Mayor Miller was in Etobicoke yesterday, trying to convince the people who regularly vote in Ford, Holyday, Nunziata, et al. that new taxes are a necessity. It went about as well as you'd expect. In an effort to boost turnout, Elections Ontario has put some advance polls in supermarkets. We hoped to write something sarcastic, but upon further reflection, this is a really good idea. John Tory has essentially killed his public-funding-of-faith-based-schools proposal, promising......

BikeShare is no more. After six years of award-winning programming and service, the Community Bicycle Network's BikeShare program announced this morning that they will not be reopening next season. Turns out they were unable to secure the funding they needed. This, despite the fact that the program has been a huge success. "In just five years," explains Margaret Hastings-James, a CBN director, "the program has signed up over 2000 members, put 243 bikes on......

With visions of sugar plum fairies dancing through their heads, the -Ists began to get into that holiday mood. Well, some did. Austinist wasn't as the NY Times dissed them and a local Tex-Mex institution sold out. Making them feel better was music, sweet music and the local theater getting name checked on "Heroes" Chicagoist tried to wrap their heads around a religious movie being banned from a Christmas themed park. To wash that......

Jane Pitfield got herself some media attention by calling Mayor Miller a liar. "He hasn't been truthful with the taxpayer, and there have been many people who unfortunately have been lied to by David Miller, and I'm one of them," she was quoted at a press conference. The Mayor's team calls the attack a desperate ploy. No word on whether pants were on fire. She also called the mayor "soft on crime." The OPP will......

We bet few of you have been to the Toronto Archives. We didn’t even know where it was until last night, when we attended theToronto Book Awards. But stepping into the foyer to be greeted by a room covered in photos and maps of our city’s history, it struck us at just how fitting it is to hold the ceremony here -- books honoured for their fluent portraits of Toronto stories in a building that......

An audit of litter on Toronto's streets shows that Mayor Miller is on to something. The amount of litter on our streets is down 40% from 2002. The Mayor credits investment in city streets (ie. garbage cans, street cleaners) and you, dear citizen. High-profile lawyer Peter Shoniker is spending 15 months in jail for money laundering. Shoniker is well known among many of the city's powerful and during his court case received words of support......

Police shoot a man dead in a confrontation in Scarborough early this morning. A 25-year old suspected street racer who was severely injured in a crash last week has died. An elderly woman was dragged 12 metres by a streetcar in Etobicoke. Thankfully she survived. She spent half-an-hour under the car as emergency workers used equipment to lift the streetcar off of her. On Queen East the first "the Beach" signs have just gone up.......

The OPP report that 800 traffic tickets were given out on this province's busy highways. The worst offenders included a woman not wearing a seatbelt to be able to play with her chihuahua, and a driver in his underwear holding a bottle of vodka. Six teens attacked a woman selling fireworks out of her truck. They set her vehicle on fire nearly killing her and her son. The six teens, all between 14 and 19,......

In Ontario, a hamlet, dispersed rural community or other small centre is the smallest form of municipal government (must have 45 voting persons to constitute hamlet). When a community grows to over 100 persons, it may form a village. A town thereafter. When population is greater than 10,000 permanent residents, a town becomes a city. Toronto's Tent City fell under the none of the above categories, but was a qualified city nonetheless. Tonight, the Mayor......

We could hardly believe our eyes when we read the release - Mayor Dave flapping jacks for charity. Too bad the rest of this Saturday's IVORY DadWalk involves 'a full day of family fun at Ontario Place.' Ugh. Must we wade through family, fun, and Ontario Place just to have Mayor Miller make us breakfast? Surely there's an easier way to wangle some bureaucratic bisquick. And we're not sure we're entirely invited anyway. The release......

City Councillor Doug Holyday "said yesterday that, on average, 79% of council members took part in votes," according to the Sun. While 78% seems the equivalent of a Gentleman's C for attendance at voting, some councillors have been even more absent - Councillor Bas Balkissoon voted only 46% of the time, and Councillor Adam Giambrone, 55% of the time. The Mayor himself coasted to a passable showing for 76% of recorded votes. He's a busy......

Slatester Jack Shafer has a field day with Starbucks' newest gimmick - quotable cups courtesy the 'Way I See It' Series. The cups have quotes from personalities as varied as Ken Auletta, Goldie Hawn and Stephin Meritt. Shafer uses the cupquotes to riff on possible specialty coffees for a whole brew of stateside personages like Charlie Rose, Gawker, and our personal favourite, the Christopher Hitchens: a venti Irish coffee, hold the coffee. As if Hitch......

It's all a numbers game, right. Hospitals need $200M, Police budget gets a $5M raise, and Second Cup raises its cup cost to a ridiculous $1.35. So to preface any discussion of homelessness and housing, perhaps we need a little by-the-numbers. In this one instance alone, we'll let the Star's suggestion that Mayor Miller be a bit more Mayor Bloomberg (as in, dismally unpopular NYC Mayor Mike) slide, and do a little municipal housing compare......