The South Bayview Bulldog

An energized Lowry scored 33 points against the Miami Heat to give the Raptors a 95-91 victory in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series. Game 4 is Monday in Miami. CBC

Kirsty Bruce

Services were held April 27, 2016 for Kirsty Lee St. Clair Bruce at the Mt. Pleasant Funeral Centre. Kirsty Bruce died suddenly in hospital April 20, 2016 from complications of surgery. She was 34. Ms. Bruce grew up on Rose Park Drive in Moore Park and was the principal at bruceSTUDIOarchitects in Toronto. She was the daughter of David and Lynn Bruce, fiancée to Alan Kirby, sister to Fiona (William Tompkinson) and Dougal (Rebecca). The many stories filling memorial notes and Facebook pages recall Kirsty Bruce as a dynamic person who was kind and generous, held great house parties and was a committed cycling companion.

Retail changes near Mt. Pleasant and Belsize Drive include the ongoing conversion of the Longest Yard which closed at the end of April after 30 years there. The place is about to re-emerge as the Belsize Public House. Two doors north, Luna Dentistry is now open and even further up the block Re-Wind, the previously owned women’s wear store, will move into 577 Mt. Pleasant. Re-wind is still open on the other side of the street but appears to be wrapping up business there. And The Green Room marijuana dispensary at 562 Mt. Pleasant is now open and the pot pharmacy concept continues to startle local residents. “What? Do they sell pot in there,” one passerby blurted today.  Green Room marijuana “pharmacy” to open on Mt. Pleasant

Leaside Lawn Bowling Club opened Sarturday, May 7, 2016.

Throwing the first ball of the season with the Leaside Lawn Bowling Club with @Kathleen_Wynne and @jon_burnside pic.twitter.com/pH67AsUw4R

— Rob Oliphant (@Rob_Oliphant) May 7, 2016

The high summer hi-jinks of the Lawn Summer Nights bowling benefit to battle Cystic Fibrosis will rock the Leaside Lawn Bowling Club on Hanna Rd. again this July 7, 14, 21 and 28. Thing is, this madcap outdoor frolic by energized young people is sold right out but there are still come spots left for teams at the Beach Bowling Club.  Lawn Summer Nights fundraiser at Leaside club  

It's official, LSN Toronto Leaside is SOLD OUT! But good news, there are a couple spots left for LSN Toronto Beache… pic.twitter.com/HEG6XdMn8r

— Lawn Summer Nights (@LawnSummer) May 6, 2016

The CBC assays the current state of K-Pop (South Korean bubble gum music) and some older ears find it more fun than rap. K-Pop shook kid-life a couple of years ago with the lunacy of Psy (Gangnam Style) and now a group called SHINee (pronounced shiny) is thrilling fans at the two-day Hallyu North festival at the Enercare Centre at Exhibition Place.

Leaside residents are invited to celebrate their home by walking tomorrow (Saturday, May 7, 2016)  Two Jane’s Walk events named in the honour of the late urbanologist Jane Jacobs will be held. The first begins at 10 a.m. starting from the public library at 165 McRae Drive. It will last 90 minutes and will be led by Geoff Kettell and Connor Turnbull. Information describing the walk notes that Leaside was laid out in 1913 by the landscape architect Frederick Gage Todd who based his design on the Garden City principles which are best exemplified by Letchworth in England. The Garden City is said to differ from suburbs in that along with curvilinear tree-lined streets, public green spaces, and cohesive streetscapes, they also include an industrial area to provide employment and commercial streets for convenient shopping. It says that when people walk through Leaside today they see it as a neighbourhood of Toronto. But the walk will ask what is the experience when one examines Leaside through the lens of the Garden City framework as a designed landscape?

PREMIER WYNNE WALK ON LAIRD

The second walk is one-hour long and starts at 4 p.m. It will be led by none other than the Premier Kathleen Wynne (Don Valley West). This walk will find its way from the Premier’s constituency office, 795 Eglinton Ave. E. and proceed down Laird Drive exploring the residential, industrial and commercial mix to be seen. Notes produced for this walk comment on the need to strike the right balance in planning and land use on Laird. The Premier will have with her community-builder Jane Farrow and urban designer Joe Lobko.  Along the way the group will discuss pedestrian safety, local history, complete streets and design solutions. Below are seen a group of walkers who did Jane’s Walk on Friday, May 6, 2016. 

The Labour Party is claiming victory for Sadiq Khan as the first Muslim mayor of London.  Late Friday night the result is not yet formally has yet. But Khan has received 44.2% of first preference votes to Conservative Party candidate Zac Goldsmith’s 35.6%. Second preference votes are now being counted with Khan set to pass the crucial 50% mark when they are added in, according to the BBC. Khan, 45, is the son of a bus driver from Pakistan.  Khan was the bookmakers’ favorite to succeed flamboyant American-born Mayor Boris Johnson.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrived in Toronto for a decree a great day for the TTC — an $840,000 day in fact — and a political bon-bon for the government.  Mr. Trudeau has maintained a stunning pace at home and around the world since becoming Prime Minister six months ago. This time it was money to repair the gritty bits of urban transit  — track signals, old buses and streetcars — that sort of thing. At the TTC’s Greenwood Works Yard, he announced the funding for ongoing maintenance work.

People all across South Bayview and Canada are opening up their hearts and wallets to help 80,000 of their countrymen and women — burned out residents of Fort McMurray. Here at home people are calling the Red Cross and giving at the Loblaws checkout (above) as well as other stores. Loblaws says it has collected $120,000 from customers so far and that figure is old. The food store itsef has donated $300,000 and the chartered banks are giving $100,000 each. Walmart has willingly forked over $500,000. CTV reports that the Peter and Melanie Munk foundation has offered a million dollars.The Red Cross says all of this generosity so far adds up to $30 million, a figure that will be matched by federal and provincial governments in an amount of $90 million. And this is in the first awareness of the size of the destruction in and around Fort McMurray. The Alberta government says it will start handing out $1,250 per adult evacuee and $500 per dependent, in order to help them deal with what Premier Rachel Notley called “the immediate challenges: food and shelter.” The program is expected to cost about $100 million. But Canadians are warned to beware of the ruthless criminals who will try to collect money without credentials and with no intention of sending it forward to help others.

FORT MCMURRAY MAYOR ELOQUENT IN THANKS

The mayor of the Regional City of Wood Buffalo, which includes Fort McMurray, has been eloquent in her thanks to Canadians for their help.

A construction crane was maneuvering around the site of the new Upper House Condominiums at Laird Drive and Millwood Rd Friday morning. Tricky.