Category: Toronto News

Car chases are common on TV news, but it’s very rare that we get to see a llama chase. And this one was a genuine Llama Drama Ding Dong. The two animals were spotted running through the streets of Sun City, Arizona outside Phoenix. They had been part of a demonstration at the Carillons GenCare Lifestyle Facility but somehow the mother and baby managed to wrangle loose. They were finally captured again by some expert lassoing. Give a look.

Mayor Tory, City Manager Pennachetti and Toronto Water General Manager Lou Di Gironimo met on an urgent basis Wednesday morning to discuss the 300 or so properties where there is  “no water” in the City. The mayor acknowledged the need to fix the lack of water as quickly as possible. “Toronto Water crews are working as hard as they can to respond to the large volume of calls. however, we need more resources to help customers understand what we are dealing with, and when staff will be on site to investigate each situation.” It appears the city has created a Water SWAT Team that will provide what is called customized care to these residents. This may involve creating a temporary water service connection to a neighbour’s property, which is called a highline. If a highline cannot be established, either for mechanical reasons or if the neighbour would prefer not to install a temporary connection, the property will be put on the priority list to have the outside water service thawed. Since the cold weather first hit on February 14, the City of Toronto has received close to 2,000 “no water” calls due to frozen pipes. More than 1,200 of these calls were received within the first three days. In the majority of cases, investigations have found that the pipes within the dwelling are frozen. The problem falls to the homeowner. The City recommends the use of a blow dry to thaw frozen pipes but in the end, residents may require a plumber.  Full release with advice on getting information

An earlier plan to fund the continued operation of certain open air rinks has changed because Green For Life  (GFL) was unable to participate as previously agreed. Now the  funding will be provided by Tim Horton’s and MLSE. See the rinks that will stay open, weather permitting, through March Break. City of Toronto release 

The linked story below about where and when we will see the new streetcars from Bombardier may make your hair stand on end. Yes, the streetcars are coming, finally, but the revelation that they were built to an appallingly low level of quality is a municipal scandal. Toronto has paid a high price over the years for its dreamy notion of itself as streetcar city. It is a mode  of transportation that the world has left behind and for good reason. But we have saddled yet another generation here with these cumbersome, unreliable vehicles with their inflexible routing. It can sensibly be argued that the TTC has to have two transit systems — the streetcars and the buses needed to replace the streetcars.  Globe  and Mail 

Why was this seemingly sinister bunker built? Big enough for people to walk around in (and prepare a terrorist attack?) Big enough to hold people hostage? Big enough to store weapons? Sure. Please don’t call us alarmist. These are reasonable things to think about on the discovery of this strange hiding place. Police are scheduled to talk about it this morning at police headquarters. Previous