Kim loves her summer job at Loblaws Moore Ave.

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Friends of Kim the cashier at Loblaws on Moore Ave. may have  wondered where she has gone. The answer is — not far. Kim is just outside in the Garden Centre navigating her crowded portion of the parking lot. Skids of earth, fertilizer, plants and pots are in non-stop motion. “I love the job,” says Kim, as she wheels her Nissan lift-truck carefully around the lot. “But I have to be extra careful because of cars and people.” In fact, Kim takes refresher lessons every year at the Loblaws  training centre for such things. When summer’s over and the garden centre gets packaged away for another year, Kim heads back inside to the check-out counter. 

Don Valley Parkway now open in both directions

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The Don Valley Parkway has reopened in both directions after overnight rain that flooded many roads. Water is said to be gone or much receded from the lowland roads such as Bayview Ave. and Pottery Road on the west side of the valley. all other streets are open.  The worst flooding was near the Don River which crested its banks Pictures show an extraordinary situation where the river had risen to  the level of the parkway pavement and spilled across the artery (inset).  A total of 60 millimetres of rain had fallen in Toronto by 2 a.m. ET, but by 6 a.m., the downpour began to ease off and a heavy rainfall warning for the area was lifted. GO Transit suspended train service at Oriole and Old Cummer stations on the Richmond Hill line due to a flooded track.

Second spray of Moore Park on Friday, May 31

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You loved the Gypsy Moth Chopper this morning (Tuesday, May 28, 2013) so the city is bringing it back. Yes. The twin-engined whirlybird will return to Moore Park early Friday, May 31, 2013. It is equipped with an ultra-low-volume spray system and flies about 15 to 30 metres above the tree tops during the application of the pesticide spray Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies kurstaki (or btk). The city release says: The gypsy moth is a defoliating insect that is considered a major pest in North America. The caterpillar, or larvae stage of the insect, eats the leaves of trees, making the trees more susceptible to disease and damage from other insects or weather related factors. Btk does not affect adult moths and butterflies, other insects, honeybees, fish, birds or mammals. It kills young caterpillars that are present at the time of spray. Through aerial spraying, Btk will be applied to the foliage of the trees and the caterpillars must feed on the treated leaves for it to be effective. .

My Town Crier ceases publication immediately

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The Town Crier newspaper, known recently as My Town Crier, is ceasing publication indefinitely because of money issues. My Town Crier is part of a chain of local newspapers, including Toronto Today, published by Multimedia Nova serving several Toronto neighbourhoods. Publication ends right away and all its employees have been laid off.  Gordon Cameron, Managing Editor issued this statement today.  

It is with great sadness that I have to announce the passing of Toronto Today. For the last 34 years Toronto Today and the Town Criers have proudly served our communities providing you with the local news, information and features that you couldn’t find anywhere else. Unfortunately, due to financial problems, including the non-payment of a multi-million dollar grant from the Government of Italy to support our now defunct Italian language daily Corriere Canadese, our parent company Multimedia Nova has been placed into receivership and publication of the Town Criers, Toronto Today and Vaughan Today have been suspended indefinitely. This is a difficult time, both for those of us who have worked over the years to make Toronto Today and the Town Crier the award-winning must-reads they are, and for the readers who have relied on us not only to find out what’s going on in their neighbourhoods, but also to see themselves and their lives reflected back to them in a way that no other news source does. While it is perhaps a little selfish, I would like to think that you will miss us as much as we’ll miss you. Our communities are filled with wonderful people and amazing stories and we sincerely hope that they continue to be told, even if we’re no longer the ones who have the privilege of doing it. Gordon Cameron, Managing Editor, Town Crier Newspapers and Toronto Today

Can Stephen Harper win Canada by killing off the Senate?

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It is a tantalizing question for Conservatives especially today when it appears the Liberal Leader, Justin Trudeau, is expressing fondness for the unelected Senate because it is a bulwark of support for Quebec versus Canada. Mr. Trudeau is quoted in Montreal over the weekend as saying, “We have 24 senators from Quebec and there are just six from Alberta and six from British Columbia. That’s to our advantage.”  The remark has Albertans raging and many Tories in Ottawa expressing similar anger. But perhaps they are chuckling behind their hands. The appointed Senate has traditionally been a target of popular dislike in Canada. That does not seem to have changed. Some people note that if the Senate were abolished, Canada would be one of the few countries in the democratic world with a so-called unicameral (or one-house) legislature. But there are some notable ones and they are eminent democracies too. New Zealand dumped its upper house in the 1950s because like Canada’s senate, it was unelected. Sweden also ditched it’s upper house. Interestingly, the Swedes had an elected upper house which was constantly warring with the more popular lower house. Sounds like the U.S.  Finally enough was enough and Sweden has gotten along just fine for more than 50 years with a unicameral legislature. If the so-called Red Chamber were renovated it would make a very nice meeting room.

Crack video rumours: The word is Extortion

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There is a broadly reported but unattributed story this morning that someone on Mayor Ford’s staff raised the question of what the mayor’s office should do if it was possible to find the cellphone crack video that has shaken the city. It is said that Mark Towhey, the mayor’s chief of staff, was shocked by what he took to be a suggestion that the video might somehow be obtained and that he called the police. This led to the police asking questions at the mayor’s office and also, apparently, to Mr. Towhey’s dismissal. The story goes that he did not tell the mayor that he was going to call the police.  What sound judgement on Mr. Towhey’s part. The act of  buying the video from (as we are told) crack traffickers would be one end of criminal extortion. Metro 

Gypsy Moth Chopper thunders over Moore Park

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It’s hard to fall back to sleep at 5 a.m. with the Gypsy Moth Chopper overhead.  Counting the passes of the spray bird is not like counting sheep. But at shortly after sun-up this morning the job was completed, fearful children notwithstanding. On a couple of sweeps it sounded as if the chopper was coming right through the bedroom window. By our count the helicopter made eight passes across Moore Park. It seemed to be at pretty much tree-top level in the ravine. Elsewhere perhaps, a little higher altitude was taken. Let’s hope the spray works and we can put the Gypsy Moths away for another few years. 

Bayview tenants facing eviction to meet Thursday

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Residents of the Kelvingrove and Glen-Leven apartments on Bayview Ave who are facing eviction will have a meeting Wednesday, May 29, 2013, with the local representative John Parker (Ward 26) and members of the  Federation of Metro Tenants Associations. There will also be city staff on hand. The effected tenants, numbering perhaps 100, are invited to gather in the hall of St. Anselm’s Church on Millwood Rd at 7 p.m.  The apartments are ultimately owned by the Civil Service Superannuation Board of Manitoba.  Through holding companies the board served the tenants with notices early in May telling them to leave their premises by September 1, 2013.  The notices were structured in a two-stage process in which tenants could sign off on their agreement to leave and receive some free rent until they are gone. Those who refused to agree to this would be subjected to the legal process  by which the board would seek eviction notices under the landlord and tenant act. Just how easy or feasible this would be remains unclear.  The effected units number some 67 out of 119. The remainder, 52, are already vacant as the landlord has not been leasing spaces for some time.  The apartments were built in 1939 by a local contractor, Howard Talbot, who went on to become mayor of the Town of Leaside. The units are frequently referred to as the Talbot apartments.

Ford aides quit, he is sorry for “maggots” remark

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The CBC and other media have received a statement saying that Mayor Ford’s press secretary George Christopoulos and deputy press secretary Isaac Ransom have resigned their positions on what is called a matter of principle. The Mayor’s office said that Sunny Petrujkic has been appointed interim press secretary.   Also today, the mayor apologized for calling the media “a bunch of maggots” durng his radio program on Sunday.  CBC

Toronto Bike Month underway until June 30

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Toronto Bike Month is underway. It wil rn from  May 27 to June 30 and feature more than 100 events that promote cycling, including rides, guided bike tours, art shows and film screenings. Bike Month’s official launch is being highlighted by  Bike to Work Day Group Commute.  For today’s event, cyclists from all over the city met at the intersection of Yonge and Bloor streets at 7:30 a.m. for a group ride to Nathan Phillips Square. Other community events happening during Bike Month in Toronto include an evening reception and conversation with Gabe Klein, Chicago Commissioner of Transportation, on May 27 at the Glenn Gould Studio, hosted by Share the Road Cycling Coalition and Toronto Centre for Active Transportation, a ceremonial plaque unveiling with the Huron-Wendat Nation and a ride on the Finch Hydro Corridor on June 15 and a Bike Month Wrap Party on June 25 at the Gladstone Hotel, hosted by Cycle Toronto