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Town Crier: Sharon, Lois and Bram get their playground
Roy George drove all the way from Virginia Beach, Va. to see Sharon Hampson, Lois Lilienstein and Bram Morrison perform together for the hundreds of people gathered in June Rowlands Park, during the May 10 playground naming ceremony in their honour.
In 1999 George was a Make-a-Wish kid living in Syracuse, N.Y. who was battling a terminal illness.
“This is the one time where all three play together,” he said, a child-like smile playing on his lips.
He wasn’t the only one beaming with youthful exuberance, as generations of fans came from around the neighbourhood to help usher in the new name of the playground situated in the southwest corner of the Davisville park.
Ward 22 councillor Josh Matlow, put forward the motion in September to name the playground after the troupe, and the process finally came to fruition on a sunny, fun-filled spring day.
Toronto Star: Shipping dangerous goods: Toronto mulls tougher rules for development along rail corridor
May 20th, 2014
Jessica McDiarmid
Toronto Star
City officials are seeking tighter safety rules for development near railroad tracks that carry thousands of cars loaded with dangerous goods through the heart of Toronto.
The planners who mull applications to build hundreds of residential units along the Canadian Pacific rail line, which runs along Dupont St., have little data about what moves along those tracks — that information is secret.
But a recently released consultants’ report recommended a number of safety measures for new developments, such as setbacks, fences and berms to stop or slow a derailed train before it crashed into buildings.
Neither railway companies nor the federal government will divulge information publicly on dangerous goods moved through communities, arguing it would create a security threat.
Toronto Star: Hoarding a vicious cycle without psychological support
May 18th, 2014
Jane Gerster
Toronto Star
The front porch of Dennis Cibulka’s Davisville home smells faintly of cat urine, the animals winding their way through piles of stacked boxes.
Clad in hazmat suits, fire officials spent days at the home last November, removing overflowing piles of paper, plastic, clothes and boxes.
It had been boarded up by the city, so full it was deemed a fire hazard. Cibulka was living on the porch.
As the number of boxes grows again, neighbours worry history is repeating itself.
In the Beaches, it already has.
Last week, fire officials, again in hazmat suits, cleared out a home on Beech Ave. In September, they had removed more than 50 cats.This time they removed “excess combustibles,” the garbage and household items filling more than one large disposal bin.
National Post: Paid-duty officers accused of using police connections to park illegally
May 16, 2014
Sammy Hudes
National Post
Paid-duty service by police officers has become a controversial topic in Toronto for a variety of reasons. Now you can add free parking to the list.
Recently, police Chief Bill Blair received several complaints of flagrant parking violations by paid-duty officers where the officers displayed police paraphernalia — such as notebooks, safety vests and business cards — on their dashboard to ensure that fellow officers or other officials do not give them parking citations.
Some of the officers had parked beside no parking signs, causing consternation by members of the public. Others have parked in municipal parking spaces without paying.
Last week, the National Post discovered an officer on Bloor Street East parked in a street parking spot with a photocopied Toronto Police Service logo and the words “Paid Duty Officer” written beside it. This is believed to be a common practice among paid-duty officers, who are providing security for city construction projects, private events, festivals and sports venues during their off-duty hours.
Town Crier: Hopes for veggies and friendship to grow in community garden
May 12th, 2014
Shawn Star
Town Crier
Residents in apartment buildings near Oriole Park will soon be able to get outside and do some gardening.
City council voted unanimously in April to release $47,000 in Section 37 funds stemming from a development on Merton Street in order to plant a community garden in Oriole Park. According to local councillor Josh Matlow, who got the ball rolling last fall via his website, the garden will serve as “an opportunity to educate children and others.”
“It’s a place for seniors, and it’s a place for tenants who may not have a front or back yard,” he said.
Toronto Star: Trash, combustibles removed from Beech Ave. home
May 12th, 2014
Paul Clarke
Toronto Star
City of Toronto officials have been called once again to a house on Beech Ave., which last fall was the site of a case of extreme cat hoarding.
The home, described as overrun with cats, garbage and household items, has been a problem for the neighbourhood since last September, when more than 50 cats were removed by the SPCA.
This time, Toronto Fire has obtained a court order from the Ontario Superior Court to investigate the house and remove “excess combustibles.”
“(We’re) bringing out garbage cans or bags of miscellaneous household items which are either in a state of disrepair, unclean, due to the cats, or worn or broken,” said Capt. David Eckerman.
The front of the picturesque house was nearly obscured Monday by white tents and crews in haz-mat suits. Waste was being tossed into a large disposal unit set up outside the house that had already been emptied and replaced at least once.
