CHUM Going Condo, Digging Their Own Graves, Tunneling North

2008_07_25_chum2.jpgAs the dismemberment of the CHUM City empire proceeds apace, the CHUM building on Yonge near St. Clair has been sold to developer Aspen Ridge Homes for $21 million. Well, progress is progress and AM radio hasn't been a viable medium since the Stones were only middle-aged, but let's hope they keep the sign.

Cemetery groundsworkers across the GTA have gone on strike, leaving management to fill their role, which includes digging graves—there's both a metaphor and a movie script in there somewhere. You should also know that the head of the union representing the workers is Willie Wham, which is one pretty awesome name.

Yesterday's news that the Feds and the, uh, Provs will cough up more than $6 billion in infrastructure funding and today's revelation that an earlier government cheque is almost in the mail mean that work on the long-awaited Spadina subway extension could begin as soon as September. In the meantime, a variety of pols will be at York University today to publicize a $30 million "busway," also known as a "road."

In the world of autos, Ford announced a US$8.7 billion loss for the last quarter, while market-savvy Honda made a record profit. "Have you driven a Ford lately?" is starting to sound a little plaintive.

The Major League Soccer All-Stars beat English Premier League team West Ham United 3–2 last night at BMO Field. Highlights were hometown boy Dwayne De Rosario scoring the winning goal on a penalty kick, and soccer idol David Beckham hitting the field for the first time at an MLS game in Toronto.

Photo by sniderscion from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.

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Comments (13) [rss]

I've said it before about the Star's obnoxious online advertising, but there's gotta be a limit, you guys. Goddamn. It's like they don't even care if someone reads the article as long as people see the ad.

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^ yeah sportsnet.ca is really getting tiresome.

on the note of the subway line to yorku, its about time...

and a 30million "busway" to downsview station?? there already is an express bus from york lanes to the subway. are they actually going to increase the amount of buses and increase the hours they run?

What about the Globe & Mail's shady daily insertion of real estate advertising in their "arts" pages and in the Ontario summary page? How low can you go?

I know Willie Wham! Great guy!

Willie Wham, sounds like a guy if you get on his bad side he'll hit you in the head with his shovel.

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It's sad to see CHUM dissolving like this. Not out of any particular affection for the company itself, but because it's such a visible reminder of how bad media concentration is in Canada and whose interests the CRTC really serves.

If AM radio isn't viable, why has it never gone away?

I took the busway to mean some sort of dedicated road, but I wasn't sure. It's described in The Star as a "six-kilometre route between the university and Downsview station along the Finch hydro corridor and Keele St."

The express from York to Downsview often gets bogged down in traffic, particularly along Keele, so a dedicated road would be helpful, if that's what this is.

>Willie Wham, sounds like a guy if you get on his bad side he'll hit you in the head with his shovel.

lol, he's way more light hearted than that! I'm not sure you could get on Willie's bad side, unless of course you're management!

um, I listen to 1050 CHUM all the time!

@David Newland @10:00 am
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AM radio hasn't gone away because of the likes
of the people at CFRB and other "airheads" like
Charles Adler and Michael Coren.

Can you imagine what Bill Carroll sounds like in
high fidelity? Ewwwwwwwwwww.

"I took the busway to mean some sort of dedicated road, but I wasn't sure. It's described in The Star as a "six-kilometre route between the university and Downsview station along the Finch hydro corridor and Keele St.""

Other articles say dedicated lanes on Allen/Dufferin, and then it will zip across the hydro corridor just north of finch on its own, brand-spanking new dedicated roadway. (Google maps, satellite view will illustrate if you're not familiar with the area.)

I was hoping for some crazies to object to this plan though! Where is the cry of "But the power lines will give the kids cancer!" :P

If they're using the Finch hydro corridor then they have room to put a bikeway on it as well. Imagine a cycling highway right across Toronto from the zoo to the airport, it would cost very little and wouldn't affect roads at all.

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