The corner of Rumsey and Hanna Rds is the site of work to install a new storm sewer. It will replace a 30s era drain that has permitted the occasional flooded basement. Here’s hoping.
York Regional Police have released the dramatic 9-1-1 call from a person on a capsized boat in Lake Simcoe. The exchange recounts how police found their way to the stricken vessel and rescued all three aboard. Listen hear.
Thieves struck early Friday to steal a 500-pound iron sculpture created by Czech-Canadian artist Lea Vivot. The sculpture, The Secret Bench of Knowledge, was in the front yard of a home at Spadina Rd. and Strathearn Blvd in Forest Hill. Police can only guess at how many perpetrators were needed to lift the work. The sculpture has many castings in Canada. Lea Vivot Wikipedia
Sad state of Toronto on Friday night
Toronto saw a sad Friday night of stabbings and shootings as the new normal of interpersonal and gang violence rolled on. Who can get used to this “normal”? There was a stabbing near O’Keefe Lane at Yonge and Dundas in which a man of 20 was wounded. Earlier three people were shot outside an apartment courtyard near Crescent Town Road and Victoria Park Avenue, north of Danforth Road. It appears the injuries were minor. And police are investigating a shooting in north Etobicoke Friday afternoon that seriously injured a man in his 20s. This occurred in the area of Steeles Avenue West and Gihon Spring Drive, just west of Kipling Avenue, around 5:53 p.m.
Police say late Saturday that a woman who knew her name but was unable to find her way home has now been reunited with family. The Scarborough woman spoke only Cantonese and although a translater was able to learn her name and talk with her, she could not give him an address. She came to the attention of police mid-morning Friday.
The government has issued a curious Friday night release saying it will introduce legislation this fall to freeze rent for some families next year. Maybe it thinks the landlords are on vacation. Municipal Affairs Minister Steve Clark’s office said the proposed rent increase for 2021 was to have been 1.5 percent. But if the government bill passes it will mean the “vast majority of families” will not see their rent increase at all next year. CBC
Concern over racism has resulted in a shutdown of playoff games in both the NHL and the NBA, at least temporarily. The shooting of a man in Kenosha, Wisconsin, triggered this interesting reaction.
Mental stress on police raised by Sun writer
Joe Warmington of the Sun has written to defend police under siege after the accidental death fall of a woman from her apartment home in High Park. Toronto Sun
Dundas to be expunged from streets, maps of Ontario?
It’s a name that’s oriented Ontarians around Toronto and all across Ontario for more than 200 years. But a petition asks that it be removed because “names and monuments should reflect our values and priorities.” CBC
Watch as a gray squirrel approaches a family and literally begs for water. They kindly let the squirrel drink its fill. This is posted to Leslieville Facebook and reveals an interesting side to the eastern Canadian indigenous squirrel. They are normally fairly shy.
The busy corner of Moore Ave. and Welland Ave. was clogged Wednesday as work continued on renovations at Moorevale Park. Park-wide changes are being made to update the tennis field house and replace a playground and wading pool (with a modern splash pad). It’s an exciting improvement to the old park and its facilities but it appears there will be disruption until summer 2021. Moorevale Park Revitalization
An open letter to the general manager of Toronto Shelter Support and Housing from Mayor Tory and Councillor Josh Matlow (Ward 12) has called for daily searches of playgrounds and school property near the Roehampton Hotel street persons shelter at 808 Mt. Pleasant. The letter also calls for searches of residential properties. Private property notwithstanding, the letter says: “We are ready to engage private property owners if there are barriers to access on these sites.” Violent incidents continue to inflame community feeling against the shelter. It was created without public notice in July and is said to be necessary to protect individuals previously living in City-issued tents. The letter asks the general manager, Mary-Anne Bedard, to conduct searches aimed at finding syringes, drug paraphernalia or other items dangerous to young people. The letter, which is here, seems to relate not just to concern for the safety of the community but to a potential political issue at the 2022 municipal election. Excerpt:
Please utilize space in the hotel to provide recreational activities and programs to support the health and well-being of the people staying at the Roehampton program. Community members have offered to facilitate fitness, music, and other classes. These programs should be pursued not only for the obvious benefit to the residents but to also help integrate them into the neighbourhood.
Stories we found interesting Tuesday include the first news conference of the new CPC leader Erin O’Toole. Then, KFC puts its “finger-lickin” motto in the closet while C-19 rages. Below that, famous retailer Debenhams seems to be in serious trouble. Lastly, gun crime, the pandemic and its upside-down politics have some people saying New York City is dead. Can it be?
The Ministry of Health counted 100 new cases of C-19 in Ontario for the 24-hour period ending at midnight. New infections continue to waver around or slightly above this mark and clearly reveal a province suffering the Stage 3 blues. Cases in Toronto are also up although Midtown continues to so far dodge the insidious bullet. There were 25 cases in Toronto and 26 in Peel reported Tuesday. C-19 weary citizens are warned yet again that the virus cannot be ignored.
Today’s numbers will be available at 10:30 a.m. at https://t.co/ypmgZcdsmV
— Christine Elliott (@celliottability) August 25, 2020
In which @DFisman and @BogochIsaac talk to @KopunF and I about the slow, creeping rise in COVID-19 cases Toronto has seen since entering Stage 3. https://t.co/y1w6fC5EJ7
— Ed Tubb (@EdTubb) August 25, 2020
