her way around central Toronto (and Midtown) handing out tickets with a cheery thumbs-up on Twitter at @TPS_BikeHart. Then, St. Peter’s Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church at 817 Mount Pleasant is the highlight of visiting Estonian architectural expert Jarmo Kauge. Read his remarks in the Globe and Mail and perhaps visit the exhibit which recalls the influx of Estonian architects that gave Toronto Viljo Revel, designer of the our emblematic clamshell City Hall. Down below left,  we see the Leaside AAA Major Peewee team and (right) Leaside’s Minor Mosquito AAA team. They both distinguished themselves this season. As proudly put by the guardian of ball-diamond diversions in Leaside, Eric Stickney: “We had two City championships (beating North York teams). That hasn’t happened since whenever. Competition really does drive success, and we’re lucky to have a classy organization like North York next to us.”  Brian Baker has an extended account.

An explosion and fire has engufled the home at 200 Ellerslie Ave. between Beecroft and Senlac Rds. in Willowdale. The newer detached home was first seen to be on fire on the roof, but the blaze spread quickly. The call was made to Toronto Fire at 7.42 p.m.

Smoke and flames visible upon arrival at detached house, 2nd Alarm, 1 patient reported, fire operations continue https://t.co/FEiHdO50fY

— Toronto Fire Services (@Toronto_Fire) September 14, 2017

Francia and Selena

Selena Gomez has been unaccountably out of the public eye and now we know why. She was recovering from a kidney transplant. Gomez revealed her friend television actress Francia Raisa donated an organ to help the singer fight lupus. A wonderful picture of the two just after the operation was also released Thursday. Below, another surprise as Josh and Fergie Duhamel separate after eight years of marriage. They issued a long declaration of “love and respect” which makes one wonder. Then upper right, Angelina Jolie says she knows who she is and her kids are her best friends. Nice. Finally, Ringo Starr is unveiled by his own word as a Brexit believer. He’s come a long way from sitting on an Indian mountain for peace.

Not so much just now

Angelina and children

Ringo favours Brexit

The Ministry of Labour says Fiera Foods on Marmora St. in North York did not do enough to make sure that a Muslim woman’s hijab was safe for her to work around machinery in the firm’s bakery.  Fiera has been fined $300,000 for this failure in the September 2, 2016 death of Amina Diaby. The young temporary worker was found without vital signs, her headwear entangled under a guard covering the chain drive of a conveyor belt. Ms. Diaby had been hired to work at the plant through a temporary staffing agency and had been on the job for two weeks. The Ministry of Labour determined that Fiera had failed to ensure that a worker near a source of entanglement secured all loose clothing. It also noted that an emergency stop button was not accessible from the location of the entanglement. Fiera Foods pleaded guilty. It will also pay a 25 per cent “victim fine” surcharge ($75,000) as required by the Provincial Offences Act. In 2002,  the bakery was fined $150,000 following in the death of a 17-year-old temporary worker.

Double the number

Grocery tank

Fast shopper

Loblaws at the corner of Bayview and Moore Ave is expecting a shipment of 25 short carts, much preferred by many shoppers. This will double the number of short carts now on hand. The new complement should be close to 50 but the exact count is tricky because the carts are often wheeled away and never returned. Don’t do that please. The large, super family-sized carts no doubt have a place but the vehicle of choice most days seems to be the lighter and more maneuverable “fast shopper.”

Alternate stopand go during rush hour

The re-paving of Brendan Rd. in Bennington Heights spilled out onto Moore Ave. during Thursday afternoon rush hour, snarling traffic from Bayview Ave to Mt. Pleasant Rd. It was apparently necessary to use stop and go traffic tactics at Brendan, meaning cars waited in long lines for sign-men to usher them forward. To the west, where there are curves in the road, the usually long wait to turn right from Mt. Pleasant was even longer than normal. Drivers were in the dark about what was going on. On the east side, traffic piled up back to Bayview. The job seems to be nearly done.

Roots Corp. has filed for an initial public offering in Toronto. The Canadian casual wear retailer seeks to raise about $200 million in the share sale this month. It might have a market value of $700 million after listing, according to some analysts. The IPO is being led by Toronto-Dominion Bank, Credit Suisse Group AG and Bank of Montreal, according to a regulatory filing Wednesday. The company plans to trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol ROOT.

Baskerville muzzled

Click on muzzle list

Toronto has defined and officially cited 91 of the city’s canines as “dangerous dogs”. Toronto Animal Services officers responded to 882 incidents of dog bites, attacks and menacing behaviour reports between March and August. Investigations have resulted in 91 dangerous dog orders.  A dog that has severely bitten or attacked a person or pet will be considered dangerous, as will dogs that have given non-severe bites twice or have been subject to a muzzle order. Owners of all such animals are required to muzzle their pets, put up warning signs and attend training classes or face fines. City officers began handing out the orders after Council unanimously passed amendments to the Toronto Municipal Code, creating the new distinction. The changes came into effect on March 1.

Sunday at 12.30

Thursday, September 21

Weekend Sept 30/Oct 1

Here are some pleasant things to do around home coming soon.

Scooters in Leaside

There’s quite a discussion on the Leaside Community Facebook account Thursday about the motorcade of motorcycles and other vehicles through the neighbourhood Tuesday. They were posted by Cindy-Monk Fuller who explained on her own page that these were police officers apparently training for escorting dignitaries during the Invictus Games which begin September 23. She posts: “They’re not escorting anyone important just yet, but Toronto police are training and preparing for the Invictus Games that kicks off in just over 10 days. With dignitaries like Prince Harry and U.S. first lady Melania Trump expected in town, police want to make sure they are ready to move everyone around safely. On Tuesday, training began at about 8:45 a.m. on highway 407. There will be further training until about 3 p.m. on the 427 and Gardiner, towards BMO Field. On Thursday, the motorcade will move in the evening from the 407 to the 403, to Hamilton and Niagara Falls, and then back into Toronto. Const. Clint Stibbe says training is important because motorcades put officers at risk, and they need to be at the top of their game. When asked why training is taking place during the day, including the tail end of the morning rush and the start of the afternoon rush, he said they need to place officers in “real world” situations. His message to any driver who comes across a motorcade, whether training or the real deal, is to stay alert and not try to pass them.”