The South Bayview Bulldog

For those watching closely, Penny Oleksiak has proven to be more than an astonishing sports phenomenon during her short time in the limelight. It’s also clear the 17-year-old student at Monarch Park Collegiate is in no hurry to give up her birthright to life as a teenager, at home with her family, in the Beach. Her father Richard has echoed this mature approach to his daughter’s success in a CBC update.

Two months old

This looks like “Sassy”

Bird-like chirping sounds

Toronto Zoo has posted pictures of the two clouded leopard cubs born in May on Facebook. The account of their growing personalities is excerpted here. “One cub is slightly darker in colour, and is more energetic and ‘sassy’, always taking the bottle very quickly when offered. The second cub is slightly lighter in colour, and although also energetic, is not as bold as its sibling. Both cubs vocalize in a bird-like ‘chirping’ sound and love to leap, run, explore and climb anything and everything they can find. Wrestling with each other is another favourite thing for these siblings to do. Both clouded leopard cubs have very long tails and their teeth are getting to be quite big in size, which is bringing out their teething behaviors.”

Six children

Found hanged

Chester Bennington

Demons have chased Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington to a rope gallows of his own making. The 41-year-old singer hanged himself at a private residence in lush Palos Verdes California a mere two months after friend Chris Cornell did exactly the same thing. Bennington had many hard luck stories and the remarkable success of Linkin Park and a family of six children were not enough to console him. Odd. The singer struggled with drugs and alcohol for years. Linkin Park has had a string of hits over the years, including “Faint,” “In the End” and “Crawling.” Linkin Park crossed music genres, collaborating with Jay-Z.

The people have spoken. Long live the People McPeopleface. Regards, Bulldog McBulldogface.

Police seized 37 dogs and puppies from a premises in North York after a man who had been seen on surveillance video throwing a dog in a garbage can surrendered himself to police. The complaint against the man, Quang (Andrew) Tieu, 35, is that he caused unnecessary suffering to these creatures and that he willfully abandoned the puppy. Police do not comment on the reason for the large number of dogs at this location but they do ask those trying to adopt a pet or find a new home for a dog to use “a reputable source” for that purpose.

Recovered puppy

Seized puppies/Toronto Animal Services

Bayview Ave. northbound was closed at Sutherland Dr. during the noon hour after an SUV struck a post or posts. It was one of a number of incidents reported in the wake of heavy rain Thursday. TPS Operations was reporting flooding at the Don Valley Parkway and Don Mills, as well as other incidents. Lanes may be closed at Don Mills.

City Hall sqaure deserted

Sinister darkness preceded rain/Kevin Montgomery

A torrential rainstorm has hit Midtown, the GTA and much of the southwest late Thursday morning. The rain has caused flooded gutters and eaves over a period of some 20 minutes during the eleven o’clock hour. After a momentary respite the heavy rain continued on toward the noon hour. The forecast was for a “light thunderstorm”.  Environment Canada was caught flat-footed by the rain, issuing a special bulletin at 11:25 just as the worst of the downpour slowed.

60 mm POSSIBLE

It says: “Please continue to monitor alerts and forecasts issued by Environment Canada. To report severe weather, send an email to ec.cpio-tempetes-ospc-storms.ec@canada.ca or tweet reports using #ONStorm.” That was followed by a rain warning: Rain, at times heavy, is expected. Showers and thunderstorms are expected to continue through the noon hour. Local amounts of 50 to 60 mm will be possible. The rain will move out of the region this afternoon. Caution is advised, especially near creeks and on

The warnings just came in from EC. Couldn't they see it was going to be horrible? #ONstorm

— Heatherrr (@sweetkeet) July 20, 2017

Toronto Fire Service has cleared from a Code Red (fire call) at Sunnybrook Heath Sciences Centre Thursday morning. Online accounts say it was an elevator incident, perhaps wiring.

The conservative think tank the Fraser Institute says StatsCan numbers show electricity prices rose 71 per cent in Ontario since 2008, a number which is more than double the national average increase of 34 per cent. The study says monthly electricity bills in major Canadian cities increased by an average of $37.68 between 2010 and 2016 but in Toronto they leaped by $77.09 and in Ottawa by $66.96. In 2016, the study says the average monthly electricity bill for residential customers in Toronto was $201 and $183 in Ottawa, compared to an average of $141 for residents in major Canadian cities. Montreal had the lowest monthly electricity bills among Canadian cities at $83 per month.

The 110-year-old carousel at Toronto’s Centreville Park has been sold by its owner, William Beasley Enterprises, to cover the cost of lost business this flooded summer of 2017. The carousel, much sought after by potential buyers, has fetched $3 million from the Indiana City of Carmel where it will decorate the renovated downtown next summer. As reported by the Star, the carousel was built by the Dentzel Company in 1907 and moved from Bushkill Park in Pennsylvania to Centre Island in 1966. It is reputed to have one of the widest varieties of hand-carved animals (52) including 20 menagerie animals, domestic cats, an ostrich, pigs and rabbits, creatures rarely seen on carousels now. Beasley says it will purchase a modern carousel at a much lower cost for use in 2018. The antique model will be in use on the island until November. Enjoy the 2010 ride with kids and parents seen here to the haunting music of Me And My Shadow (All Alone And Feeling Blue) by Billy Rose (composer) and Dave Dreyer (lyrics)