News: July 2009 Archives

WHERE: Bay Street and Richmond Street West.

As the city workers' strike lurches into its third week, there's been a lot of talk about who is and isn't benefiting from it. Suffering? The reputations of David Miller, the striking unions, and their members; some, but not all, residents; some, but not all, neighbourhoods; our collective fear that tourists will think us unclean; and the expanses of concrete currently doing time as temporary dumping grounds. Doing just swell? Private garbage pick-up companies; the City's wallet (well, maybe?); people who like photos of garbage; people who like over-reacting to said garbage, and, oh, rats.

WHERE: Eglinton Avenue East and Kennedy Road.

When Brian Burke arrived in Toronto last November, he promised a Maple Leaf team full of "pugnacity, testosterone, truculence and belligerence.” He wasn’t kidding: barely seven months into his tenure as the Leafs’ thirteenth general manager, Burke has begun creating exactly that.

WHERE: Queen Street West and Bathurst Street.

"Shaun would like you to sign the guest book, and please don't sit in the first two rows...especially if you're family," a sweet-faced young lady told us as we filed in for the Fringe debut of Baggage - A Non-Musical Romp Through One Catholic Gay Man’s Dating History (With Breasts for the Straight Men). This being Fringe, we thought the instruction meant there were projectiles involved, necessitating that everyone (family, in particular) take two giant steps back. The real reason turned out to be much more dear.

Police seeking witness to Yonge-Dundas fight (National Post): "Dozens of people watched a Toronto father get beaten up on Yonge Street, including a woman who may have filmed the fistfight that left the victim in a coma, police said yesterday." [More coverage on CBC.]

              

For the second time in a few days, Dundas Square was again home for fans and mourners of Michael Jackson. Unlike the impromptu dance party that landed at the intersection of Dundas and Yonge on Friday, last night's event—a tribute to Jackson and his music that was also billed as a Canada Day celebration, hastily organized by The Manifesto Festival—was prepared a bit more in advance and lasted three hours, concluding just before 11 p.m. with a moment of silence for Jackson.

To celebrate its fifteenth anniversary, and Toronto’s 175th birthday, Heritage Toronto is offering ten new tours as part of its free historic walking tours program. Although the walks have been ongoing since April, there are still several new tours to look forward to during the summer schedule, including Union Station and the Railway Lands, Fringe Festival Sites, and Mackenzie’s 1834 Toronto (a tour of the city as it was 175 years ago, during William Lyon Mackenzie's term as mayor). "We’re trying to increase the number of walks we do across the city," Peggy Mooney, Heritage Toronto’s executive director, told Torontoist. "We want to make people realize—from one part of the city to the other—that there’s a lot of interesting history there. Since amalgamation, we are responsible for promoting heritage across the entire city. It isn’t just about early nineteenth century buildings…we’re trying to make people think about the city they live in, not just about Victorian Toronto, but about more modern buildings, more modern heritage."

WHERE: Dundas Street West and Rusholme Road.

There's a speed bump on Crawford Street, not long before the one-way road cuts through the northernmost edge of Trinity Bellwoods Park. After drivers lurch over the bump, explains Martin Reis, they often pick up speed fast, accelerating towards Dundas, through and past a small crossing that joins the isolated north-west tip of Trinity Bellwoods with the park as a whole, a crossing frequented by slow-moving seniors headed for nearby residences.

'I never thought I'd be here': Demand for Toronto charities spikes, while donations decline (National Post): "Minutes after the Good Shepherd Ministries on Queen Street East opens its doors to serve the afternoon meal, a lineup of people stretches out the door and almost around the building."

WHERE: Queen Street East and Greenwood.