The Leslie Spit is a dump—literally. Also known as Tommy Thompson Park and the Outer Harbour East Headland, the human-made Spit is gradually and continually changing shape as the Toronto Port Authority still employs the southern side as an active dumping ground for non-toxic construction debris, which is how the whole thing was created in the first place. Visitors to our remarkable accidental sanctuary are used to sharing the car-free, naturalized environment with eroded......

From pristine wetland to industrial transportation hub and the confluence of major urban expressways, the Lower Don Lands area has gone through many changes throughout Toronto’s history. The mouth of the Don River is about to change again. Back in February, the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation announced a competition to redesign a 40-hectare area located at the mouth of the river and the entrance to the Port Lands (pictured right). The teams invited to......

There was an unexpected windfall for Green P as a major dump of snow, along with high winds and freezing rain, turned much of the GTA into a parking lot during the evening commute yesterday. Apart from the traffic mayhem, fallen trees and power outages have also been a problem throughout the city. It sure looks pretty, though. The Toronto District School Board will meet with provincial officials today after trustees rejected a recommendation......

Who likes lists? Everybody! As we creep up on the new year, we thought we'd reflect on a few of our more popular (and our more controversial) posts of the past twelve months. Thanks to our revamped Favourites page, it's a little easier. If nothing else, this post will give you some reading material to glance over while you're busy getting spiffy for this fine evening. 1. Our TTC Swag Suggestions (144 comments, October......

Only fifty years left for sea fish. Unless, of course, we do something wacky and start serious conservation efforts immediately. For those interested in eating ecologically responsible seafood, here is help. Former Pizza Pizza head arrested for income tax evasion. He apparently "forgot" to pay over $650,000 in income taxes. A federal report says the Toronto Port Authority is just fine and recommends expansion of the island airport. In case you missed it: Toronto......

It's the story that keeps on giving, folks - the Island Airport! Yesterday, the Toronto Port Authority's shiny new ferry took 30 minutes to traverse the 120-metre gap between Bathurst Street and the airport. It took longer than the expected 90 seconds because the pilot (who the TPA won't name) seems to have driven smack into the dock. The CBC talked to TPA head of operations Ken Lundy who said that the pilot had......

As fall settles in and another calendar page gets turned, thoughts turn from bbq's and vacations to holidays and the realization that '06 is coming to an end. With all that going on, with change in the air, we wonder what is it that made that makes the -ists ponder? Phillyist is concerned that the war on Trans fats could affect it's beloved cheese steak sandwiches, something for which we should all be concerned.......

Watching the battle between the city and the Toronto Port Authority is like being stuck in a bad horror flick. Just when you think the stake has been driven into the necrotic heart of the Island Airport expansion plans, the undead issue rises from the grave to terrorize citizens yet again. The stranglehold that the TPA holds over the City is entirely unconscionable. A federally-controlled agency, the TPA isn't forced to be accountable to Toronto......

The big story today is the three dead found on 1he 19th floor of the Delta Chelsea. Police were called in around 4:30 am and discovered the bodies of two men and a woman, all had stab wounds. The floor has been sealed off but the hotel remains open. A shooting of a Scarborough teenager on Friday has led police to lay more than 100 charges on a dozen people in the surrounding area. The......

Maybe they're just tired of Howard Moscoe but the TTC committee unanimously voted to approve the Bombardier deal. The $499 million deal still has to go through council where we're sure there'll be an acrominous but ultimately futile debate. Pressure from Ottawa got an Iranian Canadian former U of T prof freed from an Iranian prison. The man had been accused of espionage and kept in solitary confinement. Ok drivers, get it while its cheap.......

Another death on the Gardiner. A motorcyclist died in an accident around 7:30 pm. Earlier reports blamed racing but a police detective said the biker was most likely trying to perform a wheelie when his bike flipped over and killed the rider. Palais Royale will be getting its parking lot. This fall, the city will be paving over a median on Lakeshore Boulevard to provide parking space for the renovated club. The city is breathing......

We're sooo confused by the actions of the Toronto Port Authority that we don't even know whether Jazz's decision not to resume service into the Island Airport is a good or bad thing anymore. All we know is that Jazz, which has used the Island Airport for over 16 years, has been denied service by the TPA. Nonetheless the TPA is still allowing Porter Air to start its raccoon-inspired service in the fall. We don't......

So obviously no one listened to us yesterday and as a result we broke a power usage record. People cranking their A/C, turning on fans and sticking heads into fridges caused us to use over 27,000 megawatts of electricity. That's over 800 megawatts more than our previous record set last July. We may even break that record again today, fingers crossed that we don't. The Star notices that in two homicides last month there was......

City election officials are having a hard time figuring out whether lots of people on the voting list are actually eligible to vote. This may have a direct affect on municipal campaign financing. Toronto Sun columnist Sue-Ann Levy can't spell Siemens but does uncover that TTC comissioners actually voted for an open bidding process for buying new subway cars. Somewhere along the line this was ignored in favour of the deal with Bombardier. The city......

This sounds like a potential teen flick, if it already hasn't been made. Four teenage girls case out and rob a west-end clothing boutique, the youngest of them is only 13. Hmmm, it seems that the city is only getting 14 days of public play out of the new lakefront stadium despite the huge amount of public funding going into the project. Seems like a rip-off to us. Jazz's announcement that it would restart service......

The CBC reports that the Toronto Port Authority, that lovely little federal body responsible for trying to build a bridge to the island airport and complicating waterfront development, has sued community advocacy group Community Air. The $3 million lawsuit alleges that the non-profit group has defamed the TPA. Spacing Wire has their analysis and John Barber dedicates his column in today's Globe to the lawsuit. We're echoing Barber's complaints about the lawsuit. This is a......

All the news outlets are talking about the TTC strike but lots of other things happened on the weekend. A couple was killed in a bad traffic accident on Saturday night. Police suspect street racing as a possible cause. Leslie Scrivener of the Star writes a nice synopsis of the city's cycling culture. The story includes decent photos of scantily clad cyclists.... HOT. Mayor Miller is pissed off at ads that the Port Authority is......

Cabbies were attacked last night. Two of them were stabbed and one of them is in critical condition. A third cabbie was held up at gunpoint. Councillor Paul Ainslie wants to figure out how to honour Toronto mayors not yet honoured, people like Barbara Hall and John Sewell. Some of the ideas thrown around include sculptures or portraits. A third wheel-trans driver has been charged with sexual assault. The TTC is considering installing cameras......

Margaret Atwood is signing books, actually she's using her newly developed machine to sign books. It seems that Atwood is sick and tired of doing endless book tours and signing countless books, so she's invented a machine that allows her to remotely sign books. Torontoist sympathizes with Atwood, who is approaching 70, and would find whirlwind publicity tours tiresome after the 30+ books she's done. Frankly, if the invention let's Atwood spend more time writing......