The South Bayview Bulldog

The Toronto and District School Board has cancelled all future school trips to the US pending clarification of the travel ban legislation now being litigated in that country. In a statement posted on its website, the board said trips that have already been planned will be permitted to proceed. TDSB

Four stories of the positive kind. First, in two videos, the epic tale of Estella Westrick and her saucy theft of the Pope’s cap. Hilarious and his Holiness certainly got a guffaw out of it. Estella said (naturally) she had no idea why she did that. See Pope, take cap. You know. Below that, the heartwarming story of a little girl with Down Syndrome who is now a model for a UK fashion chain. Then, meet William of the TPS Mounted Division. At 1600 pounds, he’s a doll too.

UD: Carbon Monoxide (Medical Symptoms) – Eglinton Avenue b/w Sinnott Road / Birchmount Road, Scarborough (8 Trucks)

— Toronto Fire (@tofire) March 23, 2017

The call above saw as many as 16 people taken to hospital with suspected carbon monoxide poisoning on Wednesday. It happened at the Mandarin buffet in the plaza on Eglinton Avenue East and Birchmount Rd. around 3 p.m. People began to complain of difficulty breathing. TFS found high readings of the deadly odourless gas toward the back of the restaurant.

Liberal insider and party stalwart Greg Sorbara has softened his remarks made Tuesday that he believes Premier Wynne is in grave danger of losing the 2018 election and that he would tell her that it was extremely unlikely she will win. “There’s a whole lot of people in the Ontario Liberal party who think that it’s all over,” Sorbara is quoted as saying to Steve Paikin on TVO. Today, Mr. Sorbara told Mike Crawley of the CBC, on the other hand, that it was possible for the premier to pull out a victory in the next election. CBC

• Federal budget
• Liberal budget offers lots of ‘vision’ but few new numbers: Aaron Wherry
• Billions earmarked for Toronto housing and transit

South side of Eglinton west of Canada Square

Aerial view of main station loking west

Second entrance northwest corner

A meeting to show pictures of the work being done at Yonge and Eglinton on the Crosstown LRT was held at North Toronto Collegiate, 17 Broadway Avenue, Wednesday night. It revealed to the many people present that the main station will sit on the south side of Eglinton Ave west of the present Canada Square building. There will be an entrance (or entrances) on the northwest corner inside or outside the Rio.Can building. The exact in and out points on both sides was a little unclear to staff present and perhaps for good reason.

LRT IS UNDER THE SUBWAY

The LRT tunnels have been bored under the Yonge subway (line 1) and must now be excavated to make a concourse and platform complex which will also sit underneath the subway. There are already entrances and although the very accommodating Metrolinx staff present at the show and tell tried to be helpful no one was quite sure how the old and new entrances will be reconciled. But it seems certain they will be.

CIBC ENTRANCE

That work will include the access off the east side of Yonge in the CIBC on the southeast corner. Once inside, passengers will no doubt be able to find their way to the LRT concourse. That corner is numbered 1 Eglnton East and developer Davpart Inc sees a 65 storey tower there. so a new plan for entry into the subway-LRT may prevail. The Eglinton LRT concourse and platform is a daunting job and one can imagine what it will be like working below the subway station as the trains roll through overhead.

Jan Van Nes

1622 Bayview Ave

Jan Van Nes, the founder of Van Nes Flowers, has died. The Van Nes business and storefront graced 1622 Bayview Ave. for many years. The obituary is published by the Morley Bedford Funeral Home.

Peacefully on Tuesday March 21, 2017 at North York General Hospital in his 89th year. A true entrepreneur, founder of Van Nes Flowers Limited, master floral designer, and the debonair “Mayor of Bayview” Beloved husband of Cathy for 64 wonderful years. Brother of Gerda and Henk (Holland). Dear father and father-in-law to Janette and Rob, Karen and Hugh, Richard and Sheila. Dearly loved Opa to Alyssa, Anthony, Patrick, Trevor, Matthew, Stephanie and Hannah. Great Opa to Olivia. A service of remembrance will take place on Sunday March 26, 2017 at 2pm, at Morley Bedford Funeral Home 159 Eglinton Avenue West Toronto,with reception to follow.“In Lieu of flowers” was never in his vocabulary. Donations to The Hospital for Sick Children or a Charity of choice. Jan, Dad, and Opa loved his family, his antiques and most of all his Flower Shop.

Beck Taxi is taking note of its large ad on the wall at Yonge St near Davisville Ave. Wednesday morning. The ad evokes a bad night with the wrong guy and how to get home safely. Safety would be a key element in any firm dealing with the Uber onslaught.

Paul Ainslie is the Councillor for Ward 43, an oddly-shaped electoral district that looks not unlike the boot of Italy. He has held the ward since 2006, winning three solid mandates. Today he stands alone against every other member from east of Victoria Park Ave. in his opposition to the one-stop wonder known as the Scarborough subway. To many, Ainslie is about as close as Toronto politics will ever get to a genuine Profile in Courage. When John Tory’s Executive Committee voted in December, Ainslie was the only voice in opposition to the multi-billion dollar rail line widely considered to be a boondoggle of the highest order. He has some friends at City Hall of course — Midtown pragmatists like Josh Matlow and others who think spending possibly four billion dollars on a subway that barely stops is close to a dereliction of elected duty. Next Monday, March 27, Ainslie will hold a meeting at 3600 Kingston Road at which he will try to rally public support against the subway and in favour of an LRT with seven stops. Ainslie will show powerful numbers which he says prove that fully 54 per cent of Scarborough residents oppose the one-stop wonder. Forty per cent are said to support it. In the rest of the City, only 28 percent support the subway with 60 percent opposed. Petition

The three-day pop-up event from Leef Luxury Women’s and Men’s consignment apparel and accessories goes Thursday, Friday and Saturday (March 23, 24 25) at Creeds Coffee Bar, 690 Dupont Street between Spadina and Bathurst. More in previous posts here and here

Chris and Kate

Chris Bentley and Kate Wheeler together are a treat for their legions of fans. They are a duo on radio now (plus media of the social kind) with their entertaining news and gab called What She Said! Chris and Kate can be heard weekends at 6 p.m. on the Jewel Radio Network 88.5 in Toronto. There are some nice movie ticket giveaways to be had courtesy of Elevation Pictures. Here’s some of the recent fun with film reviewer Ann Brodie @WhatSheSaidTalk

From the Beastly, to the Bloody to the Broody & the Breakout – film/tv reviews by @AnneBrodie: https://t.co/nj2yQCEveQ @Elevation_Pics pic.twitter.com/4PUlkNKHaG

— What She Said! (@WhatSheSaidTalk) March 20, 2017