TREB: Toronto home prices leap 17.2% August to August

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Toronto home prices on average are 17.2 per cent higher than last year according to the Toronto Real Estate Board. There were 9,813 sales last month says TREB. That volume was 23.5 per cent more than in August 2015. The average price for homes sold, regardless of type of property, was $710,400 — with the average price for detached homes in the city of Toronto itself going up 18.3 per cent to $1.2 million. Some think that Vancouver’s new 15 per cent tax on foreign buyers could send investors to Toronto driving up prices further. Sales in Vancouver dropped 26 per cent in August compared to a year ago, following the introduction of the tax on Aug. 2.

Visiting for friends of Judy Fleming at Humphrey’s

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Friends and admirers of Judy Fleming are invited to attend Humphrey Funeral Home on either Wednesday or Thursday to pay respects.  Family will attend from 7 to 9 p.m. on Wednesday, September 7 and from 12 noon to 2 p.m. on Thursday, September 8.  A service celebrating Judy’s life will be held in Leaside United Church 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 10th, with a reception following in the church hall (822 Millwood Avenue 416.425.1253). Obituary

Starbucks brings cheese-filled bagel bites to U.S. stores

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Starbucks in the U.S. is rolling out an innovative bagel dough food known variously as the bagel balls, bantam bagels or bagel bites. The chewy little snacks will be introduced to 7,000 locations in three varieties  — Classic, stuffed with plain whip cream cheese, Everybody’s favorite, an everything bagel stuffed with veggie cream cheese and Cinnamon Toast, a cinnamon nutmeg egg bagel stuffed with maple butter cream. They sell for $2.95 for one or six for $7.98. Bagel bites are the creation of an enterprising New York couple, Nick and Elyse Oleksak, who persuaded Starbucks to take a chance after they gained prominence from an appearance on ABC’s “Shark Tank” in 2015. “We reinvented an iconic food in one of the most cynical cities on earth that is founded on the bagel,” Oleksak old CNBC. There is no word on whether we will see bagel bites in Canada.

 

“Summer was two weeks long” says Penny back at school

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Penny Oleksiak was back at school Tuesday with kids all across Toronto and it felt a bit funny because “summer was two weeks long,” she told reporters. The medal-winning Olympic swimmer returned to the halls of Monarch Park Collegiate on Hanson Street just off Coxwell Ave. She told CTV: “I don’t want to say I am excited but I guess I am excited to see my friends and do some school work. It is going to be a lot better for me just because I can come back to school and chill out I guess. Training is going to be more normal for me (this year).” Penny had her swimming coach and principal flanking her, helpful as she tried to recall her timetable for the Grade Eleven this year.

Cyclist badly hurt when he veers into van on Gerrard St.

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Police have now reported on a van-cycle accident Sunday about 2 p.m. on Gerrard Street near River Street. They say that the car and cyclist were heading west on Gerrard when the cyclist veered into the path of the vehicle for reasons unknown. The rider, 69, is in hospital with life-threatening injuries.  A 22-year-old man was driving the 2015 Dodge Journey.  He  remained at the scene.

Burnside reminder of 3-5 Southvale meeting Thursday

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Shane Baghai Development SouthvaleJon Burnside (Ward 26) has offered another reminder that there will be public consultation Thursday, September 8, 2016 at Leaside Arena to discuss a new submission from the developer of 3-5 Southvale Drive. It begins at 7 p.m. Information may be had by calling the Councillor’s office office at 416-392-0215 or writing to councillor_burnside@toronto.ca.

Black Lives Matter handful block UK airport re air quality

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Euronews reports that nine people saying they represent Black Lives Matter have blocked a runway at London’s City Airport over air quality Tuesday, something consider a threat to black lives. Euronews 

IRAN CLOTHING RAIDS

Police in Iran have raided 800 women’s wear shops accused of selling western-style clothes. These include garments that have short sleeves and quirky sayings on them like: “Stay Calm I’m the Queen”. More than 3,000 stores received warnings about selling clothes that the government does not like. Glad you’re in Canada?

47-storey giant proposed for Eglinton East and Dunfield

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The linked story tells of plans for a 47-storey giant at 55 Eglinton Ave E., at the southwest corner of Dunfield Ave. It sits across Dunfield from the Madison, a huge development near completion. It contains a Loblaws on the second floor of a retail podium. Another high-rise tower from the LRT-development gift that keeps on giving. Urban Toronto