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Newsstand: July 4, 2012
Carpe diem, seize the day and enjoy the oppressive heat. In the news: the PanAm Games needs to borrow your sporting venue; Toronto gets eighth place, but our win is tainted; it’s not a micro-loft, it’s a meth lab; 36 years and still fighting for a dry basement; and mosquitoes suck.
Time is running out for the organizers of the 2015 Toronto PanAm Games as arrangements still have not been made for the use of many of the venues needed to host the international sporting competition. While the games are well on their way to having the new buildings built in time, the plans to use existing facilities at sites such as the University of Toronto and Ryerson University are not yet inked. If this doesn’t get you worried, remember that roller skating is one of the sports still without a secured home.
Toronto has been ranked eighth in an international index on liveability—the only North American city to crack the top 10. However, the win feels hollow because Vancouver, Toronto’s nemesis when it comes to international rankings, was not included on the list of 70 cities. Regardless, we’ll take it.
A possible meth lab was discovered in a Scarborough high-rise condo yesterday after a leak of a “suspicious liquid” was reported in the building. Police have since contained the hazardous materials without any incident, but an entire floor of the building had to be evacuated. There has not been a description released of who might be behind the lab, but a man was seen making a foolhardy getaway by climbing from the unit on the 30th floor to the balcony one storey below.
In other leak-themed Scarborough news, a 36-year-old disagreement between a now-elderly homeowner and a property management company will go to court next week. Fern Sheppard’s basement has been leaking since she moved into her town home in 1976. The property management company has reportedly fixed the problem above ground, but to fully put a stop to the leak they will need to dig below ground, which has not been done.
Everybody’s favourite culicoidea, the mosquito, has given Torontonians another great reason to stay inside with the windows shut on these hot summer days. The West Nile virus has been identified in test batches of the insects two weeks earlier than last year. No one has died of West Nile since 2005, but last year 28 people did get sick. That said, don’t be afraid. Get out there, coated head-to-toe in bug spray, and drain some standing water.