The South Bayview Bulldog

Deputy Mayor Pam McConnell

Deputy Mayor Pam McConnell (Ward 28) has died at the age of 71 Friday. Mayor Tory spoke at City Council: “It is with a heavy heart that I extend deepest condolences on behalf of Toronto City Council to Pam’s husband Jim, their daughters Heather Ann and Madelyn, grandchildren and all members of her family. Pam was a wonderful advocate for Toronto’s most vulnerable residents. She spent much of her career advocating for social justice, education and literacy and poverty reduction. I respected the empathy, passion and common sense she brought to her role. She will be missed immensely but her work has ensured that this city is a stronger and fairer place.”

SCHOOL TRUSTEE FIRST

Deputy Mayor McConnell was a school teacher before becoming a school trustee in 1982. In 1994, she became a City councillor and spent many hours working with residents and groups to build healthy communities for all Torontonians. The present term marked her seventh at Council. She served as Deputy Mayor, South and was selected by Mayor Tory in 2015 as the champion of the City’s Poverty Reduction Strategy. She also served as a member of the Government Management Committee, the Affordable Housing Committee, and the Toronto and East York Community Council as well as several other boards, committees and Business Improvement Areas.

Jennifer Smith awarding medals at 2015 March Madness

Jennifer Smith, president of the Leaside Wildcats Association, has been nominated as an Urban Hero by the Mirror newspaper group. To vote  March Madness: She presides over girls hockey marathon

City Council has voted 35 to 4 to kick motor cars off King St at every intersection between Jarvis St. and Bathurst St in a year-long pilot designed to speed streetcars on their way. Drivers will be required to turn right at every intersection. As many as 180 parking spaces will be removed as well. The pilot project is expected to cost $1.5 million.

Queen Street between Yonge Street‎ and Bay Street will be closed from 11:30 p.m. Friday, July 7 until 5 a.m. Monday, July 10 for the installation of a new pedestrian bridge at the Hudson Bay Company building. There will also be no access to James Street during this period. Eastbound traffic on Queen Street will be diverted at Bay Street and westbound traffic on Queen Street will be diverted at Yonge Street.

Bowling in the Deep were inspired by Adele

Lawn Ballers in from the Danforth

They See Us Rollin came to play

Sustenance

Bowling Stones raised $2430

The first of four charity nights at Leaside Lawn Bowling Club was held Thursday. It kicked off the Lawn Summer Nights series in Leaside, a national fundraising program to aid in the research of Cystic Fibrosis. The inventive costumes and team names kept up a madcap tradition for LSN. The Real Bowlwives of Leaside fielded a team as did an old favorite Guacabowly. The remaining events are set for July 13, 20 and 27.

What’s a sign worth

Show me the green

City Council has voted to suspend the entire Toronto Parking Authority board after it was revealed TPA came perilously to paying $2.5 million too much for a piece of land to be used for parking. There are protestations that no wrong doing is known, and there may be none. But the circumstances as set out at Council are certainly worrisome. The TPA got advice from someone on the value of the parcel at Finch Ave and Arrow Road who is a consultant employed by a sign company (unnamed). There is a sign on the land. The value of the deal seems to have been reduced to what the sign might be worth to the sign company and thus the owner of the land. The consultant said $4.5 million. Councillor John Filion heard this and thought it was baloney. He told the City Auditor Beverly Romeo-Beehler who blew the whistle. It gives new meaning to the term Green P. The investigation continues.

Volvo Cars has announced that every Volvo it makes in 2019 will be fully electric or hybrid, marking what it says is the historic end of cars that only have an internal combustion engine (ICE) and placing electrification at the core of Volvo’s business. It’s an interesting gambit. Volvo is small enough that its Chinese owners, Geely Holdings, would probably like a little more attention.

Toronto Centre Rosedale (Ward 28) Councillor Pam McConnell is “gravely ill” and is “fighting as hard as she can” in hospital from an offically undisclosed illness. Mayor Tory announced this news Thursday saying the illness is related to her lungs but is not lung cancer.

Police have deployed water cannons as anti-G20 protests in Hamburg, Germany continue to escalate.

German police disperse #G20 protest with water cannon before summit: https://t.co/wZyslh2PqM Watch live: https://t.co/XkO1yIbz9C pic.twitter.com/Ot7xjPLPGy

— Reuters (@Reuters) July 6, 2017

More than 100K protesters are expected in Hamburg, Germany, for G20 Summit; 20K officers are on hand to patrol city https://t.co/L5Mhgo1WBx pic.twitter.com/pazVwCyR3Q

— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 6, 2017

The number of homes sold in June in the Greater Toronto Area dropped an eye-popping 37.3 per cent compared with a year ago, according to the Toronto Real Estate Board. The decline in sales reflects the surcharge placed on sales to foreign speculators which was introduced by the Ontario government in April.  Figures also show that the average sale price of homes in the GTA has fallen in response to the drop in sales from a high of more than $920,000 in April to about $794,000 in June. That number still left the price of a home 6.3 percent higher than it was in June of 2016. Housing stock on the market grew in the face of the two-month decline in sales. It was up year over year to 19,614 or an increase of 15.9 per cent.

Apple is reported to be planning to use advanced organic light-emitting diode displays (OLED) in all new iPhone models launched from the second half of 2018. The OLED displays are brighter as well as bendable. Nikkei Asian Review 

The truck driver has confessed to falling asleep as he drove the Autobahn near the Austrian City of Linz. He hit a bridge and caused this terrible mess as his load of 7,500 chickens was dumped out. The unfortunate accident has inspired (if that’s the word) dreary chicken puns such as the fowl mood created and the egg-stremely difficult cleanup. There were many variations on the chicken crossing the road too.