A variety of opportunities for residents to help out the victims of the Queen West fire have been popping up all over the city. Right now, the best way you can participate is to walk into any Scotiabank location and make a cash donation to the newly-established Queen Street Fire Fund––effective today, the fund set up by the City of Toronto will assist all of the residents affected by the fire––but as Ward 20......

The next time you're walking along the wooded trails near the marsh in E.T. Seton Park, you may find a weathered sign overlooking a wet meadow. Still barely legible, it reads: Trees in this area were planted by the Outing Club of East York in honour of Charles Sauriol who was instrumental in the preservation of this valley August 1980 The Outing Club of East York's Diane Vieira told us that in its early......

It has been said—possibly by a beer commercial—that Toronto has two seasons: "winter and patio." That may be a little oversimplified, but Torontonians are famously reticent to eat or drink indoors if it remains clement enough outside to snag oneself a seat on a terrace. The wrap of TIFF festivities, and the migration of stars from our streets back to fairer climes, usually heralds the last few days when one can enjoy a beverage......

Stage Struck: 100 Years At The Royal Alex, a free exhibition commemorating the Royal Alexandra Theatre's centennial, opened yesterday at the Toronto Reference Library. Torontoist was at the opening to oggle at the rare playbills, posters and other paraphernalia that would make any theatre geek weak in the knees. Organized by the Toronto Public Library, the Stage Struck exhibit features photos, design sketches, scripts and souvenir books that highlight the long history of the......

The flags will be at half-mast Thursday at all civic buildings and an entire city is saddened by the loss of "Honest Ed" Mirvish at the age of 92. The Mirvish family has released public details about the funeral: Friday, July 13 Beth Tzedec Synagogue 1700 Bathurst Street, just south of Eglinton Avenue [map] 11:00 a.m. (a strictly private family Shiva will follow) Donations can be made in lieu of flowers to the Ed......

Torontoist just bought a new bike. It's blue and shiny and for some reason hasn't been stolen yet. In celebration of this fact, here are three bike-related items we thought you'd be interested in. First, bike racks on buses: should they stay or should they go? Come on and let us know! (Ahem.) Discussion for action is taking place at the TTC Commissioners meeting this afternoon at City Hall. The question (item 17 on......

Toronto legend Edwin "Honest Ed" Mirvish has died. He was 92. The philanthropic businessman was a crucial part of Toronto's reputation as a world-renowned theatre centre, and had been mostly out of the public eye after contracting a severe case of pneumonia in 2003 and experiencing deteriorating health ever since. Mirvish died at St. Michael's Hospital at 1:30 a.m. Mirvish was born in Virginia on July 25, 1914 to Lithuanian Jewish immigrants. His introduction to......

Hot on the heels of our review of the National Post's new Posted Toronto blog, they've reported that Toronto icon and terrifier-of-tourists Zanta, né David Zancai, is leaving. Zancai is well-known to downtown residents for doing pushups in his Santa hat, and his bizarre "Yes! Yes! Yes!" growl that causes alarm to unfamiliar pedestrians. Zanta has been banned from interacting with the sensitive suits on King Street from Church to Spadina, is prohibited from being......

Yesterday, the province gave Toronto $52,000 to test recycling programs in apartment complexes as part of the goal to divert 70 per cent of waste from landfill by 2010. King Street is still closed off because of the falling marble slab. Developer Harry Stinson says that it was a bad idea using marble in the first place. Police shot a man in the chest near Kingston Rd. E. and Lawrence Ave. early this morning.......

Yesterday, Environics released the results of a study commissioned by Goodyear Canada about driving attitudes. It found that 74 percent of Canadians hate drivers “who engage in road rage/impolite gestures.” Another 72 percent are angered by motorists who tailgate or follow too closely, who allow their doors to hit the car next to them, or who speed up to block others from passing or changing lanes. Environics' Vice-President of Consumer Research David MacDonald added......

If your dog is a cancer survivor, the folks who bring you Woofstock want to meet it. They’re organizing the Doggie High Tea, a 50-dog tea party for dogs who’ve had cancer, complete with cookies and specially brewed “tea” (their quotation marks, probably best not to ask). The event will also feature the Doggie Designer Challenge, where “8 Doggie Designers will present their most fetching outfits.” Fetching. That’s cute. The event will take place on......

The TTC proposes an "experiment" to make King Street West (between John and Spadina) a pedestrian-and-streetcar-only zone during the summer of 2008, much to the chagrin of business owners on the restaurant strip. However, the plan would allow a single lane to remain open for taxis and deliveries. 15 British sailors were seized from their ship in the Persian Gulf by an Iranian naval vessel. This is going to be awkward... One of Parti......

Whether you're Scottish or not, it's always fun to celebrate Robbie Burns Day on January 25th. The day is to celebrate the life and death of Robert Burns, the national poet of Scotland who wrote such ditties as Auld Lang Syne and Comin' Thro' the Rye, the poem which is said to have inspired J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. He is also known for drinking a lot and womanizing even more, and......

Unlike our neighbour to the south, Canada has an interesting population problem: despite having the second-largest landmass in the world, the country still suffers from a population slightly smaller than that of California. The biggest downside to this, of course, is the large tracts of land just waiting to be turned into the most nightmarish form of settlement: the 'burbs. While some harbour doubts about the ability of condos to solve this problem, today's......

As is traditional for Christmas Day, most of the news is bad. Starting off: James Brown dead at 73. Quick summary of tasteless jokes: He no longer feels good. He is no longer living in America. God has delivered the big payback. The sex machine has broken down forever. Papa's brand new bag burst. Super bad? Super dead. And so on and so forth, et cetera. One dead after shooting on King Street early......

We've recently noticed that the so-called Entertainment District is experiencing a noticeable lull in, well...entertainment. Once the home to a bustling nightly crowd of theatre goers, King Street has become a veritable ghost town of flashing lights since Pippin and Chicago closed a couple weeks ago. With the exception of John McDermott's Family Christmas on December 23, both the Royal Alex and Princess of Wales are black until The Phantom returns on February 21.......

Overheard at a King Street eatery, 10:00 PM Tuesday. Patron*: Excuse me, waitress? Can I please be moved to a different table? I think the two men at the table next to mine are gay." Waitress: "And you don't want to catch it, right?" Patron: "Well, I'm not worried about that. I'm just concerned about...you know...hearing private conversations." Didn't anyone tell him this was Canada? We let gay people get married here. *On a side-note,......

According to a tip we got, Tattoo, the King Street sidewalk artist, is back at it and doing another piece. The destruction of his work in March by city staff sparked tons of blog posts and mainstream media coverage. Here's a quote from the tipster's e-mail: As I was walking along King Street this evening, I made a point to look for the scuff marks that used to be Tattoo's "Heaven and Hell" etching.......

Sarah Teitel is a woman, who on first introduction, is a dizzying whirlwind of talent and to say she wears more than one hat would be an extravagent understatement. As Torontoist has just become acquainted with her we'll let you in on a few key bits of information: -She has just released a new album named "Stories and Music for the Mildly Suicidal". -She is a sometime journalist, having written for The Globe & Mail......

Two girls get out of a cab on King Street on Friday night. Girl 1: So next time I'm going to get there early and I'm going to find out who he really is - I'll flirt with him. Girl 2: You mean you're gonna hit on him? Girl 1: Yes!......