A grab-bag of budget cuts totalling some $26 million was voted on by City Council today. The amount that will be saved however is nothing like what will be required to balance the budget. CBC.ca

Pottery Road will remain closed indefinitely. The cause of this surprising news is instability discovered in the steep ravine wall that extends up to the north of the road as it approaches Broadview Avenue. It will no doubt be asked how the City could have embarked on these aggressive changes to the road without an adequate test of the ravine’s stability. But it’s done. As our sister blog Yonge and Roxborough News reported earlier. Pottery Road has been closed all summer and was re-scheduled to open September 5, 2011. Maurizio Barbon, area manager of construction and design for the city’s technical services department, said a higher part of the hillside became unstable after the lower section was excavated. The road was moved slightly to the north and into the side of the hill, to create a wider path for cyclists on the south side, Barbon said. The excavated area was covered by a retaining wall which has been completed, but officials have since discovered instability in the hill above it. The higher part must be reinforced, but they’re still trying to figure out how to do it without compromising the wall below, Barbon said. The project is almost done, except for a top coat of asphalt that won’t go on until work on the hill is completed, to keep it from being damaged by heavy equipment. Pottery will remain closed for now, he said, adding that no date has been set to reopen it.

As many as 270 people have been hurt, some critically, in a mass casualty collision in the Shanghai subway system,. It appears that the trains were being directed manually by telephone because automatic equipment was not operating at the time of the rear-end accident. The accident has filled the Internet with angry outcries from the public. This report is from Euro News.

It’s still possible to buy that venerable lager beer known as Black Label. Black Label is part of the fabric of the male culture in Canada, as the above prehistoric television commercial attests But now here comes Loblaws with a whole new line of Black Label food under the President’s Choice umbrella. And while its true that beer is an acquired taste, we can only ponder how long it might take to develop a hankering ‘for Bacon Marmalade. You will be able to tell for yourself in a few weeks as Loblaws rolls out its Black Label gourmet items at its stores, presumably including Moore Ave and Redway Drive.. Read more about Black Label (the food).

Charlene Kalia, chair of the arena expansion committee reports that the Paul Henderson event on Sunday was huge success. Here is part of her mail: “We raised over 62k not including the SmartCentres top up…” (They committed to matching $25,000 but maybe now they’ll go higher — Ed) “Paul Henderson was amazing with the kids/adults taking pictures and sharing stories. John Parker and Nick Kypreos stopped by. Special thanks to Trembletts Valumart for the BBQ and Mike and Christine Occhipinti for the coffee.”

This is a typically enchanting look at the lifelike full-size puppets of War Horse. They portray horses drafted into the British army in the 1914 war. The effect created by these puppets, and puppeteers, is extraordinary. They even have the sounds correct. Notice how the crowd responds as if the horse is real. It is said the puppets for the Toronto performances are on their way to the city. War Horse is slated to begin performances with a homegrown cast on Feb. 10, 2012 at the Princess of Wales Theatre. More

No doubt the philosophers at Social Planning Toronto mean well when they suggest that affluent parents should no longer be permitted to raise money so the local school can give their kids the best education. This is what the “non-profit” body is suggesting and the Toronto School Board is nibbling at the bait. Schools in South Bayview do quite well at raising money so their pupils can benefit in ways which, perhaps, other children cannot. It is an inequity, for sure. And for Social Planning Toronto, inequity is the enemy. But our society lives in a real world that is full of economic inequities. Inequity is inevitable. The question is not whether there are inequities, but whether those inequities are unconscionable. There is a world of difference between trying to address unfairness and trying to make every school, kid and parent the same. There is no lack of compassion in South Bayview. People here are among the most decent in the City. It is wrong for educators to say that we’re “on dangerous ground” as things stand. If they want dangerous ground, the Utopian notion that donations should be pooled and spread around like taxes is a good place to start. For starters, donations would dry up. Indeed, some of the ideas floated are so outrageous it is hard to take them seriously. But it is safe to say, that if any such foolishness becomes policy, there will be a veritable earthquake among trustees at the next election.