The South Bayview Bulldog

No drivers have been found among the four TTC employees who have so far failed random drug and/or alcohol testing at the transit service. The four cases have been found in the first three and a half weeks of testing. The right to conduct such checks without prior warning was the subject of a bitter opposition by the transit workers union.

Buck, doe and fawn — the stranded deer family lost in a Scarborough plaza behind the stores — have been guided to safety by personnel from the Toronto Wildlife Society.  They worked by night Thursday about 11 p.m. to get the job done.  The deer, a pregnant female and an adult male were trapped in the lot Tuesday after bolting through an open gate upon coming into contact with a car near Eglinton Avenue and Kennedy Road. That gate was later locked, stranding them. The pregnant deer then gave birth to a fawn on Wednesday.  All three deer are doing fine. Deer abound in Toronto and the curious creatures find their way into many places like backyards on Manor Road.  Photos CP24, CTV by Twitter

Progressive Conservative candidate Ross Romano has won the Sault Ste. Marie byelection defeating both the NDP and Liberal candidates. The riding had been held since 2003 by former former Liberal cabinet minister David Orazietti.  It is a dramatic turnaround for the PCs who trailed in third place in the 2014 general election and is the second byelection the party has won in recent months.

 

The CBC has winkled out a nice angle to the 50th anniversary of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band. He was a Canadian. Better than that, his own flesh and blood talked about it all. Beatles followers will disagree over whether this was their best work and whether they would have been very big at all without all that mushy “hold your hand” stuff cooked up by their resident genius George Martin.

Check out the #Davisville School Fair this Saturday — a great event for the whole family! Admission is free! #TorontoEvents pic.twitter.com/vlKM9hsIRo

— Davisville Village (@GreenrockDV) June 1, 2017

There are still some tickets left for Leaside Smokedown tonight in aid of the Holland Bloorview Hospital on Kilgour Road. Get in on it. Music, food and fun at Amsterdam Brewery. At Home Depot (in Leaside) they are having an Orange Door event. Good by us. Then it’s the so-far anonymous sign makers warning against the “Leaside Slide.” This is a roll-through done pretty much everywhere. Why blame Leasiders? But, hey, don’t do it.

Rebel House at 1068 Yonge St. near Roxborough Ave. has used an appealing reverse marketing technique well-remembered by South Bayview fans of McSorley’s Wonderful Saloon. Rebel House is offering two drinks for the price of two.  Love it. The former owner of McSorley’s, Simon Hanlon, was a master of such come-ons. Patron’s were greeted with an assurance that they would be “more than disappointed” and that the establishment guaranteed Price. Quality, Service — Pick Two.

OPP have charged a 32-year-old Pickering man with three instances of hurling concrete blocks off bridges over Highway 401. In one case, the potentially lethal block smashed through the roof of a jeep (above) and landed on the seat next to the terrified driver.  It happened last week about 10 p.m. when Chad Charlemagne was driving near Progress Avenue. He told OPP Sergeant Kerry Schmidt that the block smashed through his roof with the force of explosives.  “I thought it was a bomb,” Charlemagne said, adding that he saw his life flash before his eyes. Then again at about 11:15 a.m. Wednesday at Yonge Street another concrete block which missed drivers but still did damage to the vehicles.  Heavy patrols of the bridges led to the arrest of a man on Thursday of last week. The accused, Everton Emmanuel James, 32, will appear in court Friday.

Things are extremely tense in the US, as most will know. CNN could not withstand the viewer blow back over a posed picture cooked up by Kathy Griffin showing her holding the severed make-believe head of Donald Trump. Maybe there’s just too much real beheading going on. Anyway, despite a prostrate apology, Griffin is gone from CNN.

Josh Matlow (Ward 22) has published his May 31 newsletter with many matters discussed. The reform of the Ontario Municipal Board is among the most important. If legislation passes it will no longer permit the OMB to substitute its own view of what’s best for a City but would instead require it to respect bylaws and planning legislation. This will reverse in a dramatic way the capacity of the OMB to make height rules, for example. Elsewhere, Matlow notes the so-called Bus Barns meeting to discuss the future of TTC lands at Eglinton Ave and Yonge St. That’s on June 7 at 7 p.m. at the North Toronto Collegiate Institute Commons, 17 Broadway Ave. Newsletter

Toronto is extending permit cancellations with the prospect of refunds in some cases for as many as 90 groups who will not be able to hold their scheduled events on the Islands this June and July.  The cancellations will affect approximately 350 summer camp registrants. Officials said City staff will work with parents on a case-by-case basis to find accommodations in other programs or issue refunds if needed. Much of the traditional summertime playground is still awash from recent rain and high water. The flooding also mean that ferry service is restricted to island residents until further notice.