The South Bayview Bulldog

So here is happy Victoria engaged in her honest work at Laird and Esandar Drives outside Leaside Village on Saturday. Go Victoria.

Muhammad Ali has died at the age of 74 after being treated for respiratory problems earlier this week. His children were at his bedside in Phoenix. A funeral will be held in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. This is a very good summary of his life with wonderful video voiced by Bonny Ghosh of the Associated Press.

A giant panda cub has been born at a zoo in Belgium, an event so rare it is being described a “true miracle”. The healthy male cub was born at a wildlife park outside Brussels to six-year-old Hao Hao and her mate Xing Hui, both on loan from China. The cub, which is hairless, blind and weighs just 171g (6oz), is yet to be named. There are only 1,864 giant pandas worldwide, and about 300 live in zoos to protect the species. BBC

An adjudicator with the province’s Information and Privacy Commission has ordered the government to disclose the names of doctors and the amounts they have billed the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP). Doctors remuneration, public money that has long been held confidential, has become a contentious matter in a time of a $300 billion provincial debt. Health Minister Eric Hoskins has implicitly criticized certain specialists without naming them for the large sums they bill. Doctors respond that medical practices are expensive to run. The story has been broken by the CBC’s Mike Crawley who says the government may just let public disclosure happen.  “I’m not going to second guess what the information and privacy commission has said,” Wynne told reporters Friday in Ottawa. “We’ll work with the information and privacy commissioner to comply with what he has proposed.”  It is a change in tone for Ontario but might be seen as a useful development in harnessing public support for its efforts to throw a net over the cost of OHIP.  The Ontario Medical Association (OMA) opposes the release of doctors’ billings and could seek a judicial review of the ruling, potentially delaying or stopping the disclosure.

A couple who were given the wrong baby by a hospital in El Salvador a year ago has finally been allowed to travel home to Texas with their own child. Rich Cushworth and his wife Mercedes were given a birth certificate for their son Moses a few days ago. The agonizing realization that something might be wrong, the shocking truth when they took DNA, the international hassle to move a child across borders — the nightmare is re-told here to the BBC’s Matthew Price.

Tuesday saw the kickoff of the Mini Rogers Cup with 40 kids running around the courts practicing their forehands and backhands at Leaside Tennis Club. The children ranged in age from six to 12 years old and showed off their determination and skill. Mini Rogers Cup at Leaside 

The average selling price of a resale home in the Toronto area leaped 15.7 per cent in a year to $751,908 according to the Toronto Real Estate Board. Low inventory is given as the reason for the pressure upwards. The board said 12,870 homes were sold in May across the region, that’s an increase of 10.6 per cent increase compared to May 2015. “While the record number of home sales through the first five months of 2016 is not necessarily surprising, it does sometimes mask the larger story in the GTA: the shortage of listings, which has resulted in strong upward pressure on home prices,” said TREB President Mark McLean in a statement. In Vancouver, sales jumped 17.6 per cent last month and the benchmark selling price surged by a breathtaking 29.7 per cent.

United airlines is promoting what it calls Polaris, a cushy new level of service in business class which, it claims, offers up to 6 feet, 6 inches of sleep space. Hard to believe. They spaces are called business class isolation pods. Consumerist 

Some 15,000 cyclists and 5,000 runners are expected to travel the Don Valley Parkway and Gardiner Expressway Sunday for the Becel Ride for Heart in aid of the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Road closures will take place at 2 a.m.Sunday and run well into the afternoon.  Police are recommending people take public transit to avoid extensive traffic congestion in the area, especially in the downtown core and on arterial roadways. Every dollar raised by pledges is said to go to research. The Foundation’s goal is to raise $7 million this year for heart disease research.

The owners of black lab Drayko are thanking kind area residents who helped in the hunt for their dog. Drayko is safe at home tonight. He escaped his leash Thursday near Cleveland Street and Davisville Ave.

Select

French’s Food Company has struck a deal with Select Food Products Ltd. at 120 Sunrise Ave. in the Bermondsey Rd. and O’Connor Drive area to make French’s ketchup in Canada.  Select Foods is an established maker of condiments and gravies, many of which are sold under the Horne’s brand name. Its plant is close to the East York boundary. Work will begin on the all Canada ketchup — the tomatoes will come from Leamington — next year.  “We are thrilled to be partnering with French’s on this opportunity,” said Select Food Products president Andrew Mitchell in an interview. “We’ve been talking to French’s for a little while. They have come to visit us, too. “We wanted to make sure it’s a right fit because this is a long-term partnership,” Mitchell said. “I like them. I can work with them. Our values align with their values.” The move comes after Canadians rose to French’s defense when Loblaws decided to delete it from the chain’s shelves.

Simon Gadke, the manager at Elegant Garage Sale, has confirmed that the business will close on Bayview Ave at the end of September. The information became public today as the consignment store began to inform people who have goods there so they might make other arrangements. The business continues to be owned by the family of the late Lynn Albert, who started Elegant Garage and was a fixture at the 1588 Bayview store for so many years. Lynn Albert died eleven months ago.

Elegant Garage Sale founder Lynn Albert died in June 2015