The South Bayview Bulldog

For the second time in barely two weeks a Porter Airlines aircraft has been detoured and delayed because of drones flying around Billy Bishop Airport. It is an outcome that is written in the sky — to use a term — as the consumer drone market booms with devices owned by unlicensed people who can and will fly them anywhere. Transport Canada says that at 8:28 a.m. Friday a drone was spotted flying “in a reckless manner” around the approaches of Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport. The drone incursions were clearly repeated, the agency said.  A Porter passenger flight and an Air Canada flight, both originating from Montreal, were forced to circle over Lake Ontario until the drone was observed leaving the area a few minutes later. On Nov. 14, a Porter Airlines plane was forced to plunge steeply to avoid a drone. Anyone with information about this drone sighting is asked to call Toronto Police 14 Division at 416-808-1400

The Mount Pleasant Village BIA Christmas Fair is Saturday, December 3, 2016, beginning more or less at store opening (10 a.m.) and running through to closing. There is a very good list of activities planned at the linked page. They include strolling carollers, a “gigantic snow globe” for picture-taking (Wow) the ever-popular face-painting and many others.

SCAVENGER HUNT

Most ambitious is the Scavenger Hunt  in which residents are invited to hunt down answers to questions about the shops of Mt. Pleasant Village. Check the prizes. A quirky little bit of fun involves “extra points” for wearing red. See you there. Christmas Fair

Some east end residents have tweeted questions about the taste of their drinking water. But the city says it is perfectly safe although technicians did notice a slight increase in the chlorine levels. “Anyone else in #eastyork got funny-tasting water?,” Cabbagetown resident Matthew Browning tweeted at 311 Thursday night, as reported by CP24. A number of other people quickly chimed in to say that their water was also tasting strange. How much of this is the power of suggestion no one will ever know. Twitter 

The Salvation Army is close to opening up one of its Thrift Stores at the former Goodwill location on Overlea Blvd at Thorncliffe Park Dr. Reader Bob McMaster saw the signs going up for the much-needed service store and messaged how good it is to see commercial activity there again. Like many people, McMaster is a fan of the Salvation Army but not affiliated with it. It looks like the store should be open by New Year’s or before. As is known, all Goodwill operations closed in January in a bankruptcy crisis. Overlea Goodwill store to close as part of mass shutdown

Video has captured a case of the most remarkable good luck on the part of a woman pedestrian who escaped what would surely have been fatal injuries as a car came rampaging toward her. It happened in the Polish City of Kalisz as cars collided at an intersection. Both drivers should be suspended. The woman was able to shield herself by quick wits or chance behind a post that stopped the car before it hit her. No one was seriously injured.

Durham Police Constable Beth Richardson took a cat from the home of a drug user and visited the vet to give the animal a checkup. But she failed to tell the homeowners or make any mention of it to her superiors. Now a police tribunal will have to decide just what the caring policewoman was doing. They might discipline her or decide her failure to mention what she did is a forgivable oversight. That hearing is January 12, 2016.

The Toronto Real Estate Board says there were 8,547 sales through its system in November, an increase of 16.5 per cent year to year. The average price of re-sale homes was up 22.7 percent, a figure that once would have astonished the City but which now seems to be more like the norm. The average selling price for all types of housing was $776,684.

Forensic police were at the TD Bank at Laird and Vanderhoof Thursday following a holdup earlier in the evening. Social media reports say the bank is in lockdown with clients and staff inside. The interesting comments of readers and patrons of the bank appear below from the Facebook account Leaside Community. TD Canada Trust renovated and moved into the historic Pease Foundry building in 2011. The structure was built in 1951 and stood vacant for 18 years before TD and others took an interest in it. It’s first occupant was the Pease Foundry Company, which manufactured plumbing and heating equipment there. As industrial conditions changed, it went into a sad period of decline sitting vacant for 18 years. That’s the condition in which most residents under 30 remember it. The building is said to be in the Art Modern style and is associated with the work of Toronto architect Earle Morgan. Morgan was also associated with the design of the O’Keefe Centre.

TD Bank from parking lot

Bank wrapped in yellow tape

Foresenci staff on scene

Talking with staff

Drake was the most streamed act on the Spotify platform in 2016 with 4.7 billion streams. The rapper has the most streamed album and song — Views (2.45 billion) and “One Dance” (970 million). Justin Bieber, Rihanna, twenty one pilots and Kanye West round out the top five artists of the year. The top albums following Views are Bieber’s Purpose, Rihanna’s Anti, twenty one pilots’ Blurryface and The Weeknd’s Beauty Behind the Madness

Be very, very good

Free valet parking

Horse-drawn carriage

Clickable posters in this montage tell of complimentary parking courtesy the Bayview Leaside BIA on Saturdays before Christmas and rides in a horse-drawn carriage. Fun.

Troubled promotional program tries to regain public confidence. CP24

Simon Andrew said his first impression of his new tenants was they “seemed very respectable, nice people.” Little did he know. CBC

Tenants made no secret of their awful lifestyle