Results tagged “schoolboard”

Provincial Conservative leader John Tory, battling to stay employed in the face of disaffected fellow partiers who want to hold a leadership review next month, says in a letter on his website that he has travelled the province listening to members and coming up with ideas to address their concerns. The Tories are lucky; a leader who also had a job as an MPP probably wouldn't have time for stuff like that.

If you're a tree hugger who takes the GO bus instead of driving like a regular person, you might want to limber up that hippy hitchhikin' thumb. GO bus drivers are leaning towards a strike sometime in the next few days, although they've agreed to give 48 hours notice before any walkout. A strike wouldn't stop GO train service, although pickets could slow them down.

Toronto declares first cold alert of the winter season. John Baird immediately points out how the existence of cold weather might mean that we're all wrong about global warming.

Some Canadian cattle will now be allowed into the United States following a 4-year ban in the wake of several cases of "mad cow" disease. American Homeland Security regulations will still require that any bovines wishing to cross the border carry a valid passport.

Last week, we reported on a confrontation at College and McCaul Streets where a cyclist stabbed a motorist in the neck and face with a screwdriver. Police have arrested Yonan Inwia for assault, but give no further details. It's stories like this that need Rosie DiManno: "Yonan Inwia fell roughly to the ground, his hands reaching out in a Christ-like fashion to break the heavy fall. Little did Yonan know, today he would be the messiah of cyclist rage, wielding the cuspidated tool of justice."

A 13-year-old boy at St. Mary's Catholic Secondary School in Toronto was arrested after he was found to be carrying an illegal 200,000 volt stun gun in his backpack.The Star quotes school board chair Oliver Carroll as saying that "everyone was shocked." Presumably Carroll was not speaking literally.

You know all those flashy LED lights on the CN Tower? Apparently they're going to get flashier by this Thursday.

Health Canada reports that over half of Canadian kids aged five to 17 are not physically active enough for optimal growth and development. The number of overweight boys ballooned from 15 percent in 1981 to 35.4 percent in 1996; the percentage of overweight girls expanded from 15 percent to 29.2 percent. In less than a generation, obesity in children tripled. As anyone who has tried to lose a few kilos knows, it is easier to prevent overweight and obesity than to treat it.

Ontario plans to ban incandescent light bulbs by 2012 to promote the use of CFLs. Good ban, Ontario.

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.

This article is a response to a series of comments you can find on Spacing Wire, in which someone compares Toronto to a "crossroads" or "meeting place." The poster claims this label makes sense because the word Toronto originates from an aboriginal word meaning "meeting place." There was no post contradicting the definition, probably because we have all heard this claim before and most of us accept it. Upon further investigation of the matter, one finds the definition of Toronto as "meeting place" to be rather controversial.

like a serial killer? If you were casting a movie and had a role named "Mangy Serial Killer," would this guy not instantly get a callback after his audition based on looks alone?

Toronto councillor Cesar Palacio is under fire: a charity he co-founded has reportedly been paying the mortgage on the building that houses his office.

St. Louis beat Detroit last night for a 2-1 game lead in the World Series, but nobody was watching it (only 12.8 million).

It is Friday the 13th! Wooooooooo! Auspicious time to begin new news column! Luckily we do not suffer from triskaidekaphobia, or we'd all be in trouble.

The City is paying over $28 million to make sure we get bigger recycling bins. The plan is to make recycling easier for Torontonians. We think the Sun's headline spells it out best "Recycling now 4 times the fun." Who could hate that?

Jane Pitfield and David Miller are going to be seeing a lot of each other until November 13. The round of mayoral debates has started and both of them came out swinging for their first debate last night according to the Star. Incineration and David Miller's record were two of the big issues.

The Toronto District School Board is holding three public consultation nights to ask parents how they should handle the $84.5 million deficit.

The province is giving the Toronto District School Board some more time to deliver a balanced budget. A team appointed by the ministry will work with school trustees and hopefully deliver a balanced budget.

A small Cessna crashes into Lake Ontario after losing power. The three passengers had minor injuries but were all rescued by emergency workers.

Tourism Toronto is ecstatic at the success of the AIDS conference. The 25,000 delegates will be injecting forty million dollars into the local economy. Organizers have also noticed that most delegates have given the city very positive reviews. Sadly, many more couldn't attend the conference because of visa problems.

The Star does a little digging and pulls out the startling fact that 21 of the 32 accused murderers this year were under court orders. Toronto homicide detectives are concerned that so many people accused of violent and gun crimes are able to get bail so easily.

A gunman shot one, opened fire on police, and hit an EMS vehicle in the Dundas and Parliament area this morning. Police closed off an area from Parliament to Sumach and Dundas to Queen in search of the man. The Star's story is here and CityNews is also on the case.

Big news on the municipal election front. Former mayor John Sewell wants back into the concrete clamshell. He's running in Ward 21 against Miller ally Joe Mihevc. Sewell has the support of Margaret Smith and many from the Save Our St. Clair campaign that lobbied against the right-of-way.

Our favourite civic phallic symbol is turning 30 soon, June 26th to be exact. It's still the world's tallest free-standing structure (what does this mean anyway?).

TTC Chair Howard Moscoe and injured TTC driver Bobby Lowe had a nice chat yesterday and cleared up a few things. Lowe actually said that his beef wasn't with the TTC but with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board. They held up his cheque for five months and Lowe lost his apartment and had to break up his family because of that. Howard Moscoe also apologized for calling Lowe a liar on a radio show earlier in the week.

By now, most everyone in the city knows of the single most unfortunate event in Toronto this year: On Boxing Day, while shopping, 15-year-old Jane Creba was killed by errant gunfire. Six other innocent bystanders were also wounded.