The City of Toronto is making the case against Doug Ford’s decision to eliminate half of its wards in 2018. Canadian Press carried Tuesday’s testimony.

Frances joins Canuck top brass

Boy safe after hanging off ski lift

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre will construct a mobile field hospital in a nearby parking lot as it prepares to deal with a possible third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. It will be a giant, reinforced tent. A similar structure was built at Joseph Brant Hospital in Burlington but it has seen little use. In mid-Janury, at the height of the second wave, it had 14 patients and 73 empty beds. Nonetheless, governments are taking a cautious approach to the idea of a third wave of infection. Some have suggested that the tent hospitals might be used as vaccination centers.

Field hospital at Joseph Brant Hospital in Burlington

Quebec will ignore the federal government’s vaccine committee and give the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to over 80s. In that respect, it is following the lead of the UK, and latterly of France, in deciding that the urgency of the pandemic is more important than trying to tailor specific vaccines to age groups. In fact, the AZ jab seems to be proving just as effective as other vaccines. In Ontario, the AstraZeneca vaccine cannot be given to anyone over 65.

• Ontario to receive 194,000 doses of AstraZeneca Tuesday, vaccine will be administered in pharmacies

Toronto is experiencing a midweek heat wave of sorts as temperatures rise above freezing for a few days. The mercury is expected to hit 14º Wednesday and 17º Thursday. Weather Network

What can we say? To be free is to spend. This City News report records the action at the Winners at 147 Laird Drive. As many as 200 people are said to have lined up outside the Winners at 1000 Gerrard St. Wow.

This summer will see the repaving of the road pavement and repair and replacement of some sidewalks on Mt. Pleasant Rd. from Roehampton Ave to Dawlish Ave in Lawrence Park. The construction parameters, which are often missed, are stated as May to August 2021.

The City of Toronto will begin vaccinating people ages 80 and over at three mass immunization clinics starting Wednesday, March 17 in downtown, Scarborough and Etobicoke. Many City hospitals, including Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, have vaccination clinics operating by appointment already and there will be many more such locations soon. But Monday, Mayor John Tory announced that the first three municipal clinics will open next week at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, the Scarborough Town Centre, and the Toronto Congress Centre on Dixon Rd. The City is launching an interim system for residents to book appointments while it waits for the Government of Ontario’s province-wide online portal to go live. “In order to avoid delaying the launch of City-run clinic operations, we are working with our provincial partners to establish an interim registration and booking process for these three initial clinics,” Matthew Pegg, the general manager of Toronto’s Office of Emergency Management, said Monday. CBC

Cab of tractor trailer snapped off during collision on icy Highway 401/OPP

Slippery conditions led to this truck jackknife Monday morning on Highway 401 near Mavis Rd. OPP Sergeant Kerry Schmidt does a couple of Twitter updates from the scene below.

Raffle at Bonnie Byford RE

See you on South Bayview

Six of these smart Bayview Leaside BIA toque and scarf sets are being raffled by Bonnie Byford Real Estate. They’ll be given away to randomly drawn entries on Friday, March 19th. Enter here.

A Russian ballerina from the famed Mariinsky Theatre has performed scenes from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake on the frozen Gulf of Finland off St. Petersburg. It’s the prettiest climate protest we can recall.

Cold no more as forecast promises 15º Wednesday

This week promises to see much warmer weather in Toronto. Temperatures are expected to hit 15º by Wednesday. Just right for shopping in the Bayview Ave. grey zone.

How snooty Texas brought weather disaster on itself

This is a fascinating and informative story of how the great state of Texas opted out of the continental power grid that keeps both Canada and the US safer from power outages. The decision permitted a power disaster that saw people freeze to death this winter. It really is a must-watch.