The South Bayview Bulldog

Approximately 50 homeowners gathered for the Moore Park Ratepayers Association Annual General Meeting Wednesday night at Our Lady of Perpetual Help School on Garfield Ave. One of the speakers was 53 Division Staff Sergeant Matt Moyer who warned of continuing break-ins in the neighbourhood. His remarks focused on securing doors, windows and placing valuables in some of the less obvious places. It’s pretty common for example for thieves to rummage through a woman’s lingerie drawer because that continues to be a place where jewellery and other valuables might be hidden.  Nor is the microwave a safe spot from seasoned thieves. Moyer said the area sees perpetrators knocking on doors then standing away from the home to see if anyone responds. If not, they may try to enter through a rear window by cutting a screen and breaking glass. They seldom stay inside for more than five minutes and won’t enter if they think anyone is at home.

RAVINES

Several speakers addressed the challenges presented not only of Mother Nature but also the many bodies in charge of protecting ravines. These are the Vale of Avoca and Moore Park Ravines so valued by local people but also by City and visiting walkers as well. MPRA president Chris Lowry prefaced the discussion by describing the enormous task played by the Yellow Creek which runs through the Vale of Avoca. Storm water from Downsview and points along the way runs into the creek south of Mt. Pleasant Cemetery.  Other speakers cited the challenges of working with the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) as well the City Water Department and planning staff. The process and status of effective action seemed elusive. Resident Lawrence Pick spoke in thoughtful detail about the future of the steps at the west end of Heath. The volume of pedestrian traffic on this pleasant short cut to Yonge Street has defied the City’s concern that the steps may not be stable. It was blocked off when the 2015 shot below was taken. A plan of study goes on to investigate the true status. Also: Landslide drops Rose Park backyards into Yellow Creek

The quick reaction of a truck driver and others saved the life of a motorcyclist who crashed into a dump truck. The bike erupts in flames on contact last Saturday in Nanchang, capital of east China’s Jiangxi Province. The video is quite harrowing to watch. Next, it is fascinating to look at this video of an albino Orangutan in Indonesia. There is a contest to name it. Then, Conservative cut ups in the Commons were ribbing the government about the full-size cut-outs of the prime minister that have been ordered by some embassies abroad. They say the appeal is two-dimensional. And finally, power will change hands Sunday in France where outgoing president Hollande has been seen with the incoming Emmanuel Macron.

City News has covered the uprising of some Lawrence Park parents who want more and better sidewalks for the safety of their kids as they walk to school. One family even got their little girl to speak personally about it. Punchy stuff. But as Ward 25 Councillor Jaye Robinson knows only too well, there is long-standing opposition not just to sidewalks but to the street paving that comes with it. There are east end streets that look like war zones. And that’s how ratepayers like it. They know their street will never become a speedy short cut for anyone while it’s in that condition. Oh, yes and there are the trees too. But sidewalks can go around trees as they do on well-paved McRae Drive in Leaside for  example. Lots of different kinds of fish to fry at this party.

The BC Liberal Party led by Christy Clark has finished one seat shy of a majority. The Grits took 43 seats in the 87 seat Legislature. Clark, 51, told supporters early Wednesday she intends to remain premier despite the show of waning confidence in her government.

Scouts Canada and the Kiwanis Club of East York are inviting young people and families to participate in the Forest Meadow Strategy this weekend, Saturday, May 13, and again on Saturday, May  27 to clear and plant wildflowers in Taylor Creek Park in East York. Plan a day by checking the site of the 132nd Toronto Scouts.

The Ontario Teachers Pension Plan (OTPP) pointedly withheld its vote on the re-election of Bombardier-family nominee Pierre Beaudoin at Bombardier’s annual meeting last week, echoing similar moves by Quebec and British Columbia funds. The founding family is facing increasing pressure to permit an independent chair to take over the troubled airline and train maker. It’s problems are legion  Some would say scandalous. More than that, the heirs of the founder, Joseph-Armand Bombardier, inventor of the snowmobile, control Bombardier with barely 13 per cent of the equity through a dual-class share structure that confers control and a third of the current board being Mr. Beaudoin, his father, two of his uncles and a cousin. Reuters

The Royal Bank of Canada building at 20 King West will be closed for at least six months to clean up soot and smoke damage caused by the hydro vault fire last week. The bank’s senior vice-president and global head of corporate real estate mailed employees Tuesday that the banking tower will be cleaned from top to bottom before it re-opens for employees and the public.

USING FIFTH OF CAPACITY

Toronto District School Board has blocked Snapchat, Instagram and Netflix after it found that those three sites were burning up more than 20 per cent of the board WiFI capacity. In a statement Tuesday TDSB said these sites are making many necessary operational tasks like attendance, registration and report cards nearly impossible to complete.  The “interim measure” will help alleviate congestion and boost network capacity while minimizing the impact on teaching and learning, it said. The board said it was working on providing a faster network, and said regular WiFi access is expected to resume in September.

Denver and region experienced a nasty hailstorm Monday. Take a look at some of the activity. The first video is from a dash cam which chronicles the destruction of a perfectly good windshield as the driver tries to get home.

Other popular stories:

• ‘Take cover’ emergency declared at Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington state
• Don Meredith resigns from Senate over relationship with teen
• Vatican hosts world’s leading cosmologists to bring together faith and science
• Heavy traffic jams Elections BC website on voting day
• What to watch for in the B.C. election read 639comments
• Mom of toddler found dead near Edmonton church attacked on social media video

 

It appears there will be a new barber at the 1691 Bayview Ave. address where the late Leo Cornacchia practiced his craft for so many years. The new name is The Ritz Men’s Hair Cutting. Leo’s place updated.

Here we see rally driver Tomasz Kasperczyk escape a surely fatal spin right off a mountain road during the Rally Islas Canarias, part of the European Rally Championship on Friday. Watch as his car is secured by the flexible road fencing from a disastrous drop. Kasperczyk leapt from the passenger seat of the car, which was left teetering above a sheer drop, and signalled he was uninjured by holding up a sign with ‘OK’ printed on it.