The South Bayview Bulldog

There are no doubt hard days ahead in the battle against the persisent COVID-19 infection but new cases have fallen again Tuesday in what appears to be a winning battle in Ontario. The Ministry of Health counts 230 cases reported in the preceding 24 hours. That’s down from 243 on Monday. The GTA had 67.4 percent of those 230 cases amongst a population of more than six million people.

Minister Elliott warns against complacency

CP24 quoted Health Minister Christine Elliott Monday saying she was happy with recent numbers but warning that people should not become complacent. “Today was a very good day. We were at 400 and 500 just a few weeks ago. This is the smallest increase we’ve had yet but we can’t expect that to happen every day.” All daily summaries since March

Emerging from den underneath Beaches Boardwalk (Twitter / @carlososorio)

Toronto Wildlife Centre charity has pulled volunteers from the fox den at the Beaches boardwalk. It says in a long Facebook post that the four remaining cubs (or kits) have grown and are moving on from their birthplace under the popular wooden trail. But it also references all too familiar human behaviour in which the volunteers were threatened. Read about it at the TWC site.

Police Chief Mark Saunders will resign his position on short notice, leaving effective July 31. Saunders, the  City’s first black chief, has overseen five years of increasingly tumultuous times marked by gun crime, death and unexpectedly, increased criticism from black dissidents. Saunders oversaw responses to the North York van attack and the Danforth mass shooting. Speaking at a news conference Monday, Saunders said he made the decision in order to put family first. The decision comes at a time of demonstrations and unprecedented demands by some for police to be defunded and disarmed. News conference (begins at 20.21 on unedited TPS video)

Restaurants, hair salons, barbershops and nail salons will be permitted to reopen as early as Friday but not in the COVID-19 hotspot of the Greater Toronto area, according to the government.  Residents of Toronto, Peel, York and Durham will have to wait until at least June 19 at the earliest. The province will also be announcing a ban on commercial evictions today, sources told CTV.  More

Josh Matlow (Ward 12) will move a motion seconded by Kristyn Wong-Tam (Ward 13) to cut the Toronto Police Service budget by 10 percent at City Council meeting set for June 29 and 30. This move comes amid demonstrations organized by Black Lives Matter at which this demand, among others, was heard. A majority of members of Minneapolis Council pledged Sunday to dismantle the police department and replace it with a community safety system. The TPS operating budget for 2020 is nearly $358 million, including $38 million in revenue and an additional $4 million from various fees. Mr Matlow said that if passed, his motion will rebalance that 10 percent towards investing in community supports.

• In the US defunding, dismantling the police apparently on the table

The Ministry of Health reports 243 new COVID-19 cases on Monday. This number appears to be a continuation of the downward trend in the infection and reason for hope. All daily reports since March.

Burned out

Sign up for Green Mountain Flowers

The two-year ordeal of a long-time flower store at Coxwell Ave and Fairford Ave. seems close to an end. Green Mountain Flowers was struck by fire in March 2018, and has seen a two-year wait for insurance and rebuilding. Oh yes, there’s the virus shut down too. But now a new sign has gone up and local residents are applauding the prospect of an early return. FB

Rollover critically injures driver, 25

OPP say there was no collision just a rollover when this car was badly damaged. The driver, a man 25, is in critical condition in the hospital. A woman passenger received less serious injuries. All of this at the Meadowvale Rd. ramp on Highway 401 in Scarborough.

The Ministry of Health says there were 192 new cases of COVID-19 found over the 24-hour period ending Saturday. But 223 older unreported cases have also been added to the provincial all-time total in Sunday’s report making the day’s count 415. It’s not clear how many more unreported cases are pending although as many as 700 such cases were flagged last week. Ontario has now surpassed 30,000 cases of COVID-19. This is the second consecutive day the province has included cases that were the result of a delay.

Mayor pitches in to pack food

Mayor Tory is pictured Sunday morning helping to pack food for delivery this week as part of the Thorncliffe Neighbourhood Organization (TNO) Food Drive. Take a look