A woman in her 60s was struck by a car at the troubled corner of McRae Drive and Millwood Rd during the supper hour Wednesday. She is apparently recovering in hospital. As many will recall, this signalized corner was made a no-right-turn-on-red intersection after the death of Georgia Walsh in 2014. The circumstances of the Wednesday accident are vague but it occurred well after Toronto’s early winter sunset. FB

Bury them?

City Council has voted 22-3 to adopt zoning bylaws that will remove most requirements for new developments to provide a minimum number of parking spaces. Toronto also intends to specify the number of parking spaces that can be built. All of this is “healthy and sustainable” says a news release Wednesday. It says the limits will help “better manage car dependency and strike a balance between too much and too little parking”. Release Much applause and adulation is seen at this Twitter thread.

The government has authorized urgent booster shots for every citizen over 18 in the wake of December’s rising Omicron variant concern. It has also re-imposed the 50 percent capacity on large gatherings such as hockey games.

Mel Lastman campaigns for Case Ootes

Toronto Volleyball U18 Heat

Mark the date

Hydro says thanks

Leaside High School sewing club

East York loyalist Justin Van Dette has tweeted a touching reminiscence of the late Mel Lastman. It shows a very young Van Dette (upper left) with Mr. Lastman at a campaign event for former City Councillor and Lastman ally Case Ootes. At the upper right, we see the smiling faces of the Leaside Volleyball U18 Heat team as they celebrate grabbing bronze in their category at the Provincial Cup held at Markham Sportsdome. Nice going ladies. Below that, a reminder that tenants start moving into The Stack at Bayview and Hillsdale Aves in 2022. No word on stores names yet. Lower left is a thank you from Toronto Hydro for consumer patience and employee long hours during the recent wind blackouts. And finally at the bottom right is the Leaside High School Sewing Club. Love you sewing people one and all.

20 Overlea Blvd

Metrolinx, the provincial transit agency has reached a $50-million deal to help fund a new religious and community centre in Thorncliffe Park where it’s also planning to build a rail yard. The agreement intends to make major upgrades to the Islamic Society of Toronto’s facility at 20 Overlea Blvd.

Deal promises child care space at $10 a day

Federal taxes will pay bulk of child care costs (Photo Ketut Subiyanto / Pexels)

New Brunswick is the latest province to sign a child care deal with Ottawa to create 5,700 new spaces. They say the average cost to parents of such a plan will be $10 per day by 2026. Ontario is said to be working on a similar scheme with Ottawa. Under the New Brunswick deal, the federal government is providing $491 million while the province is spending $53 million.

Legal meth, heroin? Could be, says Mr Trudeau

Some will see such a prospect as a slippery slope to an addiction hell but some countries have done it. Portugal legalized all drugs in 2000. Users may inject and swallow anything in their own homes.

Leslieville visitor

On Winnifred Ave

Members of the Leslieville Facebook page are both upset and sad about a man who is a regular visitor to porches on streets on either side of Queen St E these days. FB

Entrepreneur and, in his day, an unbeatable candidate for mayor, Mel Lastman has died at age 88.

Sunnybrook Park Sunday/Al Kivi

This car was parked in Sunnybrook Park during Saturday’s windstorm. Apparently, there were no injuries when this huge tree tumbled onto the vehicle.

Sunnybrook Park Sunday morning/Al Kivi

Crushed by large tree/Al Kivi

Tree down on Astor Ave/Bulldog

There are lingering local blackouts across Toronto Sunday afternoon but most of the outages in Leaside and Davisville Village were repaired by noon. The Toronto Hydro Outage Map showed a small outage in the Eglinton Ave and Sutherland Drive area and small outages in the Jones and Greenwood Coxwell neighbourhoods. One source of power loss was a fallen tree on Astor Ave south of Sutherland (above). Southvale Drive between Rolph and Hanna Rds was closed well into Sunday apparently because of fallen or hanging wires.

Southvale closed between Hanna and Rolph/Bulldog

Out at Scarborough Town Centre the parking lot saw winds that were quite able to flip this Triton snowmobile trailer. Stephanie Emma shot the video.

Scarborough Town Centre/Stephanie Emma

High winds have created a spotted Hydro outage map across Toronto where, by late afternoon, as many as 143,000 homes were without power. Crews are labouring into the evening to restore power in both north and south Leaside and Davisville Village. The video above by Johnny Stumbles shows traffic lights giving off a shower of sparks as the wind sets them twirling. This post from Airdrie and Rumsey tells of a “bang” before the power went out. As late as 10 p.m., there were tapes across Southvale Drive. There was no sign of lines down or hydro personnel although a fire truck blocked Southvale at Rolph Rd.

At Yonge and Roselawn

Mass vaccination held earlier in 2021

The City is urging parents to make an appointment for the one-day-only superhero-themed vaccination event at Scotiabank Arena. It’s Sunday, December 12. There will be activities, entertainment, ticket and toy giveaways and special Toronto mascot and PAW Patrol visitors. A release Saturday tells how to book an appointment for five to 11-year-olds.